Top 60 Best Films 2017

2017: The Year In Film

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As Oscars’ night punctuates the end of the year in film for the industry, our blog traditionally releases its annual recap of the surprises and trends that have shaped the last twelve months of cinema, as well as our list of favourites.

2017 has been a good year for films; yet rather than for its cinematic crop it will certainly be remembered for the seismic shifts it brought in cultural and social forces, prompting a significant change across all areas in our industry. The choir of voices calling for more diversity, equality and inclusiveness had been growing for a few years, but perhaps triggered by that ice storm of ultra conservative policies in Trump’s America; feminist movements, ethnic minorities and LGBT communities have joined their efforts, as they did during the 1960’s, in order to facilitate those changes.

From the beginning of the year, films such as Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out,’ a horror film inspired in the black community’s anxieties about the way they are being used by their white counterparts, or Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, which broke the usual tropes depicting homosexuality as a guilt-ridden source of personal drama, to portray instead a luminous and enjoyable summer romance, were the toast of Sundance, set the tone going all the way to become favourites of the Awards Season. In the second half, the controversial #MeToo movement stole the show and its narratives, creating shock waves around the world when stars who had been victim of sexual abuse began making their stories public. The consequences have been enormous, and there are more still to come. It put an end to Harvey Weinstein’s sleazy empire and has affected a rapidly growing number of professionals from all the corners of the industry. Its impact on this year’s awards season has been unprecedented, from perennial Academy favourites such as Woody Allen forced to cancel the red carpet for the premiere his latest work, ‘Wonder Wheel’, to Ridley Scott’s dramatic reshoot of ‘All The Money In The World’ replacing Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer. Now consolidated as Time’s Up, a platform to help victims of all sort of harassment, the #Metoo initiative was dismissed by the few who dared questioning it as a witch hunt which was at risk of hurting the reputations of many without allowing them their right to a fair legal procedure.

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