10. Phoenix
Phoenix (2014)
Directed by Christian Petzold. With Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Nina Kunzendorf, Trystan Pütter. A disfigured Holocaust survivor sets out to determine if the man she loved betrayed her trust.
9. Carol
Carol (2015)
Directed by Todd Haynes. With Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Kyle Chandler. An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York.
8. Room
Room (2015)
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson. With Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Wendy Crewson. A young boy is raised within the confines of a small shed.
7. These Final Hours
These Final Hours (2013)
Directed by Zak Hilditch. With Jessica De Gouw, Nathan Phillips, David Field, Lauren Cleary. A self-obsessed young man makes his way to the party-to-end-all-parties on the last day on Earth, but ends up saving the life of a little girl searching for her father. Their relationship ultimately leads him on the path to redemption.
6. It Follows
It Follows (2014)
Directed by David Robert Mitchell. With Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe. A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.
5. Cop Car
Cop Car (2015)
Directed by Jon Watts. With Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Shea Whigham. A small-town sheriff sets out to find the two kids who have taken his car on a joy ride.
4. What We Do in the Shadows
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Directed by Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi. With Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Jonny Brugh. A documentary team films the lives of a group of vampires for a few months. The vampires share a house in Wellington, New Zealand. Turns out vampires have their own domestic problems too.
3. Love & Mercy
Love & Mercy (2014)
Directed by Bill Pohlad. With John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti. In the 1960s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 1980s, he is a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of shady therapist Dr. Eugene Landy.
2. The Big Short
The Big Short (2015)
Directed by Adam McKay. With Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt. Four denizens in the world of high-finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight.
1. Sicario
Sicario (2015)
Directed by Denis Villeneuve. With Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal. An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
Honorable Mention:
The Revenant
The Revenant (2015)
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson. A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
Inside Out
Inside Out (2015)
Directed by Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen. With Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling. After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.
Z for Zachariah
Z for Zachariah (2015)
Directed by Craig Zobel. With Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, Margot Robbie. In the wake of a disaster that wipes out most of civilization, two men and a young woman find themselves in an emotionally charged love triangle as the last known survivors.
Amy
Amy (2015)
Directed by Asif Kapadia. With Amy Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Russell Brand. Archival footage and personal testimonials present an intimate portrait of the life and career of British singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse.
Straight Outta Compton
Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Directed by F. Gary Gray. With O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr.. The group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.