The 150 Best Films of 2017
2010 was the year I became a cinephile. Seven years later, and 2017 has been my favourite year yet for movies; find below my pick of the best 150 films released in the UK this year (and that includes VOD and home entertainment, too).
150. Certain Women
149. A Quiet Passion
148. T2 Trainspotting
147. A Monster Calls
146. Spider-Man: Homecoming
145. Jackie
144. John Wick: Chapter 2
143. Patriots Day
142. The Levelling
141. Miss Sloane
140. Endless Poetry (Poesía Sin Fin)
139. Without Name
138. Their Finest
137. Jungle
136. David Lynch: The Art Life
135. Goodbye Christopher Robin
134. The Party
133. Gifted
132. The Eyes of My Mother
131. Life
130. Berlin Syndrome
129. My Cousin Rachel
128. The Belko Experiment
127. Cars 3
126. The Beguiled
125. Borg vs McEnroe
124. The Lego Ninjago Movie
123. Loving
122. Marshall
121. The Love Witch
120. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
119. Detroit
118. Hacksaw Ridge
117. The Ritual
116. The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Hymyilevä mies)
115. First They Killed My Father
114. Whitney: Can I Be Me
113. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
112. The Incredible Jessica James
111. The Fits
110. The Limehouse Golem
109. Una
108. Zoology (Zoologiya)
107. To the Bone
106. Elle
105. Dancer
104. Jawbone
103. It Comes at Night
102. Baby Driver
101. The Untamed (La región salvaje)
100. Camp X-Ray
99. Ingrid Goes West
98. Happy Death Day
97. 20th Century Women
96. Toni Erdmann
95. Handsome Devil
94. LoveTrue
93. Creep 2
92. A Dark Song
91. Patti Cake$
90. Heal the Living (Réparer les vivants)
89. 78/52
88. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
87. Raw (Grave)
86. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
85. Win it All
84. I Am Not a Witch
83. Gleason
82. The Big Sick
81. Moonlight
80. Who’s Gonna Love Me Now
79. Beach Rats
78. Blade of the Immortal (Mugen no jûnin)
77. God’s Own Country
76. Fences
75. The Disaster Artist
74. Mudbound
73. In a Valley of Violence
72. My Life as a Courgette (Ma vie de Courgette)
71. War for the Planet of the Apes
70. Loving Vincent
69. Clash (Eshtebak)
68. A Silent Voice (Koe no katachi)
67. Hounds of Love
66. The Transfiguration
65. A Man Called Ove (En man som heter Ove)
64. Manchester by the Sea
63. The Florida Project
62. Maudie
61. Marjorie Prime
60. 1922
59. Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond — With a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton
58. Better Watch Out
57. Thor: Ragnarok
56. The Death of Stalin
55. The Lego Batman Movie
54. Good Time
53. Human Flow
52. Blade Runner 2049
51. Tramps
50. Boy
49. American Made
48. In Between (Bar Bahar)
47. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.
46. Christine
45. Get Out
44. Frantz
43. Thelma
42. Logan
41. Split
40. Pawn Sacrifice
39. Catfight
38. Gerald’s Game
37. Tanna
36. City of Ghosts
35. Logan Lucky
34. The Meyerowitz Stories: New and Selected
33. Nocturama
32. Graduation (Bacalaureat)
31. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
30. The Age of Shadows
29. After the Storm (Umi yori mo mada fukaku)
28. Lady Macbeth
27. It
26. Girls Trip
25. Harmonium (Fuchi ni tatsu)
24. Hidden Figures
23. Aquarius
22. Colossal
21. I Am Not Your Negro
20. Wonder Woman
Diana Prince’s optimism shines like a beacon as she steps onto No Man’s Land — but this sequence is only one of many spine-tingling moments in the best superhero flick in recent years.
19. Paddington 2
Who ever thought a computer-generated bear could inspire such warm humanity? Paddington 2 will easily go down as one of the best sequels ever made, further evolving its predecessor’s themes of kindness, diversity, and understanding.
