Ten years ago, 2015 was a year stuck between the fading glow of mid-budget adult dramas and the all-consuming dominance of the franchise era.
A decade later, the films of 2015 feel like artifacts from a transitional moment, both recent and already slipping into history. This was the year when George Miller reminded us of the raw power of practical action with “Mad Max: Fury Road,” while Todd Haynes turned his camera inward, exploring repression and the quiet violence of history with “Carol.” Meanwhile, mainstream Hollywood was in full IP mode, relying heavily on sequels, remakes, and cinematic universes—yet somehow, great art still emerged.
The 2015 edition of cinema had “Spotlight” beat “The Revenant” for Best Picture, a decision that sparked endless debate. Alejandro González Iñárritu won Best Director for the latter, a brutal survival epic carried by Emmanuel Lubezki’s glacial cinematography and Leonardo DiCaprio’s grueling, near-wordless performance. A decade later, people still argue whether “The Revenant” was a masterpiece or an endurance test.
George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” arguably the defining film of the year, blew up expectations of what an action film could be. It was pure kinetic cinema, a two-hour chase sequence with subtext and heart. At the time, it felt like an adrenaline-soaked miracle; today it’s enshrined as one of the best films of the 2010s.
Meanwhile, Todd Haynes’ “Carol” delivered a hushed, devastatingly beautiful love story between Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, capturing desire with aching restraint. It was unjustly overlooked by the Academy.
On the international front, László Nemes’ “Son of Saul” stunned Cannes and went on to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. A Holocaust drama stripped of sentimentality, it trapped viewers in an unrelenting first-person nightmare—an experience both unforgettable and nearly unbearable. And yet, Cannes was ruled by Jacques Audiard’s “Dheepan,” which controversially won the Palme d’Or. Many critics still argue the true standouts were “Son of Saul,” “Carol,” and Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s “The Assassin,” a meditative wuxia that was as hypnotic as it was elusive.
At the box office, Disney dominated (‘The Force Awakens,’ “Avengers: Age of Ultron”), there was the global phenomenon of “Jurassic World,” and the unapologetic NWA biopic “Straight Outta Compton.”
Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight”—a snowy-set chamber Western—felt almost defiantly out of step with the year’s trends. Shot in 70mm Ultra Panavision and presented with an intermission, it was a throwback to the roadshow era of the ’60s. Where later films embraced austerity, Tarantino went the opposite way—grand, talky, bloody, unapologetically indulgent. It wasn’t universally loved then, but I’ll continue to defend it to the death.
The 10 Best Films of 2015
Son of Saul (László Nemes)
Carol (Todd Haynes)
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
It Follows (David Rober Mitchell
Tangerine (Sean Baker)
Victoria (Sebastian Schipper)
The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino)
Inside Out (Pete Docter)
Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)
Tied for 10th, three GREAT documentaries
Amy (Asif Kapadia)
Heart of a Dog (Laurie Anderson)
The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)
Also worth revisiting: Ex-Machina, Straight Outta Compton, 99 Homes, Mommy, The Invitation, Irrational Man, The Tribe, In the Shadows of Women, Wild Tales, Bridge of Spies, Creed, Remember, Mustang, Sicario, Shaun the Sheep, Anomalisa, Steve Jobs, The Assassin, Timbuktu, Mississippi Grind, MI: Rogue Nation, Predestination, Crimson Peak, Love & Mercy, Mountains May Depart, Bone Tomahawk, Joy
What are your favorite films of 2015? Drop your list below—whether it’s personal, chaotic, or meticulously curated. I’ve added mine above to get the conversation started.