The Ten Best Films of 2019—Sean Kelso

2019 was a historic year for Disney's box office: Avengers: Endgame became the highest worldwide release of all-time, while the studio netted seven* $1-billion films (*including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker). Many prestige films also debuted this year, and my top picks follow:

1. 1917

Sam Mendes' latest take on the war genre is simply astounding. Visceral, emotional, and subtle, 1917 is a modern masterpiece of narrative and technical achievement. Here's to hoping we get more one-shots across genres (superhero films?). 

2. A Hidden Life

Terence Malick is never a dull director, and A Hidden Life is rife with his trademark philosophical questioning and arresting cinematography. This true life story of the Nazi conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter is both timeless and moving, challenging audiences to be better. 

3. Avengers: Endgame

Sticking the landing is easy to fail (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), but Marvel ended their 10-year journey with great resonance. The film is surprisingly somber, with a hefty running time largely devoted to character interaction and evolution that instills why these films resonate with so many people. Marvel, I'm with you 'til the end of the line. 

4. The Nightingale

Jennifer Kent's follow-up to The Babadook is even more impressive, as The Nightingale is a harrowing, honest potrayal of colonization, toxic masculinity, and family. 

5. The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse is a puzzling, atmospheric two-handed play with stunning work from Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe. Eggers' command of the camera and beautiful language elevate this film beyond a genre trope and into something far more compelling. 

6. Uncut Gems

The Safdie Brothers continue to prove themselves as modern-day Scorsese's, delivering an eclectic, energetic film with Uncut Gems. Adam Sandler has never been better, and A24 keeps delivering bold hits (inc. The Lighthouse).

7. Ford V. Ferrari

James Mangold continues to prove his chameleonic directorial abilities, making great films from music biopics (Walk the Line), superhero hits (Logan), and now sport biopics with Ford V. Ferrari. The action is great, but it's never the focus, as the dynamic between Shelby and Miles is the beating heart of the film. 

8. Honey Boy

Shia LaBeouf can act and write. His autobiographical work is an intimate look at a frazzled life and ignites compassion towards a dark soul such as LaBeouf. 

9. Dark Waters

Mark Ruffalo is terrific in this Erin Brockovich-esque true story about the deadly pitfalls of capitalism. Dark Waters is shockingly-real, leaving the audience affected and disgusted in our nation. 

10. The Irishman 

Scorsese's latest is much of the same violent mob material, but with the added element of time, which distills his familiar thoughts on faith, violence, and family into something special. 

Honorable Mentions: Knives Out, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Long Shot, The Art of Self-Defense, The Peanut Butter Falcon, Dolemite Is My Name, Joker, Under the Silver Lake

Sean Kelso is the founder and editor-in-chief of Greyscale.