365 Movies in 2025 Top Films: 20-16

 20. Little Murders (1971)

Alan Arkin's directorial debut amplifies Jules Feiffer's comic surrealism with neurotic characters and seemingly random outcomes. It's basis in Feiffer's stage play seems evident in its apartment settings, but Arkin also readily channels much of Feiffer's typical manias that appear throughout the cartoonist's body of work. Patsy Newquist (Marcia Rodd) and her boyfriend, Alfred Chamberlain (Elliott Gould), live in the darkest 1970s embodiment of New York City that accentuates how its residents might have felt as crime seemed eternally rampant and law enforcement could never cope. The film's stark commentary does not provide answers, but speaks to collective neuroses, while the actors' choices singularly mirror how we might react to pure chaos. I highly recommend this one for its ability to question existing power structures in novel and unexpected ways. 

19. The Loveless (1981)

Kathryn Bigelow and Monty Montgomery's rockabilly biker film does not stray too far from genre formula, but Willem Dafoe and Robert Gordon add a manic energy that keeps the plot chugging along. In his first credited performance, a menacing Dafoe shows he has star charisma  and it's a shame that Gordon did little additional acting because he commands the screen with his well-coiffed pompadour adding much needed authenticity. Bigelow also shows that she has the chops, although Near Dark (1987) would solidify her status as a director to watch. This nearly forgotten cult gem goes beyond fun genre fare and shows the promise of its cast and crew. 

18. The Escapist (2008)

Rupert Wyatt's prison film surprised me because I had never heard of it and was not expecting such tour-de-force ensemble acting from as wide a variety of British character actors. The nonlinear plot, inspired by Ambrose Bierce's oft-anthologized "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge," follows sympathetically portrayed Frank Perry (Brian Cox), a prison lifer, who plans a prison break to help his daughter. Damien Lewis expertly plays Rizza who cruelly controls the other prisoners. Joseph Fiennes, Steven Mackintosh, Dominic Cooper, and WWE's Sheamus each shine in their supporting roles. 

17. Gilda (1946) 

I watch so much film noir that it is sometimes hard for me to distinguish why I love one over another. Charles Vidor's Gilda stands out because of Rita Hayworth's singular take on the femme fatale. She imbues Gilda Mundson with an underlying complexity that gives the character more humanity than most. Her motivations are not entirely clear, so she does not play Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) to get her way. The film does not lead to typical noir dissolution and reconsiders the Hollywood happy ending. The interactions between the characters also avoid relying on a MacGuffin, or over-orchestrated plot device and, thus, seem genuine. While including all the trappings of a typical Hollywood noir, Gilda ultimately succeeds by telling a good story with well-developed characters. 

16. Lifeboat (1944)

While I considered the ocean-themed The Sea Wolf (1941) for this slot, Alfred Hitchcock's more psychological survival tale won out. The film feels like an anomaly in his canon not just because of its limited setting, the titular lifeboat but because that setting is able to move in space and force the characters to experience different scenarios while interacting with a small subset of people. His other limited setting films, such as Rear Window (1954) allow for more interaction with society but less examination of how characters must react. Hitchcock uses this device to tell a story of character motivation through dialogue and psychology. As commentary on international relations during World War II, the film's straightforward storyline feels dated (It is easy to see Willi's (Walter Slezak) deception coming), but Hitchcock's examination of human motive still resonates. The lifeboat's crew covers a cross section of class, race, and professions, including many characters that struggle with preconceived notions about each other. Ultimately, the group provides a humane blueprint for how to compassionately act during war.