By Orla Smith.

It’s hard to believe that half of 2017 has passed already, just as it’s hard to believe that we’ve got a whole other half of this yet to go. In the midst of many other ‘Best of the Year So Far’ lists, we here at BRWC have made our own, pulled together from the wildly divergent opinions of a group of our contributors. The rules are simple: any film qualifies if it was released in the UK between the 1st of January and the 30th of June. At this midway point of the year, these are the ten films that stand out.

10. Hacksaw Ridge

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdjO0p4GJPA

With Hacksaw Ridge, Mel Gibson may have made the best anti-war film this century has seen, up there with Full Metal Jacket, Platoon and Apocalypse Now. He didn’t use words to start the conversation – just screams, cries, blood and guts. You won’t need a drink of whisky, you’ll need the whole bloody bottle. Desmond Doss (incredibly performed by Andrew Garfield), the hero of the story, never loses the courage of his convictions, even when all those around him do. This is the rarest of war films – you actually feel uplifted and hopeful at the end. One of the best films I saw at Venice 2016, and probably the best war film in a long time. – Ros Try-Hane

9. John Wick: Chapter Two

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGk2EfbD_Ps

While not possessing its predecessor’s benefit of surprise, John Wick: Chapter Two still holds enough of a punch to floor you. The entertainment it provides is thrilling, pulse pounding and visceral. Each action scene (which is most of them) is so elegantly crafted, every sequence demonstrating a love of creative and classic stunts, and above all, a respect for the audience.

But John Wick: Chapter Two isn’t all about shooting, stabbing and other ways of killing bad guys. It shows us the true underbelly of the assassin’s world of which we had previously only skimmed the surface. This world is much more creative and enthralling than we could have ever imagined. If you needed a reason to love Keanu Reeves again, look no further. And for those who missed seeing him on screen opposite Lawrence Fishburne, hold your breath no more! For any lover of action films, thrillers, crime films, or just film in general, John Wick: Chapter Two is a must see. It may not always hit the bullseye, but it never misses its target. – Callum Forbes

8. The LEGO Batman Movie

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBJyp2LFHgk

Hilarious and heartfelt, The LEGO Batman Movie poked fun at the most serious of superheroes in the most endearing way. The LEGO Movie‘s gags and frantic action scenes were this time punctuated with poignant moments, and a full Batcave’s worth of geeky Easter eggs to pick through, while a class voice cast ensured that those computer-animated lumps of plastic held more emotional depth than the entirety of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. – Ben Hooper

7. Toni Erdmann

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym8ZpHhxcl8

Toni Erdmann is the best film of the year. At three hours long (you get your money’s worth), it flies by at a pace. This father-daughter story is moving, surreal and very funny. The great script comes to life thanks to some wonderful performance, especially from Sandra Hüller. I never knew Germans could be so funny. Please track this gem down. – Alton Williams

6. Elle

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM96ne-XiH0

Isabelle Huppert dominates Elle as a woman who is raped and deals with it in her own way. The premise is a moveable feast – she’s the victim, and the audience feels desperation on her behalf, until her behaviour leaves you questioning just why she would act that way. It’s a tense thriller, packed full of literal cat and mouse games that lead to an explosive finale. Incredible. – Ros Try-Hane

5. Baby Driver

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTvJJnoWIPk

A unique, soundtrack driven, and engine fuelled action movie, Baby Driver is full of fantastic acting, fantastic scenes and some of the best direction of the year. Edgar Wright is a genius, this film is genius, and it put a smile on my face from beginning to end. – Alex Cole

4. Moonlight

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NJj12tJzqc

What does it take to win Best Picture? Sometimes, all you need is a Harvey Weinstein to back you up with wads of cash. Sometimes you get lucky, with a weak year, or the voters’ flight of fancy, falling in your favour. But Moonlight wasn’t luck, or finance (its miniscule $1.5 million budget will tell you that much). Some films are just undeniable, and this is one of them.

Following the coming-of-age of a young, gay black man in Miami over the course of two sparsely depicted decades, Moonlight is as heady and lyrical as American filmmaking has ever been. Director Barry Jenkins creates a swirl of images and sounds that glaze over you like warm honey. His film doesn’t flinch away, but ultimately it is warm, hopeful and open-hearted. Audiences watched the film in raptures, and it’s not hard to see why: this is the kind of cinema that only comes along once in a lifetime. – Orla Smith

3. La La Land

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1cj_StN9og

Within the insular film community, La La Land caused a war from which it will likely take a long, long time to recover. I’ll fight to the death for it. This is not only a film with enough cinematic exuberance, vibrancy and sheer joy to rival a million Michael Bays, it’s also more complex than many seem to have allowed themselves to consider. With a sceptical eyebrow raised at Damien Chazelle’s whirling magic tricks, many a viewer criticised the film for making a statement when really it was posing a question.

The film considers its character’s stances on balancing art and commerce while never siding with either, contradicting the expectations of the broad strokes often painted by the musical genre with a more nuanced shading of the story held within. Incredibly, it does this all while still maintaining an earnestness that will bring you both a smile and a tear (or in my case, many, many tears). – Orla Smith

2. Get Out

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzfpyUB60YY

Get Out is a fast paced, intriguing and multi-faceted film which embraces the weirdness of the horror genre whilst still delivering entertainment in droves. Lacing horror with political commentary isn’t easy, but Get Out does it flawlessly. It’s like nothing you’ve seen before, and therefore a must see. – Alex Cole

1. Logan

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Div0iP65aZo

It may be the ninth entry in the X-Men franchise (or tenth, if you include Deadpool), but Logan is far and away the best of them all. Less like an X-Men film and more like The Dark Knight meets Dirty Harry, Logan is dark and violent, more than earning its infamous R-rating. But beneath the bleak and sometimes depressing tone, it has buckets of what no superhero film has had for nearly a decade – not the stumbling DC universe, nor the colossal MCU – and that is heart!

This film will blow you away with spectacular action sequences, but between them it will move you, sometimes to the point of tears. In a film where the great Sir Patrick Stewart delivers a career best performance, it is still Logan who shines. If this is truly Hugh Jackman’s final outing as the character he has embodied since the year 2000 (please make it so), then he has left with a bang. We have seen great characters, action stars, role models and comedians in superhero films for years, but here, in this blood-soaked emotional tour-de-force; when it is time for Logan to fight back and become the Wolverine once again, we finally saw a hero. – Callum Forbes

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