“Perhaps more than any other year, 2015 represents the industry facing growing pains with fewer people going to theaters yet more movies being created than ever before. Because I saw more movies this year than I have in the past, this list represents a more unusual curation of cinema”.

What we consider to be the best of this year represents a combination of the movies that had the greatest emotional impact on us, matched with movies that felt innovative or groundbreaking. Here are the films Nelson considers to be this year’s best:

Honorable Mentions (alphabetical order)

Carol – A slow-burning romance set amidst a fascinating era of the US

Son of Saul – Exhausting yet essential storytelling utilizing all that film can bring to tell one horrific story that represents the larger Holocaust experience.

Steve Jobs – The Boyle/Sorkin duo created a biopic as innovative as the man himself

Where to Invade Next – Michael Moore’s least controversial movie yet perhaps his most thought-provoking

Wild Tales – Argentina’s raucous anthology of short films perfectly juxtaposed together

10. Cartel Land

2015 is a banner year for documentaries, and I have been fortunate to see more this year than in any years past. Cartel Land is both a display of cinematic bravery and also a master craft in non-fiction storytelling. Director Matthew Heineman gains unprecedented access to numerous facets in the complex war on drugs. He was a firsthand witness to countless firefights and stayed calm by focusing on his camera work and not the mayhem he was witnessing. With each person he follows, he displays characters who blur the artificial line between good and evil. It is an exposé without feeling like a history lesson. I thoroughly enjoyed Sicario, the other high-profile US-Mexico border movie this year, but I found Cartel Land to be even more engrossing and morally ambiguous than its fiction counterpart. This is a documentary that will remain a powerful experience for viewers years after current conflicts dwindle because of the larger themes it displays.

9. We Come As Friends

Every year the Academy narrows down to 15 documentaries before choosing 5 that receive an Oscar nomination. The biggest surprise on this year’s list of 15 (out of roughly 100 eligible) was Herbert Sauper’s South Sudan documentary We Come As Friends, which I first saw at Sundance all the way back in January 2014 before seeing it again when it got a US release in August 2015. Despite Oscar predictors all putting this as the least likely of the 15 to receive a nomination, there is a reason it made it that far amongst bigger players.

Using as little exposition as possible in a genre/medium usually dependent on it, Sauper uses heavily symbolic imagery to depict the chaotic situation in the world’s youngest (and possibly most unstable) nation. The metaphor of alien invasion is pertinent through the film as the subject is less the country’s inhabitants and more about the people invading the country and viewing it as a foreign place incapable of independent survival. What we see is blatant modern colonialism with similar horrific consequences to the past.

The same subject in another filmmaker’s hands could have been a very dry documentary about all that’s bad in the world, but this is a film that achieves discomfort through its symbolism and subtle displays of the situation. South Sudan is not a country at the forefront of the media and, therefore, this film is of utmost importance in showing something we otherwise wouldn’t see. It’s rich symbolism and rare method of displaying a conflict make it a cinematic feat worthy of being among the best movies of the year.

8. Love and Mercy

Like Steve Jobs, Love and Mercy turns the biopic on its head and achieves a newfound approach to depicting the life and experience of someone notable, in this case, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson. Having 2 different actors play Brian Wilson sounded a bit like a gimmick, but Paul Dano and John Cusack both become Brian Wilson without coming across as an imitation. Like a classically great performance, we never forget it’s these actors, but we’re never distracted by it either.

The fact that their stories never actually cross over and that the characters in the past never make it into the future is brilliant in that it suggests just how disjointed Wilson’s life had become in his later years. This is a successful way at capturing a character’s life that I’ve never seen work so well. There is a clear effort toward every aspect of the film in telling this story: costuming, set design, camera movement, blocking, etc. All these elements are so poignantly utilized to elevate the conditions Brian Wilson experiences. And the sound design, fittingly, is wonderfully employed to put us in Wilson’s situation.

