Photo Credit (Pixeles)

A recent X thread searched for the most important films of the 2020s to date. Given that this decade, which began with COVID quarantines and has since developed into numerous international wars and one of the most stressful presidential elections in history, has been going on for around 30 years, it’s a valid question, and it doesn’t feel strange to start looking now. So, hello! Let’s watch some of the most important films of the past nearly five years and use some cinema munchies to numb our elevated cortisol levels. We may even come upon certain themes along the road that relate to our difficult and generally irksome times.

Sadness Triangle (2022)

I don’t know anything could better capture the decade thus far than the title. One of the darkest satires in recent memory, Ruben Östlund’s unexpected Oscar frontrunner feels like at least three films in one, with plots that abruptly turn to the right, satirizing capitalism and taking potshots at greed throughout. The film’s most memorable part takes place on a luxury cruise ship that is split between the haves (passengers) and have-nots (crew), culminating in literal explosions of shit and vomit. If you can take it, it’s brilliant and hilarious.

The Joker of the People (2022)

At least two miracles occur in Vera Drew’s extremely autobiographical film: first, that the meticulously planned low-budget satire was ever produced, and second, that it was ever released. After a while, Drew uses the Batman villain as a prism through which to tell her own story, drawing on her obvious love of DC Comics characters. The real heroes in a dystopian society where the Bat is a judgmental Big Brother are the weirdos, queerdos, and freaks he is watching. Perhaps best of all, it feels like a vat of acid thrown in the face of our corporate IP film industry. It’s also incredibly strange and personal. Also starring are Bob Odenkirk, Scott Ackerman, Tim Heidecker, and Maria Bamford.

RRR (2022)

This fast-paced Tollywood epic does not have a single dull moment, in contrast to many American blockbusters. The film illustrates two real-life revolutionaries who lost their lives as martyrs for the cause of independence—none of which seems like a lot of fun—and touches on the national trauma caused by the British Raj. Packed with heartwarming musical numbers and masterfully choreographed action scenes that rival Marvel, RRR adeptly switches between moods, with the background adding to the overall gratifying experience. I can’t think of a more exciting scene in a movie this decade than when a truckload of untamed animals is forcibly let loose on a calm party at a British politician’s house.

In 2023, Oppenheimer

The honors went to Oppenheimer, but the zeitgeist went to Barbie. It’s all right! Barbenheimer weekend taught us that it’s not always a competition, and they’re extremely different. As the title theoretical physicist, this Best Picture Oscar winner follows the eloquent but conflicted Cillian Murphy, who assisted the United States in creating the first nuclear weapons in history during World War II. Writer/director Christopher Nolan never loses sight of his complex lead or the murky, unsightly morality that underpins Oppenheimer’s work, even in the midst of a talkative script that is interspersed with sporadic spectacular effects scenes. The fact that Nolan treats the story’s political, personal, and scientific facets with almost equal seriousness serves as a reminder that change never occurs in a vacuum.

Black Bottom by Ma Rainey (2020)

On a hot, drunk, bluesy afternoon in 1927 Chicago, the legendary Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) arrives at the recording studio to record a new album. White promoters have signed her, and she is well aware that their respect for her depends solely on her financial success as a vocalist. It doesn’t matter to her. Tensions increase and disputes arise during the session, especially between Ma Rainey and Levee Green, played by Chadwick Boseman. In his last performance, Chadwick Boseman is outstanding, and Davis is so terrific that she’s virtually channeling the blues great.

River (2023)

This Japanese import feels like a necessary piece of counterprogramming because it is a much smaller film (in many ways) than almost any of the films on this list. Life for employees and visitors at a spa in the little Japanese town of Kibune goes slowly until, ironically, a time accident leaves everyone trapped in a two-minute time loop. While some are anxious to get on with their lives, others find it beneficial to be able to spend a limited amount of time together. It’s a charming, witty, and often hilarious film on the advantages of taking it leisurely in our increasingly hectic world and trying to see things from as many angles as you can.

Dreams of Robots (2023)

When a film is this straightforward and powerful, why needs dialogue? A shy and lonely dog in New York City becomes completely enamored with his robot friend. Until they are split up. The film is incredibly adorable and often hilarious, but it also dares to be a little sad and profound. It is beautifully animated. Take out a hankie. The film’s message on the inevitable nature of change is refreshing in an era of entertainment that is so heavily influenced by nostalgia. It might be difficult and even agonizing to move forward, yet it is frequently essential and worthwhile.

