After covering the best of what television had to offer in the 2010s, let’s now focus on movies!

This list may not include the most critically acclaimed movies, but they are my personal favorites and I will try to explain why!

Before jumping into the final list, here are some movies that almost made it to my top 10:

Gone Girl (2014)

Directed by David Fincher and based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl is a psychological thriller that goes deep into analyzing appearances, pre-judgments, and how far people can go for revenge.

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Jojo Rabbit is an emotional story about a German boy (Roman Griffin Davis) during World War II whose imaginary friend is Hitler (Taika Waititi). As the war nears the end, Jojo has a hard time accepting different people. It may seem like a funny movie (although it does have funny moments), but I found it heartbreaking and very moving.

Rocketman (2019)

How to tell Elton John’s story and make it as crazy and interesting as he is? Rocketman seems to find the answer, as it is not a conventional biopic and uses the singer’s famous songs to guide us from his childhood to stardom. Full review here.

La La Land (2016)

It’s refreshing to see that musicals are finally making a comeback! La La Land is a sweet reminder of how good original musicals can be while talking about choices and priorities in life. Full review here.

10 – Tully (2018)

It’s a shame more people didn’t get to see this movie in theaters. Tully tells such a powerful and eye-opening story of Marlo (Charlize Theron) as she just gave birth to her third child and is feeling completely overwhelmed and helpless. Then along comes Tully (Mackenzie Davis) to help her during the evenings and, in doing so, we learn more about both of them and how women in general struggle in silence. Full review here.

9 – Zootopia (2016)

Easily Disney’s most political animated movie, Zootopiafocuses on the friendship that is born between natural enemies, since Juddy Hopp (a bunny) is a prey and Nick Wilde (a fox) is its predator. It talks about following your dreams against adversity and, most importantly, of how chaos can grow when we divide the population into “us vs. them” and when fear wins. Full review here.

8 – A Monster Calls (2017)

I had never cried watching a movie until I saw A Monster Calls. I had survived through all the widely known sad scenes in cinema history without shedding a single tear, so the fact that this particular movie made me cry says something about how subjective and personal the relationship between viewers and storytellers is. We follow the story of how Conor (Lewis MacDougall) is coping with his mother’s terminal illness. He finds himself being visited nightly by a monster (Liam Neeson) who tells him three stories and asks him to tell his truth. The tales are thought-provoking, but it’s Conor’s truth that is the most powerful moment in the film.

7 – Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Probably one of the best and most stable franchises in cinema today, Mission: Impossible is still alive mainly thanks to Tom Cruise and his ability to keep these movies fresh and entertaining. Fallout is a great action movie and has enough drama and twists to keep the audiences engaged until the end. Full review here.

6 – Spotlight (2015)

If you like movies involving investigative journalism, then Spotlight is the right choice for you. It hits all the right notes as it focuses on the team of journalists from the Boston Globe that revealed how the Catholic church covered up the pedophilia scandal in the early 2000s. Read our review here.

5 – Frozen (2013)

Yes, it was about princesses, but it changed the way they have been depicted in Disney movies. After all, they are sisters and that’s the true love that saves the day – and not a prince. It also helps that Frozen has memorable songs, especially the show-stopping “Let It Go”, and incredibly funny characters like Olaf (Josh Gad).

4 – Skyfall (2012)

Released on the 50th anniversary of the longest movie franchise in cinema history, Skyfall managed to do something very difficult: please both older fans and newcomers, as well as the critics. It is also the only James Bond movie that grossed $1 billion dollars and won 2 Oscars (Best Song and Sound Editing). Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall brings James Bond (Daniel Craig) back home and shows that he is a human being who can suffer when he loses someone he loves too.

3 – Into the Woods (2014)

Adapted from the stage musical, Into the Woods is my favorite of Stephen Sondheim’s work (and he’s created many masterpieces). Disguising as a story that brings together characters from different fairytales (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, etc), the lyrics are powerful reminders of choices we all make in life and those moments we all face of doubts and changes. 

2 – Inside Out (2015)

Easily Pixar’s best movie to date, Inside Out should be mandatory viewing for everyone (children and adults). Set entirely inside a 12-year-old girl’s mind, Inside Out explores the 5 main emotions we all have: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness. It discusses important issues related to mental health and makes us realize that we all need to embrace sadness sometimes in order to be fully happy.

1 – The Social Network (2010)

Facebook was already big in 2010 when The Social Network was released, but few people could have guessed the impact that the company had in our society and the number of scandals it would be involved in. That is why The Social Network gets better with each viewing, as we follow Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) at Harvard and all the polemic around who actually created Facebook. Directed by the great David Fincher, it won 3 Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay (for Aaron Sorkin and his sharp dialogue), Best Editing, and Best Score (for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ haunting music). It was also nominated in 5 other categories, including Best Picture.

Here’s to a new decade! See you at the movies!