The Best Films of 2017

Top 10 of the Year

1. Dunkirk	Christopher Nolan
2. Blade Runner 2049	Denis Villeneuve
3. Columbus	Kogonada
4. Phantom Thread	Paul Thomas Anderson
5. First Reformed	Paul Schrader
6. Call Me By Your Name	Luca Guadagnino
7. Good Time	The Safdie Brothers
8. The Shape of Water	Guillermo del Toro
9. You Were Never Really Here	Lynne Ramsay
10. Get Out	Jordan Peele

Best Film

Dunkirk. It is an intricate contraption of a film – a swiss watch with inner mechanisms that are so painstakingly in sync with each other that it looks effortless. Christopher Nolan’s best films always possess some brilliant mix of parallel editing and montages, but by stripping back conventional plotting to a minimum here he constructs a pure exercise in editing along the lines of Battleship Potemkin or Breathless. Like those cinematic landmarks, Dunkirk delivers a jolt of stylistic innovation, following three separate narrative strands set over a week, a day, and an hour leading up to the eventual evacuation. The effect is deliberately disorientating, jumping across multiple timelines that eventually meet at a single point in time, recalling the similarly climactic finale of D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance. Considering this along with Hoyte van Hoytema’s IMAX photography and Hans Zimmer’s distillation of a heart attack in the form of music, and you get an easy #1 film of 2017, as well as the #3 film of the decade.

Most Underrated

Columbus. I would almost say Blade Runner 2049 owns this category given its position at #20 of 2017 on the TPSDT list, but Koganada’s astonishing debut isn’t anywhere to be found on there at all. Hopefully this is rectified with time, perhaps as he continues to build his career and becomes a bigger name in the industry.

Most Overrated

Lady Bird. It hurts a little to call this one out, given how much it is a personal favourite. The screenplay and performances can’t be faulted, and Greta Gerwig has a wickedly sharp sense of humour. #4 of the decade is just too high though for something that refuses to engage with any visual aesthetic, and which doesn’t really pack a formal punch. Thankfully she would go on to prove she is capable of delivering both with 2019’s Little Women, where her artistic voice significantly matures.

Best Directorial Debut

Columbus. This is also a strong contender for the best debut of the decade as a whole. Koganada’s roots are in online video essays, so it is no surprise that he brings a considerable understanding of film theory and history to his work as a director. Given that Columbus is so architecture-focused, comparisons to Michelangelo Antonioni will naturally emerge, but it also shares Yasujirō Ozu’s fascination with hallways, windows, and doorways as frames, submerging his characters in a city that expresses the potential of human imagination as large, postmodern constructs.

Gem to Spotlight

A Ghost Story. David Lowery transforms the material world into a quiet limbo of poignant self-reflection in this philosophical drama, playing out a meditation on loss, history, and existence from the perspective of the deceased. He effectively translates the inert feeling of grief into a gradually accelerating narrative pace that sees time frustratingly slip away, moving from static shots which last several minutes into montages that start leaping decades and centuries ahead. Despite the title, the only horror to be found here is purely existential.

Best Male Performances

Ryan Gosling’s performance in Blade Runner 2049 is comparable to Rutger Hauer’s in the 1982 film, finding a human sensitivity within the cold stoicism of their replicant characters, but he also benefits from being given even greater screen time to work through his internal conflicts. The scene where he discovers the toy horse in the factory is simply a masterclass of silent acting, seeing his entire world turn upside down purely through his muted facial expressions that hold back an existential terror.

Ethan Hawke is next, subverting his romantic image from Richard Linklater’s films as the stern Reverend Toller in First Reformed. This is a typical Paul Schrader protagonist – introspective, weary, and highly intelligent, though Hawke puts his own highly-strung spin on this archetype as a religious figure slowly losing his faith and grip on reality.

Daniel Day-Lewis’ final film performance before retiring (we’ll see) stands among the best of his brilliant career, playing the perfectionistic fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock in Paul Thomas Anderson’s gorgeous period piece. Timothee Chalamet is in the same class in Call Me By Your Name – he is only 22 years old here, but he effectively sets himself on the road towards becoming one of the greatest actors of his generation. This is a coming-of-age drama that navigates transgressive territory, and Chalamet contains so much sensitivity and youthful idealism in his performance.

After freeing himself from the Twilight series, Robert Pattinson took risks by picking up more arthouse films, and it all pays off here in Good Time with his wide-eyed, highly-strung bank robber. Joaquin Phoenix plays a far more sympathetic antihero in You Were Never Really Here, packing on weight (just two years before he would shed it all again for Joker) and moving around like a mass of depressing, negative space.

Returning briefly to Blade Runner 2049, Harrison Ford returns to the role of Rick Deckard several decades later and outdoes his original performance, while Daniel Kaluuya owns virtually the entirety of Get Out. Finally, John Cho is a thoughtful, sensitive fit for Koganada’s gentle ruminations in Columbus.

Best Female Performances

It is not an overly strong year in this category. Sally Hawkins’ mute performance in The Shape of Water leaves everything up to her incredibly expressive face, playing out the complexities and nuances of this fairy tale heroine. Not far below her, Margot Robbie gives her single strongest performance in I, Tonya, nailing every single strained, unhinged eccentricity of the controversial sporting figure. Her scene in front of the mirror applying makeup as she tries to cover up her agony with a passionless show smile is incredible to watch. Lastly, Haley Lu Richardson makes real, heartfelt connection with John Cho in Columbus, and earns the final mention.

