We’re already past the half way mark of the year (where does time go?) and in that time we’ve seen a fair share of great films being released. Of course, there’s still a long way to go before the year ends, and that means a lot of fresh movies coming at us towards the later months, especially with all the Oscar-buzzy stuff. There has been a lot of very good releases, ranging from genre and blockbuster fare to more international art house. At his point has to be noted that I haven’t had the chance to see many of the most acclaimed films of the year, and that includes: “First Ordered” (Paul Schrader), “Leave no Trace” (Debra Granik), “Let the Sunshine In” (Claire Denis), “Sorry to Bother You” (Boots Riley), Cannes stuff like “BlacKkKlansman” (Spike Lee), “The Image Book” (Jean-Luc Godard) or Kiarostami’s final film “24 Frames”, and my biggest regret of all, “The Incredibles 2” (here in Germany it premieres in September!). But now I want to talk about these 10 films that I did see and explain why I think they are the best so far.

10. Foreboding (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

One of the first films on this list that premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year and seem to have sadly flown off the radar, so here I am not wanting to see that happen. This japanese science fiction takes a so called high concept approach but infuses it with great ideas and surprising humanity. It tells the story of an alien infiltration into the Earth as they seek to rob humans of their conceptions and a young woman who starts figuring out what the actual hell is going on. Its inventive, tensely built and very well acted. Not everything works perfectly, there are a few scenes here and there that seem to kind of fall off the narrative, but the overall picture is very good and thought-provoking.

9. The Real Estate (Axel Petersen, Mans Mansson)

Another Berlinale film that hasn’t made much noise since its premiere at the festival. This swedish comedy-drama balances real compelling characters with absurdist humor and the result is a whimsical tale about a elderly woman who won’t give up without a fight as she comes head to head with her brother and her nephew after inheriting a building from her late father. Leonore Ekstrand gives a wonderful central performance as the woman in question, a real tour de force for a relative unknown, especially if you consider her age. Witty, naturalistic and boasting a great soundtrack, “The Real Estate” is a pretty solid feature.

8. Unsane (Steven Soderberg)

The great Steven Soderberg is back with a psychological thriller, and the greatest twist is that it was shot with an iPhone! It focuses on Sawyer, played by Claire Foy, who is locked away in a mental institution against her will, and there’s a chance that the man that’s been stalking her for the past few years may work there. Soderberg constructs a very suspensful and thrilling ride that holds your attention until the end. The aesthetic looks a bit off at first because of how this movie was shot, but after a while it settles in and ultimately amps the feeling of insanity. There are a few plot points that could have been better developed, so that when the big pay-off of that story thread comes it can be all the more satisfying. Regardless, a very well crafted psychological thriller.

7. Invasion (Shahram Mokri)

I promise this is the last of the Berlinale hidden gems, but this one truly fits the definition. A bold exercise in ever increasing tension and a great example on how to slowly feed information for the audience, all shot in one single take through a labyrinthine landscape. The film concerns the reconstruction of a crime inside a stadium as the captain of a local sports team has been murdered, but as the plot develops we slowly realize that the setting is home for something more sinister. Its a genre flick, but its given the art house treatment by up and coming iranian director Sharahm Mokri.

6. A Quiet Place (John Krasinski)

John Krasinski’s directorial debut is a very well crafted mixture of monster film and family film, as weird as that may sound. He himself stars as the father of the Abott family, as they try to survive in a post-apocalyptic world after some creatures extremely sensitive to hearing suddenly appeared and started killing everybody. The film has some great moments of horror and the creatures are just horrifying, but the film succeeds in the first place because it nails the family aspect. Emily Blunt give an excellent performance as the mother, and kid actors Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe are great in their roles too. It takes a pretty inventive idea and makes a horror scenario out of it, but it never forgets where the esence really lies.

5. You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)

A film that premiered back at last year’s Cannes film festival, then went back to post-production and ended up being released earlier this year. The movie follows Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), an army veteran that’s slowly losing his mind, as he tries to rescue a little girl from a child prostitution ring. If that description reminds you of Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” that’s because they really are similar. We can see it simply as this is Ramsay updating Scorsese’s classic, but she does deliver her very own vision. Its based on a book by Jonathan Ames, but Ramsay lays the focus on the psychology of her main character and his self-destructive behaviour. Phoenix gives one of the best perfromances of the year and I would certainly like to see him in award contention, but due to the early release I seriously doubt it.

4. Annihilation (Alex Garland)

Natalie Portman stars in Alex Garland’s brainy sci fi follow up to his last brainy sci fi outing. She stars as Lena, a biologist who ventures into an area known as the Shimmer, a place where the laws of physics don’t behave the way we’d expect, looking for answers to what had happened to her husband (Oscar Isaacs), who had gone in a mission into the Shimmer and mysteriously came home physically ill. It carries the influence of many science fiction classics like the original “Alien” and Tarkovsky’s “Stalker”, but Garland really manages to tell a unique story that leaves plenty of room for interpretation. Its visually stunning and boasts plenty of thought-provoking ideas. If you want to read my full review for this film you can click here.

3. The Death of Stalin (Armando Ianucci)

This historical-political satire expores exactly that which the title advertises. It follows a group of high ranking bourocrats of the soviet union as they try to come to terms and figure out what to do next after the passing of their beloved leader. It gained notoriety following a ban by Russia and other nations of the region for its depiction of post-Stalin Soviet Union. The film does contain its fair share of historical inaccuracies, but the reorganization and reimagination of certain events helps create a cohesive, dramatic picture – some even say that much of the real madness had to be toned down. The ensemble cast does an excellent job at each of the parts, the standout being probably being Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev. Outrageously funny, greatly acted and very entertaining, “The Death of Stalin” is what every political satire should at least aim for.

2. Hereditary (Ari Aster)

Another horror movie on this list, but this one is definitely my favorite one this year. I’ve said it before: mainstream horror is going through a revival in form. “Hereditary” tells the story of the Graham family after the death of Ellen, mother of Annie (Toni Collette) and grandmother to Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro); Gabriel Byrne rounds up the cast as Steve, the father. It is clear that Ellen kept lots of secrets from her family, and as these start to unveal we realize there’s much more going on under the surface. The horror element of this one are great, there are some pretty disturbing sequences in the mix, but it also resonates on a more thematic level. It touches upon grief, loss and mental illness, but never forgets to deliver on the horror aspect. Toni Collette delivers the performance of a life time. It does go into jump scare territory once in a while, and at points relies a little too much on expositional dialogue, but every other aspect works so well that it’s near the top of this list.

1. Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson)

Wes Anderson’s magically animated adventure still tops my list as of now. The story about a future in which after an outbreak of canine flue Japan vanishes the infected dogs into an island of garbage, and the boy who flies out there to find his beloved dog. Filled with Anderson’s characteristic humor and visual prowess, the film not presents an entertaining and compelling narrative with nifty animated style while tackling political themes that relate to our present day. Everybody in the voice cast does an excellent job regardless of language. All the characters are compellingly constructed and make you invest in the story, sometimes even doing something completely unexpected. Its a great feature, and while I don’t think it will remain at the top of my list by the end of the year (or by the end of the summer), but for now it’s been my favorite. If you want to read my complete review on this movie you can click here.

And those are the movies that in my opinion have been the best of the year as of today, 5th of July. I will keep adding and rearranging films on this list, with the so many great films that have already been released and are waiting to be seen, not to mention the ones that are still on this year’s release calendar. Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this list. You could be of big help if you could share this with your friends and family. And if you want to stay up to date with the content of this blog don’t forget to follow. Until next time!