Parasite
Bong Joon Ho’s black comedy masterpiece intertwines biting social commentary and captivating morally grey protagonists in a film where one minute there is sharp sardonic humour and the next some of the most stomach-churningly tense scenes of any movie in the last decade. But what makes this movie such a perfect capsule of the last decade is its story about how the class divide renders each of us tools to other’s needs in a dance that can only be won through superficiality and deception. Parasite’s genius lays in how it flips the black and white template you may be expecting and demonstrates that anyone can become a worse version of themself by choosing to participate in the rat race. Those themes have been laid bare this last decade and have refined Parasite’s commentary into feeling just as relevant in the decade leading up to 2036 as it was in 2019.
Barbie
In 2023, when cinemas were facing a record year for box office disappointments, Barbenheimer demonstrated that not only do theatres have life after Covid, but that the people are willing to show up en masse for event cinema. While Oppenheimer was a sweeping look at the troubled eponymous physicist, Barbie was the one that really captured the moment. Greta Gerwig’s direction blends a satirically over-polished world with a sincere look into what it means to be a woman in the modern day in a way where the avantgarde and the deeply human aspects never feel like they’re wrestling with each other. The themes of consumerism, identity and purpose have been the motifs of the last ten years, but Barbie never forgets its smile, and shows that change can happen when we want it hard enough.
A Minecraft Movie
Yes, really. What makes this movie a manifestation of the last ten years isn’t necessarily the movie’s themes or message, but its immediate legacy online. Initially lambasted for a pitiful first trailer, A Minecraft Movie turned itself around by becoming an ironic sensation that generated countless ‘fans’ who turned out in the theatres to celebrate the farce. The infiltration of memes into public consciousness is already here, and A Minecraft Movie perfectly demonstrated you can wrap almost anything in a tongue-in-cheek bow and people will follow along; whether it be for nefarious reasons or to hear Jack Black mention flint and steel. It may seem melodramatic, but in my opinion no movie has so intentionally or unintentionally captured the mob (no pun intended) mentality of the internet and its power to completely sway public discourse more than A Minecraft Movie.
Photo by AMMAR YASSER on Unsplash.