12 Years a Slave tops Collider’s list of the 10 heaviest 2010s films

Collider compiled a ranked list of the 10 heaviest movies of the 2010s, placing Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave at number one.

The roundup spotlights films that probe deep emotional and moral pain: the ritual violence and unsettling cheer of Midsommar; the abduction, parental grief and moral collapse in Prisoners; the breathless anxiety of Uncut Gems; the claustrophobic captivity and distorted innocence in Room; and the melancholic loneliness explored in Her. It also includes Pihu, about a two-year-old left alone with her mother’s body; We Need to Talk About Kevin, which tracks maternal detachment and the lead-up to a school massacre; Manchester by the Sea’s depiction of enduring grief and guilt; and Blue Valentine’s portrait of a relationship quietly falling apart.

The entry for 12 Years a Slave emphasizes the film’s unflinching depiction of systemic brutality, noting prolonged, stationary takes such as a nearly three-minute hanging sequence and a stark auction scene. The piece lists the film’s release date as October 18, 2013, runtime 134 minutes, director Steve McQueen and writers John Ridley Solomon Northup Edwin Epps, and uses those elements to explain its top placement on the list.