#Sorry to use the 4/chan format there was no other way I can describe how I'm feeling right now

[joshuas]

lucky

♫ pairing: Lee Minho x Reader

♫ genre: college/university student!au, slice-of-life, crack, fluff

♫ word count: 3.8k

♫ warnings: Nil of note!

♫ summary: Let’s just say that Minho playing hard to get is not a good combination. 

♫ a/n: The third addition to my Christmas oneshots! This is a slight continuation from my Felix oneshot. Written on three hours of sleep, so I hope it’s at least satisfactory ;-;. Enjoy!

♫ skz christmas oneshots: 1 |2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

��Playing hard to get is the best way to gain their affections,” Jisung advised his older friend, Minho, sipping at his iced Americano. “Yah, who are you to give love advice. You haven’t dated anyone.” Another boy, Hyunjin said, rolling his eyes at Jisung, “Hyung, I just think you need to be honest about your feelings.” Hyunjin nodded at Minho, leaning back in his chair. “No, no. They need to know he’s flirting with them - drop some pick-up lines, write them a song, be as cliche as possible. People like that. My mum said that my dad fell for her using this method of romancing.” Another one of Minho’s friends, Changbin, attempted to convince him. “You’ll scare them off if you tell them your feelings straight off the bat. Be cool and cold - it’ll pique their interest. Only then can you be all touchy-feely with your emotions.” Jisung countered, dismissing the other boys’ advice. Minho had called the boys for an ‘emergency’ meeting at the local cafe, luring them over by paying for their food in exchange for ways to confess his feelings to the person he admired. “Are you sure playing hard to get will work?” Minho raised his eyebrows at Jisung, contemplative. “Almost 100% sure, hyung! You won’t regret doing it. Y/N’s gonna love you.” Jisung beamed reassuringly. “By almost 100%, you mean like 30%. This isn’t a drama. Y/N literally only knows you in a school setting. How did you meet again? Oh yeah, you’re both accounting majors. Don’t you think it’ll be weird if you abruptly change your demeanour towards them?” Hyunjin questioned as Minho dismissed him, “It’ll be fine. Just you wait. Everything will sort itself out way before the holidays.” “Your call, hyung...” Hyunjin said, tone doubtful. “Seriously? Is no one going to listen to my advice?” Changbin said, incredulous. Jisung patted his back, “Just quit while you’re ahead, Changbin hyung.”

“Y/N and Minho, you’ll be partnered together for this assignment. Remember, it’s due on the 20th.” Your professor handed the two of you an assignment sheet as you exited the lecture theatre. “So... Minho, do you want to catch up later to work on the assignment?” You asked as the two of you walked through the courtyard. “Oh! Y/N, of cour—.” He cleared his throat, lifting his head high, “I mean. Sure, I’ll have to check my busy schedule and get back to you.” Is he trying to be pretentious or something? Forcing a bright smile, you patted his shoulder, “Great! I’ll see you tomorrow in class. Bye!” You shook your head, sighing as you walked away. Why can’t you just be cool, Y/N?

[21:38] (Y/N) hey, i was wondering if you wanted to meet at the cafe closest to uni for our assignment? [21:56] (Y/N) or... not?? i know you saw this message, minho... it’s not like it accounts for 30% of our GRADE and yk it would be nice if we could work on it and do well in it. just a suggestion though. it’s your call. “Hyung, you can’t say that! Seriously, this is the sixth revisit we’ve made to this text. Isn’t your whole brand just ‘playing it cool?’” Jisung snatched the phone off Minho, sighing as he settled next to Hyunjin on the couch, typing away. As soon as you sent the message, the whole dorm was in a flurry - Minho grabbing his phone as quick as he could to type out a reply whilst Hyunjin and Jisung (mostly Jisung) workshopped his texts “I don’t understand why he can’t just be himself. Haven’t you seen literally any movies? This’ll backfire majorly.” Hyunjin sighed, exasperated. “Hyunjin, do you want to be put in the air fryer for twenty minutes at 180 degrees?” Minho raised his eyebrow at the taller boy, daringly. Hyunjin sighed defeatedly,

