The Ten Best Films of 2017: #10

Trey Edward Shults’ “It Comes at Night” is lean, economical, no-frills genre moviemaking, yet this young director (who debuted with last year’s Cassavetes-esque “Krisha”) continues to amaze with his command of technique and now his versatility. In the near future of the film, a virulent, Plague-like disease has wiped out almost all of humankind. Paul (Joel Edgerton) has a few inviolable rules for his wife Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) and son Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.): only go out of the house in pairs, always wear your gas masks outside, and never ever unlock the red door. When an intruder (Christopher Abbott) offers much-needed provisions if they’ll take in him and his wife (Riley Keough) and young son, Paul’s comfortable pattern yields to an outwardly friendly but inwardly uneasy entente. “It Comes at Night” gives the lie to so much of the current cinema, proving you don’t need a big budget, special effects and universally recognized comic-book characters to create thrilling entertainment. All you need is a compelling scenario, a uniformly first-rate cast and a director with vision and the talent to see it through.

The Worst Films of 2017

This year, I made a conscious effort to avoid, to a large extent, films I knew I wouldn't like. I saw about 50 fewer films than in 2016 (and have some hope of going below 200 this year). Perhaps as a result, I awarded one star to only sixteen films, making compiling a worst ten list unusually easy.

Noteworthy Performances of 2017

Of course, there is some fluidity between leading and supporting roles, and between casts and individual performances (but not, at least here, between actors and actresses). That said, here, in chronological order, is what I wrote about some of the especially memorable performances (mostly by women) given in the films of 2017.

Notes on the Year in Documentary Film - 2017

Winners outnumbered losers 27-15 among the documentaries I saw in 2017, but no great ones.

Complete Star Rating Guide to the Films of 2017

Documentaries are denoted with (D) after the title.

Downsizing, The Post, Happy End, Hostiles, Phantom Thread, In the Fade, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Molly's Game

Downsizing

The Post

Happy End

Hostiles

Phantom Thread

In the Fade

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Molly's Game

A quick rundown of the end-of-year spate, none of which excited me:

The Disaster Artist, Wonder Wheel, Loveless, The Tribes of Palos Verdes, I, Tonya, Foxtrot, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, The Shape of Water

The Disaster Artist

Wonder Wheel

Loveless

The Tribes of Palos Verdes

I, Tonya

Foxtrot

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

The Shape of Water

The early part of December brings mostly mild (and one strong) recs, with only one mild discommend: