Looking back at 2015 is like listening to a rabid fanboy going on and on about which one of his beloved franchises should make a comeback (spoiler: all of them). The year was dominated by familiar titles, but not all of them brought something new to the table. So while making our ultimate Best Movies Of 2015 list, we tried to forget about all the box office achievements and concentrate on the actual quality of films (bad news for Jurassic World and Furious 7). Without further ado, here are our 8 favorite movies of the year.

Mad Max: Fury Road

2015 will go down in movie history as one of the busiest ones when it came to resurrecting movie franchises. While there were a lot of questionable and failed relaunches (we’re looking at you Terminator Genisys), Mad Max came back in all of his glory and fury. Maybe because the series’ creator George Miller was fully in charge. Or because the movie has spent 30 years in the making. Or simply because Tom Hardy aka Mad Max 2.0 and Charlie Theron aka Our Favorite Badass Lady Of 2015 Imperator Furiosa formed a truly knockout duo. And don’t forget all of the mind-blowing chase scenes and detailed designs to feast your eyes on—that’s what a truly mad road movie should like!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

The second part of the final chapter in the dystopian teen blockbuster lacked a killer soundtrack Part 1 had (no Lorde this time around), but brought the action, the drama and more political shenanigans than all of the previous installments combined. Katniss Everdeen finally became the hero we always knew she was; the rebellion movement showed its true colors and the Capitol got what was coming for it. But amidst all the explosions and plotting, the series never lost sight of its main idea: love and unity can conquer any repression and brainwashing. And while we’re at it, can we get a spinoff about Prim’s cat?

The Martian

Looks like Matt Damon loves to get stuck in space. A year after he played the bad astonaut in Interstellar he once again put on a spacesuit to become a good astronaut in Ridley Scott’s disco-approving sci-fi blockbuster. Surely, The Martian was mostly a one-man show, but it also had a stellar supporting cast, surprisingly cheerful atmosphere and enough scientific dirty talk to improve our brain function. So if Gravity was too frightening for you and Interstellar was too trippy, here’s a space movie that succeeds in portraying astronauts as any other people.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

It seemed like everyone was spying on everyone this year. Melissa McCarthy became a Spy, Daniel Craig was ordering more Vodka Martinis in Spectre while Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer were fighting to be chosen as the better-looking The Man from U.N.C.L.E. But it was a movie version of 2012’s British comic book that stole our hearts, mainly due to the right proportion of style, action, gore and humor. Matthew Vaughn, who had already toyed around with a bloody-yet-funny comic book by directing Kick-Ass, was the perfect choice when it came to directing a story about a young chav becoming a top-notch secret agent draped in the finest fabrics. Also, how about that church scene!?

Inside Out

How emotional are we allowed to get when talking about a movie about emotions? How about VERY?! Pixar/Disney magical tandem has provided us with enough animated masterpieces over the years, but this time around they have really knocked it out of the park. Inside Out is one of these rare family movies that appeal to absolutely any age group. Listen to your kids laughing at the humorous portrayal of human emotions while you’re quietly sobbing on the ever-so-demanding nature of joy, sadness, fear, anger and disgust. And don’t even get us started on Bing Bong—just thinking about our own childhood imaginary friends makes us turn blue with sadness.

Trainwreck

When it comes to comedy, this year belonged to Amy Schumer. Inside Amy Schumer’s star finally got her big screen break in this Judd Apatow-directed romantic comedy for the bad girls. Turning things around for once and making a female character a sexaholic with trust issues was already a bright idea, but it was Schumer’s virtuosic performance that secured Trainwreck a Comedy of The Year spot (at least in our eyes). The rest of the cast was beyond convincing, too. Bill Hader in a jokes-free role? Check. John Cena as a fragile gym addict? Check. Tilda Swinton as a glamorous fashion editor? Check and thumbs up!

Straight Outta Compton

If you think that Empire’s version of how things are done in the hip hop world is slightly exaggerated and glamorized then you’re right—at least according to this biographical drama about the birth of the West Coast supergroup NWA. It became an unexpected box office hit and taught a whole new generation of rap fans where it all began. Police raids, drug abuse, raw ambitions, sneaky managers, competing labels and lots and lots of attitude (okay, maybe it’s not that different from Empire after all, but way more realistic and inspiring).

Ex Machina

We always knew Alex Garland had a brilliant mind, ever since he redefined the zombie genre with his 28 Days Later script. But what we couldn’t predict is that his directorial debut would be as ambitious and accomplished as Ex Machina, a part-sci-fi, part-love-story, part-horror study of human nature via the subject of artificial intelligence. From the stunning settings to Swedish Alicia Vikander’s captivating portrayal of a love-sick robot Ava, Ex Machina was an utterly original sci-fi flick that could easily work as a follow-up to Spike Jonze’s Her.