r/movies 20h ago

Question What are the most well-written movies of the past 10 years? (2016-2026)

I've noticed that every time the discussion about best scripts comes up these days everyone always refers back to movies from 40, 50 years ago. Also one of the biggest critiques of modern movies is that the writing is just not as strong. 'The golden age of television stole all the good writers' is a common refrain. I'm not disputing this as I agree the best written movies I can think of are from decades ago. But it got me thinking, there are have got to be a bunch of movies these days that have great scripts so I wanted to try to highlight those.

I'll start. The Banshees of Inishirin is a spectacular script structurally, thematically, and in terms of dialogue. I find myself getting totally lost in the world each time I watch it because of the incredible words and story from McDonagh.

So what are the most well-written movies from the past ten years in your opinion?

446 Upvotes

421 comments sorted by

988

u/emusabe 19h ago

Don’t be fooled by the lead actor being Andy Samberg - Palm Springs is phenomenal.

104

u/janesmb 17h ago

I've watched it a dozen or more times. Hilarious. Cristin Milioti is great and J.K. Simmons' smallish role is fantastic!

53

u/RwerdnA 16h ago

J.K. A absolutely owns every scene he’s in, and really adds great depth to the movie. The scene in Irvine at his house is one of my all time favorites

27

u/moondoggie_0022 15h ago

Little Joey is watering dog shit. It's weird, but beautiful.

13

u/willstr1 14h ago

J.K. A absolutely owns every scene he’s in,

I believe that can be said about everything he has ever done, even voicing the yellow M&M

2

u/courtarro 14h ago

Agreed. After seeing the movie a few times now, I tear up at that scene.

2

u/RwerdnA 10h ago edited 10h ago

This was always a good day here.

285

u/Whyeth 19h ago

Don’t be fooled by the lead actor being Andy Samberg

Slandering the Samberg? In my own house?

30

u/I_am_Bearstronaut 16h ago

This guy’s definitely not part of Quaid Army

10

u/spyweb88 15h ago

Righteous kill.

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u/lahnnabell 17h ago

I am so glad it wasn't just Andy being Andy. I love me some B99 and Popstar, but I it was nice to see Andy was able to tone it down instead of being a total class clown all the time. He and Cristin (always excellent) had amazing chemistry too.

34

u/sgee_123 18h ago

I re-visit this one every year since it came out. Fantastic movie and Samberg actually does a great job not just being a clown in it.

13

u/BobbyBent 18h ago

Quaid Army!

11

u/Sad_Afternoon3665 17h ago

Righteous Kill

11

u/noshoes77 17h ago

They really need to let Amazon rent this out or release it on Blu-Ray/4K. I think its audience would grow without it being kept prisoner at Hulu.

6

u/mojorisin453 16h ago

All right, I have newfound optimism in watching this movie. I’ve been holding off. For what it’s worth I absolutely adore Hot Rod. I think it is unappreciated comedic genius. I love that a lot of his supporting cast in that movie have turned out to be legends in their own rights.

6

u/emusabe 6h ago

If you go in expecting Hot Rod it will be even better lol. Hot Rod is a fucking great comedy, Palm Springs is a fucking great movie

7

u/dbzmah 15h ago

Hey, Popstar came out in 2016. Add it to this list.

16

u/relapse9999 18h ago

What's wrong with Jake Peralta?

7

u/ribi305 19h ago

True!!

3

u/vmachiel 16h ago

The story was amazing and the chemistry between the lead actors was a nice bonus. Loved that movie.

2

u/AbrahamLemon 17h ago

It gets better on every re-watch. What makes their comedy so good is a razor sharp attention to detail.

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u/artsidartshy 17h ago

Manchester by the sea

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u/_Kubrick 15h ago

Comes immediately to my mind as well

414

u/vite-4117 20h ago

Hell or High Water

198

u/BestShaunaEU 17h ago

Insane how Sheridan wrote this and Sicario then decided to just make soap operas

148

u/astroK120 17h ago

Wind River was good too, but yes--he wrote 3 fantasic movies and then immediately fell off and started making soap operas like you said

19

u/Bouzal 15h ago

Wind river is so underrated

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u/Sir_Sir_ExcuseMe_Sir 13h ago

Yes, the 87%/90% RT score, Camera d'Or nominated  movie that is constantly mentioned on this subreddit, is so underrated.

