The 11 Best Films Of 2016

We don’t need a ‘Worst Films of 2016’ list, because 2016 was already the worst.

Fact is, the awfulness of Spin-Out, Warcraft: The Beginning, X-Men: Apocalypse, Blair Witch, Gods of Egypt, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad couldn’t match the constant stream of disappointments and painful realities of the past 12 months. (No, not even Now You See Me 2!)

Which is why we’ve never needed ‘Best Of’ lists more. If we don’t remind ourselves of the good stuff that came of this year, we’ll be tempted to write off 2016 entirely; setting fire to it, as if it were a funeral pyre with nothing worth salvaging. There is plenty to keep in our memories, long beyond December.

Like: Daniel Radcliffe as an adorable farting corpse in Swiss Army Man; Nick Cave, reflecting on his son’s untimely death, in music doco One More Time With Feeling; dude-bros singing along to “Rapper’s Delight” in Everybody Wants Some!!; Channing Tatum tap-dancing to “No Dames” in Hail, Caesar!; the charm of an interloping Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War; and, of course, Keanu from Keanu.

There are also lessons to be learned, to guide us past this tumultuous period. Documentaries The 13th and Chasing Asylum made us confront difficult truths about the way we treat others today; I, Daniel Blake and Hell or High Water revealed how economic uncertainty destroys lives (perhaps explaining the U.S. election and Brexit better than any think piece). And Zootopia, of all movies, pointed at a way forward, with its message of inclusivity and empathy.

See, 2016 wasn’t so bad after all. Here’s the proof.

Runners Up (Alphabetically): The 13th, Barbershop: The Next Cut, Captain America: Civil War, Everybody Wants Some!!, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Finding Dory, Hail, Caesar!, Hell or High Water, I, Daniel Blake, Keanu, La La Land, Midnight Special, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Nerve, One More Time With Feeling, Swiss Army Man, Zootopia.

Coming In 2017, So Keep An Eye Out: Don’t Think Twice, Jackie, Little Sister.

Didn’t See Them In Time For 2015’s List, But They’re Great: Anomalisa, The Big Short, Carol, The Hateful Eight, Spotlight.

Note: I’m yet to see a handful of the apparently great Oscar contenders—such as Moonlight and Manchester By The Sea—not to mention a certain Star Wars spin-off. However, given that many of those awards’ favourites don’t come to Australia until February and March, and that Star Wars is being withheld from the spoilery clutches of critics until its worldwide release, I decided to draw the line here, on December 13. We hope Rogue One’s box office can withstand the snub. (Also, if you’re wondering where The Lobster is, given that it’s landing on plenty of American ‘Top 10’ lists, you can find it atop our ‘Best of 2015’ chart.)

The Top 11:

11. Chasing Asylum

The visceral impact of Chasing Asylum rocked me to my core. Director Eva Orner, using secretly-recorded footage from detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island, as well as the testimonies of refugees and whistle-blowers, delivers a compelling—and damning—portrait of Australia’s asylum seeker policy (despite the legal risk to herself and her participants). It is a stunning, highly-disturbing work of advocacy. See it and be changed.

10. The Meddler

I basically cried throughout The Meddler, which is a heart-warming rom-com about a woman who wants to improve the lives of everyone around her, whether they like it or not. Though star Susan Sarandon would become the subject of scorn for her real life meddling in political affairs (Debra Messing is not a fan), she’s endearing here as the retired widow who pesters her daughter (Rose Byrne) and fends off flirtations from a divorcee (J.K. Simmons). So many tears, all of them happy.

9. The Neon Demon

If you want to see a movie that goes from zero to a hundred, real quick, look no further than Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon. Perhaps the year’s most polarising flick, you’ll either love it or hate it (and whichever way you lean, you’ll probably still wind up reaching for a nearby bucket). It follows Elle Fanning’s starry-eyed model as she’s swallowed up whole by the Los Angeles modelling scene. The Neon Demon is a dizzying descent into hell, luridly filmed and designed to provoke passionate responses. Go in with an empty stomach.

Read the full review.

8. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

For all the complaints of “stolen” elections, the biggest crime of 2016 was surely the flopping of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping in American cinemas. The Lonely Island’s big screen debut made so little money in the U.S., its Australian theatrical release was cancelled. At least in the privacy of your home, you can fully submit to its ingeniously dumb comedy, and ugly-snort your way through Andy Samberg and friends’ sharp music industry spoof. Oh, and the songs? Bangers. Without one single exception.

