Year-End Lists

Scout Tafoya: Favourite Films of 2018

[see also 2021 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Black Mother
   Khalik Allah
2. Personal Problems
   Bill Gunn
2. Something Good - Negro Kiss
3. Piu Piu
   Naima Ramos-Chapman
4. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
5. Widows
   Steve McQueen
6. 24 Frames
   Abbas Kiarostami
7. Barbara
   Mathieu Amalric
8. High Life
   Claire Denis
9. Scarred Hearts
   Radu Jude
10. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
10. Dark
    Paul Schrader
11. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
11. The Third Murder
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
12. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Joel & Ethan Coen
13. Leave No Trace
    Debra Granik
14. You Were Never Really Here
    Lynne Ramsay
15. Sweet Country
    Warwick Thornton
16. The Guardians
    Xavier Beauvois
17. Your Face
    Tsai Ming-liang
18. BlacKkKlansman
    Spike Lee
18. Pass Over
    Spike Lee
19. The Other Side of the Wind
    Orson Welles
20. Sorry Angel
    Christophe Honoré
21. Mosaic
    Steven Soderbergh
22. Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda
    Stephen Nomura Schible
23. Creed II
    Steven Caple Jr.
24. All Square
    John Hyams
25. The Mule
    Clint Eastwood
26. The Image Book
    Jean-Luc Godard
27. The Land of Steady Habits
    Nicole Holofcener
28. Mr. SOUL!
    Melissa Haizlip & Sam Pollard
29. Blockers
    Kay Cannon
30. Music When the Lights Go Out
    Ismael Caneppele
31. Dovlatov
    Aleksey German
32. A Family Tour
    Ying Liang
33. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski
34. Janelle Monáe: Dirty Computer
    various artists
35. Hale County This Morning, This Evening
    RaMell Ross
36. Happy as Lazzaro
    Alice Rohrwacher
37. Diane
    Kent Jones
38. Bisbee '17
    Robert Greene
39. Monrovia, Indiana
    Frederick Wiseman
40. The Miseducation of Cameron Post
    Desiree Akhavan
41. The Green Fog
    Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson
42. The Endless
    Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
43. Annihilation
    Alex Garland
44. Private Life
    Tamara Jenkins
45. The House That Jack Built
    Lars von Trier
46. Early Man
    Nick Park
47. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
48. Illang: The Wolf Brigade
    Kim Jee-Woon
49. The First Purge
    Gerard McMurray
50. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley
51. Searching for Ingmar Bergman
    Margarethe von Trotta
52. Where Is Kyra?
    Andrew Dosunmu
52. Nancy
    Christina Choe
53. The Death of Stalin
    Armando Iannucci
54. Ray Meets Helen
    Alan Rudolph
55. Shadow
    Zhang Yimou
56. The Predator
    Shane Black
57. The Little Drummer Girl
    Park Chan-wook
58. The Wild Pear Tree
    Nuri Bilge Ceylan
59. Dark River
    Clio Barnard
60. Game Night
    John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
61. Waiting for the Barbarians
    Eugène Green
62. Manhunt
    John Woo
63. Isle of Dogs
    Wes Anderson
64. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
    Gus Van Sant
65. Incident in a Ghostland
    Pascal Laugier
66. Laplace's Witch
    Takashi Miike
66. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable
    Takashi Miike
67. Unrest
    Philippe Grandrieux
68. The 15:17 to Paris
    Clint Eastwood
69. Disobedience
    Sebastián Lelio
70. Crazy Rich Asians
    Jon M. Chu
71. Unsane
    Steven Soderbergh
72. Cruise
    Robert Siegel
73. Paddington 2
    Paul King
74. Hotel by the River
    Hong Sang-soo
75. Between Worlds
    Maria Pulera
76. Cold Skin
    Xavier Gens
77. A Bread Factory
    Patrick Wang
78. Transit
    Christian Petzold
79. Classical Period
    Ted Fendt
80. In My Room
    Ulrich Köhler
81. They Shall Not Grow Old
    Peter Jackson
82. Las Sandinistas!
    Jenny Murray
83. Upgrade
    Leigh Whannell
84. Ash is Purest White
    Jia Zhang-ke
85. 3 Faces
    Jafar Panahi
86. The Captain
    Robert Schwentke
87. A Very English Scandal
88. Sol Alegria
    Tavinho Teixeira
89. The Glass Note
    Mary Helena Clark
90. Outrage Coda
    Takeshi Kitano
91. A Gentle Creature
    Sergei Loznitsa
92. Halloween
    David Gordon Green
92. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
    Christopher McQuarrie
93. Outlaw King
    David Mackenzie
93. Apostle
    Gareth Evans
94. Thunder Road
    Jim Cummings
95. Mom and Dad
    Brian Taylor
96. The Inhabitant
    Guillermo Amoedo
96. The Witch in the Window
    Andy Mitton
97. The Misandrists
    Bruce La Bruce
98. Winchester
    Michael and Peter Spierig
99. Marfa Girl 2
    Larry Clark
100. Gemini
     Aaron Katz

