When you leave the theater after seeing a film, many things are racing through your mind: the performances, how it ended, the most bombastic set piece — all of these things encompass what makes the film-going experience inherently memorable. There is one element, however, that often goes under sung. It’s the guiding light of the film — a north star leading the film toward its emotional crescendos and sorrowful descensions. This element sits in the background, thanklessly guiding the entire production toward its end goal. That secret sauce is the film’s score, and it is often one of the pieces of the whole meal that we tend to forget, but leaves a lasting, if silent, impression.
Some of the most iconic moments in film history are made so by the emphasis provided via the perfect backing track. A film score provides the audience with necessary, non-verbal information: how to feel, what to feel, and when to feel it. Within the dancing notes and walloping bass lies the emotional truth of the filmmaker and company, so without a proper score we’d be inherently lost. Like any other aspect of filmmaking, it’s important to recognize those films that exceed at telling their stories and the elements that help to do so. Here is a list of the best film scores of the 2020s so far, ranked.
12 Halloween Ends
Universal Pictures
While one of the most controversial entries in the franchise to date, Halloween Ends features some of the best music of the films as well. For each entry of David Gordon Green’s new trilogy, the classic Halloween theme was retooled and remixed by director John Carpenter, his son Cody, and nephew Daniel Davies, providing a fresh coat of paint to an already stellar suite of film music. Where the music of Halloween Ends really succeeds, however, is in bridging the gap between the iconic music already associated with the film series and a more modern, bombastic sentiment. This isn’t to say that the Carpenters and Davies don’t know how to downplay the backing track of a scene, as they perfectly match the horror on screen with the lightness of it’s more dramatic scenes via their score.
11 The Batman
Warner Bros. Pictures
Among the most discussed films of 2022, Matt Reeves’ take on The Dark Knight is one that made a huge impact on audiences and the box office alike. One of the core reasons for this is its strong visual style, which is emboldened by Michael Giacchino’s score. The score sort of pulses and warps around the background of the film, giving each and every scene a unique sense of dread and melancholy that hasn’t quite been captured in a Batman film since the Tim Burton era. In an interview with Variety, Reeves said that he asked Giacchino to write a score that sounded like a “fun-house mirror,” which seemingly was accomplished. The Batman’s score is among the best of the 2020s so far and, especially, one of the few stand-out comic book movie scores.
10 Da 5 Bloods
Netflix
One of the more underrepresented modern Spike Lee films, Da 5 Bloods is a harrowing film-watching experience that is only made more so by Terence Blanchard’s astounding musical contribution. Lee has said, via The LA Times, that Bloods is his attempt at making a modern version of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: a modern interpretation of the winding, epic western adventures of the John Ford years. Not only does he accomplish some of the rollicking adventurism in his film, but with Blanchard’s score, the film is able to commit to that grandiose nature through more than just it’s writing and visuals. While a different type of score for Blanchard and Lee, it quite perfectly sets the tone of this film, which is one of trauma, brotherhood, and simmering anger. The score for Da 5 Bloods encompasses all of that wonderfully.
9 Babylon
Paramount Pictures
Just as bombastic and over-zealous as the film it was made for, Justin Hurwitz’ score for Babylon is one of the most irresistible film objects of 2022. It’s jazzy, slightly off-kilter, glitzy, and darn fun to listen to outside actually watching the film. The really special thing about the score for Babylon is that it encompasses everything that the film is — gaudy, loud, overly sincere, and very in your face — without having seen a single frame of the actual film. If you were to transcribe the movie into a symphony and play it for somebody, it would just be Hurwitz’ existing score. You can hear each part of the film’s machinations at work through the tracks and that is something quite special, even if you didn’t like the movie (as many didn’t).
8 Dune
If there’s anything that is just as epic as the scenic landscapes and massive scale intrigue of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, it’s Han Zimmer’s absolutely gigantic suite of music for the film (gigantic in scope, not length). Zimmer is well-known even among casual film fans for being Christopher Nolan’s go-to guy, but his work on films such as Gladiator or Blade Runner 2049 is also the stuff of legends. Luckily, he has another score that enters his pantheon of masterworks and that is the score for Dune. The novel from which the movie was adapted is notoriously massive in scale and scope, making it hard to adapt since previous versions have been lambasted with criticism. Even still, what was accomplished by Zimmer and Villeneuve with this adaptation of Dune is quite the feat to behold. Every second of the score transports you directly to the sands of Arrakis and envelops you in breathless possibility.
