Top 5: Films of the Year (2014/15)

5) Interstellar
Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic may have been divisive, but enough of our contributors loved it for it to swipe fifth place on our list. Full of powerful performances, stunning visuals and a profoundly intellectual core, it’s certainly one of the more memorable movies in recent years, for better or for worse.

4) Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
This year’s Best Picture winner took fourth place – Alejandro González Iñárritu’s vicious satire of the modern film industry is a wildly experimental and deliriously bizarre picture that charmed our contributors enough to secure a spot on this list, but not enough to be up on the podium.

3) Nightcrawler
In bronze position we have Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut Nightcrawler. Aside from featuring Jake Gyllenhaal’s best performance of his career to date, Nightcrawler is a wild and twisted take on the ‘American Dream gone sinister’ narrative that is destined to be a modern classic.

2) Gone Girl
David Fincher’s dark and eerie parable of modern gender roles takes silver on our list. It would be hard for us to tell you how brilliant it is without dealing out a bucket load of spoilers, so we’ll leave it there for now. Just make damn sure you see it. Many will be surprised that this wasn’t our top pick…

1) Whiplash
The Mancunion’s favourite film of the year by a country mile, though, is Damien Chazelle’s Sundance darling Whiplash. It’s a frightening and energetic tale of obsession and ambition that any aspiring artist of any medium should consider essential viewing.