“No, hyung.” “Good. How are you going with the text, Jisung?” Minho clapped his hands, spinning his desk chair to face Jisung. “Okay. How about you just... don’t reply and show up tomorrow?” Jisung said, his tone as if he had said the most enlightening statement in the world. Hyunjin scoffed, “There’s a difference between playing hard to get and just being plain rude.” “Well, I don’t see you suggesting anything.” Jisung defended. “Because this whole idea of workshopping Minho hyung’s texts and getting him to play hard to get is stupid. Why can’t you just be nice to Y/N and respond properly?” Hyunjin said exasperatedly. “I’ll just say ‘sure. i’ll meet you at 12.’ and be done with it.” Minho said, ignoring Hyunjin and looking at Jisung for approval. “Make sure that when you meet up with Y/N you maintain your cool demeanour. Actually... maybe we should tag along. It’s not that we don’t trust you, hyung,” Jisung hurriedly explained, “it’s just that... we don’t trust you.” “And that it’ll probably be entertaining!” Hyunjin added, smirking slightly. “Alright, you guys can come. Only because you’ll see how much I’ll crush this. Just make sure that you’re not in their line of sight.” Minho said, smug, shrugging his shoulders. “Five dollars, he doesn’t crush it,” Hyunjin said, watching the older boy exit the room. “Deal.” Jisung slapped Hyunjin’s hand.

You sighed, looking down at the time on your laptop. 20 minutes late... really? Does he think that this whole assignment is a joke? “Hi! I was wondering if you wanted to order anything?” A man with a dimpled smile approached you, holding out a notepad. “Oh! Yes. Um, I’ll have a chocolate th-“ “We’ll both have a chocolate thick shake, Chan.” You turned around, looking for the person that interrupted you, your eyes landing on Minho approaching your table. “Uh- okay! I’ll have your orders ready in a bit.” Chan gave the two of you a small smile as Minho sat opposite you. “So... I don’t really mean to pry into your personal life but is there a reason why you’re so late?” You asked tentatively, looking over at Minho as he distracted himself with his laptop. A long silence pursued as you fidgeted with a stray thread on your jeans. “Okay... you’re just not going to answer my question? That’s cool. That’s fine.” You looked at him, astonished by his coolness. You coughed, directing your attention back to your assignment. After a good thirty or so minutes of working solidly (and in forced silence), you leaned back against your chair, looking quizzically at the man in front of you. Dressed simply in a pastel cardigan, eyebrows scrunched from focusing so hard as he typed away furiously at the keyboard, occasionally nudging up the cat-eye glasses that decided to slide down his nose. Biting his lip in thorough concentration, he ran a hand through his glossy brown hair. 

It kind of reminds me of really rich chocolate? Chocolate is nice. I like chocolate. Wait. What am I doing? I don’t like Lee Minho. You like Lee Minho, not me. Your gaze wandered, eyes matching his slightly concerned dark brown ones. You looked away, heat radiating from your cheeks. Clearing your throat you stared hard at the table, “So... have you figured out what format you want to present the assignment in?” Minho opened his mouth to speak, only to close it a second later, contemplative. “Well... we should probably assign roles, right? Seeing as both of us have just done preliminary research. If you want, you can do the write-up and I can focus on making it presentable and in a speech format...” You suggested. Silence. You rolled your eyes, annoyed, “Okay, seriously? Can you stop being a jerk for like one second and actually cooperate with me to get this assignment done? You haven’t spoken to me this entire time!” You exclaimed, exasperated. Minho’s eyes shifted from softened and sorry to a blank expression. “I’ll only talk to you if you...” He stopped, frantically looking around and stopping short of the flyers on the notice board, “Participate in the university’s Christmas art contest and beat me!” He pointed at a random flyer on the wall, describing the details for the event. “Seriously? That’s what it’ll take for you to talk to me?? Why can’t you just talk to me without doing all that?” You said, incredulous. Minho raised his eyebrows expectantly at you. “Fine...” You threw your hands up in defeat. “Perfect. And hey, may the best artist win.” Minho smirked, shaking your hand.