In 2023, Beau Is Terrified

Beau Is Afraid will likely remain one of the most outrageous and deeply divisive movies we have seen at the end of this decade. This is either the best or the worst picture that Ari Aster, the filmmaker of Hereditary and Midsommar, has ever made. It is about Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix), a middle-aged club with severe anxiety. Much of what occurs is trippy and bizarre, yet it frequently seems like a very accurate depiction of a world as viewed through the eyes of someone who is always scared and nervous. And who the devil is incapable of relating to that? In a supporting role as Beau’s mother, Patti LuPone does a brilliantly terrible job.

Everything at Once, Everywhere (2022)

With a soulful and genuinely moving premise and some of the most wonderfully silly moments you’re likely to find in a major motion picture, this groundbreaking and absurd comedy-drama won the most hearts at the Oscars (show me another Best Picture Oscar winner that makes such creative use of a butt plug). With a lot of the credit going to writer/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—and to the consistently excellent performances by leads Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu, the amazing Ke Huy Quan, and Michelle Yeoh—this incredibly strange and relatively low-budget film had no business being as successful as it was.

Candyman (2021)

Both a reboot and a sequel, Nia DaCosta’s Candyman introduces aspects (and characters) from the first film without becoming overly engrossed in it. Although the original’s remark on race in America was well-intentioned, its overwhelmingly white viewpoint feels like a serious sacrifice to its goal. Here, however, with really clever and creative visual embellishments, we get a far deeper dive into how our culture (and the police) transforms underprivileged victims into villains. With some violent body horror themes, it’s also frightening! An excellent legacy sequel.

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Despite being almost three hours long, Da 5 Bloods is a crazily and astonishingly energetic film that doesn’t feel it. In order to find the remains of their deceased squad leader (Jonathan Majors) and the gold he assisted them in concealing, four veterans (Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) travel back to Vietnam. By making certain clear and sharp distinctions between the past and present, Spike Lee, who is reviving the Vietnam War film genre, insists on focusing on the (often overlooked) experience of Black Americans. Even Chadwick Boseman, in one of his last appearances, gives a fantastic performance.

Drive My Vehicle (2021)

This list (and we’re not done yet) has a good representation of Japanese filmmakers. Simply put, Japanese filmmakers have had a pretty successful decade thus far, at least in terms of their foreign distribution. The film’s inspiration, a story by Japanese author Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore, IQ84), is just about forty-five pages long, but Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s adaptation revels in the details. A widowed theatrical director develops a relationship with the young woman who is tasked with driving him to Hiroshima for his most recent project. Although there isn’t much of an incident or speech, the sound design and cinematography make those quiet passages interesting. In the end, it’s a tale about the ultimate beauty of human connection despite all of the suffering that separates us. Its main message—that it’s acceptable to talk to your Lyft driver occasionally—makes the movie especially relevant now.

(2020) My Octopus Teacher

Despite all of our electronic connections, it seems that the true theme of this decade has been alienation, whether it be physical or political. Craig Foster, a biologist and filmmaker, spent a year developing a bond with a wild common octopus. We’re learning that these creatures may be remarkably sophisticated in some ways and completely foreign in many others. Nevertheless, as Foster is given more access to her underwater world, she and the octopus wind up becoming close friends, spending time together and playing together. The perils of that world and the species’ innately brief lifespan serve as poignant reminders of both the joy and worth of engaging with nature as well as the profound fragility of existence. It implies that if we’re eager (and have swimming skills), connection is achievable.

Nimona (2023)

The queen is set to knight Ballister Boldheart and his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin, making him the first commoner to ever be granted the distinction. Everything is fine until he is falsely accused of killing the queen and is forced to escape, turning into the criminal that the snobs already thought he was. Fortunately (or not), Nimona, an adolescent misfit who is despised because of her shapeshifting abilities, has joined him. Even though Nimona has lessons to teach Ballister about living a genuine life and not worrying too much about what the detractors think, the two collaborate to clear Ballister’s name. Based on ND Stevenson’s comic novel, Nimona had an extremely difficult journey to the big screen, enduring delays, company closures, the pandemic, and Disney’s insistence to stop making LGBT content. Fortunately, none of that turmoil was included in the final result, which Netflix eventually streamed. Set in a futuristic society with all the trappings of the Middle Ages, it is passionate, happy, and humorous fiction.