Year after year, a ton of incredible films are released only to end up going largely
unnoticed, and 2018 is no different. But don’t worry about missing out on all the future
classics slipping under the radar - we’ve got the scoop on the very best.
Adapted from writer Joe Kelly and artist J. M. Ken Niimura's graphic novel with the same
name, I Kill Giants stars The Conjuring 2’s Madison Wolf as the plucky Barbara Thorson,
an oddball outsider with her head in the clouds, a pair of bunny ears atop her head, and a
Norse war hammer in her bag. The introverted Barbara uses her overactive imagination to
create fantasy worlds she can escape to when things get tough at home, and when she’s
convinced a horde of giants is headed to Earth, she’s the only one that can vanquish them.
“I find giants, I hunt giants, I kill giants.”
Blending together a coming-of-age tale, themes of grief and denial, magical realism, solid
CGI, and captivating performances from Wolfe and supporting actors Imogen Poots, Zoe Saldana,
and Sydney Wade, I Kill Giants is a magnificent monster movie that's monstrously moving.
Murder is on the menu in writer-director Cory Finley's Thoroughbreds, a black comedy thriller
that centers around childhood friends Lily and Amanda reuniting to cook up a devious
plan. With the help of a hired drug dealer turned hitman, the two women plot to take
out Lily's tyrannical stepfather Mark. The murder mission takes a few unexpected turns,
arriving at an end you won’t see coming.
[Gulp.]
Rarely do first-time creatives get their debut as right as Finley did with Thoroughbreds.
Despite the film's lack of big-budget promotion and pre-release hype, Rotten Tomatoes says
the handful of viewers who saw it in theaters were, quote, "left squirming, laughing, and
gleefully entertained.”
In Academy Award-winning director Sebastian Lelio’s Disobedience, forbidden love harkens
back to Romeo & Juliet, but religious tension pushes it past the breaking point and headfirst
into dangerous territory. Based on British author Naomi Alderman’s 2006 novel, Disobedience
stars Rachel Weisz as Ronit a non-practicing Jewish woman who returns to her former Orthodox
London community she was shunned from years earlier for a forbidden romance with a female
schoolmate, Rachel McAdams’ Esti. Reunited years later, the two fall back in love - only
this time Esti’s husband Dovid turns their relationship into a triangle.
Lelio, creates a film that swirls with friction-filled strifes and bitter truths. Critics have flocked
to the film and David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter has praised it, saying,
"The movie's soulful reflections on collective faith and individual freedoms get under your
skin, continuing to resonate after the end credits have rolled."
“I want to take your picture.”
As commonplace as the 21st century’s technology seems, Searching is anything but ordinary.
Set almost entirely on computer and smartphone screens, the John Cho-led thriller follows
David Kim, the father of 16-year-old Margot who goes missing. With the help of the San
Jose police, David combs through Margot’s computer, retracing her online footprint in
the hopes of finding his daughter. What follows is a heart-stopping journey that grows darker
and more complex than David - and the audience - could have ever imagined.
“I didn’t know her. I didn’t know my daughter.”
Searching’s unique approach, well-sustained suspense, and a twist you won’t see coming
make it one of the best movies of 2018 - and one of the most original thrillers in a long
time.
Rafeal Casal and Hamilton’s Daveed Diggs teamed up to write the comedy-drama you really
shouldn’t have missed out on. Blindspotting follows Diggs’ Collin, a felon nearing the
end of his year-long probation, and his best friend Miles, played by Casal, a fellow troublemaker
whose influence could cost Collin the final 72 hours of his sentencing. Where Collin longs
for a fresh start, Miles is on the hunt for danger in the rapidly gentrifying streets
of Oakland, California. Their lives splinter when Collin witnesses a white cop kill a black
man, and Miles’ thirst for violence threatens devastating consequences.
“Don’t be who you isn't.”
Many moviegoers missed Blindspotting due to its limited rollout last summer. Its later
wide release came on the same day as the highly anticipated Mission: Impossible – Fallout,
which stole the spotlight that weekend. That left Blindspotting, the film Business Insider
called “one of the most unique” of 2018, just out of view.
Taking a fantastic novel and translating it into an equally good film isn’t an easy
task. Where many have failed before The Miseducation of Cameron post succeeds as a coming-of-age
drama that serves as a shining example of what can happen when a silver screen adaptation
does right by its source material.
Based on Emily M. Danforth's 2012 novel of the same name, the film centers on Chloë
Grace Moretz's Cameron Post, who is outed as a lesbian when she's caught in the backseat
of a car with another girl. Soon after, Cameron's conservative aunt orders her to undergo conversion
therapy at a center called God's Promise. There, Cameron forms friendships with a handful
of other teens who, like her, put up a fight against being "re-educated."
