Theaters may have been closed for much of the year, but movie fans still had a lot of
new features to enjoy at home. Considering it was such a roller coaster of a year, it's
fitting that many of our favorite films from 2020 were also the most emotionally resonant ones.
From moments of pure triumph to heartrending acts of sacrifice to romantic scenes that
left us swooning, here are the movie moments that had us reaching for the tissues.
There's much to love about what director Gina Prince-Bythewood pulls off with her adaptation
of Greg Rucka's graphic novels. The Old Guard is thrilling and thoughtful, and we can't
get enough of seeing Charlize Theron's Andy lead her badass team of immortals through
the modern world. Each character in the film has a unique story to share, and the more
we learn about them, the more we adore them.
That's especially true when it comes to Joe and Nicky, two ancients who were once enemies.
"Nicky and I met in the Crusades. The Crusades? The love of my life was of the people I'd
been taught to hate."
In one of the movie's most unforgettable moments, the two are being held prisoner and one of
their captors taunts Joe over his concern for Nicky. When the guard teases him about
Nicky being his boyfriend, Joe responds with a heartfelt monologue audiences won't soon forget.
"This man is more to me than you can dream. He's the moon when I'm lost in darkness and
warmth when I shiver in cold, and his kiss still thrills me even after a millennia. His
heart overflows with a kindness of which this world is not worthy of. I love this man beyond
measure and reason. He's not my boyfriend, he's all and he's more."
Brett Haley's adaptation of Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places requires at least two
boxes of Kleenex to watch. The movie follows Violet Markey and Theodore Finch as they work
together to find joy after experiencing individual traumas.
For Violet, it's the death of her sister that sparks her downward spiral, but she's brought
back from the edge by Finch. However, while Violet steadily finds herself in a better
place, Finch's mental wellbeing declines significantly, and we learn that he has been the victim of
abuse at home for years.
Things continue to worsen for Finch after he's taunted at school, and, when he disappears
without explanation, Violet sets out to track him down. Her worst fears are confirmed in
the film's most dramatic moment, when she finds his clothes near the swimming hole she
used to visit with him in brighter times and immediately knows that he has died.
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You finds Lara Jean questioning whether Peter still
has feelings for his ex-girlfriend, Gen. At the same time, she's reintroduced to John
Ambrose, another former crush who received one of her fateful letters. As Lara Jean becomes
distant from Peter, she grows close to John Ambrose, and it's only after Gen sets the
record straight that she begins to realize how she truly feels about both of the boys
in her life.
"You know you're way off about Peter? He's crazy about you."
In the film's final act, Lara Jean kisses John Ambrose at the Star Ball, but her love
for Peter washes over her in that moment, and she decides to go back to him. As she
steps outside, she's surprised to find Peter standing there waiting for her because he
knows she doesn't like to drive in the snow. That's sweet already, but this is Peter, so
of course he cranks the emotional dial up to 12.
"Break my heart, Covey. Break my heart into 1,000 pieces. Do whatever you want."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
The experimental mockumentary Dick Johnson Is Dead is a celebration of life and the boldness
of meeting death head on, as filmmaker Kirsten Johnson and her aging father imagine and act
out the many ways he could go.
In the film's gut-punching climax, we see things get real for both of them, though,
as Dick's faux [FO] funeral unfolds, and the speakers and guests reveal their genuine emotion
and affection for Dick in past tense as he observes in the wings.
"Dick came over and said, 'Ray, if you outlive me I want you to play 'Going way.' Oh God…
'I want you to play 'Going Away' at my funeral.'"
Though they all may be playing it up for the show, their words and expressions still leave
Dick — and the viewers at home — weeping with some mixture of gratitude and grief over
the preciousness of life. As Johnson tells us in the end, her experimental film is meant
to distill something impossible, but she still has the audacity to hope.
"All I can say is Dick Johnson is dead. And all I want to say is long live Dick Johnson."
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