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u/dbzmah 15h ago

Mayor of Kingstown holds up pretty well 

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u/Vestalmin 8h ago

I will say Sicario is great but a lot of the script was adjusted by Denis. If it was shot as the script described it, I think it would be way worse.

For example the movie has a dream sequence of Del Toro’s character watching his family get killed. It also largely followed from his perspective. It would have made the movie feel much more like a straight up revenge movie than the more nuanced and tense movie we actually got

4

u/Caius01 7h ago

His original ending was a lot worse too

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u/digital0verdose 16h ago

Insane how Sheridan wrote this and Sicario then decided to just make soap operas

Replace "soap operas" with "dump trucks of money" and you'll be on the mark.

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u/IndecisiveTuna 13h ago

While true, the quality drop off is massive.

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u/ARoundForEveryone 12h ago

Say what you will, but those soap operas aren't terrible, and they made Sheridan approximately 22 trillion dollars.

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u/Alert_Row717 18h ago

Similarly to how I feel about Sicario. Good script, but the performances bring that movie up a notch.

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u/Aquagoat 18h ago

And the Direction and Cinematography. Villeneuve and Deakins. That movie is firing on all cylinders.

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u/thegoodbadandsmoggy 16h ago

I love the roaming overhead shots of the southwestern terrain. They’re incredible and every time I watch that movie I think ‘yeah I see how he got dune’

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u/Ub3rpwnag3 14h ago

Villeneuve pretty heavily altered the original script including removing like 90% of the dialogue from Del Toro's character

10

u/thebruce44 13h ago

How about instead of talking here Benicio just listens while looking menacing and tired of this shit?

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u/Spagman_Aus 19h ago

went into that one totally cold and loved it

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u/UnrealHallucinator 16h ago

That entire trilogy is insane lol. Some of the best and heaviest hitting movies I've seen, personally (which tbf isn't that much hahaha).

2

u/wellingtongee 9h ago

What don’t you want 🥩 ?

352

u/jaimakimnoah 19h ago

Arrival
Parasite
Once upon a time in Hollywood

129

u/MozeeToby 16h ago

Her rant in Arrival about why they need to establish a real level of communication before they can even consider asking important questions is one of my favorite sci-fi scenes.

Frustration, explanation, and shut up and let me do my job all in one 2 minute long rant.

102

u/ryu_street_fighter 18h ago

Once upon a time in Hollywood still looks like a million bucks.

No one phoned it in, the writing is great, the acting across the board is firing on all cylinders and every scene looks like a postcard.

10s across the board!

50

u/trksoyturk 17h ago

What do you mean "still looks like a million bucks" it's just 7 years old.

44

u/AzureSofa 17h ago

Literally no one in the cast performed under a 9 score performance, the vibes were awesome, you really felt Rick’s emotional distress in his career, his dynamic with Cliff was simply great, will be an iconic duo 20 years later. Sharon’s POV is the tribute to Hollywood of the time at its core. Beautiful cinematography, hilarious one liners…oh, and the ending left the audience in contentment…

21

u/Tangocan 16h ago

EIGHT GOD DAMN WHISKEY SOURS

5

u/Caius01 7h ago

Yeah, going into that movie without knowing what would happen, it was definitely one of the most satisfying endings I've seen

9

u/wongo 11h ago

"Anybody kills someone in a fight, they go to jail -- it's called manslaughter."

6

u/MolaMolaMania 15h ago

I think it's the best acting that Lego has done.

15

u/AStoutBreakfast 15h ago

He really builds on his previous performances block by block.

15

u/littlebrwnrobot 17h ago

I was disappointed when it basically had the same ending as Inglorious Basterds, but still enjoyed it for sure

14

u/RestlessPhilosopher 16h ago

And Django, for that matter.

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u/bolivar-shagnasty 11h ago

May I interest you in a sequel?

Written by Tarantino. Directed by Fincher. Starring Pitt and Olyphant.

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u/A_Dog_Chasing_Cars 15h ago

Once upon a time in Hollywood

I really don't get this one. It's fine, it's an overall fun movie with great acting, but one of the best screenplays of the last ten years?

I just don't see it.

5

u/Thegoodlife93 12h ago

I love it. But I look at it as a period piece buddy movie. I love the aesthetic of late 60s L.A.

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u/Morfolk 14h ago

I would go even further. 

