Critics’ Picks: The 10 Best Films of 2018 at the Midpoint
From a long-awaited Pixar sequel to a new horror classic, an indie drama about a boy and his horse to a French rom-com starring Juliette Binoche, here are THR film critics’ favorites from the first half of the year (in alphabetical order). Annihilation Alex Garland’s follow-up to Ex Machina is a scary, beautiful, female-centric update […]
From a long-awaited Pixar sequel to a new horror classic, an indie drama about a boy and his horse to a French rom-com starring Juliette Binoche, here are THR film critics’ favorites from the first half of the year (in alphabetical order).
Annihilation
Alex Garland’s follow-up to Ex Machina is a scary, beautiful, female-centric update of monster classics like The Thing and Alien, with a strong Natalie Portman as a scientist investigating the cause of mysterious deaths in a Florida forest. – Todd McCarthy
Beast
First-feature director Michael Pearce takes tired tropes and fashions something fresh, fierce and striking in this atmospheric British thriller about a young woman drawn to an enigmatic outsider (fabulous newcomers Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn). – Leslie Felperin
Black Panther
With intensity and invention, freshness and brio, Ryan Coogler delivers a fine superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character, starring Chadwick Boseman and boosted by a spirited supporting ensemble including Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya and Danai Gurira. – T.M.
En El Septimo Dia
Our Song director Jim McKay’s first feature in a dozen years is a Brooklyn-set comedy about a group of Mexican immigrants, their jobs and, not least, their soccer team. It’s a neorealist marvel and proof that McKay’s gifts are as vital as ever. – Sheri Linden
Hereditary
A superb Toni Collette plays a mother left grappling with a terrifying legacy following the family matriarch’s death in writer-director Ari Aster’s breathless and riveting horror debut, the most effective domestic chiller since The Conjuring and The Babadook. – David Rooney
Incredibles 2
Boosted by central characters that remain vastly engaging and a deep supply of wit, Brad Bird’s sequel to his 2004 Pixar hit certainly proves worth the wait, offering plenty of crackling entertainment value for viewers from 5 to 95. – T.M.
Lean on Pete
Charlie Plummer gives a breakout performance as an at-risk Oregon teen whose yearning for family and devotion to a horse propel him on a frontier odyssey in 45 Years director Andrew Haigh’s lovely, compassionate, naturalistically observed tale. – D.R.
Leave No Trace
Directed by Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone), this drama about the widening rift between a woods-dwelling vet and his teen daughter (a beautifully matched Ben Foster and Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) is a model of unshowy intelligence and emotion. – Jon Frosch
Let the Sunshine In
Starring a moody, moving Juliette Binoche as a 50-something artist who has a hard time getting what she wants romantically, French filmmaker Claire Denis’ latest is funny, light on its feet and perceptive about complicated lives and relationships. – Jordan Mintzer
The Rider
A small, acutely observed portrait of lives on the windswept badlands in South Dakota, Chloe Zhao’s beautiful gem of a drama focuses on a young cowboy (Brady Jandreau) whose future as a rodeo rider is jeopardized by a head injury. – T.M.
Source: THR.com