These are the top 10 movies and television series of 2018

This year was blessed with plenty of great films and television series, from classic remakes and comedies to blockbuster crowd pleasers and reinvented horror masterpieces. If you’ve missed out, you’re in luck. The holiday season is a great opportunity to lay low and catch up on the best of the best this year.

To help you celebrate, Daily Hive has paired up with TELUS to bring you a list of the ten best movies and television series that premiered or aired in 2018. TELUS Pik TV™ is the perfect way to stream live TV on all your devices, allowing you to  pick the channels you want and access thousands of On Demand shows and movies.

Be sure to check out our top picks for 2018.

A Star Is Born

Bradley Cooper makes his directorial debut in the latest remake of A Star is Born. Cooper stars alongside the Lady Gaga in her film debut, which has been named by numerous publications as one of the best films of the year. Cooper portrays a hard-drinking seasoned country star who discovers a struggling singer-songwriter and helps to launch her career, just as his own is on a downward slide.

It’s a moving and tear-jerking love story that follows the tribulations of show business. Plus, it’s a sure Best Picture contender at the Oscars.

Black Panther

We may have lost Marvel patriarch Stan Lee this year, but at least we can still appreciate one of his last — and many say best — of his superhero creations. Black Panther starts with the return of T’Challa (played by Chadwick Boseman) to the nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king, following the death of his father.

A powerful enemy suddenly appears, and as king (and as the Black Panther), T’Challa is drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of the entire world at risk. Black Panther is rightly renowned by critics worldwide for its cultural significance, its ground-breaking artistic vision, and for the gift of Michael B. Jordan topless under a waterfall.

Annihilation

One of the best sci-fi films made in recent years, Annihilation follows Natalie Portman as a biologist trying to understand what happened to her soldier husband on his last mission. Alongside four comrades, she ventures into a mysterious and rapidly growing zone known as the “Shimmer.”

What follows is a clever, frightening and entire bone-chilling story about nature’s cycle of synthesis and mutation. It also broke new ground in Hollywood as a rare action movie with only women starring in the main roles.

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place is directed by and stars John Krasinski, alongside his real-life wife Emily Blunt. But don’t expect sweet family drama. The film features the family in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind monsters who hunt down their prey using their sense of hearing. The family is forced to live in silence while hiding from the monsters, taking viewers on an intense and suspenseful journey.

Isle of Dogs

The newest film from Wes Anderson, Isle of Dogs takes place in a near-future dystopia where all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to Trash Island. Atari, a 12-year-old boy, travels alone to the island in search of his bodyguard dog, Spots. With the assistance of a pack of newly-found mongrel friends, he begins his journey to find his dog. The film has received widespread acclaim for its humour, storyline, and stop-motion animation.

But there is also real joy in saying the title of the movie out loud to yourself a few times until you get the joke.

The Haunting of Hill House

Flashing between the past and present, this Netflix series follows siblings who, as children, grew up in what would become the most famous haunted house in the country. As adults, they are forced back together and must finally confront their past.

The Bent-Neck Lady is a terrifying creation, and viewers worldwide have been sucked into this supernatural horror series that’s as much about the ghosts of emotional trauma as it is about actual spooky ghosts.

BoJack Horseman

BoJack Horseman has only been improving since it first began streaming in 2014, and has generated critical acclaim from critics worldwide. This year’s season (the fifth) continues to bring the laughs and the existential angst in equal parts as humanoid horse BoJack Horseman (voiced by Will Arnett) continues on his darkly comedic journey to reclaiming his past fame in Hollywood.

Adding to the laughs are members of a stellar supporting cast, including Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron Paul.

Atlanta

This FX series may be the freshest take on a North American comedy to hit the television airwaves since, well, forever. Created by the multi-talented Donald Glover, Atlanta follows a young rap artist and his cousin as they try to storm the local music scene. Described by Glover as a show that portrays “what it feels like to be Black,” Atlanta doubled down on its artistic and emotional stakes this year and has been rewarded with critical acclaim and various accolades worldwide.

The show is a perfect fit for anyone who loves music, surreal comedy, pitch-perfect social commentary, or just an excuse to watch Glover be good at literally everything he turns his talent towards.

Queer Eye

More than a decade after the original series went off the air, a rebooted Queer Eye franchise on Netflix is back — and it is making a huge splash. Featuring an all-new Fab Five, the show is stylish, fun, and touching as the cast of well-dressed gentlemen meet people in and around Atlanta, and walk them through life-changing lifestyle and wardrobe makeovers.

The result is magic — and seriously addictive to watch. Warning: have a box of tissues handy for when you start (casually) sobbing uncontrollably.

Killing Eve

Killing Eve is a British-made television series (BBC America) that follows a bored, desk-bound security officer and a psychopathic assassin who go head to head in an epic game of cat and mouse.

Based on the Villanelle series of novels, Killing Eve manages to be a disturbing and glamorous spy thriller, as well as a meditation on the challenges facing professional women, and a deeply complex character study — all at the same time. It also stars Canada’s own Sandra Oh. Need we say more?

TELUS Pik TV™ is the perfect way to stream live TV on all your devices, from your tablet to your TV. You can pick the channels you want and access thousands of On Demand shows and movies. Getting great entertainment has never been easier with Pik TV.