The briefest of glances at a list of this year’s top-performing films will reveal two things: one, that audiences tend to gravitate towards familiar franchises, and two, they have assigned an unreasonable level of goodwill in the unchallenging brand of superhero cinema popularised by Marvel.
The success of the MCU, which must admittedly be celebrated for its innovative interconnected storytelling, has altered the industry in ways that might be irreparable. On a purely creative level, this has convinced studios and filmmakers that audiences are interested in watching only one kind of cinema. But on an economic (and existential) level, the Marvel movies have made it impossible for films below a certain budget threshold to even be released.
Which is why each of the five films on this list feels like an anomaly. Not all of them were released in theatres, and certainly, not all of them were hits. But they represent a bygone era in director-driven Hollywood filmmaking, before release dates dictated shoot schedules and a film’s box office potential was calculated by the number of cameos it could squeeze in.
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