Image via Complex Original
Like every year, 2016 has produced a lot of movies worth getting excited about. Unlike most years, though, the cinematic landscape has radically changed over the past 12 months. Companies like Netflix and Amazon have become major players in Tinsel Town, well-funded creators of original programming both in film and television. The result of these changes—in lockstep with the rise of home viewing—means we’re forced to figure what exactly we’d like to spend time on when we're home.
Because the endless options available to us just means it's harder to decide out what we should be consuming. To help simplify the selection process, we’ve created a shortlist of eight great films from 2016 that you can plop down on your couch and watch on Netflix. Just in time for the long New Year's weekend. (You're welcome.)
13th
Director: Ava DuVernay
Proving that moviemaking mogul Ava DuVernay is capable of making anything, 13th is a stirring documentary about the systemic stateside criminalization of African Americans in U.S. prisons and beyond. The film is devastating, infuriating, and empowering, driven by a series of riveting talking head interviews with people like Michelle Alexander, Jelanie Cobb, Angela Davis, and Cory Booker.
Captain America: Civil War
Director: Joe and Anthony Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Daniel Bruhl
It's the superhero film even people who don't like superhero films like. Propelled by the personal politics of the Avengers’ initiative, the movie focuses on the divide between Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). And despite clocking in at 147 minutes, the proceedings are surprisingly entertaining.
Holy Hell
Director: Will Allen
Starring: Will Allen, Dimitrius Pulido, Phillipe Coquet
The documentary fixation with cults continues in Holy Hell, an unnerving film about a faction born out of West Hollywood. The leader? A failed actor turned omniscient guru. This is a frightening behind-the-scenes look at how one man wielded so much power over people. Totally worth watching hung over on New Years Day.
Blue Jay
Director: Alex Lehmann
Starring: Mark Duplass, Sarah Paulson, Clu Gulager
The perfect antidote to the hell-scape that’s been 2016. Presented in blissful black and white, Blue Jay is a story of old love rekindled—or, rather, readdressed. Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson play two former high school sweethearts reconnecting. Tender as it is dramatic, Blue Jay is carried by the dynamic chemistry between Duplass and Paulson.
Barry
Director: Vikram Gandhi
Starring: Devon Terrell, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jason Mitchell, Ellar Coltrane
The second—and better—film to revolve around President Barack Obama is a Netflix-produced drama about Barry O’s first year of college at Columbia. Starring Australian ex-pat Devon Terrell as Obama, Barry is an interesting glimpse into the headspace of a more youthful and confused version of our president. He's is presented as a standard college kid: he dates, he smokes cigarettes and weed, plays pickup basketball, etc. It also has the added bonus of supporting performances by Anya Taylor-Joy and Ellar Coltrane, so yeah, watch it.
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
Director: Werner Herzog
Starring: Elon Musk, Lawrence Krauss, Lucianne Walkowicz, Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog has taken, perhaps unwittingly, the unofficial position of Travel Guide Through Life. The latest of his innumerable recent projects takes him to the internet, and the multitudes there within. Spearheaded by conversations with pioneers like Elon Musk, Kevin Mitnick, and Lawrence Krauss, Herzog is taking us on a journey through the many iterations of the world wide web. Does electronic connectivity breed disconnection? How much information is too much information? Can computers fall in love? Herzog is asking the big questions—we’re just here to listen.
Sing Street
Director: John Carney
Starring: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jack Reynor
Behind La La Land, Sing Street is the musical of the year. Charming, effervescent, yet not sickly sweet, it’s about a young boy who creates a band with his friends to spend time away from his fractured family (and to get a girl). But what Irish filmmaking staple John Carney is really after here is music—its affect on the youth, its restorative power, its beauty. Sing Street feels like the organic continuation of a conversation he started with Once: how music can save you.
Other People
Director: Chris Kelly
Starring: Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford, Maude Apatow
A Sundance favorite that subsequently holds up away from festival fever, Other People focuses on a few people. Mainly, a fledgling comedy writer (Jesse Plemons) and his ailing mother (Molly Shannon), whom he takes care of back in his hometown of Sacramento. Tears and laughter are inevitable while watching writer/director Chris Kelly’s auspicious directorial debut. It’s just fare good for the heart.