Looking back at 2015, I’m reminded of the very high highs that the film industry gave us. The best movies of 2015 are many of the best movies of the 2010s. It doesn’t have quite the depth of releases that a few other years did (2017 and 2019 come to mind), but the cream of the crop is as good as any year in recent memory.
And 2015 coincided with when A24 became a major critical darling and mainstream studio with a cult following. This ranking has 8 (!) A24 movies as the arthouse studio and production company began to dominate pop culture and auteur filmmaking.
I’m sure there are still plenty of movies I need to see from 2015. I think there will be a few things I see months, or even years from now that I’ll want to include in a future version of this list. But for now, here are the 25 best movies of 2015:
25. Shaun the Sheep Movie (directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak)
24. The Blackcoat’s Daughter (directed by Oz Perkins)
A sinister, slow-burning delight, The Blackcoat’s Daughter solidifies Oz Perkins as a director capable of true psychological horror—one who, despite some missteps in recent efforts, continues to intrigue me.
Read our full review of The Blackcoat’s Daughter
23. The Invitation (directed by Karyn Kusama)
22. The Lobster (directed by Yorgos Lanthimos)
21. The Visit (directed by M. Night Shyamalan)
20. Inside Out (directed by Pete Docter)
Inside Out is still the best iteration of personifying emotions or concepts through animated films, choosing to live inside of the mind of youngster Riley moving from her Minnesota townhome to the big city of San Francisco. Pete Docter directs arguably his best film under the Pixar brand.
Read Cinephile Corner’s review of Inside Out (2015)
19. Green Room (directed by Jeremy Saulnier)
18. The Martian (directed by Ridley Scott)
17. Steve Jobs (directed by Danny Boyle)
16. Amy (directed by Asif Kapadia)
15. The Witch (directed by Robert Eggers)
14. Creed (directed by Ryan Coogler)
Reboots aren’t new in Hollywood, but good reboots are relatively difficult to come by. Not only is the first Creed a worthy reboot of the Rocky franchise – it sets the standard moving forward for sports movies and franchise entertainment.
13. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (directed by Christopher McQuarrie)
While Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation may not be the franchise’s high point, it’s an essential chapter that deepens the mythology and shifts the series into a new gear. Its confidence, intelligence, and flair for inventive action make it far superior to most action movies of its era. It’s the kind of film that only gets better on repeat viewings—smart, stylish, and thoroughly entertaining.
Read our full review of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
12. Carol (directed by Todd Haynes)
11. Sicario (directed by Denis Villeneuve)
10. A Bigger Splash (directed by Luca Guadagnino)
9. Anomalisa (directed by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman)
8. The Hateful Eight (directed by Quentin Tarantino)
7. Mississippi Grind (directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden)
6. Blackhat (directed by Michael Mann)
Michael Mann’s Blackhat is a fascinating enigma, a film that has only grown more compelling in the years since its release despite being weighed down by some glaring imperfections. The movie, a cyber-thriller with a globetrotting scope, plays like a fever dream of Mann’s stylistic obsessions, blending high-octane action, meticulous visual craft, and an indulgence in the absurd. It’s a film that refuses to conform, and for that reason, it has become one of the most divisive works of the 2010s.
Read our full review of Blackhat
5. The End of the Tour (directed by James Ponsoldt)
4. Ex Machina (directed by Alex Garland)
What separates Ex Machina from Alex Garland’s later work is the precision. There’s no narrative bloat, no sprawling ensemble, no overwrought metaphor. The film is lean, sharp, and exacting. It interrogates A.I., not as some future hypothetical, but as an inevitability already here—an intelligence quietly watching, learning, waiting for its moment. Garland doesn’t break new ground in what he says about artificial intelligence, but he repackages it with such clarity and visual elegance that the result feels new anyway.
Read our full review of Ex Machina
3. Mistress America (directed by Noah Baumbach)
2. Mad Max: Fury Road (directed by George Miller)
1. Spotlight (directed by Tom McCarthy)
READ MORE: 2015 Archive