Another year has come and gone, and with it, another 12 months of quality cinema. And while the internet is flooded with critics and writers sharing their top 10s and Best Of’s, I wanted to use my platform a little differently. Instead of talking about the same things everyone else is saying (yes, “Parasite” is fucking great, and of course, I loved “Uncut Gems” and “Marriage Story” like the rest of you), I wanted to take this time to highlight some 2019 releases that I feel landed under the radar for most people.
READ MORE: Kimber Myers’ Top 10 Films Of 2019
Let’s face it, over the course of a year, there’s no way that anyone can see every film that hits theaters. Hell, I do this for a living and I still have yet to find time to watch “The Irishman,” “The Souvenir,” “High Life,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” and several others. (I’ll relinquish my “cinephile” membership card, don’t worry.) So, if you’re like me and let some films fly by without getting a chance to check them out, here are several that I think are worthy of your time.
If you’re just waiting for my Top 10, then you can skip to the bottom, but I assure you, it’s not all that interesting.
READ MORE: Lena Wilson’s Top 10 Films Of 2019
“Crawl”
The filmography of Alexandre Aja is firmly in the hit-or-miss category for me. While I adore “High Tension” and think it’s a great gateway film into the greater realm of French horror, his studio efforts like “The Hills Have Eyes,” “Mirrors,” and “Horns” left me cold. So, I was not expecting much when I saw that his new film was about a killer alligator stalking people in a crawlspace. But, holy shit, I was wrong.
“Crawl” is a horror film that knows exactly what it is and never strives to be anything more than it should. Aja has created a B-movie horror experience, but with the craftsmanship of a true auteur. The performances from the leads, Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper, are sincere and believable, even when they are delivering certain lines that would feel at home in a Troma production. And while the majority of the film takes place in the aforementioned dimly lit, flooding crawlspace, you never feel bored as every shot is dynamic and full of life (or…death).
Best of all, there’s a streak of humor that runs throughout the film that doesn’t ever fully wink at the audience or detract from the stakes of the film. Aja, who directed from a script written by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen, is able to add bits of levity that give the audience much-needed moments to breathe and relax before plunging them back into the thick of a cat-and-mouse game between killer beasts and helpless humans. Oh, and as someone who grew up in this part of Florida, I can fully attest that these characters feel very real, idiotic choices and all.
“Donnybrook”
There are films that rip your heart out of your chest, stomping every bit of hope and love out of it. Those films feel like a trip to Disneyland next to “Donnybrook.” Bleak doesn’t begin to describe the world created by writer-director Tim Sutton. If you just read the premise, where a man must attempt to rescue his family from poverty with the help of the cash prize given to the winner of a bare-knuckle backwoods cagefight, you may feel prepared enough to experience the darkness that is “Donnybrook.” But I assure you, dear reader, Sutton’s film is so tightly written, so incredibly well-acted, and so beautiful (in the way it depicts utter darkness) that this is an experience that will haunt you for days after watching it.
Debuting at last year’s TIFF and finally hitting theaters in the early part of 2019, “Donnybrook” may have arrived too early for many cinephiles to take notice. And that’s a damn shame. Every aspect of Sutton’s film works. The acting, led by Jamie Bell but featuring star-making performances from Frank Grillo and Margaret Qualley, is so reserved in many spots but you can see the fire in the eyes of everyone involved in the story. The quiet desperation that builds in Bell’s character throughout the film erupts in the final act in such a way that will take your breath away. And I defy you to find a more hateable villain than Grillo’s character, who creeps into every scene he’s in like the human manifestation of Death. Qualley, on the other hand, might have the fewest lines of any of the main characters but her eyes and face emote in ways that will break your heart.
Sure, “Donnybrook” isn’t an “easy watch,” but if you enjoy peeks into the darker recesses of life, then Tim Sutton has you covered.
“Hail Satan?”
I won’t spend much time professing my love of “Hail Satan?” If you want my full thoughts, then definitely check out my review from earlier in the year. But let me just quickly say that my favorite documentary of 2019 (narrowly beating “Knock Down the House”) is one of the funniest films you’ll see all year. If you’re someone that is fed up with the evangelical masses trying to take control of our government and society, then “Hail Satan?” is a film for you, as it shows how one group of outcasts, which began life as a small collection of glorified trolls, has turned into a worldwide organization that is fighting every day to preserve liberties and freedoms of the underserved. And they do it all with gloriously over-the-top Satanic imagery. “Hail Satan?” is a doc that will surprise you in all the best ways and will leave you with a smile on your face.
