2019’s best musical moments in film and television

Lovers of musicals were treated to a varied range of options this year, such as Frozen 2, Rocketman, Guava Island, and the finale of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Even so, some of the most stand-out musical sequences of 2019 came from non-musical media. 

Films and television shows often use carefully selected tunes to deliver touching, striking, or just plain fun scenes that audiences will remember for a long time. Here are 2019’s best musical moments in non-musical film and television. 

Beware — there will definitely be spoilers. STarting right now.

Avengers: Endgame — Cap and Peggy dance to ‘It’s Been a Long, Long Time’

Marvel Studios had been leading to this moment for a long, long time, finally capping off its Infinity Saga. In the final scene of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) retires from superheroics and travels back in time to live quietly with lost love Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). 

The two had promised to dance together before Cap was frozen in Captain America: The First Avenger, so it was lovely to see them finally clinging to each other and swaying to Kitty Kallen’s 1945 hit

Sure, Cap’s gone to the ‘40s knowing about a whole bunch of unpleasantness he doesn’t seem inclined to stop, like the Kennedy assassinations, 9/11, and his best friend Bucky getting the bejeezus tortured out of him in a Russian bunker for 70 years. But the scene was a pretty romantic callback.

Doom Patrol — Negative Man sings ‘People Like Us’ at karaoke 

The superpowered misfits of DC Universe’s Doom Patrol go through so many weird things that it would be unusual if they didn’t have a random musical number.

In Doom Patrol‘s eighth episode, Larry Trainor aka Negative Man (Matt Bomer) finds himself in Peeping Tom’s Perpetual Cabaret, located on a sentient, teleporting, genderqueer street named Danny. Danny is a safe haven for people who don’t fit in — a description that fits self-loathing Larry to a T. 

Cajoled into taking the stage, Larry gradually loosens up until he’s belting out Kelly Clarkson’s thematically appropriate ‘People Like Us’ alongside drag queen Maura Lee Karupt (Alan Mingo Jr.) The bandages smothering him magically disappear, restoring his body to its pre-horrifically burned state, and the club fills with confetti as feathered dancers join the uplifting number. It’s a rare moment of unbridled joy for a man who’s sadly unfamiliar with the emotion. 

Unfortunately, the song abruptly ends mid-sentence when it’s revealed the entire performance takes place in Larry’s imagination, making tragically stark how far he is from what might make him happy.

Euphoria — Rue’s ‘All For Us’ finale sequence

The musical finale of Euphoria Season 1 served as the last barrel roll in HBO’s wildest ride of the year. Although the meaning behind the show-stopping scene, an elaborate sequence of Zendaya performing Labrinth’s “All For Us” in-character as recovering addict Rue Bennett, is up for debate, its spine-chilling effectiveness is not. 

Mesmeric and shameless, this scene captured everything that made Euphoria a success in the first place and held horrifying implications for Rue in Season 2. 

— Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

Hustlers — J.Lo’s ‘Criminal’ pole dance

Ramona’s pole dance to “Criminal” in Hustlers is one of the all-time great character introductions, the kind of scene that makes you sit up, lean forward, and commit right then and there to whatever ride the movie wants to take you on.

It’s not just that Jennifer Lopez looks stunning, or that she’s got serious moves, or that it’s a striking song, though of course all these things are true. It’s that she radiates confidence and charisma with every flip of her hair, every swerve of her hip. In that moment, she’s in control of every single person watching her, from her eager male patrons to her newbie colleague (Constance Wu) to all of us. 

As Fiona Apple moans that she’s been a bad, bad girl, you know that Ramona’s going to get away with it, whatever “it” turns out to be, and what’s more, that you’re going to love her for it. 

— Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor

Marriage Story — Charlie sings ‘Being Alive’

Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story contains plenty of poignant moments, but none are as devastating as Charlie’s (Adam Driver) rendition of “Being Alive” from the Stephen Sondheim musical Company. 

In the stage show, “Being Alive” allows the main character, an emotionally distant loner-type, to accept his desire for human connection. In Marriage Story, it forces Charlie to process how much he’s lost through divorce — offering precious insight into a man more vulnerable than he seems. 

Driver performs with fearless heartbreak, delivering a portrayal of grief so raw and touching it puts any other imagining of the song to shame. 

— Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

Russian Doll — Nadia’s ‘Gotta Get Up’

Just like ‘I Got You, Babe’ in its narrative ancestor Groundhog Day, Netflix’s best original show of the year signalled the reset of its time loop with a classic throwback rock song. Russian Doll uses as its temporal fulcrum Harry Nilsson’s uneasy ode to spiralling as soon as you wake up, wondering how the endless party went from a fun moment suspended in time to a frantic existential scramble. 

It’s jaunty but jarring, with a layered melancholy that hit a little different each time you hear it — which is a lot, after almost every time you watch Natasha Lyonne die horribly or hilariously. 

Getting that song choice right was crucial to make that reset moment work, and work it does, to the point where that one shot of Lyonne staring glumly in the bathroom mirror is enough to get Harry in your head all over again.

