Five Years of Infinity: The Movies I Loved
Five years ago, in January 2017, I finally gave in to a friend’s advice and bought myself a Limitless pass for Odeon Cinemas in Manchester. Having one in my possession meant that I could go to the cinema whenever I pleased to watch any movies they were showing. They weren’t showing every movie — some I either had to source myself or head to a different picture house — but they were showing most of them. Over the the course of the next five years, as I moved around the place, that Limitless pass eventually became an Infinity Card for The Light Cinema in Stockport. The pandemic got in the way and curtailed some of my movie trips for about 18 months, but I’m still trucking and so are cinemas. It’s been a journey.
Here are 100 films, released between the day I bought my Limitless pass and the present day, that I’ve come to love most of all, out of all the others. Oh, and there’s also a little note of consideration as to whether my mum would like the film as well. (If you think any films are missing, it’s because I’ve either not seen them or because I don’t like them enough to list them here).
#100. Mission: Impossible — Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie, 2018)
Genre: Action, Adventure
Running Time: 147 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably not, no.
#99. Klaus (Sergio Pablos, 2019)
Genre: Comedy, Animation, Family
Running Time: 96 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Watched it, liked it.
#98. The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson, 2021)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Running Time: 108 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably. She’s enjoyed some of Wes’ previous films.
#97. Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019)
Genre: Horror, Drama, Mystery
Running Time: 148 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Haha. Definitely not.
#96. Free Fire (Ben Wheatley, 2017)
Genre: Mystery, Action, Crime
Running Time: 90 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Unlikely.
#95. Lady Macbeth (William Oldroyd, 2017)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 86 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Hmm. Probably not.
#94. Good Boys (Gene Stupnitsky, 2019)
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 89 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Unsure. Maybe with a Pinot in hand.
#93. Old (M. Night Shyamalan, 2021)
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Running Time: 108 mins
Would My Mum Like It? No.
#92. Fences (Denzel Washington, 2017)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 139 mins
Would My Mum Like It? She saw it in 2019 and said ‘Yes’.
#91. For Sama (Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts, 2019)
Genre: Documentary, Drama, War
Running Time: 100 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Possibly. Think it might be a bit much.
#90. Knife + Heart (Yann Gonzalez, 2018)
Genre: Thriller, Romance, Horror
Running Time: 103 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Unlikely.
#89. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Jason Woliner, 2020)
Genre: Comedy, Documentary
Running Time: 96 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Well, erm, she enjoyed the first one!
#88. The Kid Who Would Be King (Joe Cornish, 2019)
Genre: Family, Action, Adventure
Running Time: 120 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yes!
#87. The Sense of An Ending (Ritesh Batra, 2017)
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Running Time: 108 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Has seen it, has enjoyed it.
#86. Tenet (Christopher Nolan, 2020)
Genre: Action, Thriller, Science-Fiction
Running Time: 150 mins
Would My Mum Like It? A convoluted sci-fi espionage thriller? Nah.
#85. Blockers (Kay Cannon, 2018)
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 102 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Has seen it, has enjoyed it.
#84. Luca (Enrico Casarosa, 2021)
Genre: Family, Animation, Fantasy
Running Time: 95 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Pixar made it, so, yes, absolutely.
#83. Nobody (Ilya Naishuller, 2021)
Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime
Running Time: 92 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Nope.
#82. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (George C. Wolfe, 2020)
Genre: Drama, Music
Running Time: 94 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yeah, I think so!
#81. The Green Knight (David Lowery, 2021)
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Adventure
Running Time: 130 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I don’t think she’d dislike it.
#80. Dick Johnson is Dead (Kirsten Johnson, 2020)
Genre: Documentary
Running Time: 89 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Give it a few years.
#79. Us (Jordan Peele, 2019)
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Running Time: 116 mins
Would My Mum Like It? No.
#78. Soul (Pete Docter, 2020)
Genre: Family, Animation, Comedy
Running Time: 101 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Has seen it, has enjoyed it.
#77. Da 5 Bloods (Spike Lee, 2020)
Genre: War, Drama
Running Time: 156 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I don’t think so.
#76. Dune (Denis Villenueve, 2021)
Genre: Science-Fiction, Adventure
Running Time: 155 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I seriously doubt it.
#75. Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodovar, 2019)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 114 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yeah, I think so.
#74. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (Michael Rianda, 2021)
Genre: Comedy, Animation, Science Fiction
Running Time: 114 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yes.
#73. Bad Trip (Kitao Sakauri, 2021)
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 87 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
#72. Widows (Steve McQueen, 2018)
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Running Time: 128 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I wouldn’t count on it.