“You did not crush it,” Hyunjin said bluntly, laughing as Jisung reluctantly gave him what he owed. All three of them had congregated back at the dorm, brainstorming their next course of action. “I don’t know how you’re going to beat her, hyung.” Jisung sighed. “Excuse you, I can do art!” Minho defended. “Um. Hyung. There’s a reason why we aren’t majoring in art.” Hyunjin stated. “Well, then. What are we going to do?” Minho rubbed his face wearily. “Does it matter if you compete in this? You did say to Y/N that you’d talk to her if she beat you and there’s high chance of that happening, seeing your portfolio. Or, you know, you could just drop all of this and talk to them normally.” Hyunjin reasoned. “We’re in too deep for you to back down now, hyung. If you want to impress them, I think your best option is... taking up the art lessons that the art department are providing.” Jisung pushed, dismissing Hyunjin’s voice of reason for the five hundredth time. “Art lessons? I don’t need those.” Minho scrunched his nose in disgust. “Oh trust me hyung, you do.”

Sighing, you opened the door to the art workshop,

Why has my life come to this? Wait. Why do I even care so much for him to talk to me? It’s not like I... like him. That’s ridiculous. I could just do the entire assignment yourself and never speak to him again. I should leave. Art lessons. You’re really going above and bey— “What are you doing here?” You stopped short of entering the room, staring straight ahead at the man in front of you. In your direct line of vision was... Minho... making a newspaper crown with the word “VICTORY” taped onto it. You shook your head, trying to clear him and your thoughts. Putting on a fake smile, you sat beside him, “Sorry for being so rude. I was just... surprised to see you here. You must be really sure that you’re going to win!” You chuckled awkwardly. Before Minho could reply, a voice rang out across the room, diverting your attention, “Alright! Welcome to the annual art workshop. We’ll be focusing on pottery and sculpting these next two weeks, so...”

Well into the lesson, you and Minho were finally handed your clay and given free rein to do whatever, “So, do you know how you’re planning on presenting the assignment?” “We shouldn’t talk about the assignment here,” Minho said, staring at his clay. “Okay well, where else can we talk about it? You don’t want to talk to me outside of this place and you even made me participate in this stupid competition even though I physically cannot do art.” You exploded, exasperated. You sighed at his lack of reaction, grabbing your stuff and placing yourself on the opposite side of the room. You glared at him, Fine, Lee Minho. We’ll do it your way... for now.

“They can’t do art!” Minho grinned, dancing around the dorm room. “Wait, that’s great!” Jisung exclaimed, high-fiving Minho. “That’s not good, though— if they’re worse than you then you’ll never be able to talk to them,” Hyunjin stated, seemingly confused at the others’ ignorance, voice drowned out by their gleeful celebration. “Well if they’re so bad- that’s gotta be good, right? How- how’s the art going?” Jisung asked. “Uh-“ Minho averted his eyes, “really well.” “You learnt a lot?” Jisung asked, not too dissimilar from a parent asking their child how their day was at school. “Yeah, it was really... inspiring. I felt like Leonardo DiCaprio.” Minho said proudly. Hyunjin scoffed, “Don’t you mean Leonardo Da Vinci?” “Ugh, this guy- plebeian. He pretends that he knows art,” Minho scoffed, laughing with Jisung at Hyunjin, “No, I mean Leonardo DiCaprio.” “Come on man, when it comes to art, Minho knows best. After all, I’ve paid over $100 for his lessons.” Jisung placed his pityingly on Hyunjin’s shoulder. “A good investment. I won’t let you down!” Minho said smugly, nodding his head. “When all this backfires on you, don’t come crying back to me.” Hyunjin threw up his hands defeatedly, walking out of the room.

I can’t believe Lee Minho. I can’t believe he didn’t do this assignment. I can’t believe he’s pushing all this work onto me! He has enough time to do freaking art classes for an art competition, but not to spare two words to work on the group assignment. Group, being the keyword!! It’s probably because he thinks he’s soooo handsome. Wait. Not handsome! He’s not handsome- he’s ugly. Wait. Not ugly. I like his hair. Oh, and the way his eyes sparkle when he smiles. Oh, and don’t get me started on his build. Who wouldn’t be jealous of his jawline? ...Ewwww. What am I thinking? Lee Minho, I hate you for infiltrating my thoughts. You are a horrible Scrooge that refuses to do this assignment and I refuse to give you the time of day by thinking about you. Not that that would matter anyway with how you ignore me. Staring at your phone for the fiftieth time, you looked at all the unread messages you had sent Minho regarding the assignment. You were genuinely concerned with how he thought he was going to pass this course if he wasn’t going to do any work. Not that it matters - once this was over, you would go your separate ways. Sighing, you turned back to your laptop, pulling up a PowerPoint since he who shall not be named decided he was too good to work on the assignment. I better get a good grade on this or God so help me and Minho when I murder him.

