Searching floored me when I saw it. From the first 10, 15 minutes, I sat there thinking about how much work it must’ve been to put together (most of) an entire movie on a Mac screen. And the amazing thing is, it never feels gimmicky. The movie uses this technique to its advantage and explores the different ways it can show us the plot progressing just using screens. As far as the actual plot and characters, both are really well done. I cared about the family from the very beginning, and this is upheld even more by John Cho’s performance. The plot is twisty in the right ways and I was pretty glued to my seat for the whole thing.

4. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (directed by Christopher McQuarrie)

So much has been said about how real everything in this movie feels, and it will be said again: the entire team here’s commitment to providing a white-knuckles, true action-thriller is something to behold. Just like with every new entry in this franchise, each succeeding set-piece here manages to top the last in terms of sheer scale and insanity, and what makes that so noteworthy is that they did it themselves. Take anything in this, and there’s probably a featurette of Tom Cruise doing it in preparation for this. All of which makes it even more frustrating to rank the entries of this franchise.

3. Avengers: Infinity War (directed by Joe and Anthony Russo)

Acting as the first half of the culmination of 10 years worth of interconnected storytelling, Infinity War did an impressive job. But perhaps what’s most impressive about it is that even though it managed to (for the most part) give each hero their fair share of moments, the villain didn’t have to give up their development, as is so common with MCU films. Thanos will go down as one of the great villains, and the fact that it was in this hero-studded of a movie is all the more credit to the team behind Infinity War.

2. Eighth Grade (directed by Bo Burnham)

Another incredible movie from a debut director was this year’s Eighth Grade. Bo Burnham, known more for his stand-up and comedy work, took the helm of director, and with the help of star Elsie Fisher and his phenomenal script, was able to capture the essence of middle school. Watching this in eighth grade was a really fantastic experience, and I don’t think I’ve ever related as closely to a movie as to this. Everything here is spot-on, and its more universal themes connect well with its take on today’s generation. Rarely ever before has such an accurate portrayal of middle school been put to screen, not to mention Fisher’s star-making performance. Bursting with humor and heart, Eighth Grade does a fantastic job showing what, in today’s world of technology, middle school can look like.

1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

From the moment the first trailer for Spider-Verse came out, I knew it was going to be something special. The animation style, if you even look at one frame of this movie, was unprecedented, and the balance this is able to strike between well-developed characters, a surprisingly ensemble cast, and an exciting plot is growing scarcer in comic book films. The painstaking attention to detail in every shot, and the “comic-book come to life” visual style not once gets old, largely due to how the film finds new settings, textures, and characters to explore and play with. And that’s just the animation style. You can instantly connect with Miles Morales, in part due to the great job Shameik Moore did with the character, and the writing of him. Basically everything in Spider-Verse is a product of an incredibly talented team coming together and truly bringing a comic book to life.