Best Original Films In The Last 5 Years According to Content Creators

Over the past decade we have gotten way too many sequels, remakes and reboots. While a lot of them are hit or miss we have also had several original films over the past few years that have really stuck into people's brains. A lot of film goers complain about lack of original films, which I understand. However, I feel as if not enough people are looking hard enough because we have had several phenomenal original films over the past five years. I asked a lot of film content creators this same question: what is the best original films or films in the past five years?

I was very happy to see Nope ended up on this list because I absolutely love this film. According to film content creator Filmdaps this film and The Substance was neck-to-neck in terms of her favorite original film since 2020. She said, “I think the horror subgenre is actually doing quite a bit better with original films but if I recall Past Lives was original and absolutely stunning. People just need to take a chance on film.”

Very few animated films came up in this discussion, however, the one that was named was The Wild Robot by Movieswithjuan. He describes that the film “elicited so much emotional reaction out of me.” And that also he states that he loved the theme of motherhood and the animation looks so beautiful. The Wild Robot made me feel like a kid again watching Pixar/DreamWorks films so I can definitely relate to Movieswithjuan thoughts on the film.

There were wayyy too many people that gave Sinners as their favorite original film of the 2020's which I completely agree with. Thejahni says this about the film: “I would have to say Sinners. Granted, yes, it does borrow from films like Dusk Til Dawn but separate & aside from the conversation about nothing ever truly being original, I think that it’s incredible for Sinners to perform the way that it has at the box office in a time where all we see at the forefront are reboots, remakes, rehashes & sequels. But it’s casted perfectly, acted incredibly & it also tells a great story with layered themes & messages.”

If it wasn’t for Marottamedia I would have never found out about the Christmas comedy/drama film The Holdovers which was released in 2023. He states that, “even though this film has only been out for two years I have watched it multiple times around Christmas time and I will absolutely be doing it again this year. This has become a Christmas favorite and I will definitely be watching it every year for the rest of my life.”

My friend and podcast host Jalyn Sanderson gave several different original films that she has enjoyed. One that really stuck out the most that she mentioned was Anatomy of a Fall. I haven’t seen the film yet so when I asked why that was one of her choices she said: “Anatomy of a Fall was a reminder of how important foreign films are and the complexity of relationships and what leads to a downfall. Unlike a lot of relationship collapse films Anatomy of a Fall fells real.”

One of the most unique and original films over the past few years has been I Saw The TV Glow. When I asked Screen.brulee about their original film they said, “I really liked I Saw the TV Glow. I just loved the way it used its central metaphor to tackle these really internal themes of identity. It was incredible.” It's a shame that despite how incredible this film is, it didn’t receive any nominations by the Academy.

Horror movie lover Myriamtalksalot had this to say about her favorite original film: “Man this is a hard one but Cronengergs Crimes of the Future def comes to mind. It’s something I’ve never seen before, from the body mutilation & themes of pain VS pleasure, evolution of the human body, and themes associated with pollution. Just a wild ride and I remember being in theaters, looking over at my friend like WTF am I watching right now.”

When posed this question Sunnycside said, “If one is to be objective, I’d say probably the best one might be arguably Oppenheimer but my personal favorite out of the last five years is Nomadland. Maybe that is a hot take but I really liked The Minimalist, stripped down focus on human stories and actually featuring real nomadic people.”

For the past couple of years I've heard nothing but complaints about, “lack of original films" which isn't true. Many people that say that clearly aren’t looking hard enough for original films because their has been a lot of great original films that stick out in my mind. These films that my fellow film content creators mentioned are just few of many. If there is anything that comes to your mind when it comes to original films what are they and what makes it stand out to you?