“I’m tired of feeling disgusted with myself.”
A limited release that didn't register on most people's radar, The Miseducation of Cameron
Post has been praised by Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Times as
"[...] a powerful rejoinder to anyone who'd shame people into denying their authentic
selves."
From Academy Award-nominated director and co-writer Debra Granik, Leave No Trace begins
just before the boiling point: war veteran Will, played by Ben Foster, and his 13-year-old
daughter Tom have been living in an isolated section of a public park. But when the survivalist
duo make one small misstep, social services comes calling.
“Do you feel safe living with your dad?”
“We didn’t need to be rescued.”
“Your dad needs to provide you shelter and a place to live.”
“He did.”
They're taken in for extensive evaluations and set up with everything they need to live
a "normal" life: hot meals, clean clothes, stable shelter in the suburbs, school for
Tom, a job for Will. While Tom tries her hardest to adapt to her new environment and embrace
her surroundings, her father grows increasingly rigid until he decides to take Tom back into
the wilderness.
"We need to adapt."
“We’re wearing their clothes, we’re in their house, we’re eating their food,
we’re doing their work, we have adapted.”
Leave No Trace definitely made its mark on audiences who caught it during its limited
release run in June. San Diego Reader's Scott Marks had the most incisive point, saying,
"Oscar will remember this movie."
Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh casts aside the traditional trappings of filmmaking
and embraces B-movie mojo with Unsane, a psychological horror-thriller pic shot entirely on an iPhone
7 Plus.
Claire Foy leads as Sawyer Valentini, a financial analyst who moved away from her hometown in
an attempt to evade her longtime stalker, David. Even hundreds of miles away, Sawyer’s
still experiencing the effects of David's torments, and admits to her therapist that
she's had self-destructive thoughts. Sawyer’s confession lands her in a mental institution
against her will.
“I just needed to talk to someone and the counselor said that I… did she tell you
to do this?”
“Ms. Valentini, are you refusing to cooperate?”
As if being locked away in a psychiatric hospital wasn’t jarring enough, Sawyer’s soon forced
to confront her darkest fear while trapped inside those walls. The only question is:
Is the fear real, or just a product of her paranoia?
“I must be insane.”
Despite its experimental nature and it being a Soderbergh joint, Unsane didn’t drum up
as much buzz as you’d expect. Still, though, it hasn't gone without critical praise. The
New Yorker's Richard Brody calls Unsane
"[...] one of [Soderbergh's] best movies, […] the very spark of his artistic passion."
All the more reason to see it yourself.
One part pulpy crime story, one part heart-grabbing drama, Bomb City is a brilliant little film
that made a bang without the general public even noticing. The Jameson Brooks-directed
film follows Brian, a punk music-obsessed teen from Amarillo, Texas, who sticks out
like a mohawk-adorned thumb in his conservative town. Thankfully, there are a number of other
punks out there, who view Brian as a sort of mouthpiece for the movement. But there
are an equal number of jocks who regularly clash with the punks. Tensions bubble below
the surface, then explode into a violent altercation that comes with a fatal consequence.
“I lost my self control.”
Director Brooks based Bomb City on the real-life story of 19-year-old Brian Deneke, a punk
who was killed in a furious fracas with the Texas town's seemingly clean-cut jocks. Not
only does the film present the tragedy of Brian's death in a truthful and harrowing
light, it also serves as a reminder that the American justice system isn't always moral.
As Danielle White of The Austin Chronicle aptly puts it,
"The film's message, which it wields like a war chain, is a timeless one: Don't be such
a d--- to people because they look different from you."
Joaquin Phoenix is in top form in You Were Never Really Here, writer-director Lynne Ramsay's
film adaptation of Jonathan Ames' novel of the same name. Phoenix gives a darkly fervid
performance as Joe, a former law enforcement agent and combat veteran struggling with PTSD.
“McLeary said you were brutal.”
“I can be.”
Post-FBI, Joe supports himself and his ailing mother by locating missing and trafficked
young girls. On the brink of committing to one of his many suicidal fantasies, Joe’s
boss tasks him with finding 13-year-old Nina, the daughter of a New York State Senator,
who offers Joe a sizable sum to discreetly bring Nina home. Though Joe is properly equipped
for the job, what he isn't prepared for is the triple-layer twist and the searing horrors
that await him.
Variety’s Guy Lodge called the film "stark, sinewy, [and] slashed-to-the-bone." You Were
Never Really Here is more than worthy of the global adulation its heavily-promoted cinematic
counterparts have received this year.