Whatever happened to escapism? In a year when we craved feel-good films, Hollywood seemed determined to rub our noses in raw reality. As our editors screened dozens of contenders for 2009’s best movies, we endured deftly directed yet deeply disturbing views of Armageddon (The Road), incest (Precious), and child murder (The Lovely Bones). And those were movies with happy endings! Luckily, by year’s end a cluster of upbeat films—including Invictus, Julie & Julia, and It’s Complicated—showed us that grownups don’t have to check their optimism, joy, or sense of humor at the theater door.

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by Bill Newcott / Photography by Teru Onishi