Today, our round of nominations takes us into what’s always a hotly contested category: our Best Movies for Adults. These are typically not the films you want to plunk down with your kids and watch (sometimes because of the content, sometimes because the themes are just more adult-centric). But with your spouse or a few friends? These films may require a little more navigation than most, but they offer some impressive rewards, too.
A couple of our nominees are also up for Best Picture honors for the Oscars, too. We picked one or two others that maybe should have been nominated. And I think pretty much everyone on the team wishes we could’ve stretched this list of films out for another five or 10 spots, just to get some of our other favorites on here.
Obviously, the movies we nominate here will have problems—more than you’d find in our kids and teens categories. So be sure to check out or full reviews before you and your family watch. But if you have watched, we invite you to participate in this little exercise, too! Vote for your pick on Facebook or Instagram, or in the comments section below. Let us know which of our nominees is your favorite—and which ones you feel we overlooked. When we announce our winners, we’ll announce yours, too!
And just when will we announce said winners? In our March 24 podcast, where we’ll fight over our selections and make our choices as you listen. (We’ll publish a blog announcing the winners the following day, too.)
So read on; take stock of what we’ve nominated; and participate with us, will you? We hope you enjoy participating in this year’s edition of the Plugged In Movie Awards as much as we do. (Movie summaries are written by Paul Asay, Emily Clark, Adam Holz, Bob Hoose and Kennedy Unthank.)
Belfast:
Based on director Kenneth Branagh’s own boyhood memories of the enflamed conflicts in late ’60s Northern Ireland, Belfast is the story of a boy named Buddy and his family as they deal with the tugs and pulls of life. Crafted in black and white, with some scenes emblazoned in color, this film shares small, unexpected moments of joy. It’s an engaging and at times tender movie about belonging to an Irish family and community. It talks of carrying on when things seem impossible—still loving, still protecting. And it speaks with an impassioned fervor about acceptance and endurance. Viewers have to navigate some violence and language here. But for thoughtful adult viewers, this film also offers some important things to mull over—things that speak to our past and our present.
Dream Horse:
Dream Horse brings new meaning to the phrase, “It takes a village.” Tired of her dull existence as a bartender and cashier, former pigeon-racer Jan Vokes solicits members of her small Welsh village to buy into a racehorse syndicate. These broken people have lost their jobs, their community and their pride. But when the racehorse, Dream, is born, they’re reminded of what life was like before they were poor. And though they never become rich from racing Dream, the horse still somehow manages to give them all a second chance. This inspiring true story contains a smattering of profanity, some questionable jokes about sex and a running joke about a man’s perpetual inebriation, which is why it lands in our “Adult” category. But it also shows us all what it’s like to be a part of something bigger than yourself, teaching about pride, purpose and building a community of people willing to stand together through thick and thin.
King Richard:
Richard Williams always knew his daughters would be special. They didn’t have a choice. From before birth, Richard had prepped Venus and Serena for tennis superstardom. Now, as the two grow up and grow into their talents, he’s ready for them to take the next step—if he can find a coach who’s willing to take the biggest of chances on them. Produced by the real Venus and Serena Williams, King Richard gives us a portrait of an imperfect father (played by the Oscar-nominated Will Smith) who’s nevertheless both strict and loving—and who helps instill athletic excellence in his young daughters even as he stresses that there’s way more to life than tennis. This Oscar-nominated film gives us a character that, despite his flaws, often tries to raise his girls the way we’d like to raise our own kids—even if we’re not teaching them to be tennis superstars.
Mass:
Two couples meet in the back room of a local church: One couple is grieving over the loss of their son, cut down during a horrific mass shooting. The other couple? The parents of the killer. Admittedly, this isn’t the year’s feel-good film. And yet, by the end of its difficult run, you may feel better than you’d expect. Mass is both an acting tour de force and a study in grief, where characters are wracked by anger and guilt before finding, at the end, a hint of healing. Yes, the film is pretty difficult. Our characters remember horrific moments and use some strong language. But the payoff is great, too. And given the movie’s setting, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Mass offers a delicately spiritual turn in the end.
The Starling:
When Jack and Lilly Maynard lost their daughter, Katie, to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, it broke them. Jack tried to take his own life before being admitted to a mental health care facility. Lilly tries in earnest to hold down the fort without him, but she’s grieving too—not just over the loss of their daughter but over the near-loss of her husband. The Starling comes with some harsh language and sexual innuendo. And things get pretty heavy with the depiction of a suicide attempt and the constant discussion of losing a child. But there’s hope in this film as well. Katie’s death takes a toll on Lilly and Jack’s marriage. Yet through their brokenness, they each realize they aren’t ready to give up. They don’t want to quit on each other or on life itself. And though it will never bring their little girl back or take away the pain of her loss, knowing they don’t have to do it alone makes it easier to move forward together.
You can also vote in these categories: Best Movie for Kids, Best Movie for Teens, and Best Christian Movie. Voting ends March 11!
7 Responses
-Going to do another write-in, this time for Dune. It was the best sci-fi film in years!
-Dune was terrific! The best movies I saw this year were (starting with the best) The Power of the Dog, Licorice Pizza, and Dune. West Side Story was fine too but just not my thing. I still need to see Drive My Car and Belfast.
-Too bad so few people saw “Belfast.” It was magnificent.
-Clint Eastwood gets no respect around here. Maybe it’s just me but I thought cry macho was a fantastic movie. Wonderfully acted, beautifully paced, thoughtfully done, it was yet another Eastwood gem as far as I’m concerned.
-We did an episode of our Christian movie podcast on Dune (https://share.transistor.fm/s/5a0347a0), where we had to admit we didn’t like it as much as nearly anybody else. There’s something about the films of Denis Villeneuve that leaves us cold. His characterizations are somehow not quite fleshed out. They are 2 1/2 dimensional, not fully 3 dimensional.
-I know what you mean. At least in his later work post-Prisoners, Villaneuve seems to aim for a cool, almost detached style influenced by directors like Kubrick and Tarkovsky. It’s not that he’s uninterested in his characters (Arrival has good character development), he’s just a very visual director.
I thought his style was a perfect fit for Dune. Herbert’s characters operate on the level of myth and archetype, so the story needs to be told on a grand, Wagnerian scale, even if that means sacrificing some psychological nuance that was never really there in the first place.
-Have to say think these are all good contenders. The one with the horses sounds the most interesting though Belfast hear is good and like said all of them definitely got good reviews. It’s nice to see that every adult movie doesn’t have to be filled with drugs sex and excess violence…I don’t mind a little bit but don’t see why so many movies have to be so excessively filled…