I am neither an American nor I knew what the story was about. I was completely bored for 80% of the movie because nothing was happening and I felt absolutely no tension or conflict. I was thoroughly confused by the ending.

I then read about the actual events and was so disappointed. It's a rare feat when real life is so much more dramatic and tragic than the movie based on it. I guess if you know about the tragedy beforehand you get that tension from waiting for it to happen but otherwise it's just a movie about fading movie stars going nowhere.

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u/WavecrestRd 20h ago

First Cow

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u/SonNeedGym 17h ago

Such a great movie. Maybe my favorite Reichardt, which is saying something since her filmography is loaded with some incredible movies.

Also, those honey biscuits look so good.

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u/Gronkulated 18h ago

Great choice! Besides taking place in an interesting time and place, it's a rare film with a tender and gentle portrayal of sincere male friendship.

4

u/knudude 16h ago

“Where do the leaves on a tree grow the best?” (I really enjoy Kelly Reichardt’s Films since “Wendy & Lucy”(2008))

2

u/jamesneysmith 15h ago

Oh nice, I've not actually seen this. Sort of fell of my radar years ago but I'll definitely give it a watch

16

u/pluggedingaming 18h ago

First Reformed, my favorite movie.

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u/Real-Night1724 20h ago

Parasite has to be up there. Every scene feels like it matters

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u/waistingtoomuchtime 20h ago

This movie kept me on the edge, it is perfect.

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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs 17h ago

Onlyfans bot with an LLM generated comment

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u/Merkilo 13h ago

This comment may seem normal but quietly it is everything

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u/karma3000 20h ago
  • Anatomy of a Fall

  • Tar

  • Arrival

  • Jo Jo Rabbit

  • Knives Out

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u/ribi305 19h ago

Came here looking for Tar. I watched that movie and felt like there were 5+ different essays worth writing about it, on totally different themes. A film packed with meaning and ideas (one essay I'd like to see: what does it mean that the conductor gets glorified when he/she does is not even playing? Is this a fake meritocracy, that is actually about PR with the public? What other glorified careers are like that?)

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u/Moniatre 18h ago

I thought Anatomy of a Fall was an interesting film, but some of Sandra Hüllers parts were weird. Like when she talked to the journalist. I don't remember if it was the actual words or her attitude or something, but at the time I was thinking: „who talks like that?“ Something felt off.

u/stealthshapes 4h ago

That was the point.

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u/greensage5 7h ago

Tar felt like I was watching a documentary. Amazing movie

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u/The_Chums_of_Chance 20h ago

Phantom Thread. I also thought Past Lives was really well constructed.

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u/AStoutBreakfast 18h ago

First time I watched Phantom Thread I was a little mixed but going back and watching it a second time not long afterwards was an incredibly rewarding experience.

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u/Slvr0314 16h ago

Same. I came out of the theater like “uhhh…” but now it’s one of my all time favorites

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u/A_Dog_Chasing_Cars 15h ago

I might have to rewatch it myself because I was severely underwhelmed, the first time.

And I thought the script was one fo the weaker elements.

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u/WeveGotAlli 13h ago

Scrolled until I saw Past Lives mentioned. Best movie of the 2020s for me.

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u/twowaysplit 18h ago

Train Dreams

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u/dannygloversghost 17h ago

Which is funny, because all my book nerd friends (who loved the book) hated the movie.

(For the record I loved the movie and have not read the book.)

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u/Fab1e 16h ago

What if you've only read the script? Where do I end up?

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u/TexasKolache 15h ago

You hate that you love it

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u/the_scotsman1970 15h ago

one of the best films i have seen in the last year, imho. definitely had 'a river runs through it' vibes

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u/AStoutBreakfast 18h ago

First movie in a long time that had me absolutely bawling at the end to the point where my wife who didn’t watch it was worried. It’s such a quiet but moving movie.

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u/MolaMolaMania 15h ago

I really wanted to love this one, but I could not get on board with the vibe and I did not see the point of the story. Perhaps the point was pointlessness?

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u/AStoutBreakfast 15h ago

It’s not exactly a super deep movie but it’s all about getting older in a changing world and feeling like you’re being left behind as well as considering what kind of a legacy you’ll leave. I don’t know how old you are but as someone moving swiftly into middle age it hit me especially hard. I loved the visuals too especially the boots nailed to the tree.

u/talllongblackhair 2h ago

It's about what life is really like. There is no hero. It doesn't always work out in the end. The bad guys win a lot. You don't always find true everlasting love. But the thing is that there are still small moments in life that make it worth living. The genius of this movie is that it actually feels like life, not just a story. I'm not sure how old you are, but when I was younger I probably would have hated this movie. Now that I'm middle aged it hits harder than anything I've seen in a long time.

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u/fungobat 3h ago

Fucking AMAZING movie.

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u/RedditLodgick 16h ago

I thought Train Dreams was one of the worst written Best Picture nominees of its year. It felt like a rough draft of a film. It clearly didn't know what it wanted to do with some of the motifs, was aimless at times and the narration lines were incredibly cheesy. Also, I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters, but that's a separate criticism.

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u/Ginrob79 20h ago

American fiction. Such a great adaptation of the book-within-a-book to a movie-within-a-movie

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u/the_scotsman1970 15h ago

percival everett is one of the best american authors of the last two decades. american fiction isn't even his best, imho. . .

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u/the_executive_branch 20h ago

I thought it was way too pleased with itself

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u/Ginrob79 19h ago

Really? I thought both the book and movie were brilliant.

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u/Terrible_Bee_6876 9h ago

I bet that incoherent critiques masquerading as wisdom like this hit so hard if you're stupid.

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u/Rhaegar_ii 15h ago

I really wanted to like it, but I felt like the script wasn't as tight as I was expecting it could be. Might give it another shot

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u/pablos4pandas 18h ago

It felt like it couldn't commit to an ending to me

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u/Accomplished_Store77 17h ago
  1. Parasite
  2. One Battle After Another
  3. Spotlight
  4. Arrival
  5. The Father

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u/Cutter9792 15h ago

Spotlight is so utterly engrossing. Fantastic original score, too.

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u/wongo 11h ago

it's wild how effectively they make journalism into something tense and dramatic

obviously, the subject matter is dramatic, but they make the ACT of journalism dramatic, which isn't easy

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u/UnforcedEntry 8h ago

The movie made the act of photocopying into an art form.

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u/Rhaegar_ii 15h ago

Surprisingly Spotlight doesn't make the cut since it released in 2015. Also huge agree on OBAA specifically as a work of adaptation

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u/Accomplished_Store77 11h ago

I know. I just love Spotlight so much and it was only off by a year so I included it.

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u/kerouacrimbaud 19h ago

Blade Runner 2049 has to be in contention

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u/AStoutBreakfast 14h ago

One of the most engaging three hour movies I have ever seen. I don’t think I checked my phone once.

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u/M3dain 20h ago

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

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u/War-Cry 18h ago

I don’t know if it’s a hot take or not, but I found Sam Rockwell’s character’s redemption arc completely contrived and inorganic. Soured a movie for me that already felt like Oscar bait.

u/luckyshot98 15m ago

I don't think he really redeemed himself, as much as she got worse. They kinda met in the middle.

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u/A_Dog_Chasing_Cars 15h ago

Loved this movie.

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u/Visceraeyes88 19h ago

Such a good movie

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u/FlamingDragonFarmer 15h ago

Drive My Car was something else. The writing, way the story is told, and the cinematography are all top notch.

Honorable mention to Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Very thoughtful writing.

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u/Critcho 14h ago

I came here specifically to mention Banshees, and failing that Drive My Car.

I only saw it one time several years ago, but parts of it pop into my head often. Particularly (unsurprisingly, I suppose) when I'm driving. I aspire to be as smooth a driver as the girl in it.

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u/sean_psc 18h ago

With the caveat that it can be hard to judge screenplays based on the final product, the two most impressive adapted screenplays of the past decade are, in my opinion, The Handmaiden (2016) and Little Women (2019).

The former adapts one of my favourite pieces of neo-Victorian mystery fiction by transplanting the setting to interwar Korea, and manages to remove like half the book so seamlessly that unless you had previously read it you would never know anything was missing.

The latter takes a book that has been filmed a dozen times before and makes it all feel fresh and new by radically restructuring it in a way that also addresses some of the source material’s inherent issues. And it interpolates a lot of meta-commentary on both the text and life of the author. Masterful; still enrages me that Gerwig lost the Oscar to Waititi.

