The Best Movies of the 2010s

By Tom Pacak

This list is easily the hardest movie-ranking list I’ve had to do. It requires a lot of movie watching from the past ten years and it’s so hard to choose when there were so many mind-blowing movies that came out. The 2010s in cinema really helped paint a broad picture of who we are today. These films gave a different light to ideas that are both old and new. The ten films on my list are not only important now but will be remembered in the upcoming years. Without further ado, here are my favorite movies of the 2010s.

1. The Social Network (2010): “The Social Network” is the best movie of the decade. No film defined the 2010s more accurately than David Fincher’s brilliant biopic. Since its inception, Facebook has changed expeditiously over the years. Some cases for the better and some cases for the worst. It has helped connect people who haven’t seen each other in years and has also divided us when discussing political issues.

Aaron’s Sorkin’s firecracker script and Fincher’s pitch-perfect directing gave us a thought-provoking look at the start of Facebook and the many lawsuits Mark Zuckerberg had to endure. The film opens with Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) getting dumped by his girlfriend (Rooney Mara) for being too unattached and having a bad case of narcissistic personality disorder. After this, a light bulb lit up in Zuckerberg’s head to start a hot-or-not type website that compares the attractiveness of women at Harvard. From there, Zuckerberg and his friend Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) started building off the idea and came up with a website (Facebook) that connects old friends and even lets people know the relationship status of other students.

The best thing about “The Social Network” is how Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher were able to make a movie about the launch of a social media website so exciting. I swear if any other director/writer tried it would flop. Balancing off their strengths, Sorkin and Fincher crafted a great movie that not only shows the dangers of business but also a film that defines our generation. The ending shot closes in on Zuckerberg alone at his computer, repeatedly hitting the refresh button after friend requesting his ex-girlfriend. This shows that we are still the same people who rely on the likes we get on Facebook. It has made us less social in real life. “The Social Network” defined this past decade and showed us that the likes and approval we seek aren't going anywhere.

2. Manchester by the Sea (2016): Kenneth Lonergan is a writer who isn’t concerned about the result but is more concerned about the process. In his 2016 blue-collar masterpiece “Manchester by the Sea” that process is grief. Kenneth Lonergan fills this movie with sadness and hope. Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) has gone through hell. His brother (Kyle Chandler) died of a heart attack and Lee must come back to take care of his brother's son (Lucas Hedges in a great breakout role). Tragedy has hit Lee before and returning to the place that changed his life forever is almost impossible to him.

Kenneth Lonergan understands the grief process more than anybody. He knows that people shouldn’t suffer over an unforgivable tragedy but also some people just don’t get over that tragedy. Casey Affleck gave an Oscar-winning performance capturing Lonergan’s philosophy. It becomes a challenge for the viewer to have empathy for Lee after learning what he did. Affleck’s acting makes you care that this loner eventually forgives himself for what he did and doesn’t live in self-loathing. The ending shows us that Lee will have hard days but he still has a chance at redemption. I hope Lee forgives himself someday.

3. Get Out (2017): If there’s one very highpoint of the 2010s, it’s the rise of new directors. My favorite directorial debut film was Jordan Peele’s social thriller “Get Out.” Known for comedy, Jordan Peele showed us some old tricks and new ones in his debut as a horror director. Jordan Peele’s monster of choice isn’t serial killers, zombies, or ghosts; it’s out of touch white liberals! Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), is a black man dating a white woman named Rose Armitage (a creepy Allison Williams). Visiting her family for the weekend, Chris immediately senses something is off. In one of the most iconic lines in the film, Rose’s dad (Bradley Whitford) tells Chris “I would have voted for Obama for a third term.” As the film digs deeper, Chris discovers a secret that will keep him stuck with the Armitage family forever if he doesn’t leave the house.

Social horror flicks have been around since the beginning of time. ‘Night of the Living Dead” was about race in America. “Get Out” succeeds in poking fun at white people who like making black culture about them. If there’s one new director who I’m looking forward to watching in the 2020s, it’s definitely Jordan Peele. His new signature style of being funny while poking fun at social issues is something I can’t get enough of.

4. Call Me By Your Name (2017): One movie that has moved me since its release is Luca Guadagnino’s LGBTQ film “Call Me By Your Name.” Set in 1980s Northern Italy; Elio Perlman is an intelligent teen living with his loving parents. Elio's father (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a professor who hires a handsome grad student named Oliver (Armie Hammer) to help with some research projects. Some friction starts between the two as Elio tests his sexuality to see if he actually likes Oliver. Then, the two start to test each other's patience by playing mind games to make the other jealous.

