20 Best Movies Of 2017

12. Manchester By The Sea

An early awards contender from January, playwright Kenneth Lonergan's movie focuses on Casey Affleck's Lee, a janitor who is forced to move back home after the death of his brother, in order to care for his nephew, Patrick.

What follows is a stunningly human portrayal of grief, pain, loss, and family. It's about reopening old wounds, confronting the past, and being able to move on with your life. It's bleak, but Lonergan's script retains a spark of humour that prevents it from becoming overly depressing, the structure is super smart, and it's filled with wonderful performances.

Lucas Hedges is a breakout talent, but the film rests on the shoulders of Casey Affleck, who carries it in a career-best turn full of aching sadness and dubious optimism. Michelle Williams isn't in it as much as the poster suggests, but her big scene with Affleck is the film's standout, and one of the most emotionally destroying scenes of recent years - it'll hit you like a sledgehammer.

Despite that, the movie picks you back up, and by the end of its 137 minutes - which breeze by - you're left wanting to spend even more time with these people.