It’s customary, come December, that we engage in a certain amount of introspection. This past year — being what it was — conducts little clarity. For us, as we’d expect for many of you, many (really, most) high points of 2017 happened in the theatre.
Here, we’ve shared a list of those films from the year that stayed with us and made these direst of times more bearable. Plus, we’ve written haikus for each, because we thought you hadn’t seen enough shit as it is:
LADY BIRD (dir. Greta Gerwig)
Streaked hair, middle part,
Dave Matthews Band Forever
Flashback to ‘03.
Read Lara Zarum on LADY BIRD for LA Weekly.
I AM NOT A WITCH (dir. Rungano Nyoni)
An eight-year-old witch
Magic or Superstition?
Either way, she’s bound.
Read Natalie Wardle on I AM NOT A WITCH for Little White Lies.
ON BODY AND SOUL (dir. Ildikó Enyedi)
Slaughterhouse staffers,
Share a surreal connection.
But can they “fawn” love?
Read Kiva Reardon on ON BODY AND SOUL for Mubi.
GIRLS TRIP (dir. Malcolm D. Lee)
This film is a gift:
Absinthe, dance-off, New Orleans
A modern classic.
Read Doreen St. Félix on GIRLS TRIP for The New Yorker.
SULEIMAN MOUNTAIN (dir. Elizaveta Stishova)
Son returning home
No time for con-man father:
Roadtrip with two wives.
Read the editors of Seventh Row on SULEIMAN MOUNTAIN.
RISK (dir. Laura Poitras)
Dyed hair, sunglasses,
But still wears Gaga t-shirt
Always looks the same.
Tries “cease and desist”
But alas, strengthened resolve,
Complex? Just asshole?
Read Dorothy Woodend on RISK for The Tyee.
SCARY MOTHER (dir. Ana Urushadze)
A drab concrete block
Novel, sex, lust, no stranger,
While winged beast hunts kids.
Read Jessica Kiang on SCARY MOTHER for Variety.
THOR: RAGNAROK (dir. Taika Waititi)
Thor, God of Thunder,
Hangs with emo bro Loki.
Taika Waititi.
Read Marykate Jasper on THOR for The Mary Sue.
FACES PLACES (dir. Agnès Varda and JR)
Agnès Varda fans,
This is your Citizen Kane
Fuck Jean-Luc Godard.
Read Emily Yoshida on FACES PLACES for Vulture.
PERSONAL SHOPPER (dir. Olivier Assayas)
Peak Kristen Stewart
Forbidden organza dress
Lewis is that you?
Read Durga Chew-Bose on PERSONAL SHOPPER for The Globe and Mail.
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Elio, Eli-
O, Elio, Elio
Elio, Eli-
Read Manohla Dargis on CALL ME BY YOUR NAME for The New York Times.
Mallory Andrews is the submissions editor of cléo.
Cathleen Evans is the web editor of cléo.
Originally Published December 1, 2017