7 Mank
Distributed by Netflix
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are known for being the go-to guys when David Fincher needs a creepy but reflective score for one of his demented films. That’s what makes their work on Fincher’s last film for Netflix, the passion project about the making of Citizen Kane that is Mank, all the more interesting. Even though there are pieces from the score that evoke the duos work on previous Fincher projects like The Social Network or Gone Girl, the score for Mank takes a different approach in the broad sense: sort of fusing the pulsing, synth-heavy timbre of those other scores with a noir-tinged, old school veneer. It’s not a flashy score, but it’s one that captures the inherent sadness of the film yet brings a warmth when required.
6 The Power of the Dog
Jonny Greenwood’s first appearance on this list is marked by the lesser of his two 2021 film scores, but still one for the ages. Jane Campion’s magnificent film The Power of the Dog is amongst the most celebrated and well-renowned films of the decade so far, and one of it’s most celebrated elements is Greenwood’s contributions to the film’s music. While maintaining the neo-western veneer that Campion so perfectly envelops the film in, Greenwood’s score evokes a “western” vibe while pushing for a more dynamic and methodical sound. The complexity of some of his compositions reflect the bravura of all the performances on screen, as well as the craft behind the camera. Whereas some of the scores on this list reflect music that punctuates their respective film’s with an exclamation point, The Power of the Dog’s is punctuated with ellipses. There’s so much open to interpretation and discussion that it makes the experience of listening to it such a rewarding one, as it is actually watching the film.
5 Titane
Neon
Reflecting the simmering anger and longing for companionship that the film so brilliantly depicts, Jim William’s score for Julia Ducournau’s Titane is an astounding piece of work. The way that it intertwines with the action of the film is quite special. At times throbbing with angst and volition, whereas a couple tracks later, it sadly wilts away into a barely perceptible ambient tone. There’s a lot about this score that is unconventional and almost unnoticeable, but upon visiting removed from the film you find what power it is giving to Ducournau’s visuals and vice versa.
4 Tenet
Ludwig Goransson may have gotten his start scoring episodes for the TV show Community and producing tracks for Donald Glover, but his foray into film scores has been one for the ages. None is more exemplary of this technical prowess than his contributions to Christopher Nolan film Tenet. To match the whirlwind energy that Nolan brings to the screen in this time-bending, overwhelmingly loud action film is a feat to behold, but Goransson really steps up to bat on this one. His score is blindly in your face, booming and crashing around the theater as it pummels you with bass and strings. It’s glitchy and bombastic, and perfectly tuned into the vibe of the film.
3 Spencer
Neon (United States) STXinternational (United Kingdom) DCM Film Distribution (Germany) Sun Distribution (Chile)
The other Jonny Greenwood inclusion on this list is the more archaic and more disquieting score that he did in 2021 and that is for Pablo Larrain’s Princess Diana biopic Spencer. What Greenwood does here is so far removed from his work on The Power of the Dog that it’s hard to believe he did both of these scores in the same year. Spencer is an alarmingly uncomfortable film, even with its moments of tear-inducing brightness and levity, though Greenwood knows exactly how to play both of those sentiments. His score is at times avant-garde, calling upon free jazz and post-rock elements alongside it’s more subdued and classical movements. These ebbs and flows help to solidify the point of the film and grant us access to Diana’s more honest feelings about the things going on around her.
2 The Green Knight
A24
While The Green Knight isn’t necessarily the rollicking good time of adventures and Arthurian myth that some people believed it to be, it is certainly one of the more astoundingly brilliant films of the decade so far. David Lowery and composer Daniel Hart conjured up a world in which so many of its elements feel entirely alienating, even though there is nothing on the face that is strange about most of it. Each and every inch and second of score work together to encapsulate the unbelievable circumstances of Sir Gawain as he marches on toward his end goal. The choral passages and harpist playing alone on the score make it one of the more unique sounding of the decade thus far, but how it works in tandem with the visuals sets it even higher on this list.
1 Nope
While the newest film on this list, it’s hard to overstate the impact that Nope had on the film world writ large. Jordan Peele’s third film, and potentially his most ambitious, Nope is a film with big ideas and bigger setpieces. Its scope is, although cliché to say, Spielbergian in nature, and it shows on the screen. But what makes an ever bigger impression is how Michael Abels completely steals the show with his score on multiple fronts. There is not a blockbuster in the 2020s thus far that has a score that is this cleverly used, methodically composed, nor deftly conceived. Every second that this score is on, you will find that whatever is on the screen is rendered unbelievably irresistible, and if that isn’t the ultimate point of a big scale movie, then what is?
