The Top 10 Best Movies Released During Quarantine

The last movie I saw at a theater before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down every theater was Bloodshot. Sad, right? As we are bombarded with news of Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan deciding to release Tenet in July, then early August, then late August, then off the slate entirely, then split between late August and early September (for now) while theaters try and figure what the hell they are supposed to do, I often find myself thinking that one of the last images I saw on a big screen before the quarantine was a CGI Vin Diesel fighting a guy with robotic appendages as they fall down an elevator shaft while things are exploding around them. I live a sad existence.

But contrary to the beliefs of some, movies have persisted during the COVID-19 quarantine, even if the closure of movie chains and the shelving of major blockbusters may have you think otherwise. So let’s take a look at some of the best movies to release during the shutdown. But first, a rule: no movies released before the shutdown of movie theaters will be factored into this list, even if those films were only in theaters for a few days and available later on premium VOD. My apologies to First Cow and Never Rarely Sometimes Always.

This list will be updated consistently for the duration of the quarantine, however long that takes (please, make it stop). So check back in regularly!

Honorable Mentions

Athlete A

Bad Education

Beats

Black is King

Circus of Books

Crip Camp

Deerskin

The Half of It

Mucho Mucho Amor

The Old Guard

Palm Springs

Relic

Selah and the Spades

Shirley

Showbiz Kids

Spaceship Earth

The Wretched

#10: The Beach House

Where to Watch: Shudder

What better way to start this list than a movie that doubles as an allegory for the coronavirus itself? Jeffrey A. Brown’s assured debut is positively overflowing with dread, especially in its first half, which focuses entirely on character dynamics and not the goopy, Lovecraftian body horror that comes in the second half. The way Brown lingers on certain shots to convey the sensation of a creeping doom surrounding the characters is supremely chilling — he and cinematographer Owen Levelle operate the camera with scalpel-like precision; it’s entirely calculated with a strong sense of detachment that’s perfect for the material.

By the time the cosmic horror does come around, you don’t need an orgy of practical effects to feel the effect, the time invested in the characters is more than enough. I love how The Beach House doesn’t resort to making these characters turn on each other for drama; instead, they’re highly reasonable people caught up in a situation they have no chance of controlling. Each performance is steady, but the standout is Liana Liberato, who between The Beach House and Banana Split, is showing she’s primed for a very long, successful career in any genre.

#9: Babyteeth

Where to Watch: Available to rent on VOD

Babyteeth is incredibly Australian. This isn’t a criticism, more so a comment by an ugly American who sometimes struggles to grasp region-specific colloquialisms in film (I’m getting better!). The film’s tone and cadence are also a bit to grasp at first. But once I got on Babyteeth‘s wavelength, it had my entire heart.

In lesser hands, Shannon Murphy’s film turns into something like Five Feet Apart, a movie that is overbearingly sentimental and hollow. All the elements of teen dramedies I loathe are here — someone with a deadly illness, a bad boy, overbearing parents, teen rebellion, etc. But Babyteeth is a reminder of how all these things can work when used appropriately and with the correct amount of restraint and wit. Each character is refreshingly honest, and Eliza Scanlen’s knowing winks to the camera put you at ease. This movie knows exactly what it’s doing, and it’s not simply repackaging similar beats. Bonus points for having Ben Mendelsohn acting in his native Australian accent for the first time in a while.

And then I got to the ending, which broke me entirely. Seriously, I’m talking some major blubbering.

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