2018 was a great year for movies. We got great representation for many underrepresented groups, we got fun musicals, amazing rom-coms, and so many iconic moments. Some of them made us cry, others made us laugh, others made us stand up and cheer for our favourite characters.
It was certainly a year full of memorable movie moments. Here are just 10 of our favourites.
The Snap – Avengers: Infinity War
Was there a more iconic 2018 movie moment than The Snap? The epic ending of Avengers: Infinity War was shocking, it was emotional, and it was one of the biggest memes of 2018.
We kind of knew it was coming. The Avengers franchise had been building up to this moment for years at this point. We knew Thanos was coming soon, and we knew he had something big planned. You can’t set up something as big as half the population dying in one go and then just not deliver.
Still. The execution was incredible. The suspense. The actual snap of Thanos’s fingers. The way we saw each of our heroes die one at a time, and the reactions of their loved ones. The way they started with the more believable deaths before killing off the really important characters, so that for a second we think this might actually be happening. Peter’s iconic “I don’t feel so good” line. And the aftermath – only the original Avengers left, and the promise of Captain Marvel coming to make things right.
This scene was epic.
Rachel plays Mahjong with with Eleanor – Crazy Rich Asians
This standoff between Rachel and Eleanor is full of tension, as the two play a tense game of Mahjong that serves as the backdrop for a huge conversation. In this scene, Rachel finally lays all her cards on the table and comes clean about why she’s been doing all this. She calls Eleanor out on her prejudice, and explains to the older woman exactly how much pain she’s causing her son.
It’s so satisfying to see Rachel stand up to Eleanor like this, and you can practically feel the tension with the way this scene is done.
Super Trooper – Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again
Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again was ridiculous, it was all over the place, and it was so much fun. Audiences were there for an entertaining two hours of beautiful people singing ABBA songs in Greece, and that is exactly what they got. Nothing embodies the chaotic energy of this sequel quite as well as the finale, in which the younger versions of our favourite characters join their contemporary counterparts to all sing Super Trooper together. You don’t even have to be that invested in the Mamma Mia characters to have a massive smile on your face as you watch actors and actresses from both movies join up for one last amazing musical number. It’s ridiculous, yes, but it’s so much fun.
Honourable mention goes to Lily James’s performance of When I Kissed The Teacher, which was equally ridiculous and fun and just a fantastic way to kick off the movie.
Killmonger asks to be buried in the sea like his ancestors – Black Panther
So many Black Panther moments could have made this list, but this one might have been the one that made us feel the most. Killmonger is a fantastic villain specifically because we can easily understand his motivations. This one scene perfectly sums up his goals, his values, and the pain he carries around with him.
Killmonger isn’t Wakandan and he doesn’t care about Wakanda. What he cares about is helping Black people around the world, because he is, above all, African-American. And when he dies, he wants to lie with his ancestors; people who endured unimaginable suffering and made an impossible choice. In this moment, he tells T’Challa that, just like his ancestors, he would rather die than live as a prisoner.
Jack Jack fighting raccoon – Incredibles 2
The Incredibles 2 might be a kids movie, but it’s a great one, and the fight scene between Jack Jack and a raccoon was lots of fun. In this scene, Jack Jack is still coming into his powers, and he manages to use them to defeat a raccoon who had been trying to still from the garbage can. What makes the scene even better is that he manages to do it all without waking up his dad, who keeps on snoring in front of the TV.
Starr standing on the police car – The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give was one of the most anticipated movies of 2018, as an adaptation of the most successful young adult book of the last few years. The scene in which Starr stands on a police car to give a speech during a protest was one of the most powerful moments of both the book and the movie, but especially the latter just because of how it looks on the big screen. This is the moment Starr truly steps into the spotlight and takes on a more active role in protesting police brutality. She doesn’t do it because she wants to, or because it looks cool, but because she has no choice.
Ally takes the stage – A Star Is Born
Try to watch this scene without getting chills, I dare you. This is the biggest moment of the movie, the one everything has been building up to, as Ally finally gets over her stage fright and takes the stage for the very first time to sing an emotionally charged song that perfectly encapsulates her situation and how she’s feeling.
As the song says, it’s the moment when she finally bursts out of her comfort zone and right into stardom, and it’s incredible.
Karaoke – Eighth Grade
Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade is a beautiful story about middle school. It’s about anxiety and self-consciousness and loneliness and feeling so stuck in your own head that you’re not sure you’ll ever manage to make friends. It’s a story that can resonate with a lot of people. The Karaoke scene is a turning point for the main character Kayla.
It’s a moment that’s only really significant to her. It’s not a huge thing. It doesn’t change the way Kayla’s classmates see her. But it does change the way she sees herself. It’s the moment she finally realizes that she doesn’t have to be the awkward girl who never talks. She can get up there and sing karaoke in front of everyone if she wants. She’s terrified, but she’s going to fake it until she makes it.
The moment doesn’t change everything for her, because faking it until you make it is much easier said than done when you’re terrified of talking to people, but it’s the first step.
The Pageant – Dumplin’
The pageant is the culmination of everything Willowdean and her friends have been working toward. It’s a chance for them all to show their little town that all bodies are beautiful and that it’s okay to love your body even if other people are trying to tell you it’s not. The scene means different things to everyone: for Willowdean, Ellen and Hannah, it’s a protest. They don’t care about winning; they just want to call out the problems in pageants.
But for Millie, it’s the realization of a lifelong dream, and the chance to feel good about her body when everyone has told her she should be ashamed of it. The moment when she places second might be the best of the entire movie, because we know how badly she wants this and how hard she’s worked to achieve it. It’s also a subtle confirmation that things might be changing in their town.
The Ferris Wheel – Love, Simon
Love Simon was by far one of the best movies of 2018, and it was full of amazing moments, but this one has to be the best one. I’ll admit that has a longtime fan of the novel, I’ll always prefer the way things happened in the books, but there’s something so satisfying about this wonderfully cheesy but adorable romantic moment being given to two boys.
Even if you think it’s cheesy, it’s impossible not to ride the wave of emotions as Simon sits pathetically on that ferris wheel with everyone at school laughing at him, until Bram finally comes along and sweeps him off his feet. It’s adorable. I think I’m still swooning over it.