“So, Y/N, how are you going with your project? That looks so... interesting!” Your art lecturer stopped, staring at your attempt to sculpt a snowman. “Please. I know it’s trash but don’t tell Minho. Apparently, I need to beat him at this art contest to speak with him.” You rolled your eyes, staring at the boy across the room, as he stared down his clay on the pottery plate. “Oh? Sounds like he’s playing hard to get!” The lecturer laughed. “Hard to get? No. He’s just being rude.” You scoffed. “That’s how I won over my husband! Trust me, it works. Make sure you contact me when you guys get married.” Your art lecturer teased, walking away. ...what? He can’t be playing hard to get... he’s just being rude, right? No one would go to such extremes if they were playing hard to get. He’s probably just pranking me for his friends. Gosh, guys are such jerks (not really, I love some of y’all). Anyway, focus Y/N. You need to beat him to talk to him about the assignment. A commotion at the door shook you out of your internal monologuing, as you observed a guy with orangey hair alongside his friend (or lover, I can’t tell) come and harass him about making them a... life-sized present?? “...you’re an art major right? This’ll be right in your ballpark.” The boy clapped Minho on the back before leaving, their friend/lover hot on their heels. “But I’m an accounting major.” Minho sighed, putting his head in his hands. Wow. Sad backstory. His friends don’t even care about what he does. Whatever, I don’t pity him or anything. Then again, I could help him, allowing us more time to work on our assignment together... Steeling yourself, you tentatively approached a stressed Minho, “I may or may not have overheard your conversation with your friend. Are you okay? Do you need help?” “Really? You’d do that for me?” He asked genuinely before clearing his throat, “I mean. That’d be cool. We can do it at my dorm.” You gave him a small smile,

“Okay. Oh! And while we’re at it, we should discuss the project.” You grabbed your stuff before rushing after a speedy Minho.

“Hey, Minho hyung. How’d it go with— oh! Hi, you must be Y/N. I’m Hyunjin. Minho’s talked about you a lot.” Hyunjin smiled, welcoming you into the dorm. Another boy cleared his throat, staring pointedly at Hyunjin, “Uh- no he hasn’t. We don’t know anything about you, Y/N. And Hyunjin, don’t you have an end of year formal to plan?” The other boy said, eyes wide and pointedly staring at him and the door. “Um... okay.” You stared at them wildly until Minho dragged you to his room. “It was nice to meet you, Y/N!” Hyunjin called out.

“So, I have a cardboard box from the computer set up Jisung bought for his studio. All we need to do is wrap it.” “Okay, let’s do that.” You grabbed the wrapping off the table before wrapping the box mindlessly. “Don’t do that! It won’t look aesthetically pleasing.” Minho leaned over, delicately plucking the roll off you, your heart beating fast as your fingers grazed against each other. Get a grip, Y/N. “Seriously? Aesthetically pleasing? If you put half the effort you’re putting in your art project and this into your assignment that is due tomorrow. We’d top the class.” You said, exasperated. Minho froze, looking at you like a deer in headlights, “It’s due tomorrow?” He asked incredulously. “Didn’t you see any of my texts?” You asked, equally as incredulous. “I kinda... blocked you?” Minho rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Oh my— you really— I— wow. Minho. Good luck with this. I can’t believe you! You are so- so... irritating!” You sighed, done with him. “...wait so, are you leaving?” He asked tentatively. “No! Because I’m a decent human being and I’ll feel guilty since I already said I’d help you.” You said, angrily grabbing taping the wrapping paper to the box. “Wait! Don’t do it that way.” “I think we’re way past the point of you telling me what to do, Lee.”

