The past 20 years have arguably been the best for film, with movies such as Parasite, Triangle of Sadness and Barbie to name a few. These films coming out of the woodworks, coupled with advances in technology and special effects has allowed for enhanced viewing quality and more choice than ever.
However, regardless of this, film preference still remains subjective and will always be up for discussion. For me, the best film to come out of the past 20 years is a historical drama with an incredible fascinating journey and complex characters. 2010’s The Social Network was directed by David Fincher and starred Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake alongside Armie Hammer, Dakota Johnson and Rashida Jones.
The film’s synopsis reads: “In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer genius Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, he is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but Zuckerberg finds that his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend (Garfield). Based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires.”
It explores themes of ambition, competition and betrayal and depicts that alongside technological innovation, making it a tense and nuanced watch.
The film was critically acclaimed with Eisenberg winning an Oscar for Best Actor. It has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was hailed by the critics.
I think the film was so special for a few reasons, firstly, the strong performances from the lead actors, the captivating narrative and also the timing of the film, it captured a shift in culture that was extremely major and impacted more than just a generation.
If you haven’t already seen it, The Social Network is available to stream on Amazon Prime.