5. Chronicle
Chronicle is a film that could have gone either way, but it was never one that I expected to broach its found footage superhero gimmick as well as it did. Under the direction of Josh Trank - who off of this film's success has been picked to direct the impending Fantastic Four reboot - this is a superhero pic that's supremely smart, making inventive use of found footage by having the powered-up teens levitating the camera with their powers, allowing the film to have impressive camerawork while not abandoning its central gimmick. What's best about the film, though, is its strong characterisation; the protagonist, Andrew, is a weak young man, abused by his father and teased by his classmates, but the arrival of these powers allows him to become an Alpha, or as he puts it, an Apex Predator, causing his ego to grow with his powers, meaning that his two buddies have to end up trying to bring him back to reality, with disastrous consequences. The authentic performances from the relatively unknown three leads help to elevate an exciting project to something greater, while Josh Trank does with a $15m budget what most directors wouldn't be able to do with 10 times that.