David Sterritt: Ten Best Films of 2018, as aired on Films in Focus

1. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
2. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
3. Suspiria
   Luca Guadagnino
4. Capernaum
   Nadine Labaki
5. Hereditary
   Ari Aster
6. Border
   Ali Abbasi
7. Three Identical Strangers
   Tim Wardle
8. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
9. Nico, 1988
   Susanna Nicchiarelli
10. Lean On Pete
    Andrew Haigh

Michael Sicinski: Top 50 Films of 2018, as posted to Letterboxd

[see also 25 Great Experimental Films of 2023 • The Best Experimental Films (That I Saw) in 2022 • The 30 Best Avant-Garde Feature Films of the 2010s • Top 30 Experimental Films of 2018 • Top 25 Films of 2017 • Top 10 Films of 2016 • Top 12 Films of 2014 • Top 10 Films of 2013 • Top 12 Films of 2012]

1. The Grand Bizarre
   Jodie Mack
2. Colophon (for the Arboretum Cycle)
   Nathaniel Dorsky
3. Gens du lac
   Jean-Marie Straub
4. Bisbee '17
   Robert Greene
5. A Return
   James Edmonds
6. The Image Book
   Jean-Luc Godard
7. Transit
   Christian Petzold
8. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
9. Fainting Spells
   Sky Hopinka
10. Season of the Devil
    Lav Diaz
11. Dead Souls
    Wang Bing
12. Walled Unwalled
    Lawrence Abu Hamdan
13. BlacKkKlansman
    Spike Lee
14. In My Room
    Ulrich Köhler
15. Grass
    Hong Sang-soo
16. Sorry Angel
    Christophe Honoré
17. Fatal Pulse
    Damon Packard
18. What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire?
    Roberto Minervini
19. Hoarders Without Borders
    Jodie Mack
20. A Bread Factory
    Patrick Wang
21. Terror Nullius
    Soda_Jerk
22. A Leaf is the Sea is a Theater
    Jonathan Schwartz
23. The Wild Pear Tree
    Nuri Bilge Ceylan
24. Sketches and Portraits for Jean Michel
    Ephraim Asili
25. Binary Stars
    Andrew Busti
26. ALTIPLANO
    Malena Szlam
27. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley
28. Life After Love
    Zachary Epcar
29. Anna’s War
    Aleksei Fedorchenko
30. Now, At Last
    Ben Rivers
31. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
32. Mahogany Too
    Akosua Adoma Owusu
33. Fountains of Paris
    Stephen Broomer
34. Donbass
    Sergei Loznitsa
35. Kinshasa Makambo
    Dieudo Hamadi
36. Goddess
    Kevin Jerome Everson
37. Happy as Lazzaro
    Alice Rohrwacher
38. Private Life
    Tamara Jenkins
39. Blue
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
40. Diamantino
    Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt
41. Insect
    Jan Švankmajer
42. Black Mother
    Khalik Allah
43. The Tale
    Jennifer Fox
44. Edge of the Knife
    Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown
45. Self-Portrait: Sphinx in 47 Km
    Zhang Mengqi
46. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski
47. Knife+Heart
    Yann Gonzalez
48. Treasure Island
    Guillaume Brac
49. Unsane
    Steven Soderbergh
50. Atomic Garden
    Ana Vaz

Aisha Harris: Favorite Movies of 2018, as posted to Twitter

• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• Cold War
  Pawel Pawlikowski
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• The Favourite
  Yorgos Lanthimos
• Widows
  Steve McQueen
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  Marielle Heller
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post
  Desiree Akhavan

Also loved this year

• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• The Death of Stalin
  Armando Iannucci
• The Tale
  Jennifer Fox
• Searching
  Aneesh Chaganty
• Eighth Grade
  Bo Burnham
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
  Morgan Neville
• Crazy Rich Asians
  Jon M. Chu

Walter Chaw: 50 Best Films of 2018, as published by Film Freak Central in ten groups

