Christmas List of the 50 Best 2020 Movies

Merry Christmas! I got a present for all of you movie fanatics out there. I know, I love you too. Today, I’ve pulled together the top fifty movies I’ve written about here on THiNC. Think of it another way… there’s no way you’ve seen all fifty of these movies. So, yeah! It’s a movie party watch list. And – just for example’s sake… if you’ve never had the chance to watch any of the movies on this list, that’s like 110 hours of movie watching excellence. Better yet, further down this list, I’ve given you my favorite 10 out of this list, so you know where to start to make REAL headway the most important of these 50 films and shows.

To be clear – these are the 50 most read posts from THiNC. 2020 over the past calendar year. IE – only the posts I wrote about in 2020 made it to the list below. (But the number one post on this list, and on the site overall are the same. I’m serious when I say, literally anything having to do with Dark destroyed everything else on this site. My Dark Family Trees? Oh, my gosh. Set epic record after record this year. So, kudos to you Netflix. Dark is an unmitigated success. Heck, the top five posts I’ve ever written, of all time, all have to do with the show Dark. A few of the others that were huge on the site were Killing of a Sacred Deer, Forgotten, Buster’s Mal Heart, Circle, You Were Never Really Here, etc., etc.) And these are ranked solely by the sheer number of visitors. Which, literally just means… nothing. It means nothing. Maybe it might mean that these were the films that most confused viewers? Regardless, of it’s senselessness, this is an easy list to print out – and use as a watch checklist. Because there are a lot of great movies here.

And as I said, as a bonus – further down – I’ve given you my top 10 list of the year. Aka, my favorite movies that I had a chance to write about over the course of 2020. Yes, you are welcome.

50The Invisible Man
49Sightless
48Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
47The Old Guard
46Hippopotamus
45Possessor
44Freaky
43The Vast of Night
42Kajillionare 
41Volition
40The Host
39Brave New World
38The Queens Gambit
37Amulet
36Under the Shadow
35The Lighthouse
34Blow the Man Down
33Afflicted
32Red Lights
31Archive
30Devs
29Centigrade
28The Wanting Mare
27I’m Thinking of Ending Things
26Tales from the Loop
25You Should Have Left
24Relic
23Infinite Man
22The Lodge
21Coma
20Hidden
19The Devil All the Time
18Tenet
17Vivarium
16She Dies Tomorrow
15The Gentlemen
14Color Out of Space
13The Platform
12The Warning
11Little Joe
102067
9The Incident
8Revolver
7The Believer
6The Wave
5Artifact Lake
4Hippopotamus
31917
2Come to Daddy
1Dark Season 3 

See? Dang good list. 2020 wasn’t all bad. Surprisingly.

Now. As promised – I’ve also included below – my own personal top 10 favorite movies and tv shows of the year. I mean, of course, Dark is my number one favorite show of all time. Obviously, the conclusion of this series is the top of all movie lists forever and ever. So we will just remove that from the list. Because duh. So yeah, here we go, my own personal favorites of 2020 – take it for what it’s worth… but I’m sorry, it’s only for those that have signed up on Patreon. Jump in and get this content and a ton more (movie watch parties, chat server access, custom movie recommendations, etc., etc.)

[ppp_patron_only level=”1″]

10

The Queen’s Gambit the fact that the Queen’s Gambit only made it to the top 10 by the skin of its teeth? Yeah, that’s a testament to the quality of this list right here. Loved this show, specifically Anya Taylor Joy
9

ArchiveThis movie is a fun little closed box thriller with an ending that will mindjob you several times before it’s done with you. Literally, Archive, this film… is 100% what THiNC. is all about. Little films with huge ideas and clever surprises up its sleeve.
8

Color Out of SpaceWoah. Wow. First, this short story by H.P. Lovecraft is literally impossible to adapt to the screen. It’s undoable. Minus the fact that Richard Stanley just did it. Then there is Nic Cage. This was just a fantastic mind bender, hell on wheels of a movie.
7

The Invisible ManElisabeth Moss. End of story. It’s rare that sci-fi is graced with such brilliant acting talent as Moss brings to this modernized dime store idea. But it is the idea behind the idea that really grabbed me. The #MeToo implications – the lack of belief…
6

Come to DaddyElijah Wood brings his A-game to this crazy script. It’s a sorted tale of murder, double-crosses, corruption… and most importantly, a kid looking for the love of his father. Really, any father. But hopefully, eventually, his real father?
5

She Dies Tomorrow – I know many will disagree with my placement of She Dies Tomorrow so high on this list. But they will be wrong. Any movie that contends with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, has got to make it to the year’s best list.
4

Devs – this is a pretty easy one. Everyone that I have recommended Hulu’s series Devs (or Deus?) to has universally loved it. A show about developers creating a machine that debates the idea of Free Will and Determinism at a cosmic level? Yeah, sign me up.
3

The Wanting Mare – Written, Directed, Created by the wunderkind, Nicholas Ashe Bateman… this film just swims in atmosphere and glorious world building. I will keep going back to Whithren with or without sequels by Bateman. Just watched it again yesterday… mmm.
2

Kajillionare – Everything about Kajillionare knocked me completely out of my seat. This strange family. Their strange fixation on money. The daughter’s desperate need for love. And the glorious screenplay writing of that ending? Literally a perfect movie.
1

The Devil All the Time – Oh, please. Of course this is number one. Is there any other option? I loved it so much that I hunted down one of the screenplay authors in order to learn even more about this deliciously perfect film. Not a single bad thing can be said about this one.

[/ppp_patron_only]

Now, it’s your turn. What are your top 10 favorite films from the dumpster fire that is (soon to be was) 2020? Send me your top ten in the comments section. I’m serious. You either send us your top ten, or I’m going to hold this site hostage. You feelin’ me here? I’ll do it. You don’t think I will. But I will. And it’ll be ugly up in here. And people will cry. And you’ll soon regret that you were so mean and rude as to not share.

So OK? You got it? I just, altruistically, shared from the bottom of my heart. And now it’s your turn. You get to share now.

What are you waiting for? I’m confused.

As they say in England – Happy Christmas everybody!! And Merry New Year! Stay safe, and serpentine that Covid. SERPENTINE. Wear a mask, of course, but also… duck and weave. Serpentine. Got it? Great. Until next time.

Edited by: CY