“That’s an interesting snowman.” Minho sauntered up to your display, his artwork— apparently, not his sculpture but a now ruined life-sized present, as you waited for the judges to approach you, not too dissimilar from a kid at a science fair awaiting their judgement. “Oh. So you’re going to talk to me now? I’m sorry; the results aren’t out yet. I haven’t beaten you yet.” You turned away from him. “Wait—“ “Ah, hello number 34 - Y/N? Explain to us what we have here.” A judge approached, looking at your ‘snowman’. “Here we have a snowman. Although it looks... unique, it represents the fact that as an individual snowflake, every soul is unique. Not all snowmen look the same— some have big carrot noses, some have miniature heads, some aren’t even made of snow, and are made of clay that has somehow collapsed in on itself. It is basically a metaphor representing how our society functions.” You explained quickly, making things up as you go as Minho stared at you, bewildered. “Wow, that was so powerful. Thank you, Y/N. Now onto you, young man. What do we have here?” “Um- well. It’s a life-sized present. It’s slightly ruined because it was just used by someone to proclaim their love of someone else’s pick up lines?” Minho raised his eyebrows, confused by his own experience. “Wow. This is— wow. I love it. Everyone! I think we have a winner here.” The judge called everyone’s attention over. “No, no! I refuse to win!” Minho said worriedly. “Oh, you’re just being humble.” The judge smiled patronisingly. “No! I’m serious because if I win, I’ll never be able to speak to the person that I like because I was stupid enough to think I could play hard to get.” Minho exploded, an awkward silence pursuing as the crowd slowly backed away, as the judge quickly placing a first place ribbon on before scurrying back. As the crowd dispersed, people talking amongst themselves as they had done before, Minho cleared his throat, stepping towards you, “Y/N—“ “I guess this is it, then. You know, I finished the assignment for you, by the way. It was submitted last night.” You forced a smile, looking away from the man in front of you. “Wait what? I already handed in the assignment as well. Last night I finished it all.” Minho said, confused. “No! You did it last minute so I don’t trust your submission but now our professor is going to be so confused. One of us has to take down the submission.” You blurted out, panicked. “Well... why don’t we go to the University cafe and read over each other’s to decide which one’s better. As well as that, you can tell me more about yourself, personally.” Minho proposed tentatively. You sighed,

“One problem. I can’t and shouldn’t be talking to you.” You said, raising your eyebrows at him. “Okay, I know I suck at playing hard to get. Like really really suck. But now I know not to follow Jisung’s love advice. Truth is, you really intimidated me. I was nervous that if I acted like myself and confessed to you normally, I would make a fool out of myself and you wouldn’t like me back.” Minho explained. “You- you’re an idiot.” Leaning forward you pressed your lips to his before quickly pulling away. “I think. You playing hard to get did work.” You said quietly, a small smile on your face. “Wait, so you like me too?” He said quickly, incredulous. “Lee Minho, you infiltrate my thoughts nearly every second of the day and I used to resent you for that. Although, I don’t really think it was resentment. I like you, Minho. I like you a lot... especially your hair?” You said quickly. He smiled, pulling you in for another kiss, this time longer, your heart soaring, as you pulled back, intertwining your fingers with his. “As much as I enjoy doing this, we should probably get back to the cafe and fix our assignment.” You said, leading him towards the exit. “Oh, yeah! I forgot about that.” He commented sheepishly. “You’re lucky you have me, then.”

➳ part four?  |  masterlist!

[starwarsnonsense]

Top 10 Best Films of 2017 - End of Year List

I did a mid-year ‘best of’ list, so it was only fitting that I returned to the format at the end of the year to run down my top 10 favourite films of the year. Only three films from my mid-year list remain here, which is a testament to what an incredible year it has been for film. As far as I’m concerned, 2017 has been a real banner year for cinema and it has seen the release of several all-time greats that I look forward to enjoying for many years to come. 

Since I’m based in the UK there will be several notable omissions here (I still eagerly await films like Phantom Thread, I, Tonya and The Post), purely by dint of the fact that they have yet to be released in this country. Do look out for them in my forthcoming most-anticipated of 2018 list!

