As 2020 comes to a close, it brings with it the gift of hindsight, which I have decided to use to play cinematic matchmaker—instead of recommending merely ten movies, here are 20. Pairing some of the best releases of the year together via a list of double-features allows us to reflect on how 2020 left its mark on the medium. It’s admittedly heavy on the horror—that’s fitting, though, in a year that saw its own share of scares, but also saw the genre strive as streaming replaced a trip to the theaters. And while we would have loved to see these on the big screen, as movies found their way into our homes it’s nice to think it made for not an isolating experience, but an intimate one.
This is a fever-dream double feature, as both films freshly stylize familiar tales of terror. Gretel & Hansel is a female-first title because it fleshes out Gretel’s (Sophia Lillis) character by making her a natural witch. She has to reconcile this innate gift in this visually gruesome and beautiful bildungsroman that gives the classic story new life. Meanwhile, Shirley is a look at the very morose Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss), presented in a way that mimics the famed fiction author’s horror writing. Covered in the same heady haze, watch these when you want to take a trip without leaving your couch.
Straight Up (Dir. James Sweeney) + Buffaloed (Dir. Tanya Wexler)
This next double-feature delves even further into the teenage experience. Castle in the Ground is a somber, if not sober, look at the bleak reality of the opioid epidemic that sees Henry’s (Alex Wolff) drug-fueled demise after his mother’s untimely death. While The Half of It might feel tame in comparison, it is just as genuine. It follows Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis), a smart but cash-strapped teen who agrees to write a love letter for a jock, only to end up becoming his friend and falling for his crush in the process. Watch these films when you need to feel something.
Possessor (Dir. Brandon Cronenberg) + Black Bear (Dir. Lawrence Michael Levine)
