Justin Chang

It was a year when most of us stayed away from movie theaters, but it wasn't a year without movies. While the major studios largely set their sights on 2021 (and a few released their big titles on streaming services), it was an unsurprisingly terrific year for independent narrative films, feature-length documentaries and pictures of all types and genres from overseas.

Boseman died of cancer in 2020, not long after he finished shooting this adaptation of August Wilson's play. His final screen performance — as a troubled trumpet player — ranks among his best.

Justin Chang reviews the new film 'Farwell Amor' which he says is sort of like the Rashomon of New York immigrant stories: It's deeply empathetic toward all three of its protagonists, giving each of them the same dramatic weight and bringing to light their specific struggles and anxieties.