5. Mississippi Grind
Because: It's a throwback to a different kind of cinema, a time when filmmakers were allowed to make pictures purely about people. Its not getting anywhere near the amount of exposure as some of its flashier counterparts of 2015, but Mississippi Grind deserves it. Ostensibly a road movie, the film sees two lonely, troubled American gamblers take a trip to, well, nowhere really. They have a destination, they kind of have a goal, but the film is more concerned with showing how our two protagonists connect with each other, how they share their loneliness and come to rely on each other as they traverse the delta. Featuring career-best performances from both Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn, Mississippi Grind feels ripped straight from the 70s, a long-lost Bob Rafleson or Hal Ashby picture starring Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. Reynolds, every bit Ryan Goslings equal, is electric in a role which will hopefully return him from the rom-com hinterlands, whereas Mendelsohn delivers a best-performance-of-the-decade contender with his work as Gerry. Together they create an impression of two American characters rarely seen on screen anymore: not heroes and not villains; just some people with some problems who aren't quite sure how to solve them.