Year-End Lists

Nick Schager: Best Movies of 2017, as published by Esquire

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Wormwood
   Errol Morris
2. Lady Macbeth
   William Oldroyd
3. Dunkirk
   Christopher Nolan
4. Marjorie Prime
   Michael Almereyda
5. Columbus
   Kogonada
6. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore
   Macon Blair
7. Okja
   Bong Joon-ho
8. Phantom Thread
   Paul Thomas Anderson
9. The Lost City of Z
   James Gray
10. I Called Him Morgan
    Kasper Collin
11. The Blackcoat’s Daughter
    Oz Perkins
12. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
    Noah Baumbach
13. Dawson City: Frozen Time
    Bill Morrison
14. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
    Yorgos Lanthimos
15. Good Time
    Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
16. Lucky
    John Carroll Lynch
17. Lady Bird
    Greta Gerwig
18. Atomic Blonde
    David Leitch
19. The Square
    Ruben Östlund
20. Super Dark Times
    Kevin Phillips
21. Alien: Covenant
    Ridley Scott
22. City of Ghosts
    Matthew Heineman
23. Thelma
    Joachim Trier
24. Icaros: A Vision
    Leonor Caraballo and Matteo Norzi
25. The Lure
    Agnieszka Smoczynska

Honorable Mention

• Ex Libris: New York Public Library
  Frederick Wiseman
• Brawl in Cell Block 99
  S. Craig Zahler
• Wonder Woman
  Patty Jenkins
• The Post
  Steven Spielberg
• Call Me by Your Name
  Luca Guadagnino
• Hounds of Love
  Ben Young
• The Villainess
  Jung Byung-gil
• The Ornithologist
  João Pedro Rodrigues
• A Quiet Passion
  Terence Davies
• Get Out
  Jordan Peele
• Stronger
  David Gordon Green
• Baby Driver
  Edgar Wright

John Powers: 10 Best Movies of 2017, as published by Vogue

[see also 2018 • 2015]

1. Twin Peaks: The Return
   David Lynch

The next nine (in alphabetical order)

• The Big Sick
  Michael Showalter
• BPM (Beats Per Minute)
  Robin Campillo
• Call Me by Your Name
  Luca Guadagnino
• Faces Places
  Agnès Varda and JR
• The Florida Project
  Sean Baker
• Graduation
  Cristian Mungiu
• Lady Bird
  Greta Gerwig
• Okja
  Bong Joon-ho
• Phantom Thread
  Paul Thomas Anderson

Michael J. Anderson: Ten Best Films of 2017

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s]

• The Day After
  Hong Sang-soo
• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel
• Western
  Valeska Grisebach
• Milla
  Valérie Massadian
• Downsizing
  Alexander Payne
• Faces Places
  Agnès Varda and JR
• Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
  Bruno Dumont
• The Other Side of Hope
  Aki Kaurismäki
• Ghost in the Mountains
  Yang Heng
• Lover for a Day
  Philippe Garrel

Glenn Kenny: 63 Best Films of 2017

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2013 • 2012]

• Personal Shopper
  Olivier Assayas
• Taipei Story
  Edward Yang
• Phantom Thread
  Paul Thomas Anderson
• Dawson City: Frozen Time
  Bill Morrison
• A Quiet Passion
  Terence Davies
• The Death of Louis XIV
  Albert Serra
• Baby Driver
  Edgar Wright
• mother!
  Darren Aronofsky
• The Bad Batch
  Ana Lily Amirpour
• The Florida Project
  Sean Baker

