Winner: Rian Johnson —
Looper

Brief Synopsis: The year is 2044. We aren’t introduced to much about the future, but we know two things: some humans have developed low-level telekinesis and time travel is possible. And the reason we know it’s possible is because a crime syndicate in 2074 is sending targets 30 years into the past to be executed, bypassing the distant future’s tracking system. Joe is a mobster living in 2044 and he is called a “looper.” He goes to a designated country road where a target appears, hands tied and a white sheet over his head, to dispose of their body. Here’s the catch: to tie up any loose ends, the syndicate will send a looper’s future self into the past for the looper to kill — this is known as completing your loop. However, when Joe’s next target appears, he is startled to see his future self with unbound hands and an uncovered head, and before Joe can do anything, Old Joe knocks Joe unconscious and escapes. Joe is now caught in a manhunt…for himself. He has to find his future self and kill him before the crime syndicate can hunt down either of them. 

For anyone out there who hates Rian Johnson for directing Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi (controversial opinion: it’s a terrific film if it was the first one in the series... except it was the eighth), I say to you now please give him another chance and watch Looper. It’ll show you what Johnson is capable of, if given the chance to control a film from start to finish. Looper gives science fiction fans a thrilling story without much of the bells and whistles that usually accompany a film of its genre. Instead, it’s purpose is to surprise you with plot twists, dramatic tension, and unexpected character arcs. It’s difficult to describe to anyone who hasn’t seen the film (especially without revealing major spoilers), but Looper is one of those film that you can tell could only have been made by the person directing it. There are a lot of films out there that you roll your eyes at because they rely on tropes and recycled dialogue, (which can sometimes be selfishly satisfying because then you can say, “Bah humbug! I could have made a better movie with a Kodak camera!), but Looper dares you to try and predict how the story will turn out. With Looper, you aren’t meant to understand the purpose of the story until the very end, but it’s filled with so much intrigue and action that you don’t really care. But once the catharsis hits — you start connecting all the pieces in your head and slowly realize just how clever it is. The themes of the story, the character motivations, the storyboarding of the narrative all comes together in a beautiful, harmonious fashion. All of that is to the credit of Rian Johnson, who spent years carefully crafting the story before launching production. And you definitely feel his control throughout the movie, not revealing too much too soon and placing purpose behind every scene — even though the audience may not recognize its significance at first.