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District Distinct

Movies I loved this year

Published 6 months ago • 4 min read

Hello? Is this thing still on?

I'm dusting off and reviving my long dormant newsletter with the intention of more consistent publishing in 2026. This week and next I'll share some of my favorite movies and books from the year that left an impression.

One thing I did this year more than years prior was going out to the theater to see movies. In particular, I want to shout out the great arthouse cinema in Chapel Hill called The Chelsea. It's a charming old theater with only three screens, and has been a staple of the Chapel Hill arts scene since 1990. They show a mix of new indie and foreign films, as well as rereleases of old classics.

It feels particularly nostalgic to go to the movies at a time when our attention is constantly fragmented and peeled away by screens of another sort. I enjoyed leaving the phone behind and immersing in a single media experience.

Going to the theater became a small ritual of presence this year, and these are the films that made it worthwhile.
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Favorite movies I watched in 2025

Sentimental Value

A Norwegian film about family estrangement and reconciliation. When his ex-wife dies, a famous director (Stellan Skarsgård) returns to Oslo—ostensibly to pay respects, but really to film his magnum opus in their former family home. His adult daughters, especially the one who never forgave his abandonment, must decide whether to participate in his attempt to dramatize their trauma. The acting is superb, particularly the daughters, who are captured in beautifully shot close-ups that reveal their subtle emotional shifts. Much of it is set in this beautiful Oslo home, which is spacious and naturally lit, and feels thick with their memories. The house becomes a character in a way that reminded me of Cuarón's Roma.

Train Dreams

Based on Denis Johnson's great novella, Train Dreams is an emotional and historical drama following Robert Grainier, a logger in the early 20th century old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. His life unfolds through a sequence of moments and one profound tragedy that shapes everything after. It's a film about grief that immerses viewers in Grainier's experience in a visceral, immediate way. The quiet, dream-like narration (lifted directly from Johnson's prose) is reminiscent of Terrence Malick. Combined with the clearing of giant fir and spruce trees amid rapid modernization, the film gives grief an almost existential quality, both necessary and inevitable.

In the Mood for Love

For its 25th anniversary, the Wong Kar-wai classic In the Mood for Love was rereleased in theaters. I first saw it after moving to China post-college and was mesmerized by the soundtrack, the wardrobes, and the aesthetics of 1960s Hong Kong. Two neighbors—each married to someone we never see on screen—pass each other in hallways while their spouses are "traveling for work." Subtle hints reveal what the characters are slowly realizing: their partners are having an affair with each other. The recurring musical theme creates its own suspense as the two forlorn spouses cross paths, and viewers hope that fidelity to tradition and suppressed desire don't prevent them from truly seeing each other. More than anything, it's a film about paying attention to the subtle cues of the story, the vibrant details of the set and wardrobe, and to your own desires for the characters.

Spotlight

A compelling based-on-a-true-story portrayal of the Boston Globe investigative unit that broke the Catholic Church's child sex abuse scandal and its coverup by Boston's most powerful institutions. The ensemble cast, led by Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, makes a movie largely about the mundane work of reporting into a suspenseful narrative. I saw it when it came out in 2015 and wondered how they pulled that off. On my second watch, two things emerged: constant movement and short scenes. Like Aaron Sorkin's West Wing, characters are always in motion (even as trivial as moving paper from one desk to another) with such pace and purpose that it creates a feeling of constant action. With a large cast of primary characters, the film can jump between short scenes, each serving as building blocks as the reporters piece together the story. A movie like this also raises an unfortunate question: ten years later, are powerful institutions like this more or less insulated from exposure than before?

A Complete Unknown

An obvious caveat: you probably need to be a Dylan fan to really enjoy this movie. For me, it delivered. I saw it twice and spent weeks afterward swimming in Dylan tracks. Beyond the music and performances by Timothée Chalamet, Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez), Edward Norton (Pete Seeger), and Boyd Holbrook (Johnny Cash), what I loved is that the film doesn't try to psychoanalyze Dylan or serve fresh biographical insights. Instead it takes a sliver of his life—1961 to 1965, the rise of his stardom—and tells the story primarily through the performances themselves rather than getting bogged down in character exploration and some profound take on Dylan.

Michael Clayton

This classic legal thriller from 2007 remains one of my all-time favorites, one I rewatch every couple of years. George Clooney plays a fixer for a prestigious New York law firm, who is brilliant at his job but dismayed he never made partner as a lawyer. Instead he relies on family connections in the police department to help high-priced clients evade consequences that reach beyond the courtroom. When one of the firm's top lawyers has a breakdown while building the defense for a billion-dollar class action lawsuit, Clooney steps in to resolve the issue, only to learn what drove his colleague over the edge. Clooney is great, but Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson are even better. An incredible screenplay about how power corrupts and what happens when someone finally sees clearly.

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Next Sunday

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District Distinct

By Wesley Melville

As a business consultant and ICF-certified executive leadership coach, I've helped over a hundred founders, entrepreneurs and business leaders grow their impact professionally and personally. On Sundays, I write a newsletter highlighting some of those coaching insights and ideas with the hope of helping others grow their impact too.

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