As the summer blockbuster season gets underway, a look back at the strongest flicks to hit theaters in 2015 so far
It may be true that the last five years’ Best Picture winners were released in the last quarter of the year, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t gems to be found in the months before summer chills to fall. From film festival darlings to action reboots, new adaptations of classic literature to dual-manned biopics, 2015 has already offered a wealth of inspiring fare for the cinephile.
Here are TIME’s picks for the top movies of the year (so far):
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Mad Max: Fury Road
Jasin Boland—Warner Bros. Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron star in Mad Max: Fury Road
In a summer full of CGI dinosaurs and robots, Mad Max: Fury Road proves that action blockbusters can still be the sort of high art that gets a standing ovation at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Director George Miller not only perfected the form, building the rickety fire-shooting vehicles from scratch, but adds narrative heft, taking on serious issues like sex slavery in a nuanced way.
—Eliana Dockterman
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It Follows
RADiUS-TWC
As a premise, “pretty teen girl running from certain doom” may not sound like the makings of an inventive horror film. Yet David Robert Mitchell’s indie sensibility makes the movie unlike any thriller you’ve seen before, while still paying homage to the best traditions of the form.
—Sarah Begley
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Far From the Madding CrowdAlex Bailey—Fox Searchlight
The new adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel appeals to the Pride and Prejudice set, but with more subtlety and sadness than most Austen films, plus a hearty heaping of rustic drudgery. Carey Mulligan’s gutsy Bathsheba gets swept off her feet like the best of her 19th century romantic peers, but without their usual histrionics—somewhere between Lean In and Wuthering Heights.
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Love & MercyRoadside Attractions
Paul Dano fulfills the promise of roles in Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood as a young Brian Wilson, the Beach Boy who’s going slowly mad while recording the group’s landmark album Pet Sounds. John Cusack shows us the older Wilson, now paralyzed by overmedication at the hands of a villain. It’s a gripping story of mental illness, which is sadly all too common, and true musical genius—which is extremely rare.
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Furious 7
Scott Garfield—Universal
Each Fast & Furious movie has gleefully attempted to outdo the previous one. Brought down a plane in the last movie? How about making cars fly out of one in the next? While Furious 7 doubled down on its self-consciously corny lines and over-the-top stunts—crashing cars through not one, not two, but three high rises—it also took a moment to give a surprisingly moving send off to star Paul Walker, who died in 2013. While he will be missed, this increasingly diverse franchise has a bright future.
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Ex Machina
A24
Alicia Vikander’s...
