It’s hard to believe this monstrous year is finally drawing to a close. For a while it felt like the all-encompassing awfulness had bent time to its will creating a purgatory where both the pandemic and the election never end. In reality, 2021 will come soon enough, bearing its own challenges and nightmares, but before it does, let’s tour the 2020 film-world one last time. Bolstered by the absence of blockbusters after Tenet’s mid-pandemic faceplant, indie films took up more space in the conversation than ever as virtual screenings brought them to a national audience craving something to watch from home — a joyous but bittersweet silver lining that speaks to the uncertainty of the future of big screen cinema.

Nevertheless, this avalanche of excellence made whittling this list to just ten a huge headache, as I struggled over leaving Babyteeth, Gunda, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Bloody Nose Empty Pockets, and To the Ends of Earth, in the honorable mentions column. All the while films like Da 5 Bloods, Martin Eden, Emma, His House, Sybil, Jezebel, and Possessor, stayed in mind reveling in an idiosyncratic brilliance all their own. That said, I’m thrilled with the ten films that form this motley crew. In them you’ll find a barrage of stories: a fairy tale about fascism, adventures with milk thieves, a delirious London dance party, and so much more. So let me get out of your way, and lead you right to number 10 on the list: a eulogy for a living man.