First Tier Honorable Mentions

• After the Storm
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Afterimage
  Andrzej Wajda
• The Beguiled
  Sofia Coppola
• Behemoth
  Zhao Liang
• The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography
  Errol Morris
• Brawl in Cell Block 99
  S. Craig Zahler
• Colossal
  Nacho Vigalondo
• Columbus
  Kogonada
• The Death of Stalin
  Armando Iannucci
• Dunkirk
  Christopher Nolan
• Endless Poetry
  Alejandro Jodorowsky
• Faces Places
  Agnès Varda and JR
• Félicité
  Alain Gomis
• Gerald’s Game
  Mike Flanagan
• Get Out
  Jordan Peele
• Glory
  Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
• God’s Own Country
  Francis Lee
• Happy End
  Michael Haneke
• I Am Not Your Negro
  Raoul Peck
• I, Olga Hepnarová
  Tomas Weinreb and Petr Kazda
• Kedi
  Ceyda Torun
• Porto
  Gabe Klinger
• Last Men in Aleppo
  Firas Fayyad
• Logan
  James Mangold
• Long Strange Trip
  Amir Bar-Lev
• The Lost City of Z
  James Gray
• The Lovers
  Azazel Jacobs
• Manifesto
  Julian Rosefeldt
• Marjorie Prime
  Michael Almereyda
• The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
  Noah Baumbach
• Moka
  Frédéric Mermoud
• The Other Side of Hope
  Aki Kaurismäki
• The Post
  Steven Spielberg
• Son of Joseph
  Eugène Green
• Suntan
  Argyris Papadimitropoulos
• The Unknown Girl
  Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
• Valerian
  Luc Besson
• Wind River
  Taylor Sheridan

Second Tier Honorable Mentions

• Alien: Covenant
  Ridley Scott
• Bang! The Bert Berns Story
  Brett Berns and Bob Sarles
• The Big Sick
  Michael Showalter
• Blade Runner 2049
  Denis Villeneuve
• BPM (Beats Per Minute)
  Robin Campillo
• Free Fire
  Ben Wheatley
• The Glass Castle
  Destin Daniel Cretton
• The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki
  Juho Kuosmanen
• Hermia & Helena
  Matías Piñeiro
• Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
  Griffin Dunne
• Maudie
  Aisling Walsh
• Slack Bay
  Bruno Dumont
• Wonder
  Stephen Chbosky

Conflicts of Interest

• The Disaster Artist
  James Franco
• Logan Lucky
  Steven Soderbergh

Peter Travers: 10 Best Movies of 2017, as published by Rolling Stone

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018]

1. Dunkirk
   Christopher Nolan
2. Get Out
   Jordan Peele
3. Call Me by Your Name
   Luca Guadagnino
4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
   Martin McDonagh
5. The Post
   Steven Spielberg
6. Lady Bird
   Greta Gerwig
7. The Shape of Water
   Guillermo del Toro
8. Detroit
   Kathryn Bigelow
9. A Ghost Story
   David Lowery
10. Phantom Thread
    Paul Thomas Anderson

David Fear: 22 Best Documentaries of 2017, as published by Rolling Stone

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2018 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Faces Places
   Agnès Varda and JR
2. The Work
   Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous
3. All These Sleepless Nights
   Michal Marczak
4. Ex Libris: New York Public Library
   Frederick Wiseman
5. LA 92
   Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
6. Machines
   Rahul Jain
7. Whose Streets?
   Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis
8. Long Strange Trip
   Amir Bar-Lev
9. Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton
   Chris Smith
10. Quest
    Jonathan Olshefski

Honorable mentions

• Casting JonBenet
  Kitty Green
• The Challenge
  Yuri Ancarani
• Contemporary Color
  Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
• Dawson City: Frozen Time
  Bill Morrison
• I Called Him Morgan
  Kasper Collin
• Jane
  Brett Morgen
• Last Men in Aleppo
  Firas Fayyad
• May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers
  Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio
• Oklahoma City
  Barak Goodman
• Rat Film
  Theo Anthony
• 78/52
  Alexandre O. Philippe
• Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk
  Corbett Redford

