2020’s Movie Takeaways: From Kerry's new  superstar to the rise of streaming 

As the pandemic made its presence felt, the film production industry was hit hard, while cinemas continue to struggle. But here and internationally the movies still delighted and entertained us when we never needed it more

Jessie Buckley in I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

1. Our movie industry survived in crazy times: In March, film and TV productions all over the world dramatically shut down as the first wave hit. For the Irish industry it initially looked to pose a great threat to a business that has doubled in the last six years. Matt Damon decided to pack his Super Valu bag and hunker down in Dalkey with his family when production on Ridley Scott’s period epic The Last Duel was halted just days before going into production. But by autumn, the industry had figured out various measures to resume filming safely. Damon returned and The Last Duel was wrapped. Other major productions that have resumed include Vikings spin-off Valhalla, filming in Wicklow for Netflix, and Apple TV’s new sci-fi series Foundation, filming in Limerick’s Troy Studios as one of the biggest-ever projects to shoot here. 

2. A year like no other, but there were plenty of great films: It all started so well with a theatrical release for Bong Joon-ho’s terrific social satire Parasite, which went on to become the first foreign language Best Picture winner at the Oscars. Sam Mendes’ excellent WW1 drama 1917 also made the most of the big screen. As restrictions took hold, we found our streamers and rentals online and there were gems there too. Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks for Apple TV turned out to be one of her finest and sweetest, with great performances from leads Bill Murray and Rashida Jones. Killarney’s Jessie Buckley showed us what a star she has become in Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things for Netflix. Hugh Jackman and Alison Janney were great in Bad Education, a black comedy about a school scandal. 

 John David Washington and director Christopher Nolan on the set of Tenet.

3.  Christopher Nolan’s Tenet could never have been cinema’s saviour: For one, it didn’t live up to the hype with its confusing, notional conceit and disjointed narrative. The ‘inversion’ concept which allowed characters to move through relative time felt gimmicky, though it worked fantastically well for action and combat scenes. Before the world knew how long we’d be stuck with Covid, it was touted as the movie that would save summer. But limited capacity and rolling cinema closures meant it was never going to match the takings of a typical year. Current box-office worldwide stands at $362 million. 

4. Streamers are now the greatest home of small/independent movies: Whether they were part financed by a streaming giant or flipped to streaming options as cinemas closed, there were plenty of indies that made the most of online platforms. They included Irish crime thriller Calm With Horses which went on stream quickly when cinemas closed on its opening week. Horror thriller Relic and tense drama The Assistant bowed online and found audiences through strong word of mouth. You Cannot Kill David Arquette, on various platforms, was funny and outrageous and even moving. One of the year’s very best documentaries, Finding Jack Charlton, beamed into homes. It was a powerful account of Jack’s latter-day battles and a reminder of glorious and simpler times. 

Wolfwalkers was one of several impressive Irish films. 

 5. Irish movies provided some strong storytelling: Lorcan Finnegan’s Vivarium was a darkly funny sci-fi movie about a couple who become trapped in a housing estate. Paddy Slattery’s debut Broken Law was pacy, edgy and ambitious and signalled him as a real talent. Irish-language famine drama Arracht bowed at DIFF and later in the year became Ireland’s longlist entry for Best Foreign Language Film at next Spring’s Oscars. Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers was terrific, stunning looking and colourful. It’s in with a real shout for Best Animated Feature at next spring’s Oscars. 

6.  Netflix continues to dominate - but competition is growing: The streaming giant has had a good year, with several of its releases likely to compete during the forthcoming awards season. They include David Fincher’s Mank and The Prom - a big-scale musical about acceptance and inclusion likely to receive multiple technical nominations and acting for Meryl Streep. The hugely enjoyable Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, about the American blues singer, was critically acclaimed and generating buzz for Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman. But Disney+ launched here this year and has also been a huge hit with audiences, while Warner has decided to release all its movies on stream on the same day as they’re released in cinemas in the coming year.