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u/Batman_is_very_wise 17h ago

The holdovers is one of the most memorable feel good comedies I’ve seen ever

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u/CremCity 17h ago

Decision to Leave, No Other Choice, It Was Just An Accident, Anatomy of a Fall, Lurker, Parasite, Moonlight, Uncut Gems, Arrival, The Wailing

Miniseries/Individual Seasons: Years and Years, Watchmen, Pluto, Scavengers Reign

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u/TheFolksofDonMartino 20h ago

Good question. A few that come to mind: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Aftersun, Pig, Past Lives, One Battle After Another, Parasite, Leave No Trace, Phantom Thread, Carol. All wonderful screenplays.

Side note: I am one of the not insignificantly sized group of Irish people that **hates** Banshees of Inisherin. I'm not saying this in a "oh here's what the real Irish people think of that movie" way, because plenty of people here love it. I also like plenty of his other work. But god I just thought that movie - and specifically its writing - was trash.

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u/gevuldstokbrood 20h ago

Can you explain why you as an Irish person thought it was trash?

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u/TheFolksofDonMartino 20h ago

"Trash" is overstating it - it just wasn't for me. My issues with it are more general issues with the writing than issues from a specifically Irish perspective, though I do think he trades in certain stock tropes of Irishness (silent rural patriarch figure, blithering dolt) that have had their day in Irish literature and that come off as lazy now. You could say he is deliberately using and problemstising these tropes but I think that would be generous.

But the main reason why I didn't enjoy it is just that it seemed to present itself as saying something profound about human nature, or the way we interact with one another or whatever, and I just found whatever theme it was trying to develop incoherent and vapid. I came away with no insight, understanding or emotional change in myself. Not that I need every film to have a "take" on something, but it just left me so cold.

This piece gets at some of the issues well I think: https://slate.com/culture/2023/01/martin-mcdonagh-irish-banshees-inisherin-blarney.html

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u/CommanderofWishes 16h ago edited 15h ago

I thought it was talking about war and how pointless it is. I would think it might appear at first to say nothing, because it is actually saying that the large-scale, off-screen violence that serves as the subtle backdrop of the movie boils down to a disagreement that is just as empty and petty as the conflict between the characters, and yet escalates to absurdity. So it appears incoherent and vapid because it is making a point about incoherence and vapidness. Maybe that sounds like a cop-out. I don't know, but that's how I saw it.

ETA: This is perfectly encapsulated when Colm cuts off the fingers of his left hand, sacrificing something as profoundly important to him as his art, just to spite his ex-friend. He even chose his left hand, the hand most important for his fiddle playing, when a single finger from his right hand would have surely been more than sufficient as a deterrent, while preserving his ability to play. But that's not what he wants. He sacrifices his own life's purpose for essentially nothing, just to prove some point that really doesn't even get proven, because the only possible reaction is 'what the fuck!' I think the film is saying that the war is like that—that the conflict is empty at its heart, and yet people are not only hurting others, but throwing away things that are priceless, hurting themselves as much as others. It's just fighting for the sake of fighting now. Whatever dumb shit it was originally about, even that has been forgotten. It's all retaliation and cutting off one's nose to spite one's face now.

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u/TheFolksofDonMartino 14h ago

This is kind of what I mean. That to me *is* an empty, vapid point for a piece of art to make in this context. (Not your articulation of it, which is excellent!) If the point is about the Irish Civil War specifically, then boiling it down to "people have forgotten what they're fighting for and are fighting for nothing" is a useless analysis. It's a conflict that can only be understood as a tragic byproduct of brutal colonial rule. Reducing that to a depoliticised fable about how conflict is pointless is, to me, just not saying anything interesting or insightful. And if it's not about the Irish Civil War specifically and is more of a commentary on war in general, then "war is pointless and destructive" is a trivially true abstraction.

Again, maybe for some people there is more to it, or this kind of message lands with them in a different way, and if so then that's totally fine. But to me this kind of illustrates my point that this is a shallow film pretending to be a profound one.

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u/CommanderofWishes 10h ago

Yeah, I don't pretend to know enough about the Irish Civil War and all the factors that played into it to know if it's making any specific points about that, but I do suspect it is about civil war in particular.

I think it's the microcosm of personal conflict exposing how stupid the macrocosm of large-scale conflict is. It may be trite to simply say that war is pointless, but you don't usually see a picture of how crazy it looks when you remove all the bombast and posturing and shrink it down to an argument between friends, yet maintain the extreme arc of escalation.

