The 15 Best Movies of 2016

Image courtesy of Focus Features

1. Nocturnal Animals

Sorry I’m not sorry, but my tastes were very eclectic this year. There’s something about Tom Ford’s follow-up film, Nocturnal Animals, that’s latched onto my soul and refuses to let go. Possibly seeing this in the wake of the election helped me heal…by showing me an unrelenting world of violence and murder. Ford’s tale follows a sophisticated gallery owner, played by Amy Adams, as she spends her days reading a book written by her ex-husband. Said story involves a man seeking revenge against the one who murdered his wife and daughter.

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Ford shows he can do more than craft exquisitely rendered interiors or actors dripping in jewels (who probably smell glorious because they’re rocking Tom Ford cologne). Nocturnal Animals does have the beauty and glitz, but Ford also shows his ability to make a rough-and-tumble Sam Peckinpah movie. Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal are blisteringly fantastic, but it’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s, recently nominated for a Golden Globe, performance as the maniac Gyllenhaal hunts down that sticks with you. Taylor-Johnson is terrifying, every woman’s nightmare. (Unlike the world Paul Verhoven crafts in Elle, Nocturnal Animals is a taste more respectful of its female characters.) Everyone is just pitch perfect, so much so my initial review is filled with gushing over how awesome everyone is. I can’t get enough of this one!

With that, I’ve shown you my top movies of 2016, but again, your mileage may vary. Which movies did you prefer in 2016?