Best movies of 2019: The Irishman, Parasite and Midsommar among the year's instant classics

Now that's how you close out a decade.

From around the world established names in cinema and new voices alike brought their A-game throughout 2019. We were stunned time and again by the grand and the intimate, the joyful and the tragic, the stories inspired by truth and the most inventive flights of fantasy the imagination could conjure.

All told, this was a year at the movies we'll be thinking about for a long time to come. Here are the 10 best films of 2019, according to USA TODAY NETWORK features reporter Alex Biese.

1. 'Midsommar' (Director's Cut)

This is a film that cuts down to the soul. With "Midsommar," writer/director Ari Aster cements his place as one of his generation's essential cinematic storytellers, crafting something profoundly unshakeable.

After making a splash last year with the stunning and shocking debut "Hereditary," Aster doubles down with something that is at once grander in scope and far more intimate in its perspective.

[ Make sure you don't miss a thing by buying a digital subscription to APP.com and downloading our mobile app today. ]

Florence Pugh (in the midst of a banner year that included the pro wrestling comedy "Fighting with my Family" and Greta Gerwig's retelling of "Little Women") stuns as a young woman who, following a heartbreaking family trauma, travels with her boyfriend and his friends to an isolated community in rural Sweden in time for a seasonal festival.

What to watch: A guide to streaming classic Christmas movies on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu and Disney+

Riffing on classic works of daylight horror such as "The Wicker Man" (1973) and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974), Aster utilizes a classic genre form to merciless effect as he unflinchingly examines myriad ways our society fails people experiencing grief.

The film's epic director's cut (two hours and 51 minutes, as opposed to the original cut's two hours and 27 minutes) lets the terror and psychological isolation of personal pain sink in to an astounding effect. This is a remarkably unsettling work of art, precisely because it feels so emotionally true.

[ The trusted place to find the best home service providers. Find local pros. ]

2. 'Parasite'

"Parasite" is one of the most acclaimed films of the year, even capturing the prestigious Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival this spring.

"Parasite" is one of the biggest hits of the year, with the South Korean film grossing more money in the United States than any other foreign language movie in 2019.

"Parasite" is one of the hardest films to talk about in any amount of detail without giving too much of the game away.

From director Bong Joon-ho, the film is at once a scathing work of social and economic commentary, a pitch-black comedy and an edge-of-your-seat thriller that would make Hitchcock nervous.

In short, this is a film you need to see for yourself as soon as possible.

3. 'Promare'

You've never experienced a film like "Promare."

With this film — the debut feature from Studio TRIGGER, the folks behind acclaimed anime series including "KILL la KILL" and "Little Witch Academia" — director Hiroyuki Imaishi has created a stunning masterpiece of sound and vision, a testament to the unrivaled power of animation.

Blending action, science-fiction and fantasy, the film is set in a world where the existence of fire-wielding beings known as Burnish has re-shaped society. From that starting point, Imaishi spins a relentlessly inventive, remarkably propulsive saga.

Drawing on everything from vaporwave subculture to Imaishi's time as an animator on the massively influential mid-'90s anime series "Neon Genesis Evangelion," "Promare" is a remarkably wild ride and a promise of great things to come. If Studio TRIGGER can mash up this many components to create a singularly entertaining vision like this, we can't wait to see what they come up with next.

4. 'Pain and Glory'

After eight films together spanning nearly 40 years, star Antonio Banderas and writer/director Pedro Almodovar are still finding ways to shake us to our core.

"Pain and Glory" finds Banderas as Salvador Mallo, an acclaimed Spanish filmmaker grappling with physical, mental and emotional pains while coming to terms with memories from his tumultuous childhood.

While the film feels aesthetically sparse (for Almodovar, at least), it digs deep to create a swirling memory play of longing and regret. As Mallo, we see Banderas doing the crucial work of understanding his yesterdays, learning how they inform today and deciding what that means for tomorrow. Yes, there is a lot of pain involved, but the rewards can be glorious.

5. 'The Irishman'

Yes, Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" is long; at three and a half hours, runners could qualify for the New York City Marathon and still have time to get back on the couch before the ending credits start rolling and Netflix suggests something to turn on next.

And sure, the film's historical accuracy is debatable, as Robert De Niro's Frank Sheeran makes his way through the organized crime and labor union worlds of the 20th century like a blood-splattered Forrest Gump.

