In the 2010s, the film industry proved to be more inclusive and featured a breadth ofnew screenwriting talent. With creators like Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) and Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women) announcing themselves as ready-made auteurs of the filmmaking craft upon arrival and fresh new voices in screenwriting, the film industry appears to be heading in the right direction. Even with original artistic voices like Charlie Kaufman shipping their talents to the streamers like Netflix, the theatrical experience gained a fresh set of eyes.
The decade proved to be a strong one, even with the superhero industrial complex reigning supreme and eating up theatrical dollars. Visionaries like Wes Anderson and Barry Jenkins created instant classics. The film industry will continue to evolve, and with an ever-expanding release cycle, there’s hope more voices will get to tell and have ownership of their stories.
An unparalleled film experiment that was 13 years in the making, Richard Linklater’s greatest attempt at making the slow passage of time tangible and seen on screen,Boyhoodis an ambitious epic, tracing the life of a boy becoming a man. While also expanding to create heartbreaking insights into troubled relationships, divorce, and the hardships of moving on from parenthood — with two brilliant performances from Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke — Linklater’s script continued to evolve around its unknown star Ellar Coltrane as he aged, creating a beautiful look at growing up.
Related:These are Richard Linklater’s Best Films
9Margaret (Director’s Cut)
A mastersprawl of New Yorkand the depiction of dealing with the aftermath of trauma — a fitting allegory for the individual in the wake of a disaster like 9/11 —Margaretis another genius script from playwright Kenneth Lonergan. Focusing on the hectic life of Margaret (a brilliant Anna Paquin), who witnesses an automobile accident where a woman loses her leg and bleeds out, the rest of the movie is about the death spiral of trying to make sense of why and how this happened. Not only how to deal with death spilling into your most intimate relationships, but how trying to make sense of something doesn’t always work out. We try tirelessly to find resolve in despair, but in some instances, that may never come.
8The Wolf of Wall Street
When tackling the most corruptible people, Martin Scorsese decided the only way to do it would be a farce and tapped the mighty pen ofTheSopranosandBoardwalk Empirescribe, Terrence Winter. Teaming up again with his superstar muse, Scorsese surrounded Leonardo DiCaprio inThe Wolf of Wall Streetwith an ensemble that could match his high energy with improvisational comedy. There were no betters options in the supporting roles than Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, and Matthew McConaughey. The team-up of DiCaprio and Hill as the two scam artists that ripped off millions of Americans as they rose to the top of the Wall Street ladder was despicable but incredibly watchable. Scorsese always knows how to lean into how appealing and fun a gangster lifestyle is, but always reminds his audience that the bad guys never make it out on top.
7Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood
One of the unique entry points for Quentin Tarantino’s filmography is his historical knowledge of art and his commentary on the history of not only the film industry but its genres. Often — as he did withInglorious Basterds— Tarantino will attempt to rewrite history. In his epic, freewheeling ode to old Hollywood,Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, he does just that. Peering through the eyes of two of his great characters, he creates a superstar tandem of Leonard DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. Both playing washed-up reptiles of a changing industry. But, with the Manson murders lingering in the background, he erases the violent tragedies caused by the cult murder spree and creates a fairytale of mythic proportions. While also delivering a redemptive arc for Rick Dalton, as he fumesover whiskey soursand B-Movie screw-ups.
Spike Jonze’s affinity early in his career for Charlie Kaufman made him the perfect artist to scribe another heartfelt piece of obscure, weird, and humanely felt romantics. Dialing in on our overgrowing technological advancements,Herenvisions a world in which the loneliness of modern times could lead man to fall in love with the voice of artificial intelligence. With Joaquin Phoenix embracing the goofy side of his charisma as Theodore Twombly, the lonely writer, and Scarlett Johanson’s romantic voice of the program named Samantha. The film is an uncanny but endearing love-infused journey.
5The Social Network
Master of the puzzle, director David Fincher took an excellent script fromWest Wingcreator Aaron Sorkin to explore the comeuppance and success of Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to endless wealth.The Social Networkexplores the nebbish genius and ego of Facebook’s creator. How his upward climb to billions of dollars also came at the expense of burning bridges with his closest friends and how he ultimately paid out of pocket for damages and lies while still keeping his empire. Jesse Eisenberg does career-best work as the singular-minded psychopath, while Fincher does the unthinkable, making random computer coding seem exciting and tense.
Related:Best American Screenplays of the 2000s, Ranked
4The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson is one of the industry’s best visual stylists and pop-art aestheticians. His film’s precise visual nature and quirky comic guile attribute a signature style that allows you to identify one of his films immediately. WithThe Grand Budapest Hotel, he had a larger canvas to paint and wrote one of the most heartfelt screenplays in his tight filmography. Centering the story on the adventures of a world-renowned concierge Monsieur Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), working between the two World Wars, as he fights for his will of life and also to clear his name after being framed for murder. All of the misadventures and fun come to a crushing blow with the ires of European Fascism on the rise, creeping into everyday life. Anderson’s film has a tremendous heart for humanity, but is acutely aware that civilization is nearly always on the brink of collapse.
3First Reformed
A film that gets more relevant with every passing day,First Reformedis Paul Schrader’s God’s lonely man complex manifest and one of the best films addressing the anxiety surrounding the climate crisis. As a priest — in a career-bestperformance from Ethan Hawke— already struggling with his faith and the mockery made of his parish. Hawke fails to counsel a depressed war veteran who takes his own life because he feels crippled by a hopeless future due to the planet’s irreversible destruction. Hawke then takes it upon himself to carry the burden of environmental terrorism and begins a slow dive into the abyss of doing something he feels is greater than him. It’s a lonely, solitary walk towards transcendence and the best film Schrader has ever made, even garnering an Oscar Nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
One of the great debuts of the 2010s came from an unlikely source. Comedian Jordan Peele showed with his first filmGet Outthat he had a vision far exceeding the grasp of his previous sketch comedy show outing that lasted five seasons. A micro-budgeted horror from the studio of Jason Blum,Get Outwas a horror film about the racist microaggressions of white America. With a genius plot design that proved Daniel Kaluuya is one of the finest actors working today as he battled overly-liberal fetishists who wanted to steal his soul for his body. The film was scary as it was instantly rewatchable, earning Peele an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
1Moonlight
Hailed as a masterpiece upon release, which led to ashocking Oscars momentin whichMoonlight— a film about a young, gay Black kid — won Best Picture. Barry Jenkins’s script is based on the play from Tarell Alvin McCraney, “In The Night, Black Boys Look Blue”. Jenkins painted a vivid triptych about the life of a young Chiron (Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert) as he comes of age in Miami. It’s a beautiful tone poem that paints the hardships of coming of age in a neighborhood ravaged by crack, but also finds beauty and pain in becoming yourself. It’s a story triggered by traumatic violence and puts Chiron on a heartbreaking trajectory before finding love.