— Caitlin Welsh, Australian Editor

Schitt’s Creek — Stevie performs ‘Maybe This Time’

In the fifth season of Schitt’s Creek, sardonic motel owner Stevie (Emily Hampshire) starts to step outside her comfort zone, most notably by taking on the lead role in a local production of Cabaret. It’s the last thing anyone would expect from Stevie — heck, it’s the last thing Stevie would expect from herself — but that’s precisely what makes her performance of “Maybe This Time” such a wonder.

Stevie starts out anxious and uncertain, despite a pre-scene pep talk from Moira (Catherine O’Hara). But as the song goes on, with Stevie’s nearest and dearest looking on from the audience, her singing gains in confidence. 

By the end, it’s swelled into a triumphant declaration of pride and courage, a testament to the transformative potential of love and friendship, an expression of both vulnerability and power. In short, it’s this entire show in a nutshell. No wonder it made us weep.

— Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor

Stranger Things — Dustin and Suzie sing ‘The NeverEnding Story’

In the climax of Stranger Things’ third season, the group need Planck’s constant so they can close a portal to the Upside Down. Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) can’t remember it, but fortunately he knows somebody who does — his long-distance girlfriend Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo). 

He quickly contacts her via radio, but Suzie doesn’t appreciate having been ignored for a week. She therefore demands Dustin make amends by singing Limahl’s ‘The NeverEnding Story’ with her, withholding the number until he does.

Both actors have backgrounds in musical theatre, so their duet of the ‘80s tune was a pleasure to listen to. But what made the scene extra fun were the incredulous faces on the rest of the gang, who’re listening as they flee from the Mind Flayer or hide in a Russian bunker. 

Succession — Kendall’s ‘L to the OG’ rap

Look, we’re not going to pretend that Kendall’s (Jeremy Strong) “L to the OG” rap celebrating his dad on Succession is good (it’s very much not) but man, what a thrilling watch. The camera work was perfect, bouncing around to check out everyone’s oh-my-god-I’m-dying reactions. The lyrics? Memorable. The showmanship? Incredible. The jersey? Yikes. 

Mashable’s Deputy Entertainment Editor Angie Han remarked that she needed to hide under her desk afterwards, a common enough reaction to the cringe. Not since Marnie Michaels tried out Kanye on Girls has a Sunday night HBO moment made us so thankful to not be in the room somewhere — but still want to hit replay despite ourselves. 

— Erin Strecker, Entertainment Editor

Umbrella Academy — The Hargreeves family dances to ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’

Superhero series Umbrella Academy was full of terrific musical moments, from Vanya playing on the violin, to Alison and Luther , to Five’s donut shop fight to ‘Istanbul (Not Constantinople).’ 

However, the moment that grabbed the most attention was when the reunited Hargreeves siblings grooved to Tiffany’s Gathered under the same roof for the first time in years, the unhappy family have all retreated to separate rooms when eldest sibling Luther begins playing the song. 

The music echoes throughout the house as each of them dance along in private, showcasing their individual personalities and telegraphing that, despite their problems and the distance between them, the squabbling siblings may still have some common ground after all.

Us — Ophelia says ‘Fuk Da Police’

Jordan Peele’s Us cleverly re-appropriated ‘90s hip hop song by Luniz, remixing it to emphasise the unsettling melody (which itself was sampled from Club Nouveau’s ‘Why You Treat Me So Bad’). However, this recurring motif wasn’t the only memorable use of music in the film.

In a scene revealing the Wilson family’s doppelgangers aren’t the only ones around, the Tyler family is brutally stabbed to death by their own Tethered while virtual assistant Ophelia incongruously blasts the Beach Boys’ ‘Good Vibrations’.

It doesn’t stop there, though. Choking on blood as she crawls across the floor to the cheery tune, Kitty (Elisabeth Moss) desperately asks Ophelia to call the police. Ever obliging, the gadget cheerfully responds, “Sure. Playing ‘Fuk Da Police’ by N.W.A.” It then proceeds to do just that, smothering any hope Kitty had before her clone slits her throat. It’s a darkly funny moment of dissonance and inhumanity in a film all about dissonance and inhumanity.

Watchmen — A stunning revelation set to ‘Life on Mars’

Watchmen‘s stunning score, by the Oscar-winning team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, ranges from dreamy flashback jazz to the sharpening-steel synth pulse of the show’s version of 2019. But the standout is an achingly gorgeous instrumental cover of David Bowie’s ‘Life on Mars’ — already arguably one of the most beautiful songs ever written. 

Creeping almost unnoticed into the final scene of the show’s seventh episode, it builds from barely-there piano to a haunting rush of echoes and fragile music-box notes over the credits, as viewers sit gaping at the show’s stunning reveal. 

This song choice, already a perfectly pointed nod to a crucial bit of Watchmen mythology, also has its own real-life resonance. Long before scoring Watchmen, Reznor and Ross’ band Nine Inch Nails joined Bowie’s 1995 tour, in a creative partnership neither act saw coming. And Bowie’s death in Jan. 2016 still feels like the first omen in a year where so much went sideways, resulting in our own dark timeline to rival the show’s. 

‘Life on Mars’ was the perfect needle drop for a scene that knotted together so many threads of history, real and imagined. 

— Caitlin Welsh, Australian Editor