The 50 best films of 2020 in the US: 50-41
50 Crip Camp
One of Netflix’s many eye-opening documentaries of the year takes a look at a freewheeling camp for disabled people which turned into a revolutionary group of activists with rousing results. Read the full review.
49 The Lodge
A bracing, bleak little horror movie from the creators of the equally dour Goodnight Mommy which has Riley Keough stuck in a remote cabin with the children of her new boyfriend, a situation that goes from bad to worse to scary very fast. Read the full review.
48 Palm Springs
Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti are heavy-drinking wedding guests who find themselves stuck in a Groundhog Day-style time-loop in a fun twist on a traditional romantic comedy. Read the full review.
47
The High Note
A lightweight yet charming LAset comedy about the relationship between a diva-ish singer, played by Tracee Ellis Ross channeling her mother Diana, and her ambitious assistant, played by a never-better Dakota Johnson. Read the full review.
46 Sylvie’s Love
A loving tribute to both Hollywood romances and so-called “women’s pictures” of the 50s and 60s starring a luminous Tessa Thompson trying to juggle marriage, a career in TV and a slow-burning on and off romance with a sweetheart from her past, played by Nnamdi Asomugha. Read the full review.
45 Boys State
Eye-opening film about the governmental role play event organised by the American Legion to teach kids how politics works. Here the Texas version is scrutinised, with debates and power struggles reaching a crescendo in a mock election. Read the full review.
44 White Riot
Document a r y about the groundbreaking Rock Against Racism movement that helped to stem the rising tide of far right support in 1970s Britain, with its benefit gigs featuring the likes of the Clash and the Tom Robinson Band. Read the full review.
43 The Perfect Candidate
The fourth feature from Wajdja director Haifaa al-Mansour sees the Saudi film-maker return home for a politically inflected drama that seeks to interrogate the country’s supposed new liberalism, following a female doctor’s attempt to run for office after she is denied a permit to travel abroad. Read the full review.
42 Bacurau
A Brazilian horror-western with an exceptionally disquieting tone, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles. A woman returns to a remote outback town – the fictional settlement of Bacurau – which appears to have fallen off the map, as a violent group of foreigners assemble nearby. Read the full review.
41 Shirley
Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss stars as celebrated horror writer Shirley Jackson ( best known for The Lottery) in a fictionalised biopic that speculates on what happens when a younger couple interrupt her tepid domestic life with husband Stanley (Michael Stuhlbarg). Read the full review.
Check back in the coming days and weeks as we update this list and unveil our picks for top film of the year.