Ten years later, 2016 feels like a lifetime ago in cinema terms—a strange moment with blockbusters, and the some daring indie films. Looking back, the movies from that year almost feel like artifacts from a world that’s somehow distant.
It was a year when filmmakers like Damien Chazelle and Mel Gibson somehow collided into the cultural zeitgeist. Meanwhile, mainstream Hollywood found itself energized by prestige dramas, biopics, and political thrillers that reflected the anxieties of the moment.
Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” became the musical of the decade almost overnight; Technical precision, wistful nostalgia, and emotional highs and lows—it was old school cinema. Emma Stone’s performance sparkled with effortless charisma, earning her Best Actress, while Casey Affleck, in “Manchester by the Sea,” delivered grief with such quiet, devastating weight.
Then there’s Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” which came at the right time — a moment when progressive movements, such as #OscarsSoWhite, were starting to enter Hollywood. Jenkins’ film won Best Picture, defying the odds, and besting “La La Land.”
2016 was also the year Mel Gibson staged a high-profile comeback with “Hacksaw Ridge.” After years away from the Hollywood spotlight, Gibson returned with a film that was efficient enough to earn six Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture, cementing Gibson’s return to awards-season relevance — albeit only for a brief moment. It also resonated with audiences, grossing over $180M at the box office against a $40M budget.
Cannes that year was presided over by George Miller, controversially handing the Palme d’Or to Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake,” a socially conscious critique of Britain’s welfare system. This was a banner year for Cannes, one filled endlessly great titles, and yet Miller’s jury somehow decided that one of the weaker films deserved the Palme.
And what a lineup it was! “Toni Erdmann,” “The Handmaiden,” “Paterson,” “Personal Shopper,” “American Honey,” “Aquarius,” “Elle,” “Graduation,” “Hell or High Water,” “The Neon Demon,” “Loving,” and “The Salesman” all screened on the Croisette that year.
If 2016 had a film that perfectly captured the decade’s anxious energy, it was probably Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle.” The film isn’t just dark—it’s gleefully, almost perversely so, blending black comedy with moments that make you squirm. It’s the kind of movie that thrives on the things that were most lacking in 2016: discomfort, irony, and complexity.
2016 was also the year Martin Scorsese finally made “Silence,” a project that had haunted him for over 25 years. First intrigued by Shūsaku Endō’s novel in the early 1990s, Scorsese wrestled with the immense challenges of adapting its dense theological and historical material, facing numerous delays, funding obstacles, and doubts about whether it could ever be faithfully translated to the screen. When it finally emerged, the film was somewhat flawed, but also immeasurably fascinating. Scorsese’s uncompromising vision, the hauntingly beautiful depiction of Japan, and the moral and spiritual questions it raised, gave the film a magnetic, almost hypnotic power.
No discussion of 2016 cinema would be complete without “OJ: Made in America,” the sprawling ESPN documentary by Ezra Edelman that redefined what a sports documentary could be. Clocking in at nearly eight hours, it’s less about O.J. Simpson’s trial and more about the American story that surrounds him—race, celebrity, media spectacle, and the complicated intersections of fame and injustice. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
Franchise reinvention was also in the air. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” expanded the galaxy far, far away with a what remains the best Disney era Star Wars movie.
Speaking of blockbusters, 2016 was a year of major hits: “Captain America: Civil War,” “Finding Dory,” and of course ‘Rogue One’ reshaped what audiences expected from tentpole films. And then there was “Deadpool,” irreverent, R-rated, genre-bending, and absolutely unstoppable in its cultural moment.
Here’s my personal top 13 (unranked):
O.J: Made in America
Krisha
Paterson
La La Land
Toni Erdmann
Silence
The Handmaiden
Aquarius
10 Cloverfield Land
Right Now, Wrong Then
Weiner
Cameraperson
Arrival
MORE — A Bigger Splash, Zootopia, Green Room, Everybody Wants Some!! The Founder, Jackie, Certain Women, Raw, The Edge of Seventeen, Loving, Moonlight, American Honey, The Salesman, Indignation, The Wailing, Don’t Breathe, Miss Sloane, Hush, 20th Century Women, Patriots Day, Hacksaw Ridge, Sully, Lo and Behold, In A Valley of Violence, The Eyes of My Mother, Hell or High Water
What about you? Which 2016 movies have stuck with you, either for their chaos, brilliance, or pure nostalgia? Drop your lists in the comments—I’d love to see your takes.