This past summer, a few articles appeared that called the Fate of Movies into question. “Why has this summer blockbuster season been so bad?” asked Benjamin Lee of the Guardian. “Could this be the year that movies stopped mattering?” pondered Wired’s Brian Raftery. The May-to-September season was indeed underwhelming, especially for comic book fans, and a string of disappointing reboots and superhero movies (Deadpool was a surprise exception) strengthened the argument that 2016 has been a subpar year for film in general. But I disagree with that assessment—I watched many features I liked or admired, only a few I loathed, and at least ten I loved. Several were independent productions, some arriving through nontraditional channels like Netflix and ESPN. The best of the bunch pushed at the boundaries of their form—they challenged viewers’ comfort levels and attention spans.
9. The Lobster
7. The Witch
The Handmaiden
Arrival
Adapted from the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Barry Jenkins, Moonlight presents three chapters in the life of Chiron, an African-American from the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami. His story, lushly photographed and scored to classical music, hinges on his burgeoning homosexuality and attendant feelings of otherness; often he stands alone, looking down or staring straight into the camera with soulful eyes. The three actors who play Chiron as a child, teenager, and adult, respectively, are superb; so too are Naomie Harris as Chiron’s crack-addicted mother, André Holland as his best friend, and Mahershala Ali as a local drug dealer who takes the boy under his wing. An expressionistic art film that is also more accessible than most mainstream fare, Moonlight boasts the year’s best ensemble cast.