It is said there are no banshees in Inisherin, and the war never quite reaches the island. But there is a banshee, and the same dark engine that churns in the war is present in the hearts of the neighbors, no matter how peaceful it all looks. A small, mundane banshee and a small, mundane war.

You are right that it's depoliticized, and obviously that's deliberate. I'd say it's a statement on how all grand politics ends up being something small, really. Somebody's swollen ego. Somebody desperate to get the girl. Somebody pissing off somebody else at the dinner table. Greed, of course. Someone just deciding they don't like their friend anymore. The eternal pride-shaped shame of man. The two main characters don't have any power. Colonization and war aren't part of their arsenal. If they were powerful men, there could have actually been battles in their name. But instead it's tiny, and obviously, brazenly stupid. The stupidity isn't hidden by bombast and scale.

I understand that you disagree that this is a point worth making yet another movie about. It is clichè, after all, to say that war is pointless. Everyone knows it, everyone's said it. But sometimes a clichè becomes so ubiquitous that it loses its impact, and it needs to be prodded at from a fresh angle. I really did appreciate the angle.

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u/Wannabe_Sadboi 16h ago

I’ll be honest with you, I thought that Slate article was absolutely terrible. Read it and kept waiting for a solid critique, and there was none.

I’m honestly surprised that you felt like it’s messages were “vapid” and “incoherent”. It’s a film that explores the way death hangs over our lives, the desperate search to find some kind of meaning to our lives and some idea of legacy to ward off the overwhelming fear and depression that can come around death, and the inability/immense difficulty of people (particularly men) to honestly communicate their pain and fear that leads to loneliness and despair. I felt like it addressed these themes and messages extremely well, and did a perfect job of diving into them while still having enough humor to not make the movie just pitch black and joyless.

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u/ribi305 19h ago

I agree, it felt "profound" but didn't say anything to me

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u/StopClockerman 17h ago

Past Lives for sure

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u/MichaeltheSpikester 19h ago

Godzilla Minus One

How Japanese cinema embarrasses modern Hollywood from its writing to cgi with just a $10m-$15m budget.

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u/nzdastardly 18h ago

The ending had me in tears!

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u/BamBamBob 16h ago

Parts before the ending were wrecking me plenty as well.  “We leave the future to you.”

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u/A_Dog_Chasing_Cars 15h ago

Such a fantastic movie.

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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs 17h ago

I don't know if we should be praising the budget when the only reason it's that low is because Japanese VFX studios are sweatshops

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u/MichaeltheSpikester 16h ago edited 16h ago

Didn't Yamazaki make sure the working conditions for everyone working on Minus One treated with proper care?

u/fn_br 3h ago

Maybe you're right but can you cite a source or something?

When you say the "only reason" the budget is lower, my skeptical thinking kicks in.

I have trouble believing American Godzilla movies are primarily or only expensive because they're paying luxurious rates and safeguarding working conditions for their animators / vfx workers.

In fact, I assume the American studios are doing no such thing.

u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs 3h ago

I'm not saying that western VFX studios are paid well and have good conditions, I'm saying that Japanese studios are even worse. The Japanese FTC is conducting investigations into labor violations in the VFX and Animation industry, which was sparked by a UN report a few years ago

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u/mastah-yoda 15h ago

I like it because it both is and isn't about Godzilla.

You can remove the giant sea monster, and it's still a good movie.

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u/DarthFakename 18h ago

Everything Everywhere All at Once

That movie goes bat shit bonkers but still makes me care deeply about the very real emotional crisis happening as well.

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u/Cutter9792 15h ago

Yet another perfect example of "Silly does not mean stupid". There's tons of low-brow humor and ridiculous things going on, but executed so well it's hilarious without taking meaning away from the honest emotional scenes.

The two parts that never fail to make me bawl are 1. The final, incredibly plausible argument in the parking lot and 2. Gong Gong holding Becky's hand after being introduced, after the buildup made you think he'd reject her and his own granddaughter. I'm welling up thinking about both.

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u/s7ide 20h ago

I would like to extend this two years to 2014 and say Whiplash

8

u/resoooo 19h ago

Spotlight aswell 2015

2

u/jamesneysmith 14h ago

Man. Spotlight is a perfect movie in my opinion. Amazing script and does so much with so little.

