If you’re feeling nostalgic or just looking for great films to analyze and learn from, this curated list of the top seven movies of 2010 spans genres to suit every mood.
7 Best Movies of 2010
Looking back at the blockbuster year, these are some of the best films of 2010 that I can never recommend enough.
1. Inception
The film follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a skilled thief who infiltrates people’s minds by planting ideas in their dreams. With his gift of entering people’s subconscious, he is a highly sought-after player in the world of corporate espionage, until he is forced to confront his brutal past during one of his assignments.
Christopher Nolan’s Inception is not only one of the best sci-fi stories that you will come across, but the world-building in the movie can’t be praised enough. Nolan builds his dream world through layered exposition. Each level has distinct visual rules (such as gravity shifts and time dilation) and logical constraints that create narrative tension when characters must navigate between them.
The “dream” world isn’t free from loopholes and inconsistencies, and the narrative definitely doesn’t simplify things for the audience. That’s what fascinates me about a Nolan film—even when things start going above your head, you don’t want to look away.
Inception demonstrates how emotions and stakes navigate narrative complexities.
Nolan shows how complexities create an urge to rewatch. A Nolan movie is hardly ever a stale watch. You’ll find something new in each viewing.
2. The Social Network
Penned by the celebrated screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and directed by the master of detail David Fincher, The Social Network follows Mark Zuckerberg’s (Jesse Eisenberg) tumultuous life during the founding days of Facebook.
Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires, the movie is a slow-burner that explores the struggles of a lonely genius, the corrupting influence of power, and the complexities of friendship.
The Social Network depicts a generation silenced by social isolation behind computers through the journey of one of the world’s youngest billionaires.
Fincher demonstrates how a docudrama can also serve as a vehicle for social commentary. He uses a parallel timeline structure (cutting between depositions and flashbacks) to reveal character motivations gradually while building themes about isolation and ambition.
This technique allows him to embed commentary without resorting to heavy-handed exposition.
3. Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island is a psychological thriller with a beating heart and has an ending that you will never see coming.
Set in 1954, the story follows U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), who visits Boston’s “Shutter Island” Ashecliffe Hospital with his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients, a woman named Rachel.
Remember the scene where one of the patients from behind bars tells Teddy, “Don’t you get it? You’re a fucking rat in a maze.”
By the end, you realize we all were in the maze with Teddy.
If you’re working on a script that’s about blurring the line between reality and truth, analyzing Shutter Island’s storytelling is sure to be helpful. The film employs unreliable narration through carefully planted visual inconsistencies, such as the disappearing water glass, and contradictory character behavior.
Filmmakers can study how Scorsese seeds doubt without breaking the story’s internal logic until the reveal.
4. Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is a poignant drama following a talented ballerina, Nina (Natalie Portman), on the verge of stardom.
Intense, passionate, and bold, Black Swan is a story of redemption through the exploration of the darkness in our minds when we’re overwhelmed by ambition. It’s a character-driven horror story with a ballet as its inspiration.
Study this film to see Aronofsky’s use of surrealism to paint the internal chaos of characters in reality.
5. I Saw the Devil
Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw The Devil is a Korean psychological thriller that is sure to blow your mind.
The story revolves around Kim Soo-hyeon (Byun-hun Lee), a trained secret agent, who, after discovering the decapitated head of his fiancée in a local river, sets out to seek revenge against her murderer, taxi driver Kyun-chul (Min-sik Choi), in a way I bet you’ve never seen before.
Jee-woon’s gripping narrative keeps you hooked to the screen, forcing you to qualify and quantify hatred to determine how much hate actually makes someone a devil.
Don’t try to look for heroes in this film, because in this one, it is the devil vs. the devil. I Saw the Devil explores moral complexity by presenting both the protagonist and the antagonist with similar methods but different motivations.
It’s a technique that works across genres.
6. Despicable Me
Universal’s Despicable Me, directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, is a soul-soothing animated film, perfect for those late-evening binge-watches with your whole family.
The story follows Gru (Steve Carrel), who, in his desperation to prove himself as the greatest supervillain of his time, conspires to steal the moon with his army of little yellow minions. However, things take a chaotic but delightful turn after he ends up adopting three little orphan girls who want him to be their dad.
Despicable Me is an endearing journey of discovering and appreciating the importance of love in one’s life.
This might be a kid’s movie in its treatment and narrative, but it tackles complex real-life themes such as growth, redemption, and the balance between ambition and responsibility. Also, we can’t get enough of the minions.
7. Animal Kingdom
David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom is an Australian crime drama following 17-year-old Joshua “J” Cody, who gets involved in Melbourne’s criminal underworld when he moves in with his grandmother, the matriarch of a crime family.
Animal Kingdom employs the metaphor of the animal kingdom to explore survival and power dynamics, examining how individuals navigate shifting authorities.
The film beautifully balances the themes of family and loyalty against corruption and moral ambiguity. J’s journey from a passive teenager to someone capable of fatal violence reflects a loss of innocence in a world that lacks trust and safety.
In addition to restrained cinematography, Animal Kingdom also features impressive sound design that reinforces the film’s oppressive atmosphere.
Let us know which one is your favorite on the list!
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