Now that the 2015 calendar is long since in the rearview, I’ve been able to catch up on the rest of my extensive must-see list for the year. Granted, although I saw close to 300 films, there still remain a handful that I either missed due to prior engagements or simply couldn’t squeeze in. That’s a new realization for me recently; try all you want, but you can’t see everything.

And so, for that reason, I’ve cultivated a list to help steer your future choices. There are those worth seeing, those barely on the outside looking in, and the rest that justified their place among the year’s 50 best. Clicking the titles with blue links will take you to the films I reviewed on this website, although I encourage looking up the rest where time wouldn’t allow a full write-up. I’ve also categorized each movie with where it can be watched. Many are available to buy or as online rentals, but if you like cinema, I really suggest trial subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Fandor. Countless gems are hidden out there, waiting to be found; you just have to be willing to look.

Worth Seeing: 

Netflix: The Assassin, Cartel Land, Finders Keepers, Heaven Knows What, Man Up, Meadowland, Nasty Baby, Night Owls, People Places Things, Time Out of Mind, Turbo Kid, Two Step, Uncle John, Unexpected, White God, World of Tomorrow

Amazon Prime:  Bone Tomahawk, Experimenter, Partisan, Pawn Sacrifice, Spring, Timbuktu, Tom at the Farm

Available to rent: Backcountry, Cop Car, The D Train, Paper Towns, Spy, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Suffragette, Theeb, Vacation, The Visit, We Are Your Friends

Just Missed:

Netflix: Grace, Meet the Patels, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, A War

Amazon Prime: Chi-Raq, Danny Collins, Digging for Fire, Goodnight Mommy, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, I’ll See You in My Dreams, Meru, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Shaun the Sheep Movie, Z is for Zachariah

Available to rent: Animals, Carol, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, How to Dance in Ohio, The Intern, Lost River , Sleeping with Other People, Red Army, Right Now Wrong Then

Hit the next page for #50-41