15 most memorable and overlooked films of 2018

Blindspotting

I’ve talked about Blindspotting practically every week since I saw it back in July. I had the Blu-ray pre-ordered as soon as a release date went live, and I’ve watched it at least twice since it arrived. I can say, short of something really dazzling me, it’s my number one movie of the year! Saying it’s perfect isn’t an understatement, but it is the truth.

The film follows Collin (Daveed Diggs) during the final three days of his probation. Living in Oakland alongside his best friend, Miles (Rafael Casal), Collin is trying to keep on the straight and narrow, but Miles remains at the forefront of events that could ruin everything.

Carlos Lopez Estrada directs a movie with so much emotion, passion, and love for its settings, characters, and story that it threatens to combust. Diggs and Casal wrote the script, and their chemistry together is fantastic. At one point in the film they describe themselves as a “Calvin and Hobbes” duo. Diggs’ quiet attempts to finally be with his probation leaves him a figure easily drawn into bad situations, and Casal gives a breakout performance as the brash, hot-headed Miles. The story, at times, is funny, frightening, emotional, and heartwarming.

It’s literally the perfect movie. I cannot fault a single thing about it.