“Hala”
As we approached the tail-end of 2019, the launch of Apple TV+ wasn’t without its hiccups. Whether it was the TV shows that underwhelmed or the sexual assault controversy that plagued the release of “The Banker,” when the discussion came to the streaming service, not much of it was good. However, buried under all those stories was the release of Minhal Baig’s beautiful drama “Hala.”
Premiering at this year’s Sundance to great acclaim (read our review), “Hala” is a lovely film that is tender, sweet, and incredibly emotional. For some reason, the film’s release on Apple TV+ earlier this fall seems to have fallen under the radar. Needless to say, Baig’s latest film is a way better reason to subscribe to Apple’s subscription service than all the episodes of “The Morning Show,” “See,” “Servant,” “Dickinson,” and “For All Mankind” combined.
The lead performance from Geraldine Viswanathan is revelatory, as she perfectly captures the joy, fear, and unease that accompanies the final year of high school. And the fact that this coming-of-age story is shown through the perspective of a Muslim American teen is something that adds an entirely new, much-needed take on one of the most cherished subgenres of film. If you’re someone that enjoys a good teen coming-of-age film and loved “Lady Bird,” then “Hala” is a must-see. I take that back. No matter who you are, find a way to watch “Hala.” Yes, that means you may have to sign up for a free trial of Apple TV+.
“The Peanut Butter Falcon”
Sometimes it’s perfectly okay for a film to just make you smile and cheer. Not every film needs to challenge your ideals, make you reevaluate the world at large, or leave you weeping. Sometimes, you just need to watch a young man dress up like a bird and wrestle in someone’s backyard and feel the swell of joy wash over you. That’s “The Peanut Butter Falcon” in a nutshell. From the filmmaking duo of Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, “The Peanut Butter Falcon” might be the best feel-good film of the year.
While “Honey Boy” seems to be getting awards consideration for Shia LaBeouf (and rightfully so, as that film is also great), the actor’s performance in ‘Falcon’ is just as good, as he plays a no-good, skeezy guy just trying to get by, who befriends a young man with Down syndrome that escaped from an assisted living facility. The two men go on a quest through the backwoods of the South as they attempt to find a retired wrestler and fulfill the young man’s dream of striking it big in the world of professional wrestling.
There’s not much else to say other than the performances from LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, and Dakota Johnson are pitch-perfect and often hilarious. Thankfully, there seems to be a good number of folks that saw the film in theaters, as ‘Falcon’ proved to be a bit of an indie hit this year, but with “Honey Boy” dominating the discussion, it feels as if Nilson and Schwartz’s film has been forgotten.
Buzzer Beater Entry: “Don’t F*ck With Cats”
I was perfectly content with ending my list of films with “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” but then a strange thing happened. I was wrapping gifts this Christmas with my wife and I randomly started the Netflix docuseries “Don’t F*ck with Cats.” And while this true-crime series isn’t the most appropriate Christmas gift-wrapping program, the three-episode show (clocking in just around 3-hours total) is one of the most engrossing, disturbing, and well-structured Netflix Originals of the year.
The basic premise is, at once, wild but also misleading. “Don’t F*ck with Cats,” from Emmy-winning filmmaker Mark Lewis, follows the story of two people who join a Facebook group to track the person behind some disgusting cat torture videos that went viral. Honestly, that premise alone would make for an interesting documentary, and while the two folks involved show up throughout the three-episode run, once the second hour begins, you realize that “Don’t F*ck with Cats” is about so much more. And you have no idea the depravity that awaits you as you go further down the abyss.
Simply put, “Don’t F*ck with Cats” is easily one of the best true crime docs you’ll see this year, or just ever. Full stop. Each episode is tightly paced, informative, and dripping with suspense. There’s not one part of the show that you can skip through or ignore. The subjects of the doc are each interesting and unique. The killer, who you find out about in the latter two-thirds, is such a horrible person that you’d swear he was out of central casting for creeps.
And as a film fan, the near-constant mentions of films that serve as clues and influences throughout the doc will have you always wondering what could possibly come next. “Don’t F*ck with Cats” snuck up on me out of nowhere right at the end of the year, and it has turned into the conversation starter that has helped me survive holiday parties and family gatherings.
As promised, here’s my Top 10 list of films. I told you, it’s not all that interesting.
1. Uncut Gems
2. The Farewell
3. Parasite
4. Midsommar
5. Marriage Story
6. Jojo Rabbit
7. The Lighthouse
8. Booksmart
9. Honey Boy
10. Donnybrook
See you folks in 2020!