Best films of 2015: Five top movies and one turkey from Carol to Inherent Vice

The Independent’s reviewer concludes the year’s best – and worst – films

Affairs of the heart: Rooney Mara, left, and Cate Blanchett as lovers Therese and Carol in the adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel

Inherent Vice

Paul Thomas Anderson’s intricately textured and atmospheric LA-set mystery thriller, adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s novel, is one of the most laidback film noirs you will ever see. It takes its rhythm from its shambling private eye hero Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), who seems to be well-nigh permanently stoned and yet shows a dogged dedication to his work. Beautifully shot, the film is very sharp in its observations of the seedy narcissism of Seventies California.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

It may have passed under the radar but this was a wonderfully dreamy and eccentric evocation of a Seventies germ-filled San Francisco adolescence. It featured an utterly charming performance by British actress Bel Powley.

Precinct Seven Five

There are plans for a feature version of this utterly jaw-dropping documentary about corrupt cops in Seventies New York. The real-life characters here seemed like a cross between those you find in Damon Runyon novels and the equally sleazy and neurotic hustlers in Sidney Lumet crime movies.

Carol

Todd Haynes’ adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel about a lesbian romance combined supreme visual elegance with a very caustic look at Fifties American society – and it featured superlative performances from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.

Wild Tales

Damián Szifrón’s tremendously entertaining portmanteau pic combined cartoonish violence with macabre and very funny reflections on the trials of everyday life.

Turkey of the Year

Fifty Shades of Grey

Marketed quite ingeniously by Universal, Fifty Shades was a spanking big hit at the global box office but it turned out to be a very flaccid and dull piece of film-making. The disappointment was that a film-maker and artist as adventurous as Sam Taylor-Johnson agreed to sign up to make such a formulaic movie.