Amazingly, despite almost nothing coming out this year (let alone anything of interest to me), I still managed to catch enough new releases to pick three of the best and three of the worst.

In total I saw seven new releases this year, one of which I didn’t review but will be on one of these lists and another which is on neither list but shall be mentioned. End of the day, all seven titles will be revealed.

As we did last year, we’re going to eat our vegetables first and start with the Best of 2020. This’ll make the dessert that is the Worst of 2020 ever the sweeter.

3. The Invisible Man

As well as being a fresh and contemporary take on H.G. Welles’ classic premise, The Invisible Man is a terrific horror film. It’s a long, thrilling, tense ride of abuse and recovery. You are totally on the protagonist’s side and feel for her all the way through her struggles and battles. The Invisible Man himself is an engaging character in his own right as the film clearly understands that the Invisible Man isn’t scary because he’s invisible, he’s scary because he’s invisible and a monster. 

There’re a few cheap jumpscares but fortunately they’re overshadowed by great suspense and tension. I said this in my review and I’ll say it again here, if this is to be the first film in Universal’s cinematic monster universe then I think it’s a great start.

2. Relic

For a horror film that deals with the subject of Alzheimer’s, Relic is a creepy and poignant watch. It may get a little boring at parts with its consistently grim tone but out of the seven films I saw this year, Relic was one of the most unique and memorable. Even though my feelings about it are uncertain, I’ve only seen it once and I can remember a lot from that first and only viewing.

The atmosphere, the suspense, the filthy green colour palette, the gore and the characters create a haunting and, in the end, a very touching film. It may not be the most leisurely viewing experience but it might be what people need to see right now.

1. I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Having only seen seven films, 2020 left me with few choices for the best and worst. I assessed all seven films based on how well they did at being what they were trying to be. Just like with Relic, I really wasn’t sure about I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Unlike Relic however I have seen it more than once, I’ve read a lot of other reviews and opinions of it and my interpretation of it is not as rigid.

In my opinion, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is trying to be a surreal art film that depicts our addiction to art and entertainment. In this respect, I believe it’s the most successful of the seven. It’s a strange and awkward experience that calls us out on our escaping of real-world complexities via media and art. The film achieves this by exposing life’s inevitable brutalities, most notably aging, to its two main characters, young couple Lucy and Jake, who are both fascinated with art and its romance. Like Relic, its theme is very timely and relatable, it certainly is for myself. Hence, of the few I saw in 2020, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is my best film of the year.

Right, now for the fun bit. Here are my three worst films of 2020.

3. Sonic The Hedgehog

This film’s biggest crime is being bland. I actually struggled between choosing either this or Artemis Fowl for the number three spot but I eventually settled on Sonic rather confidently, because while Artemis Fowl is poorly written, certain quirks make it a really amusing watch. From its disorientating fight scenes to its Irish Judi Dench, Artemis is fun. Sonic is not. Sonic takes itself seriously and expects you to feel and care for its cardboard cut-outs for characters.

The film was so generic that for a brief period I contemplated whether the film was a satire. Specifically of early 90s’, late 2000s’ kids films where cartoons are brought to the real world like Space Jam and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I soon realised that I was giving the film too much credit for even thinking it could’ve been so clever.

It’s not going to age well but it was never going to. It’s just a product based on a well-known brand designed to entertain people in the here and the now. In that respect I’m sure it’s succeeded for many people but when I saw it, I got little to nothing out of it hence it’s here as my third worst of the year.

2. Underwater

If Underwater was released in the 80s’ or 90s’ then I could forgive its two-dimensional characters. Being a 2020 release however, the film’s sloppiness and lack of originality manifest as major weaknesses. Within five minutes of being introduced to them, you know who the characters are and not in a good way. They are the cast of so many sci-fi slashers, good and bad alike. They don’t feel like people you can understand, they’re nothing more than what they are; archetypes.

The horror is great, I was not disappointed in that area. The film takes great advantage of the invisible, unexplored void that is the ocean but unfortunately Underwater thinks its characters are interesting hence it dedicates the majority of its runtime to them.

I’m more likely to go on YouTube and find a montage of all the bits with the monsters than watch the whole film again. Sonic may at least have posterity as a time capsule of the era it was released in but I see almost no posterity for Underwater. It’s just too dull.

1. The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run

This was the one I didn’t review. This was the one I wasn’t actually planning on seeing. I’d seen the trailers last year and while I was curious about seeing it, I couldn’t say that I was planning to go to the cinema and pay to do so the following year. Hence I was pleasantly surprised when, during lockdown, out of the blue, it landed on Netflix. I hadn’t seen the show in years and I couldn’t think of anything more interesting to watch so I thought ‘what the hell?’ I was hoping for a fun silly ride in a similar vein to the first two films, not a masterpiece, just something fun.

What I got was a repulsive Frankenstein’s monster of the first two films sprinkled with bad jokes and plot holes. Sponge on the Run doesn’t know if it wants to be a non-sensical absurdist comedy like Monty Python and the Holy Grail or a comedic adventure with shades of drama like the first film. This identity crisis essentially results in an adventure plot with no stakes or rules. All we’re left with is comedy, which isn’t that good for the most part. To top it all off, and I know I’m going to sound like a biased nostalgic purist when I say this, the characters and their backstories totally contradict the lore of the show. If the film was funny and knew what it wanted to be then I could forgive this but since it did neither, it’s just salt in the wound for me.

Sponge on the Run is worse than bland, worse than unoriginal, it’s nothing. Sonic and Underwater both knew what they were and made an effort to be them, Sponge on the Run doesn’t care. If it shows you things you recognise and makes you laugh once or twice then in its mind it’s a success, hence it’s my worst film of the year.

You may not be surprised by my choice for best film of the year but you probably were by my choice for worst. A Spongebob film. Well let’s hope that next year I see a bigger and more diverse selection of films so I have more to choose from for my potential Best and Worst of 2021 list. Let’s hope.