Top 10 Surprising Films of 2019 (Scott Gilliland)

Below is the Top 10 Surprising Films of 2019 from our new writer Scott Gilliland. So what makes this list different from the usual Top 10 Best/Worst Films Lists? The list below is films we didn’t have high expectations. Not trying to sound selfish or arrogant, we may not known what to expect. We do love those films with no expectations and surprise us!

Before you cry blue moon, just film is a subjective art form, everyone’s tastes are different. More to come from Scott!

Le Mans 66
our review]

Detective Pikachu
our review]

Booksmart

A great cast who as they grow older are only going to get more and more confident and stronger as actresses (Check out Dever in Netflix show Unbelievable to see what she can do as an actress), but I am most surprised that Olivia Wilde was able to create this film with such ease. Direction and writing could be her new forte, much like Greta Gerwig, I will be excited to see what she makes next.

Toy Story 4

I didn’t know what to expect from this and I am so happy that it was able to successfully pull the story off. The biggest judge I had with me was my girlfriend Victoria who was a huge Toy Story fan but was very reticent regarding this film and although she wanted to see it, she was worried that it might ruin the previous three outings. Luckily she enjoyed it and I have to say as someone who has watched the franchise but not given a lot of time towards it. It was great.

Ash is Purest White

This almost made it into my overlooked list for the simple fact that, not many people would have clocked its existence. For some reason, it was decided that this wonderful film would be released the same weekend as Avengers: End Game. Which meant it had a release of under 25 screens I believe. While everyone was getting their Marvel on they missed out on this terrific piece of cinema. Lead by the undeniably brilliant Tao Zhao, the surprise wasn’t that the film would be great. It is the fact that it was hidden away so next to no one would even know about it. Where ever it is on a digital or physical release, get it.

Wild Rose
our review]

Crawl

Who knew a film about alligators attacking a family in their home would be so fun. What is surprising is how much the plot stays on track throughout, and really, just how fun the damn thing is. An utter joy (for a horror fan) to watch. It is welcoming to see Alex Aja return to form.

One Cut of The Dead

I am not sure how Shin’ichiro Ueda worked out that 37-minute opening scene in his head, but I would be surprised if he could have done it any better. There will be comparisons to this being the Japanese Shaun of the Dead, and while there are subtle (and not so subtle) nods to it and other zombie films, it is more than that. It really is just a love letter to the genre in the funniest way possible. A can’t miss film.