Top 5: Most Disappointing Films of 2020
2020 had its share of exceptional films, but it wasn’t without its own pile of steamy crap as well. We've already shared our favorite films from last year with you, so now it's time to share our picks for the worst.
These are our picks for the five films that disappointed us the most, not a list of the objectively worst. These are films that had us pumped and didn't deliver, films that had better trailers than the finished products, films that promised something and didn't fully deliver... And these are just the films we’ve personally seen, so there’s definitely worse fare out there, we just were lucky enough to dodge those bullets.
5: The Wretched
This 80s-infused horror film could have almost been the next Fright Night, but it drops the ball by favoring neat visuals over a coherent story. Granted, the practical effects here are incredible, but a film needs a bit more than excellent special effects, and The Wretched slumps in about every other regard. Its story is doughy and bandaged up in clichés, but its cardinal sin is having half-baked lore and mythology surrounding their story, which prevent things from ever truly geling. Without a compelling character, this underdeveloped mess fails to fully satiate.
4: Tenet
Even though we gave Christopher Nolan’s Tenet a decent review, we think it deserves a spot on this list. It may be chock full of headache-including action sequences, but it’s also riddled with a lot of zany logic, and there’s no refuting that the film is doing the most. Instead of just making the next Bond film, Nolan reimagines the franchise, creating an unnecessarily convoluted monstrosity in the process, lathered thick in gimmickry and lacking much of the charisma and character that makes 007 such a long-standing classic. The dialogue, in particular, is very unnatural and wooden — and it doesn’t help that there’s quite a lot of exposition to wade through, either. It’s entertaining enough, but somewhat difficult to connect with, and it’s really nothing more than an empty spectacle.
3: The Hunt
After watching The Hunt, it’s hard to believe it caused such a ruckus, both inside and outside of the film community. The film, while amusing, is not much of a profound or thought-provoking piece, and it clearly caught more controversy than it rightly deserves. The Republicans were quick to jump on the bandwagon to lambast the film — which no one had even seen at that particular point in time, mind you — operating under the narrow notion that it was a left-wing assault on the right-wing philosophy. However, had the public held their outraged tongues long enough to allow the film to launch as intended, they would have found there’s not much to get upset about. The Hunt might make for a decently fun and entertainingly gory thriller to some, but it was disposable, hot-button garbage to us. We were hoping that its satire would be jagged and sharp, and we were disappointed when we only got dulled teeth.
2: Come Play
Come Play stretches writer/director Jacob Chase’s 2017 short, Larry, into a relatively uninspired feature film monstrosity about parenting, bullying, and the dangers of technology. Although its title invites you to engage and implies there’s fun to be had, this drama heavy techno-horror has little to offer outside its half-baked message. Come Play feels as cold and detached as someone caught in the glow of their smartphone, and it’s replete with performances that match that sleepwalking energy. While it features some decently spooky creature design, we ultimately found the mythology behind the film’s technology-wielding monster, simply named Larry, to be severely underdeveloped. It also didn’t have any palpable thrills or chills. By the time if finally decided to come and play, it was already too late; we illuminated in the glow of the smartphone.
Before we get to our #1 pick, we'd like to acknowledge the films that weren't quite disappointing enough to make our top 5:
Without further ado, our pick for the most disappointing film of 2020 goes to...
1: Downhill
We think Ruben Östlund’s 2014 film, Force Majeure, is a masterpiece, so we noticeably disappointed when actors turned writer/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash announced they’d be helming an American remake, aptly titled Downhill. Fronted by Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Faxon and Rash unsurprisingly turn Östlund’s thought-provoking drama with darkly comedic elements into an out-and-out comedy that bumbles its way across the finish line. The film is only interested in using Östlund’s unique premise as a very loose framing device, content to ski along on the surface without probing deeper into its central dilemma. To make matters worse, Downhill is twisted into something too American; it’s loud, obnoxious, frustrating, hollow, and overloaded with quirk in place of sincerity. With only the husk of Force Majeure intact, Downhill races to its finish with wobbly legs, leaving behind something light and ultimately disposable, which is why it’s our pick for the most disappointing film of 2020.
Well, that's our list! Were we disappointed in a film you're strongly passionate about? Was there something more excruciating that we left off our list?! We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!