As it has in most years, the movie industry hit highs and lows. From the stunning success of… As it has in most years, the movie industry hit highs and lows. From the stunning success of the animated children’s flick “The Incredibles” to the dismal box office sales of the archaic “Troy.” And, as usual, there were winners and losers, blockbusters and artsy bottom-dwellers.

So, was this a routine year for Hollywood? Hardly.

What separated this year from others was hard to miss, and even harder to escape. The presidential election spawned a fury of heated, inculcating films. Of course, the polemic “Fahrenheit 9/11” is the obvious grandstander, but there was also the environmentally-charged “The Day After Tomorrow” and Disney’s rebutting, homegrown documentary “Heart and Soul.” If it left your head spinning, don’t worry, there were still quality films out there. Politics aside, here are my favorites:

5) “The Forgotten”

Julianne Moore is as motherly as she is fiery in this paranormal fiction about a bond of love. Icy atmosphere and crystallized dialogue pull us along through the tale of an abducted child from New York, and his mother’s relentless quest to find him. While the film may be justifiably dubbed far-fetched, few can claim not to have jumped during the suspense-laden ending. The premise could have easily been an episode of “The X-Files,” but that’s not a fault; it’s acclaim.

4) “The Grudge”

This remake of a Japanese thriller has the same unnerving tone as that of “The Ring.” Though a haunted-house story at heart, this chiller goes beyond the traditional scare tactics by creating unmatched perpetual-terror scenes. Sarah Michelle Gellar’s plastic performance aside, the chilling story alone should be considered a classic for this emerging branch of the traditional horror genre.

3) “Wicker Park”

Yes, admittedly this may seem like another teen-age flick upon first glance, but there is much more depth to it than that. Josh Hartnett proves that his looks are not his only selling point, but that he can act as well. The story of a twisted love triangle soon becomes a painful account of the tragedy of lost love. The cleverly crafted plot is but a punctuation mark on the film’s overall quality. A sophisticated air buoys the film’s believability, while the tear-jerking ending caps off the film’s potency.

2) “Birth”

Nicole Kidman finds her husband years after his death, although he is in the form of a 10-year-old boy. The artfully written story treads upon the possibility of reincarnation, asking us whether it’s real or whether it’s our own minds’ creation. As absurd as it may seem, Kidman falls in love with the boy and out of love with her new fiance, leading to the splintered finale. Frosty family relations and brisk dialogue mix with the eerie premise to create this classy mystery.

1) “The Butterfly Effect”

Surely the producers of this movie aimed to capture the teen demographic with leading man Ashton Kutcher, but beneath this, there is a troubling story of what-ifs. The dual themes of missed opportunities and life-changing decisions fuel the movie’s core, while the dead-on acting of Kutcher and Amy Smart smooth over any of the story’s rough edges. The lives of a group of friends have been forever shaped by a vicious childhood accident, sending each of the friends into skewed directions from that point on. Give this one a try. You’ll be surprised at the way the movie leaves you thinking for hours afterward.