After I saw the film, I stalked the IMDb of the team that made the film: Bill Pohlad, Oren Moverman, Atticus Ross, Ann Ruark, and many more creatives came together to make a passion project in the best possible way: it isn’t indulgent, it is inspiring and emotionally moving. This is a film that can be appreciated by the die-hard fans and the newly initiated. I am thankful that there is still room in the movie business for people to come together and make something special they clearly wanted to share on screen.

7. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Surprisingly (I imagine in part due to the morbid title) this festival awards winner didn’t find a large audience in theaters the same way fellow Sundance alums Little Miss Sunshine or Whiplash did. Yet in my experience, this is a film that perfectly walks the line between comedy and drama. It embraces the indie teen genre that’s become a cliché and still squeezes out new material, thanks to some great characters, deliberate and intriguing filmmaking, and most of all emotional depth. Me and Earl brings up the theme of death in a way that isn’t drab nor is it mocking. It is relatable and emotional yet still takes risks and tries new things with cinema. And of course, it’s actually a comedy, despite how the title sounds, and it’s a funny one at that. The result is a film that may seem easy to disregard as a teen dramedy, but, in fact, is layered and unique enough to be worthy of critical acclaim. As an added bonus for film lovers, it has some of the best callbacks and spoofs of classic movies I’ve ever seen.

6. White God

From the opening shot of 300 dogs chasing a girl on a bike, it’s clear this is going to be something unique. White God is essentially Oliver Twist with a protagonist who is a canine. A major chunk of the movie features only dogs on screen, and thanks to some expert trainers, they come across as actual characters instead of glorified props. The fact that this film manages to cross a foray of genres, incite an emotional response from non-human protagonists and on top of that also be an allegory for the lower-class Hungarian experience makes it a complete work of art. It’s graphic depiction of dog fighting is off-putting for some but a reality that needs to be faced. The director is aware that viewers are even more disturbed by animal violence than they are of humans, so he creates empathy through his animal protagonists that symbolize a human condition. On top of this, I acknowledge that there is depth in this film that I haven’t even seen because I don’t know the nuances of Hungarian language and culture. Lastly, the title, an obscure reference to the confusing dynamic between dog owners and their pets, seals this film as one of the most intricate and fascinating cinema experiences of the year.

5. The Revenant

One of the best parts about seeing an entire director’s filmography is that with the top-tier auteurs, patterns start to emerge in their thematic choices. Alejandro G. Iñarritu has made 6 films in 15 years, and with the exception of Birdman, there is a clear theme of faith and spirituality underlying his work that makes every one of his movies that much more compelling. The Revenant is undoubtedly his most ambitious project to date, and perhaps his biggest departure from his early style, yet it profoundly features the numerous themes that define the director’s palette. Pay extra attention to his portrayal of religion: it elevated my enjoyment of the film immensely. At the surface, it is an action-packed western adventure that engulfs the viewer in the world of the frontiersmen and the constant challenges they endured, but Inarritu’s brilliance comes from the subtle details that are sprinkled all throughout. Leo and Tom Hardy, a perfectly matched protagonist and antagonist, both deliver knockout performances despite very little dialogue. Many film buffs will praise the cinematography and the technical prowess of the project. It’s safe to point out that the behind the scenes work here is flawless, yet it only matters if the story is compelling to watch. Fortunately, it is: this is a rare opportunity to see cinema fire on all cylinders while telling an entertaining narrative. This is a balance of spectacle and entertainment that makes cinema so engaging in the first place.

4. Room

Of the numerous movies circulating Oscars and other awards this year, my favorite is by far and away Room. Best viewed with as little information as possible (the trailer gives away far too much), it is an emotional experience not easily forgotten. Brie Larson, whose work in Short Term 12 prior to this was similar yet equally phenomenal, plays the mother of Jack (Jacob Tremblay) and the two of them live in a room and do not leave. The journey that they go on is grounded in the powerful relationship seen between a mother and son despite the situation they are in. It’s an unconventional narrative split into two distinct parts. When the first part ends it feels like the ending of a movie, yet it then transitions to a more nuanced dramatic exploration in the second half. There isn’t anything particularly flashy, and the craft is all extremely subdued in exchange for focusing on these characters. When your subjects are strong enough, as they are here, you can make a great movie with this style. This is a film that represents the pinnacle of dramatic filmmaking and thankfully is receiving the awards attention it deserves.