"Call Me By Your Name" is the recent LGBTQ film to be added in the collection of great films such as "Brokeback Mountain" and Best Picture winner "Moonlight." What sets this film different from these masterpieces is that it wants us to explore what we want in a romance and to take risks. In the film’s best scene, Elio’s father gives his son a beautiful and timely monologue about how one must embrace the painfulness of parting ways to really start fresh with another romantic partner. It’s a monologue that will be studied in film classes for years.

5. The Master (2012): It wouldn’t be the best movies of the decade list without some Paul Thomas Anderson. He’s a rockstar! My favorite movie director of all time. His work just resonates with me. His 2012 period piece “The Master” frustrated audiences back when it was released. It’s a film I still struggle with understanding. A film I have to return to every now and then to fully understand its purpose. It’s a film that’s supposed to be watched multiple times and talked about with peers.

The film center around a damaged and anti-social World War II veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix). He is violent, rude, gross, and even accidentally poisons a local farmer. One night he comes across a yacht hosting a famous cult known as “The Cause.” The leader Lancaster Dodd (the late and always great Philip Seymour Hoffman) immediately likes Freddie and wants him apart of his movement. The film wants you to question who the master is? Is it Freddie? A man with no plan but has the ultimate freedom of choosing his own path. Or the leader Lancaster?

What’s really sad about this film is that it was one of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last roles and also his last Oscar nomination. It’s truly melancholy thinking about what a great talent he was and realizing he could have starred in any movie today and make it ten times better. Good or bad movies, he always brought his A-game on set and took acting very seriously. There isn’t any other actor out there like him!

6. Roma (2018): Director Alfonso Cuaron puts passion in every frame in this poetic story about a family growing up in Mexico City during the 1970s. This is the film Cuaron was born to make. He shows the importance of being a single parent and how the social workers he grew up with helped shaped who he is as an artist and person. It’s a film that makes you really appreciate your surroundings whether big or small.

“Roma” is also a landmark film due to it being the first big movie from Netflix to win major Oscars. Many directors have followed Cuaron’s lead by taking their big projects to Netflix. Streaming is changing the way we watch movies and I can’t wait to see what other directors follow in Cuaron’s footsteps.

7. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): My favorite action movie of the 2010s was George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.” It’s a film with a gigantic landscape and could have been a failure. To be honest, I didn’t watch the previous Mad Max films going into “Fury Road” and didn’t know what to expect. Walking out of “Fury Road,” I was blown away by how just awesome and weird this movie is. It’s one of those rare sequels where you don’t need to watch the previous films to truly appreciate its brilliance.

8. Phantom Thread (2017): The second Paul Thomas Anderson film on this list is also the funniest movie of his career. I love how PTA was able to make this stylish period piece about a narcissistic dress designer a screwball comedy in disguise. Throughout the movie, Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) constantly puts his new mistress, Alma (Vicky Krieps) through relationship hell. He constantly ridicules her for putting butter on his asparagus (he likes oil and salt) and interrupting his dressmaking sessions. “The tea is going out, the interruption is staying right here with me” is my favorite line in the film!

While also being funny, PTA can continue his streak of telling stories about lonely people who really need connection in their life. Despite being a bully, Reynolds is a man who truly needs Alma in his life and she needs him. Reynolds is a man who needs to be down in the dumps to feel loved.

9. Whiplash (2014): “Whiplash” is a movie that came out when I was desperately trying to accomplish something in my craft of swimming. Luckily, it’s a film about the art of perfection and reaching peak performance. Damien Chazelle’s “Whiplash” is one of the reasons I was able to go to states in swimming during my senior year of high school. Without it, I don’t think I would be able to accomplish as much as I did. That last scene of Andrew (Miles Teller) just banging his drums was going off in my head every race that year.

The film is also about the dangers of perfection and how a big ego can destroy the relationships around you. The brutal drill instructor Fletcher (Oscar Winning J.K. Simmons) is unforgivable for what he puts his students through but Andrew is no better. Andrew has a big ego and tends to put others around him down like Fletcher does. He dismisses his brother’s football record due to it being from a smaller division and even breaks up with his girlfriend to pursue his craft. “Whiplash” is a motivational film (especially the ending) but also a cautionary tale about the dangers of being too big to realize the people around you actually care.

10. Hereditary (2018): “Hereditary” is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. No movie experience tops seeing this literal nightmare in a theater by myself on a gloomy Monday afternoon. I walked out of this movie feeling like I got hit in the face by a brick.

Toni Collette gives career-best work as the mother Annie, a damaged mother who is forced to connect with her family’s past when a recent loss starts to haunt her. What makes “Hereditary” so scary is how newcomer Ari Aster can instill fear in us by making the family so miserable. You also low-key feel for the Grahams even though they're trapped when the movie starts. “Hereditary” is a movie I’ll never forget and one that will always creep me out.

Honorable Mentions (Alphabetical order):

1. 12 Years a Slave (2013)