But the cumulative effect of the film's particular movie magic is undeniable, and that last hour is an emotional sledgehammer. In stark, bleak fashion, Scorsese and De Niro present us with the toweringly pathetic creation of Sheeran — a man who spends decades watching those around him die as the mortality is interrupted by bread, wine and conversations where nothing and everything is said in as few words as possible.

Sheeran and his "Irishman" saga feel like something Scorsese has been building to for his entire storied career, laying out the classic themes of crime, loyalty and guilt in the most explicit terms imaginable.

6. 'Alita: Battle Angel'

Texas visionary filmmaker Robert Rodriguez has always played remarkably well with others. He and Quentin Tarantino pushed each other to retro extremes in the grimy-but-delightful "Grindhouse" (2007), while his partnership with Frank Miller on "Sin City" (2005) resulted in a singular achievement of comic book adaptation.

It should be no surprise that he soared with the remarkably vigorous sci-fi offering "Alita: Battle Angel." With Oscar-winner James Cameron on co-writer and co-producer dues, their adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's manga series is simply awesome.

A pulpy adventure involving cyborgs, bounty hunters and off-world floating cities populated by the 1 percent, "Alita" blends terrific action, unsubtle political messaging and stunning effects to remarkably fun results.

7. 'Hustlers'

New Jersey auteur Lorene Scafaria's adaptation of Jessica Pressler's 2015 New York Magazine piece "The Hustlers at Scores," "Hustlers" is a rich piece of true crime storytelling that touches on universal themes of gender, economic disparity and class conflict.

It's also one of the most ruthlessly entertaining, fully-realized works of pop art we've seen in a long time.

Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu set the screen ablaze with captivating, nuanced performances as they lead a crew of strippers against Wall Street power players in the wake of the 2008 stock market crash.

As a storyteller, Scafaria charts the rise and fall of this criminal enterprise with panache and empathy, exploring the motivations of her players while never excusing them. She previously wrote and directed "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" (2012) and "The Meddler" (2015), but "Hustlers" serves as a must-see showcase for Scafaria as an essential filmmaker.

8. 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'

This is a film only Quentin Tarantino could make, an inventive amble through America's cultural past.

While there are bursts of extreme, unsettling violence — the Manson Family, after all, are key players in the proceedings — "Hollywood" also stands as the most luxurious, laid-back offering of Tarantino's nearly-30-year career.

At nearly three hours he lets the retro cool aesthetic soak in and couples it with a pair of lead performances (Leonardo DiCaprio as a fading star, Brad Pitt as his loyal stuntman) that are the best work either actor has ever committed to film.

9. 'Dolemite is My Name!'

Welcome back, Eddie Murphy.

The iconic comedian and actor delivers the performance of his life in the terrifically entertaining Netflix original "Dolemie is My Name!"

Murphy stars as Rudy Ray Moore, the D.I.Y. singer, comedian and actor who found cult fame through his underground blaxploitation classic "Dolemite" (1975).

Director Craig Brewer's film charts Moore's unlikely rise to cultural icon, centered around the filming of the Moore's classic-to-be. This will be familiar territory for fans of 1994's "Ed Wood" and 2017's "The Disaster Artist" ("Dolemite is My Name" screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski also wrote the former), but the film soars as a profanity-laden tribute to both Moore and Murphy.

10. 'Blinded by the Light'

This is a film the world needs. In recent years, the concept of fandom has turned toxic, with people using their enjoyment of a given property as an excuse to fight, attack, belittle and isolate.

It doesn't have to be that way, and "Blinded by the Light" is loud, clear, joyous proof of that. Director Gurinder Chadha has instead crafted a loving testament to the way the things we love can transcend boundaries like race, age, gender and nationality to bring us all closer together.

'No one told me that was going to happen!': Bruce Springsteen attends 'Blinded by the Light' Asbury Park premiere

Adapting Sarfraz Manzoor's memoir "Greetings from Bury Park," "Blinded by the Light" is the uplifting story of a Pakistanki boy growing up in mid-'80 England who finds hope, inspiration and courage through the music of Bruce Springsteen.

Chadha brilliantly captures the populist message at the core of so much of Springsteen's work, and created something that's essential viewing for everyone who's ever been a fan of anything, Springsteen included.