3. Grandma

At a brisk 78 minutes, Grandma packs in some of the best movie material from the entire year. Hidden within the deceitfully simple premise is some of the most layered and fun storytelling I’ve seen and plenty of humor and sincere laughter. This is a movie that manages to cover the board in terms of being funny, endearing, and poignant. Much credit is given to writer/director Paul Weitz, who expertly crafts such an efficient and entertaining story. The cast elevates the film to another level: Lily Tomlin weaves in plenty of her actual self and still creates a character so engaging to watch and while landing every single joke in the movie. Her supporting cast is almost entirely all-stars: Sam Elliot, Laverne Cox, John Cho, Judy Greer, and Marcia Gay Haden, who each make the absolute most of their limited screen time and are perfectly cast. These types of comedies are often overlooked for flashier counterparts, yet Grandma is more endearing and thought-provoking than many of the more prestigious awards movies. I wrote an article earlier this year about how the film revitalizes the pregnancy genre and provides a point of view that previously wasn’t seen on screen. With that, it provides the largest wealth of dimensional female characters while mainstream movies notoriously sideline women’s roles. For both its heart and humor, Grandma cannot be missed.

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

Normally, blockbusters are saturated, safe, and meant to be appealing to everyone, but nothing is easy to digest about Fury Road. It is a wild unrestrained ride of non-stop mayhem; in other words, it is an absolute blast. Jumpstarting a franchise that nobody thought needed another entry, and most people born after 1990 have never seen, George Miller reinvigorated his fable to new heights. If every franchise reboot felt as fresh as Fury Road, then I could get behind the industry’s obsession with sequels and reimagining old intellectual properties. Miller lets the action and the nuances inform the viewer of the post-apocalyptic world. Dystopias are all the rage in the wake of The Hunger Games, but none have the level of detail and sophisticated, nasty madness that this movie displays.

The top-tier movies elevate beyond just watching and come across as an experience, and this is one of those films. Every element here hits on all cylinders. Funnily enough, this is the second year in a row where I’ve had a movie on my top 10 list with Tom Hardy driving for the entire movie (last year was Locke) – I would consider him to be my favorite working actor at this point thanks to his versatility and the types of movies he ends up in. I love a great action movie and can’t remember the last time action sequences or chase scenes felt so fresh and alive. Miller used stunt performers from Cirque du Soleil among other places and spent months shooting on multiple cameras in the desert; the results pay off, and he’s created one of the finest action movies of the decade.

1. Victoria

Despite the fact that the biggest selling point on this movie is that the entire film is one uninterrupted shot, Victoria is more than just a movie all in a single take. For the first half of the film, director Sebastian Schipper borrows from the styles of Richard Linklater to introduce us to the film’s protagonists, lonely partier Victoria and four men she encounters on her way out of a club. The film works so well because we’re given a great deal of time with the protagonists in the first half with the authenticity that makes us feel like we’re among them. When the film escalates dramatically in the second half, it is believable (even if it’s an extreme circumstance) because we’ve spent so much time with them and want to root for them. This is a film with thrillingly tense sequences, and also moments where I was laughing the way I might with a group of friends. Schipper told his cinematographer to shoot the film like a war photographer: don’t anticipate what’s going to happen, let the action guide you. The result is more focused on the sum of the film than any particularly special shot while still making room for a few outstanding images amongst the chaos.

The fact that this film has both the most daring cinematography of the year on top of a compelling set of characters and memorable sequences makes it a film that has everything firing on all cylinders. Victoria is not the type of film that garners awards attention at the end of the year, but for me is the cinematic experience that invigorated me more than any other movie I saw this year. For the reasons above and so many more, I consider this to be the best film of 2015.