Honourable mentions: Custody, Brimstone, The Disaster Artist, Professor Marston & the Wonder Women, Call Me By Your Name

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, dir. Rian Johnson

While the placement of this film on my list may be resoundingly predictable (check out the total lack of bias signalled by my username!), the thrilling thing is that the film itself is anything but. The Last Jedi shatters the Star Wars mould to entertain new forms of storytelling and question long-held assumptions. It’s a shockingly meta story in how it questions the conventions of Star Wars - particularly those concerning lineage and its implications - but it is never meta in an ironic sense. There are no wink, wink moments, and while the past is investigated and questioned it is never mocked. Instead of descending into irreverence, The Last Jedi is meta in a way that feels absolutely necessary and justified if Star Wars is to remain fresh and vital as it moves forward. Bloodline and history do not have to dictate destiny in this new version of Star Wars - the heroes are those who understand this, and the villains are the ones who fail to grasp the same lesson. It’s a beautiful and intellectually rigorous movie, and I’m thrilled by how it elevates and re-contextualises the stories that came before it while pushing the characters and their relationships forward. I have no idea of where Episode IX will take this story, and that is incredibly exciting to me. Bring it on.

2. Blade Runner 2049, dir. Denis Villeneuve

There are a million and one reasons why this movie shouldn’t have worked, but Villeneueve proved his genius by making a sublime sci-fi picture that actually surpasses its predecessor. I have always admired the original Blade Runner more than I’ve enjoyed it, and that’s because I have always found it emotionally distant. Deckard struck me as a mumbling arse and his romance with Rachael always felt obligatory, not organic. The genius of Blade Runner 2049 lies in how it made me care - it made me care about the love between Deckard and Rachael (which was something of a miracle in itself), and it made me care about the love between K and his holographic girlfriend Joi. With these emotional hooks in place, everything worked as a thrilling symphony. The cinematography is easily the best of any film in 2017 (sorry, Dunkirk - I still love you) and this film has an astonishing number of scenes that still linger in my mind after many months - the very modern threesome, the shootout in the gaudy pleasure palace, the fight in the rain, the father seeing his child for the first time. It’s a breathtaking film and I couldn’t be more excited to see what Villeneuve does next.

3. Dunkirk, dir. Christopher Nolan

Dunkirk is such a striking and effective piece of cinema that it actually made me overcome my innate bias against war movies (I blame too many tedious Sunday afternoons wasted on mandatory viewings of The Great Escape at my grandparents’ house). With Dunkirk, Nolan has probably made his most accomplished and sophisticated movie - it starts off unbearably tense and doesn’t release its grip on your pulse until the final scene, when its hero finally drops off to the blessed peace of sleep. Nolan employs a tricksy converging structure with multiple plot strands to ramp up the tension and provide different perspectives on the evacuation, masterfully playing them off each other to assemble the big picture. While criticised by some for its apparent lack of character, I can’t really agree with that assessment - Dunkirk is probably the most powerfully humanistic war film I’ve ever seen, and by stripping its characters down to their rawest selves it reveals some uncomfortable yet powerful truths about all of us. The characters are somewhat distant from us - we never hear them pine for lovers or miss their mothers - but the removal of these storytelling shorthands leaves us with soldiers who behave exactly as you would expect frightened, stranded children to. And there’s something terrifyingly poignant about that.

4. mother!, dir. Darren Aronofsky

mother! is the work of a madman with no fucks to give, and it is what I choose to refer to as ‘peak Aronofsky’. He made what is clearly an allegory, and while he had his own intentions with said allegory (which he has been very loud about declaring) the film is so cleverly constructed that it can simultaneously be about the entire history of the world and the plight of the tortured artist’s muse - either reading is perfectly correct and supported by the text. mother! is a piece of art that has provoked a lively and frequently heated debate, and while it needs to be read as an allegory to make any kind of sense as a narrative I also don’t want to undersell this movie as an emotional experience. If you go into mother! willing to be challenged and content to be swept up in a bold artistic vision, it has the potential to be a really absorbing and engrossing film - it is anchored by Jennifer Lawrence’s remarkably brave and unrestrained performance. She is not playing a grounded character, but her performance is palpably real and frequently painful to witness - she portrays the whole spectrum of emotions, from mild bemusement to shrieking horror, and the whole film soars on the strength of her efforts. This is a uniquely strength and esoteric film, and I am incredibly happy that it exists.