#71. The Rider (Chloe Zhao, 2018)
Genre: Drama, Western
Running Time: 103 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Hm. I’ll get back to you.
#70. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Marielle Heller, 2019)
Genre: Drama, History
Running Time: 109 mins
Would My Mum Like It? When I saw it, I thought, “My mum would like this” and told her to go see it. She came back and reported to me that, yes, she had enjoyed it.
#69. Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Science-Fiction, Fantasy
Running Time: 96 mins
Would My Mum Like It? If she let the surrealism wash over her a bit, yes.
#68. Blinded By the Light (Gurinder Chadha, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Running Time: 114 mins
Would My Mum Like It? She cried when I took her to see it. So, yes.
#67. Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet (Rich Moore & Phil Johnston, 2018)
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Running Time: 112 mins
Would My Mum Like It? She would.
#66. A Simple Favor (Paul Feig, 2018)
Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Running Time: 117 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I think she would.
#65. Ready Or Not (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, 2019)
Genre: Horror, Comedy, Thriller
Running Time: 95 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Nah.
#64. Sorry We Missed You (Ken Loach, 2019)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 100 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Hm. I’ll get back to you.
#63. The Big Sick (Michael Showalter, 2017)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Running Time: 120 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Absolutely. Yes.
#62. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot, 2019)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 121 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I think so, yes.
#61. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Rodney Rothman & Peter Ramsey & Bob Persichetti, 2019)
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
Running Time: 117 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Think it’d go over her head a bit.
#60. Assassination Nation (Sam Levinson, 2018)
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Running Time: 108 mins
Would My Mum Like It? It’s a no from me.
#59. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Crime, History
Running Time: 209 mins
Would My Mum Like This? Erm, nah.
#58. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Will Becher & Richard Phelan, 2019)
Genre: Comedy, Animation, Family
Running Time: 85 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Oh, absolutely.
#57. Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley, 2018)
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Science-Fiction
Running Time: 112 mins
Would My Mum Like This? Ehhhhhhh. Haha.
#56. The Other Side of the Wind (Orson Welles, 2018)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 122 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably. I’m on the fence.
#55. Logan Lucky (Steven Sodebergh, 2017)
Genre: Crime, Comedy, Action
Running Time: 118 mins
Would My Mum Like It? You know what, yeah, she would.
#54. Ad Astra (James Gray, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Science-Fiction
Running Time: 123 mins
Would My Mum Like It? My dad did.
#53. Girls Trip (Malcolm D. Lee, 2017)
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 122 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yeah, I think so. She liked Blockers and this strikes a similar tone!
#52. BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018)
Genre: Comedy, History, Crime
Running Time: 135 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Unlikely, but possible.
#51. Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley, 2017)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Running Time: 92 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Nah.
#50. Personal Shopper (Olivier Assayas, 2018)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Mystery
Running Time: 106 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I don’t think so.
#49. The Father (Florian Zeller, 2021)
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Running Time: 97 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I think she made a point to avoid this after seeing the trailer, but give it a few years and I think she’d give it a go.
#48. Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Running Time: 94 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably.
#47. I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck, 2017)
Genre: Documentary
Running Time: 93 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I think she watched this and said she’d enjoyed it?
#46. An Elephant Sitting Still (Hu Bo, 2018)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 234 mins
Would My Mum Like It? A 4-hour movie about people with miserable lives who all witness copious amounts of death and pain, and have very serious thoughts about suicide, directed by a guy who killed himself as soon as he’d finished it? Yeah, I’m sure she’d love this.
#45. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman, 2020)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 101 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Possibly. Possibly.
#44. Good Time (Josh & Benny Safdie, 2017)
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
Running Time: 102 mins
Would My Mum Like It? No.
#43. Bait (Mark Jenkin, 2019)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 89 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Eh, I wouldn’t say no, but I wouldn’t say yes either.
#42. The Death of Stalin (Armando Iannucci, 2017)
Genre: Comedy, History, Drama
Running Time: 107 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I don’t think she’d dislike it.
#41. Shirkers (Sandi Tan, 2018)
Genre: Documentary, Drama
Running Time: 96 mins
Would My Mum Like It? For something different, sure.
#40. Little Women (Greta Gerwig, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Running Time: 135 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yes.
#39. Nomadland (Chloe Zhao, 2021)
Genre: Drama, Western
Running Time: 108 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Saw it, liked it.
#38. Minding the Gap (Bing Liu, 2018)
Genre: Documentary, Drama
Running: 93 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably not.
