Drive

Working from Hossain Amini's compelling, "driving" narrative script, director Refn delivers a masterclass in mood creation, playing with camera angles, shadows, film speed and sound to keep the audience fully engrossed.

Drive's bravura opening highlighted that there's more than one way to execute a nail-biting car chase, especially when operating on an indie budget.

Nicolas Winding Refn had an extremely distinct vision and saw something different in rom-com heartthrob Ryan Gosling. And when those two things collided, damn, was it cool.

The movie looks fantastic and is still the best-looking example of the 2010s neon-aesthetic renaissance that it helped kick off.

Poetic with its minimalism, excessive in its violence, and artistic with its presentation.