5. Get Out, dir. Jordan Peele

This film really knocked me for six, to such an extent that I simply had to see it twice in the cinema. It got even better upon a re-watch, when I was able to watch it with full knowledge of the characters’ underlying motives and the things to come. It’s a terrifying concept (the racism of an all-white suburb is taken to a horrifying extreme) executed with incredible panache, and you feel every emotion that Chris goes through thanks to Daniel Kaluuya’s excellent performance. Get Out also represents one of the most brilliantly communal experiences I’ve ever had at the cinema - I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say that the audience erupted into spontaneous applause at a key moment in the climax. Simply fantastic. 

6. The Handmaiden, dir. Park Chan-wook

This film is exquisite - it’s first and foremost a beautiful boundary-smashing love story, and an absolutely marvellous tale of female defiance. It transplants Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith to 1930s Korea, and the story is effortlessly adapted to become intrinsically interwoven with its new setting. Sookee is a talented pickpocket plucked from a thieves den and sent as a handmaiden to trick a rich heiress into falling for a conman. To say any more would spoil the twists, but this film is just a masterwork of suspense, keeping you guessing throughout a series of interlocking pieces that take their time to reveal their secrets. I’ve seen the theatrical cut and the extended version, and they’re both great - you’re in for a treat with either.

7. The Florida Project, dir. Sean Baker

This is one of the best screen depictions of childhood I’ve ever seen. Our hero here is Moonee, a smart-tongued and cheeky six-year-old. Moonee lives in a motel room with her abrasive but loving mother, but since she’s a child she doesn’t mope or lament her poverty - she takes her surroundings for granted and makes the tacky shops and hotels that form her world her very own theme park. The Florida Project is firmly committed to adopting a child’s eye perspective, and while it can feel a bit meandering to begin with it gradually accumulates pace and purpose, building to an utterly heartbreaking and unforgettable climax. The performances here are extraordinary, and Brooklynn Prince is so palpably real as Moonee that she’ll own your heart by the end of the movie (having squeezed it to bursting point on several occasions).

8. The Shape of Water, dir. Guillermo del Toro

I’ve long been a huge del Toro cheerleader, and this movie is perhaps best described as ‘peak del Toro’ - it has the mannered, detail-oriented set design, the charming quirkiness, the subverted horror, and the woozily strange romance that he has employed again and again in his films. This story, however, is unusual for del Toro in that it is ultimately optimistic and hopeful - it’s the daddy of all supernatural romances in that it is a full-blown love story between a mute human woman and a fishman, and it is characterised by total commitment and self-belief. Think Creature from the Black Lagoon done with the creature as the romantic hero. The Shape of Water has a certain playfulness that means it never feels ponderous or silly, but it affords its characters real respect and dignity and makes you care for them deeply. This movie makes me excited to see where genre filmmaking can go next (hint: I hope it only gets weirder).

9. Thelma, dir. Joachim Trier

Who knew something like this could come out of Norway? This was probably my biggest pleasant surprise of 2017 in terms of film - I went in with no expectations at all, and came out wowed. This is an intensely strange and effective supernatural horror that follows a girl with strange repressed powers that manifest whenever she experiences desire. It could be a hackneyed or exploitative premise in the hands of a lesser filmmaker, but Trier shows a deft hand and a remarkable talent for building tension and creating a sense of heightened reality. There is one scene set to ‘Mountaineers’ by Susanne Sundfor that is one of the most transporting experiences I have ever had in the cinema - the combination of the ethereal music and the mounting suspense makes for real film magic. This was a great reminder of how important it is to take chances and try out films outside your comfort zone.

10. Jackie, dir. Pablo Larrain

This is a film that soars on the strength of Natalie Portman’s incredible performance, which is complemented by Mica Levi’s haunting score. Portman’s performance is painfully vivid, with her agony and wretchedness coming through so intensely that it’s often uncomfortable to watch. Jackie is probably the best portrait of grief I’ve ever seen, and it sucks you into a famous historic event by providing an incredibly intimate perspective on it. This is great cinema, but be prepared for suffering.