A first date movie needs to do several things at once: be engaging enough to talk about, not so intense it kills the mood, and ideally leave you both with something to say when the credits roll.
Despite everything, the 2020s have produced some genuinely remarkable cinema. Films made under pressure that somehow carry none of it.
The best animated films don't talk down to anyone. They trust that emotion has no age requirement.
The Demon Slayer Corps are drawn into the Infinity Castle, where Tanjiro, Nezuko, and the Hashira face terrifying Upper Rank demons in a desperate fight as the final battle against Muzan Kibutsuji begins.
With the help of the "Dragon Sin of Wrath" Meliodas and the worst rebels in history, the Seven Deadly Sins, the "Holy War", in which four races, including Humans, Goddesses, Fairies and Giants fought against the Demons, is finally over. At the cost of the "Lion Sin of Pride" Escanor's life, the Demon King was defeated and the world regained peace. After that, each of the Sins take their own path.
In this Oscar-winning short film, grieving parents journey through an emotional void as they mourn the loss of a child after a tragic school shooting.
The now-reformed Bad Guys are trying (very, very hard) to be good, but instead find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes, globe-trotting heist, masterminded by a new team of criminals they never saw coming: The Bad Girls.
Marcel is an adorable one-inch-tall shell who ekes out a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of a sprawling community of shells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a mysterious tragedy. When a documentarian discovers them amongst the clutter of his Airbnb, his resulting short film brings Marcel millions of passionate fans, as well as unprecedented dangers and a new hope at finding his long-lost family.
These films use the freedom of animation to go places live-action won't. They earn every tear.
In a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there.
Suzu is a 17-year-old high-school student living in a rural town with her father. Wounded by the loss of her mother at a young age, Suzu one day discovers the massive online world "U" and dives into this alternate reality as her avatar, Belle. Before long, all of U's eyes are fixed on Belle, when, suddenly, a mysterious, dragon-like figure appears before her.
Tired of being locked in a reptile house where humans gawk at them like they are monsters, a ragtag group of Australia's deadliest creatures plot an escape from their zoo to the Outback, a place where they'll fit in without being judged.
After cracking the biggest case in Zootopia's history, rookie cops Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde find themselves on the twisting trail of a great mystery when Gary De'Snake arrives and turns the animal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.
After a guardian of magical jewels turns an awkward girl and a popular boy into superheroes, they can never reveal their identities - even to each other.
The films that fly under the radar often do so because they resist easy categorisation. That resistance is usually exactly what makes them worth finding.
These films prove that animation is not a lesser form of cinema. It's a different one - capable of its own kind of greatness.