10 Recent Movies That Totally Took You By Surprise

Expectation is a powerful tool; it can make or break a movie. 

Depending on where your mindset lies, it can significantly impact your cinematic experience, as it's never a pleasant feeling to be disappointed after seeing a film that you had been so excited to see beforehand. However, on the other side of the spectrum, it can only be seen as an overwhelming positive, as your experience has been redeemed and subsequently rewarded.  

Now, it should be said that this doesn't mean that your expectations were hindered because these pictures were going to be bad, per se, but the opposite, as most of you naturally expected them to be good, yet they ended up being even better than good and were, in fact, great.  

To summarise, being pleasantly surprised by a film can only be a positive. Said surprise can come in many forms, including the movie's subversion of expectations tonally and narratively, as well as the success that they went on to achieve. 

With that in mind, the following 10 movies all, in one way or another, surprised both audiences and critics alike for the better in ways that they didn't initially expect or indeed see coming.

Sean Baker has proved time and time again that he is one of the most fearless and finest directors around, with the likes of Tangerine, Red Rocket, and The Florida Project perfect examples of this.

But surely he wouldn't have expected his latest film, Anora, to receive the critical admiration and acclaim that it has, especially winning gold in arguably the five most notable and prestigious Oscar categories - acting, directing, editing, writing, and, of course, the pick of the bunch, best picture.  

The reception that Anora received is remarkable, but that's only possible due to the film itself, which is nothing short of a masterclass in independent filmmaking.

The premise is simple: a young Brooklyn stripper, Ani (Mikey Maddison), falls in love with the son of a Russian Oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn), but once word reaches Russia, her dream soon turns into a nightmare. 

Like many of the features that occupy this list, Anora beautifully employs and exhibits multiple genres that make it hilarious at times, whilst also being heartbreaking at others, which makes for the perfect balance to tell a story that deals with such a sensitive subject matter. Baker's track record of turning actors into stars is second to none, but Mikey Maddison's performance is quite something to behold. 

It's raw and revealing as she pours her heart and soul into a character who is as real and empathetic as Ani is.  And let's not forget about the opposition that Anora found itself competing against during awards season. Kudos to you, Mr Baker.