7. A Bigger Splash

Luca Guadagnino’s luscious Italian getaway sees Tilda Swinton’s rock star recovering from surgery with her boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts) in Pantelleria. Their holiday is interrupted by her blowhard of an ex (a motormouthed Ralph Fiennes, giving the year’s most electric performance) and his maybe-daughter/maybe-girlfriend (Dakota Johnson). For a while, we simply hang out with them as they drink, sing and dance around their awkward history. That is, until things take a drastic turn. This one is full of wicked surprises.

6. The Witch

How I wish I could have put Blair Witch in this spot instead. Expectations were high for Adam Wingard’s reboot of that ‘90s classic. But, it blew. Thankfully, we could get our Witch-related spooks elsewhere; specifically, from Robert Eggers’ disquieting mood piece, The Witch. It’s a slow-burn (maybe too slow for some), set on the fringes of the woods during the 1600s. It also has a possessed goat called Black Phillip offering our heroine the opportunity to “live deliciously.” If that’s not what you want from cinema, I cannot help you.

Read the full review.

5. Weiner

Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg’s doco Weiner ends with one of 2016’s best moments: Kriegman, breaking his silence after watching Anthony Weiner’s disastrous New York Mayoral campaign shudder to a disgraceful end, asks his subject: “Why have you let me film this?” You can’t blame him. Weiner is an excursion into the depths of shame, centered on a man with a seemingly bottomless appetite for humiliation. It poses an interesting question too: What should we prioritise in politicians? Policy or character? Following the U.S. election—which also featured Weiner in a supporting role—the question stands.

4. The Handmaiden

Park Chan-wook’s bonkers melodrama The Handmaiden is cheeky, sweat-inspiring and bulging with many-tentacled twists and turns. It’s even a love story—but between whom? Concerning a pickpocket, a conman, an heiress and her deviant uncle, The Handmaiden tells us its story, then doubles back on itself—twice over—to show us what’s really happening beneath the surface, becoming more and more explicit as it goes along. It’s a snaky tale of star-crossed romance, with a hugely satisfying ending.

Read the full review.

3. Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising

The first Bad Neighbours is just fine: sweet, funny, raucous and surprisingly moving. It kept Zac Efron, a stealthy comic weapon, gainfully employed and frequently oiled. Nothing to complain about; nothing to rave about. And yet, with their second effort (which many thought, beforehand, would be entirely superfluous), director Nicholas Stoller and producer Seth Rogen delivered 2016’s defining comedy; one which dealt with such hot-take-generating subjects as consent, racial inequality and slut-shaming, while apologising for the filmmakers’ past, not-so-woke sins. (It’s also hilarious, which is important.) Finally, a fave that isn’t problematic. They said it couldn’t be done.

Read the full review.

2. Arrival

Director Denis Villeneuve puts his dread-inducing talents to good use in Arrival, illustrating what might happen if alien ships suddenly descended on the planet, without any explanation, or any immediately apparent way to understand the visitors. Enter Amy Adams’ linguist, who devises a shared language between us and the aliens—and, miraculously, between America and its neighbouring nations. The biggest twist in Arrival is its late turn towards hopefulness. While still a masterfully tense thriller, Villeneuve’s picture is the opposite of apocalyptic. More so than that Independence Day sequel, Arrival shows us how to save the world.

Read the full review.

1. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

If Arrival is an antidote to our post-Trump world, and Bad Neighbours 2 explored modern issues through gross-out comedy, what did Hunt for the Wilderpeople offer us? A hurricane of warmth, that's what. Taika Waititi’s bittersweet buddy comedy was an absolute bear-hug of a movie. And boy, did we need it. Sam Neill and Julian Dennison, an unlikely comic duo, are brilliant partners in crime as Uncle Hec and Ricky Baker, two good-hearted outlaws on the run from a relentless social worker. Uncle Hec’s closing haiku captures both the simplicity of the tale and its massive impact. It's the loveliest quote of the year: "Me and this fat kid / We ran we ate and read books / And it was the best." It really was.

Read the full review.

Over to you. What was your best movie of 2016?

Photo: Student Edge illustration (Universal, Madman, Paramount, Amazon)