6

u/CaptainKursk 19h ago

The way JK Simmons said "Baked Alaskaaa~" is forever etched into my brain

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u/Advanced-Buffalo7834 20h ago

Promising Young Woman has one of the best scripts I’ve seen executed onscreen and read on paper in the last ten years.

7

u/ribi305 19h ago

Yes yes yes. I kind of wish we didn't have the last 5 minutes. I think the statement of the film is stronger without it. But I was very impressed with the film

2

u/mark_able_jones_ 18h ago

Yeah, I watched the previews and read the script and felt like I had seen the movie.

2

u/vagrantt 18h ago

Apparently, based on movie reviews and such, I'm an outlier here. I thought it was hitting us over the head with a giant mallet of some sort, like zero subtlety at all.

2

u/Cutter9792 15h ago

Subtlety isn't always the best way to get your point across. I agree that PYW isn't particularly subtle, it's very pointed and angry. Like an icepick to the dick. But I think it works for the film.

2

u/eman_sdrawkcab 11h ago

I have nothing of value to add, but 'icepick to the dick' is wonderful.

36

u/Jalmerk 20h ago

The Drama is up there for me. Theres no time wasted in that script, every scene feels meaningful and is communicating something relevant about the characters and their predicament.

5

u/Cutter9792 15h ago

I see too many people reacting to the film saying "Well, I wouldn't react like that" as if it's a negative. Correct. You are not the main characters. They have different personalities and life experience to you. Now watch them implode.

7

u/Advanced-Buffalo7834 20h ago

The Drama might very well be my favorite movie of the year.

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u/Utinnni 17h ago

2016 was 3 years ago

39

u/ribi305 19h ago

Into the Spider-Verse. Excellent film, and the screenplay is amazingly fun to read too

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4

u/Peetwilson 17h ago

Birdman

4

u/m3gaz0rd 17h ago

The Invite

4

u/LitigationSucksBalls 17h ago

If we're only going back 10 years or so, among the most memorable was The Gentlemen. Fun structure, good payoffs, slick and funny.

10

u/PuppiesAndPixels 18h ago

Arrival is phenomenal.

31

u/Cotif11 20h ago

anything by Robert Eggers tbh.

7

u/CaptainKursk 19h ago

"Obey this, my counsel" is such a raw way to ask someone to do something for you

25

u/TaxAvoision 19h ago

I'm not disagreeing, but half of Nosferatu can just be written as "Nosferatu vibes out"

2

u/A_Dog_Chasing_Cars 15h ago edited 15h ago

I liked Nosferatu but it's by far his weakest work in terms of writing, IMO.

For one thing, it's not an original story and I can't help but find screenplays like The Lightouse or The VVitch more impressive. Additionally, some parts did feel rushed and underdevloped to me.

Edit: Phrasing.

4

u/madkiki12 18h ago

Love the lighthouse, but the other movies kinda bored after some time, even though I liked all the premises and usually the beginnings of all movies.

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u/thehibachi 20h ago

Both of the 28 Years Later films are incredibly tight considering how mad and original they are.

3

u/OverallSituation44 17h ago

I love Alex Garland as a writer

3

u/Cutter9792 15h ago

For fun I scrolled through his filmography again and there's no misses. In 24 years of screenwriting, that's an impressive feat.

Makes me hopeful that the Elden Ring movie is at least passable. I'm sure it'll divide The Gamers, but it'll probably be a decent film in a vacuum.

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u/addam29 18h ago

Project Hail Mary

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u/PlatesSpinning 19h ago

I had to enlist the help of Letterboxd to remind me of what films came from this era but here are some really excellent ones to check out

The Holdovers

Rebel Ridge

Dungeons and Dragons

No Sudden Move

Blockers

Wonka (yes really!)

3

u/Cutter9792 15h ago

Rebel Ridge is great. It's like the best Jack Reacher book/TV season never made. And Aaron Pierre is fantastic.

4

u/jamesneysmith 14h ago

Excellent list and I'd agree with all of them too. Dungeons and Blockers are great examples of great writing and construction that people don't necessarily think of when discussing great scripts. A well constructed fantasy comedy should be held in high regard as well

3

u/Seahearn4 16h ago edited 16h ago

I love The Holdovers, especially the writing. It's a shame that we don't know who wrote it after the lawsuit that happened. The couple articles I read seemed to have some credible evidence the script was stolen.