Best Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049

Film	Cinematographer
1. Blade Runner 2049	Roger Deakins
2. Dunkirk	Hoyte van Hoytema
3. Phantom Thread	Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Columbus	Elisha Christian
5. The Shape of Water	Dan Laustsen
6. Good Time	Sean Price Williams
7. First Reformed	Alexander Dynan
8. The Beguiled	Philippe Le Sourd
9. Call Me By Your Name	Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
10. The Killing of a Sacred Deer	Thimios Bakatakis

Best Editing: Dunkirk

Film	Editor
1. Dunkirk	Lee Smith
2. You Were Never Really Here	Joe Bini
3. Baby Driver	Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos
4. Blader Runner 2049	Joe Walker
5. Good Time	Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
6. I, Tonya	Tatiana S. Riegel
7. Call Me By Your Name	Walter Fasano
8. A Ghost Story	David Lowery
9. First Reformed	Benjamin Rodriguez Jr.

Best Screenplay: First Reformed

Film	Screenwriter
1. First Reformed	Paul Schrader
2. Call Me By Your Name	James Ivory
3. Phantom Thread	Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Get Out	Jordan Peele
5. Columbus	Koganada
6. Good Time	Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
7. Blade Runner 2049	Hampton Fancher, Michael Green
8. I, Tonya	Steven Rogers

Best Original Music Score: Dunkirk

Film	Composer
1. Dunkirk	Hans Zimmer
2. Phantom Thread	Jonny Greenwood
3. The Shape of Water	Alexandre Desplat
4. Blade Runner 2049	Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch
5. You Were Never Really Here	Jonny Greenwood
6. A Ghost Story	Daniel Hart
7. Good Time	Oneohtrix Point Never

Year Breakdown

Until 2019 came along, this was the single best year of the 2010s, with both huge depth to its quality and a monumental masterpiece sitting right at the top.

We’ll get to both, but first we have to praise Christopher Nolan coming out with his most accomplished film yet, Dunkirk – the third best film of the decade. He is the single greatest working director during this time period, and this is effectively his purest exercise in formal filmmaking, excising the cumbersome dialogue that can sometimes drag down even great masterpieces like Inception, and laying into his strengths as an editor. As the leading modern blockbuster auteur, he is a great source of inspiration for others like Denis Villeneuve, and this just so happens to be the year that he too made his best film in Blade Runner 2049 – a worthy sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 classic.

Although Koganada’s Columbus got the shout-out as the best directorial debut of the year, we need to take time to recognise the emergence of Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig. Get Out is just managing to hang on there in my top 10, and although Lady Bird is sitting a little further down, it still shows the promise of a great filmmaker. Meanwhile, other directors like Chloé Zhao, David Lowery, Luca Guadagnino, and the Safdie Brothers are finding their own breakthroughs, gaining international attention respectively for The Rider, A Ghost Story, Call Me By Your Name, and Good Time.

Another name you probably wouldn’t have expected to find in this year’s top 10 is Paul Schrader, who is effectively making a major comeback with First Reformed and kicking off his late career Renaissance. This is the man who wrote Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, and this follows in the same lineage of formally intensive character studies.

Guillermo del Toro finds success at the Oscars, beating back healthy competition to win Best Picture with The Shape of Water. It is one of those times that the Academy doesn’t get it completely right, but it is so close you can hardly complain – virtually every frame of this Cold War monster fantasy is so beautifully curated.

Franchise movies continue to dominate the box office in 2017, with The Last Jedi especially pulling in large numbers and stoking controversy among Star Wars fans. There are significant flaws here, but nothing that entirely could sink Rian Johnson’s brilliant visual direction. This is easily one of the most handsomely mounted Star Wars films after A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. 2017 is also a notable year for some decent comic book movies, with James Gunn continuing his Guardians of the Galaxy series, Taika Waititi taking the Thor franchise in a fresh new direction, and James Mangold sending out Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine with a Western-style farewell in Logan.

Film Archives

Title	Director	Grade
A Fantastic Woman	Sebastián Lelio	R/HR
A Ghost Story	David Lowery	HR
Baby Driver	Edgar Wright	HR
Blade Runner 2049	Denis Villeneuve	MS/MP
Call Me By Your Name	Luca Guadagnino	MS
Coco	Lee Unkrich	R
Columbus	Kogonada	MS/MP
Darkest Hour	Joe Wright	R
Dunkirk	Christopher Nolan	MP
First Reformed	Paul Schrader	MS
Get Out	Jordan Peele	HR
Good Time	The Safdie Brothers	MS
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	James Gunn	R
Happy End	Michael Haneke	R
I, Tonya	Craig Gillespie	HR
It	Andy Muschietti	R
Lady Bird	Greta Gerwig	R/HR
Logan	James Mangold	R
Loving Vincent	Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman	R
Molly’s Game	Aaron Sorkin	R
Mudbound	Dee Rees	R
Paddington 2	Paul King	HR
Phantom Thread	Paul Thomas Anderson	MS
Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Rian Johnson	R
Sweet Country	Warwick Thornton	R
The Beguiled	Sofia Coppola	HR
The Big Sick	Michael Showalter	R
The Breadwinner	Nora Twomey	R
The Disaster Artist	James Franco	R
The Florida Project	Sean Baker	HR
The Killing of a Sacred Deer	Yorgos Lanthimos	HR
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)	Noah Baumbach	R
The Post	Steven Spielberg	R
The Rider	Chloé Zhao	R/HR
The Shape of Water	Guillermo del Toro	MS
The Wife	Björn Runge	R
Thor: Ragnarok	Taika Waititi	R
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri	Martin McDonagh	R
You Were Never Really Here	Lynne Ramsay	HR