Matt Singer: 20 Best Films of 2017, as published by ScreenCrush

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Lady Bird
   Greta Gerwig
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
   Martin McDonagh
3. A Ghost Story
   David Lowery
4. Blade Runner 2049
   Denis Villeneuve
5. The Big Sick
   Michael Showalter
6. The Work
   Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous
7. The Florida Project
   Sean Baker
8. Phantom Thread
   Paul Thomas Anderson
9. Faces Places
   Agnès Varda and JR
10. Get Out
    Jordan Peele

Honorable Mentions (In Alphabetical Order)

• Coco
  Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina
• Darkest Hour
  Joe Wright
• The Girl with All the Gifts
  Colm McCarthy
• Kedi
  Ceyda Torun
• The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
  Noah Baumbach
• Okja
  Bong Joon-ho
• The Post
  Steven Spielberg
• A Quiet Passion
  Terence Davies
• The Shape of Water
  Guillermo del Toro
• T2 Trainspotting
  Danny Boyle

Dennis Lim: Favorite Films of 2017, as posted by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and submitted to the Sight & Sound poll

[see also 2020]

Film Society of Lincoln Center

1. Twin Peaks: The Return
   David Lynch
2. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
3. Phantom Thread
   Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Western
   Valeska Grisebach
5. Streetscapes [Dialogue]
   Heinz Emigholz
6. The Day After
   Hong Sang-soo
6. On the Beach at Night Alone
   Hong Sang-soo
6. Claire’s Camera
   Hong Sang-soo
7. Downsizing
   Alexander Payne
8. Araby
   João Dumans and Affonso Uchôa
9. Tonsler Park
   Kevin Jerome Everson
10. Electro-Pythagorus: A Portrait of Martin Bartlett
    Luke Fowler

Sight & Sound

• Twin Peaks: The Return
  David Lynch
• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel
• Western
  Valeska Grisebach
• Streetscapes [Dialogue]
  Heinz Emigholz
• The Day After
  Hong Sang-soo

Plus 10 short/medium-length films/moving-image works (in alphabetical order):

• Aliens
  Luis López Carrasco
• Barbs, Wastelands
  Marta Mateus
• Braguino
  Clément Cogitore
• Cosmic Generator
  Mika Rottenberg
• Electro-Pythagorus: A Portrait of Martin Bartlett
  Luke Fowler
• Filter
  Jaakko Pallasvuo
• Flores
  Jorge Jácome
• Onward Lossless Follows
  Michael Robinson
• What weakens the flesh is the flesh itself
  James Richards and Steve Reinke
• Where Do You Stand Now, Joao Pedro Rodrigues?
  João Pedro Rodrigues

Michael Phillips: 10 Best Movies of 2017, as published by The Chicago Tribune

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Lady Bird
   Greta Gerwig
2. A Ghost Story
   David Lowery
3. Get Out
   Jordan Peele
4. Phantom Thread
   Paul Thomas Anderson
5. Rat Film
   Theo Anthony
6. Mudbound
   Dee Rees
7. Good Time
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
8. Raw
   Julia Ducournau
9. The Florida Project
   Sean Baker
10. Call Me by Your Name
    Luca Guadagnino

Nicole Brenez: Favorite Films of 2017, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll and to the annual collection of lists curated by Toronto Film Review

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2012]

• The Ride
  Stéphanie Gillard
• A Feeling Greater Than Love
  Mary Jirmanus Saba
• Sakhisona
  Prantik Narayan Basu
• Rubber Coated Stee
  Lawrence Abu Hamdan
• This is a War, Baby
  Yuri Pupyrin

superb films I’m not mentioning first because they already received several well-deserved awards

• Barbs, Wastelands
  Marta Mateus
• Les îles
  Yann Gonzalez
• I Don’t Think I Can See an Island
  Christopher Becks and Emmanuel Lefrant
• The Burden
  Niki Lindroth von Bahr

additional entries submitted to Toronto Film Review, in no order

• Des choses comme ça
  Paul Grivas
• Lecture about the impossible adaptation of Ovid by the cinema, Elisabeth de Fontenay, Femis, December 8, 2017

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: Top 26 Films of 2017