13. The Counselor (2013)
Once again, you’ll want to seek out Scott’s extended director’s cut. A muscular crime thriller filled with hardened bodies and calloused souls, Scott’s 2013 film The Counselor brings Cormac McCarthy’s first spec script to life. It’s a philosophically dense and dialogue-heavy tale about a lawyer (Michael Fassbender) whose decision to involve himself in a drug deal at the Mexico-Texas border spirals out of control. One of Scott’s most divisive films—polarizing audiences between admiration and disdain—The Counselor is undeniably intriguing. It offers a dark, unflinching interrogation of human failings like greed, delivered with a perspective as bleak and unforgiving as crude oil.