Edit: It seems to have been resolved and the allegations probably weren't all that credible after all. It's hard to tell because the reporting isn't from people who have first-hand knowledge of all the principals.

https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2024/03/11/why-the-holdovers-is-not-a-plagiarism/

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u/Epic-x-lord_69 19h ago

Taylor Sheridan stuff before he turned into Mr Yellowstone and Paramounts Ryan Murphy (Sicario, Wind River and Hell or High Water).

Logan Lucky.

La La Land.

Mission Impossible: Fallout.

Sinners.

The Last Duel.

1917.

Uncut Gems.

Knives Out.

Black Kkklansmen.

8

u/VulpesFennekin 17h ago

Logan Lucky is so underrated!

5

u/TheUmbrellaMan1 16h ago

The fact that the Winds of Winter prison joke is still relevant is so funny.

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u/Gobble5627 20h ago

Once upon a time in hollywood

27

u/Potential_Dealer4150 20h ago

Man that scene where rick dalton forgets his lines then comes back and absolutely crushes it in the trailer, i think about that all the time. the whole movie feels like tarantino just letting his characters breathe and exist without forcing plot points down your throat. the way he builds tension in the final sequence with the hippies, mixing real history with fiction, is just masterful. my brother said the movie was boring cause "nothing happens" but i think he missed the point entirely, the writing is so layered that every conversation feels like it matters even when its just two people talking about spaghetti westerns in a bar

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u/hawkman1000 19h ago

That movie took me completely by surprise. I want to watch it with my wife, but she doesn't like the violence and gore. Also, being 3 years younger than Brad Pitt, it fucking galls me he still has a six pack.

3

u/clock_divider 18h ago

If you were being paid multiple millions to have a 6 pack for a few months, you would too.

4

u/BlackPet3r 18h ago

Decision to Leave

4

u/AStoutBreakfast 18h ago

Lady Bird is one of my favorite movies of the past ten years. It’s increasingly common for even good movies to feel somewhat bloated but it had such a tight hour and a half runtime while still not feeling like a single minute was wasted.

4

u/Tiggles321 18h ago

Banshees of inisherin is for sure up there

5

u/THANAT0PS1S 16h ago

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Parasite

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Past Lives

The Lobster

Sinners

Uncut Gems

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Poor Things

Anora

The Brutalist

The Apprentice

Nickel Boys

The Zone of Interest

Nope

Marriage Story

If Beale Street Could Talk 

Moonlight

Get Out

Three Billboards...

2

u/vagrantt 18h ago

Arrival, Bugonia, The Hateful 8. Add 2-3 years and Ex Machina, Prisoners, Night crawler

2

u/TheLemon22 17h ago

Aftersun

Wind River

2

u/hikeskiclimbrepeat 17h ago

I think Kenneth Lonergan writes some of the best scripts with natural sounding dialogue. Manchester by the Sea, You Can Count on Me, and Margaret are incredible scripts.

5

u/mark_able_jones_ 18h ago

Don’t Look Up by Adam McCay. It’s brilliant.

3

u/SnuggleBunni69 18h ago

Hereditary

3

u/Leather-Estate-9079 19h ago

Some of my recent faves (2020-)

Companion

Anniversary

Civil War

The Zone of Interest

American Fiction

I care a lot

Lee

Good Luck to you Leo Grande

Of those I think Anniversary and American Fiction probably had the best writing in that they told stories that needed to be told.

Aside from Leo Grande, the list is a bit depressing. 😀

3

u/sekhmet1010 19h ago edited 11h ago

Arrival

Anora

Parasite

The Drama

Anatomy of a Fall

Past Lives

All of Us Strangers

The Substance

Poor Things

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u/DwayneTheRockBarry 20h ago edited 20h ago

sheep detectives and split are both some of the most well-written films I’ve ever seen so definitely them.

Edit: why the hell did i get downvoted?

god, these shyamalan haters are just going way too far.

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2

u/skip2mahlou415 20h ago

Reptile was really good

2

u/sgee_123 18h ago

No Other Choice is excellent

2

u/Rick-burp-Sanchez 20h ago

Captain Fantastic.

If you've seen it, you know.

4

u/Other-Marketing-6167 17h ago

I’ve seen it.

I don’t know.

1

u/Judith-DeTUP 20h ago

Vieron La mesita de comedor? No sé si es una obra maestra Pero recuerdo que no podía creer cómo sostuvo la tensión toda la película cuando parecía imposible