8) Citizenfour

The most relevant and riveting documentary of the year, Laura Poitras’ Citizenfour hums with the restless energy of history in the making. Based around a series of conversations between the mysterious “citizen four,” the whistleblower who would soon be identified as Edward Snowden, and Poitras (who was one of the first journalists to be contacted by Snowden on the eve of his leaks), it unfurls both as a powerhouse thriller and as singularly vital correspondence that cuts to the core of what may be this decade’s defining moment.

The film’s brilliance is in the execution. Poitras positions her camera with such precision that you’ll feel like you’re present in that Hong Kong hotel room, being hit with the same revelations that stun Poitras, also-present Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald and even Snowden himself on occasion. Simultaneously, though, the director harnesses such an overpowering sense of dread that it sends shivers down your spine (as it should).

Citizenfour is an exposé that demands to be seen. It’s haunting, masterfully wrought and presented with the nervous tingle of paranoia. No other film this year dared to stare back at the institutions which monitor us each and every day, let alone identify the modern, Orwellian horrors of that oversight.