10. “Suspiria”
In a year of horror defined by a sense of artfulness and risk, Luca Guadagnino’s remake (or, more apropos for this vision, reconstruction) of Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi’s operatic horror classic might just be the apex. For all of its divisiveness, “Suspiria” is a grisly and glorious meditation on the wracking damages of collective guilt catalyzed by the sins of men, and the women left to pick up the pieces. Guadagnino and screenwriter David Kajganich have reworked the story to imbue protagonist Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) with more agency than the character had in the original and make excellent use of an ensemble of witches (led by Tilda Swinton at her most radically chameleonic) choreographing a dance to cleanse the soul. Filled with grotesque sequences, from Susie’s bone-crunching dance to the climactic deluge of carnage, “Suspiria” very nearly becomes a theatre of cruelty, before Guadagnino and Kajganich leave audiences on the film’s most surprising note: compassion. “We need guilt, Doctor. And shame. But not yours,” says Johnson’s Susie to Lutz Ebersdorf’s Dr. Josef Klemperer late in the film. The pain will never go away, yet the dance spins on. – Ted Silva [our review]
9. “Leave No Trace”
Eight years after launching Jennifer Lawrence on her path to superstardom and pronouncing herself as a talent to watch with “Winter’s Bone,” Debra Granik quietly delivers another harrowing journey of a daughter and father racked by the ravages of war, failed by society and forced to find a home in nature. “Leave No Trace” — written by Granik and Anne Rosellin and based on Peter Rock’s novel — is a devastating meditation on love, loss and what it means to belong, that features two of the year’s finest performances. One is from the always captivating Ben Foster; the other is among the year’s best star-making turns, from Thomasin McKenzie, who is utterly brilliant as Tom even with the weight of the movie on her shoulders. What truly makes “Leave No Trace” stand out, though, is the love that permeates the relationship between Tom and her father. It’s a soulful, wrenching film, but one that’s also about the capacity for kindness and the lengths to which we will go to for those we love. And it’s a film that, even in its darkest moments, is unwilling to give up on the hope that, somewhere out there, there is a life for everyone. And what more did we need this year than a glimmer of hope? — Gary Garrison [our review]
8. “The Favourite”
It’s no accident that many of the floor tiles in Yorgos Lanthimos’ biting period comedy resemble a chess board. Every single transaction of power, seduction, and apparent sympathy is only made if the player stands to gain something. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, but it also entertains wildly and Lanthimos has delivered his most straightforwardly accessible film to date, thanks to Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara’s acidic script and dynamite performances from Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone. But despite the consistent humor and ping-pong dialogue, it’d be foolish to think that he is not also going to land a blow or two to the gut. With Robbie Ryan’s cinematography using a fish-eye lens to portray a judgmental third-party point of view on the depravity on display, it isn’t too much a of stretch to see the behavior in 18th Century England mirroring the current political landscape in which clearly incompetent leaders are further destabilized by confidants sucking up and striving for power by any means necessary. Even in the most breezily funny movie of 2018, there’s no escaping the sober reality of the political chess match. – Ryan Oliver [our review]
7. “Eighth Grade”
You’d be hard pressed to find any scene in a film over the past year that has as much tension, anxiety, and suspense as when Elsie Fisher’s Kayla, from the incredible film “Eighth Grade,” joins her classmates at a pool party she was only barely invited to. You are instantly transported back to your own time in middle school, when you were at your most awkward and constantly anxious. And Fisher’s performance during this scene, as she walks down the stairs in her bathing suit, cowering and covering her body, is staged perfectly and shows the power of writer-director Bo Burnham’s debut feature film. Through the impact of the lead performance, pitch-perfect dialogue, and the audience’s own (probably terrible) memories, “Eighth Grade” might not just be one of the year’s best films, but perhaps one of 2018’s most important. Despite being a film that is very much focused on the current trends and technology, the themes, experiences, and emotion felt throughout the picture are nothing short of transcendent, hitting the viewer deep in a way that no other film this year does. Not everyone watching the film is a 13-year-old girl in 2018, but everyone is/was Kayla. Gucci! – Charles Barfield [our review]
6. “Roma”
An immersive exploration of gender, class, and the bonds of family set against the backdrop of 1970s Mexico, “Roma” captures an essential collection of truths that run the gamut from micro to macro. Ostensibly the story of one housekeeper/nanny, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), over the course of about a year, the film is able to transcend traditional narrative structures to speak about the ways people process happiness, grief, and hope. Alfonso Cuarón wrote, edited, shot, and directed “Roma,” yet the story isn’t his; as a selfless expression of love for society’s most invisible, “Roma” instead revels in the minutiae of Cleo’s hardscrabble existence. What Cleo sees, feels, and hears, so too does the audience, immersing them in a world where people simultaneously live within and outside of a family that couldn’t possibly endure without them. In this way, the film is a true cinematic experience in its purest form, for if movies are meant to transport audiences to a new world, nothing else released in 2018 came close to this staggering achievement in world-building. Guided by the invisible, and touched by the heretofore unseen, Cuarón has given over a part of himself here: “Roma” is a journey into his heart. – Warren Cantrell