1. Annihilation
   Alex Garland
1. Shoplifters
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
1. Private Life
   Tamara Jenkins
1. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. The Rider
   Chloé Zhao
2. Leave No Trace
   Debra Granik
2. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
2. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
2. The Wild Pear Tree
   Nuri Bilge Ceylan
3. Have a Nice Day
   Liu Jian
3. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
3. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Joel & Ethan Coen
3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
   Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
3. At Eternity’s Gate
   Julian Schnabel
4. The Death of Stalin
   Armando Iannucci
4. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
4. Blaze
   Ethan Hawke
4. Skate Kitchen
   Crystal Moselle
4. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
5. Under the Silver Lake
   David Robert Mitchell
5. Sorry to Bother You
   Boots Riley
5. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
   Marielle Heller
5. Madeline’s Madeline
   Josephine Decker
5. Upgrade
   Leigh Whannell
6. Hold the Dark
   Jeremy Saulnier
6. The Great Buddha+
   Huang Hsin-yao
6. Game Night
   John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
6. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
6. Suspiria
   Luca Guadagnino
7. First Man
   Damien Chazelle
7. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
7. Let the Sunshine In
   Claire Denis
7. The Devil's Doorway
   Aislinn Clarke
7. Damsel
   David Zellner and Nathan Zellner
8. Aquaman
   James Wan
8. The Ritual
   David Bruckner
8. The Sisters Brothers
   Jacques Audiard
8. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
8. Blindspotting
   Carlos López Estrada
9. The Night Eats the World
   Dominique Rocher
9. The House That Jack Built
   Lars von Trier
9. Terrified
   Demián Rugna
9. Bumblebee
   Travis Knight
9. Apostle
   Gareth Evans
10. Ismael’s Ghosts
    Arnaud Desplechin
10. The Miseducation of Cameron Post
    Desiree Akhavan
10. Halloween
    David Gordon Green
10. Thunder Road
    Jim Cummings
10. Janelle Monáe: Dirty Computer
    various artists

Karina Longworth: Some 2018 Releases I Liked, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2017 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• Widows
  Steve McQueen
• The Favourite
  Yorgos Lanthimos
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• Wildlife
  Paul Dano
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis
• Nancy
  Christina Choe
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• A Simple Favor
  Paul Feig
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• Tully
  Jason Reitman
• Borg vs. McEnroe
  Janus Metz
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• Mid90s
  Jonah Hill
• Vox Lux
  Brady Corbet
• The Other Side of the Wind
  Orson Welles

Vadim Rizov: Top Ten Films of 2018, as submitted to the annual collection of Lists Curated by Toronto Film Review

[see also 2021 • 2019 • 2017 • 2012]

1. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
2. Asako I & II
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. The Grand Bizarre
   Jodie Mack
4. In My Room
   Ulrich Köhler
5. Maya
   Mia Hansen-Løve
6. Extinction
   Salomé Lamas
7. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
8. Rojo
   Benjamín Naishtat
9. América
   Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside
10. Ada Kaleh
    Helena Wittmann

Federica Foglia: Top Ten Films of 2018, as submitted to the annual collection of Lists Curated by Toronto Film Review

[see also 2017]

1. High Life
   Claire Denis
2. The Image Book
   Jean-Luc Godard
3. Cities of Last Things
   Ho Wi Ding
4. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
5. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
6. Shoplifters
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
7. Anthropocene
   Nicholas de Pencier, Edward Burtynsky, and Jennifer Baichwal
8. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
9. Mademoiselle de Joncquières
   Emmanuel Mouret
10. Dogman
    Matteo Garrone

Nictate: Top 11 Films of 2018, as posted to Letterboxd

[see also 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

• You Were Never Really Here
  Lynne Ramsay
• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
  Bruno Dumont
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel
• The Favourite
  Yorgos Lanthimos
• The House That Jack Built
  Lars von Trier
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis

Lydia Ogwang: Top 13 Films of 2018, as submitted to the annual collection of Lists Curated by Toronto Film Review

[see also 2017]

1. Drift
   Helena Wittmann
2. Fainting Spells
   Sky Hopinka
3. The Nucleus of the Great Union
   The Otolith Group
4. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
5. ALTIPLANO
   Malena Szlam
6. Diamantino
   Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt
7. L. Cohen
   James Benning
8. Transit
   Christian Petzold
9. The Image You Missed
   Donal Foreman
10. Personal Problems
    Bill Gunn
11. Monrovia, Indiana
    Frederick Wiseman
12. Caballerango
    Juan Pablo González
13. My First Film [live]
    Zia Anger

Honourable Mentions

• Black Mother
  Khalik Allah
• August at Akiko's
  Christopher Makoto Yogi
• Beychella [Beyoncé live at Coachella]