18. Call Me by Your Name
How many films out there truly ‘get’ the ache at the heart of so many romances? Call Me by Your Name offers a feast of sensuality and emotion, yet all of it overshadowed by the inevitability all great love stories possess.
17. The Salesman (Forushande)
Farhadi always knows how to plunge his characters into pits of moral uncertainty, before throwing more ideology-shredding events on top of them. He understands humans more than any other director — and The Salesman further proves it.
16. mother!
A paranoid four-hander morphs into a disturbing rollercoaster to Hell — figuratively, literally, or both. It’s like navigating the squelchy pathways of Aronofsky’s troubled brain — and witnessing the creation and destruction lurking within.
15. Wind River
Thrillers always focus on the chase; in Wind River, the victim is always at the centre. The hunt for the killer is an exploration of profound grief, and of the bleakest areas of human nature — and the everyday good that rises to meet it.
14. Cameraperson
Splicing together unrelated footage from one woman’s career as a cinematographer doesn’t sound like it would yield great results — yet Cameraperson blends subconscious concepts to make an indelible statement on how we look at the world.
13. Neruda
Jackie was only the second-best movie directed by Pablo Larraín this year: Neruda is a hugely entertaining mix of Noir, Conspiracy Thriller, and even Western that burrows deep into a nation’s turbulent history.
12. The Olive Tree (El olivo)
The best film you (probably) didn’t watch this year: a simple tale, elegantly told, that concerns family legacies, cultural divides, corporate appropriation, and at the middle of it all, the love of a young woman for her grandfather.
11. The Red Turtle (La tortue rouge)
Not a single word is uttered in The Red Turtle, yet a thousand life experiences flow from its unforgettable images. It’s all here: birth, anger, joy, regret, melancholy, death. When the credits roll, you will not be the same.
10. Personal Shopper
To attempt describing Assayas’ latest is admirable, but ultimately pointless. Discarding most horror tropes yet employing others at full strength, the film haunts like the spectre circling Stewart’s tragic, multi-layered Maureen.
9. Tower
The events it depicts are sadly more relevant than ever, but Tower uses the medium in aesthetically beautiful (and deeply moving) ways to make a plea for more decency in the world — not just from those behind awful acts, but from each of us.
8. Okja
A gruesome fairytale about a Girl and her Superpig; if Guillermo del Toro dropped acid and suddenly had the greatest eye for action scenes in the world, it might look like Bong Joon Ho’s heartfelt, rousing and hilarious dystopian parable, Okja.
7. The Handmaiden (Ah-ga-ssi)
A sweeping epic that paints sex as the most compassionate act there is — and also the most terrifying. A weapon, or a salve; the choice is ours regardless of the boundaries, be those of the era or of the body.
6. La La Land
Musicals will never be cool — and La La Land doesn’t care. Allow its sun-drenched earworms to work their magic, and Gosling and Stone will transport you to a technicolor promenade where dreaming is the only day job worth having.
5. Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi
Huge franchises are rarely this idiosyncratic, fresh, or genuinely thrilling: trading in stale lore for bona fide drama, Rian Johnson breaks the mould — and somehow still delivers a classic Star Wars picture.
4. Silence
Silence is an astounding accomplishment that pays off Martin Scorsese’s 28-year patience. The reason he’s still one of the best directors working today is because he understands that, at its best, cinema can offer its own religious experience.
3. A Ghost Story
The ethereal A Ghost Story slinks gracefully from heartbreaking meditation on grief and loss, to enraged denouncement of nothing less than the cosmos itself. Utterly original and relatable, it’s everything speculative fiction aspires to.
2. The Lost City of Z
Watching The Lost City of Z is like walking through a dream. A beautiful, scary dream about family, love, ambition; a manifestation of man’s belief in something greater. Above all, it’s a dream you won’t forget upon waking.
(1. OJ: Made in America / Twin Peaks | Season 3)
1. Dunkirk
Epic in scope, visceral in detail: Nolan’s WWII movie sees him striving for what could only be described as undistllled cinema. We learn time is our ultimate enemy — but Dunkirk also teaches that through our deeds, we can hope to transcend it.