#37. Saint Maud (Rose Glass, 2020)
Genre: Horror, Drama, Mystery
Running Time: 85 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Nah.
#36. Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)
Genre: Science-Fiction, Drama
Running Time: 164 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Nope.
#35. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2017)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Running Time: 162 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably, yes.
#34. Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven, 2021)
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Running Time: 131 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Unlikely.
#33. Baby Driver (Edgar Wright, 2017)
Genre: Crime, Action
Running Time: 113 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Hm. I’ll get back to you.
#32. The Farewell (Lulu Wang, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Running Time: 100 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yes. But give it a few years.
#31. Uncut Gems (Josh & Benny Safdie, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Running Time: 136 mins
Would My Mum Like It? No.
#30. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2017)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 111 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yeah, I think so.
#29. Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Running Time: 130 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably.
#28. Titane (Julia Ducournau, 2021)
Genre: Horror, Drama
Running Time: 108 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Haha. Erm. It’s very unlikely.
#27. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman, 2020)
Genre: Mystery, Drama
Running Time: 135 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably not, no.
#26. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach, 2019)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 137 mins
Would My Mum Like It? She watched this and enjoyed it but when I mentioned it the other week she’d forgotten about it. Let’s go with “Yes”.
#25. Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Running Time: 104 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Very unlikely.
#24. Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019)
Genre: Mystery, Comedy, Drama
Running Time: 131 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Saw it, liked it.
#23. Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski, 2018)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 91 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yeah, I’d say so.
#22. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (Turner Ross & Bill Ross)
Genre: Documentary, Drama
Running Time: 98 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Possibly, yes!
#21. The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2017)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 112 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Probably, yes!
#20. My Life as a Courgette/Zucchini (Claude Barras, 2017)
Genre: Animation, Drama, Family
Running Time: 66 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Yes.
#19. World of Tomorrow [Full Trilogy] (Don Hertzfeldt, 2015–2020)
Genre: Animation, Science-Fiction, Drama
Running Time: 74 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Unlikely.
#18. The Lighthouse (Robert Eggs, 2019)
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Drama
Running Time: 109 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Nah.
#17. Bo Burnham: Inside (Bo Burnham, 2021)
Genre: Comedy, Music
Running Time: 87 mins
Would My Mum Like It? It’s likely, but I’m only about 60% sure.
#16. Paddington 2 (Paul King, 2017)
Genre: Family, Comedy, Adventure
Running Time: 104 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Oh yes. Absolutely.
#15. Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2022)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Running Time: 134 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Hm. Yes, probably.
#14. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Running Time: 120 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I think she would, yes. They have my Blu-ray copy of it, so get watching, ‘rents!
#13. The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)
Genre: Drama, Comedy, History
Running Time: 119 mins
Would My Mum Like It? She saw this. I can’t remember if she enjoyed it or not. Part of me thinks she was on the fence?
#12. The Handmaiden (Park Chan-Wook, 2017)
Genre: Romance, Thriller, Drama
Running Time: 145 mins
Would My Mum Like It? No.
#11. Annette (Leos Carax, 2021)
Genre: Music, Romance, Drama
Running Time: 140 mins
Would My Mum Like It? On the fence.
#10. Parasite (Boon Jong-Ho, 2020)
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Thriller
Running Time: 133 mins
Would My Mum Like It? I would have said no, but it turns out she did like it when she saw it. I think basically everybody like this.
#9. Burning (Lee Chang-Dong, 2019)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Drama
Running Time: 148 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Nah.
#8. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson, 2017)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action
Running Time: 152 mins
Would My Mum Like It? She’s never been a Star Wars person.
#7. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Celine Sciamma, 2019)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Running Time: 120 mins
Would My Mum Like It? She’d give it a go!
#6. Raw (Julia Ducournau, 2017)
Genre: Horror, Drama
Running Time: 99 mins
Would My Mum Like It? A cannibal teenager? No.
#5. First Reformed (Paul Schrader, 2018)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 113 mins
Would My Mum Like It? No.
#4. Coco (Lee Unkrich, 2018)
Genre: Family, Animation, Fantasy
Running Time: 105 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Saw it, and yes, she did like it.
#3. Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2017)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 138 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Is ‘like’ the correct word? Anyway, she has seen it and definitely appreciated what it was going for.
#2. Toy Story 4 (Josh Cooley, 2019)
Genre: Family, Animation, Drama
Running Time: 100 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Saw it, enjoyed it.
#1. Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2018)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 94 mins
Would My Mum Like It? Has seen it, has enjoyed it.
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