To compile this list, we considered various factors, including:

Alexander Payne’s return to form feels like a film discovered in a time capsule. Set in 1970, it follows a curmudgeonly prep school teacher (Paul Giamatti) forced to supervise students stuck on campus over the winter break. Shot on 35mm film with period-appropriate lensing, it is a heartwarming, bittersweet study of loneliness and friendship that harkens back to the character studies of the 70s.