2020 has barely seen the turn of a full season, but we’ve already fallen in love with a number of movies. From adaptations of beloved classics to tales that grapple with very real social issues, these are the films this year that made Vogue editors laugh, cry, and text our friends, “Did you see it yet?”
Emma
Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is, at its heart, a sparkling romance that feels unexpectedly timely. De Wilde’s background is in music and fashion photography, and her first foray into feature filmmaking is overtly gorgeous: a riot of feathered bonnets, corkscrew curls, and colorful carriage dresses. “It’s like swimming in a giant cupcake,” says star Anya Taylor-Joy. A supporting cast that includes Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley, Mia Goth, Callum Turner, Bill Nighy (who renders Emma’s endearingly hypochondriacal father with comic aplomb), and Miranda Hart, as the eager neighbor Miss Bates, gives additional dimension to the sumptuous setting. —Harriet Fitch-Little
Sound of Metal
Some might find this story of a noise-punk drummer (Riz Ahmed) losing his hearing hard to watch, but when I saw Sound of Metal, written and directed by Darius Marder, at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, I found it to be an acting tour de force and an elegant and emotional portrait of disability, addiction, and survival. It’s an aggressive film, in that it reproduces, through sound design, the experience of losing your hearing, but I was profoundly moved by the experience and reminded how incredibly talented Ahmed is. It was quickly purchased by Amazon Studios following Toronto and is almost certain to come out later this year. —Taylor Antrim
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
A portrait subject becomes an object of desire in this achingly romantic movie from director Céline Sciamma. Noémie Merlant plays a painter hired to render the likeness of a privileged young woman (Adèle Haenel) before her betrothal, but—this being a French film—the two quickly fall into a forbidden affair that, perfectly, features Vivaldi in key scenes. —Emma Specter
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Eliza Hittman’s exploration of what it takes to get an abortion in 2020 America isn’t for the faint of heart, but it should be required viewing. In Never Rarely Sometimes Always, a young woman from a conservative Pennsylvania town escapes to New York with her cousin—without much money or a place to stay—to obtain a second-trimester abortion. Shot almost like a documentary, this film brings to light just how many barriers still stand between pregnant people and the freedom to make decisions for their own bodies. —Emma Specter
Saint Frances
The difficulty of growing up—at any age—is placed front and center in this film, directed by Alex Thompson and written by star Kelly O’Sullivan. It follows a 34-year-old aspiring writer who takes a job as a nanny for the young daughter of a lesbian couple and finds herself enmeshed deeper in their family than she could have imagined. —Emma Specter
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