Year-End Lists

Hyperallergic: Favorite Movies of 2020

[see also 2010s, 2019]

1. Time — Garrett Bradley
2. Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
3. Small Axe — Steve McQueen
4. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
5. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
6. Vitalina Varela — Pedro Costa
7. I May Destroy You — Michaela Coel & Sam Miller
8. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
9. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
10. Shirley — Josephine Decker
11. małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore — Sky Hopinka
12. Through the Night — Loira Limbal
13. Lingua Franca — Isabel Sandoval
14. David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
15. City Hall — Frederick Wiseman

Honorable Mentions

• T — Keisha Rae Witherspoon
• How To with John Wilson
• BLKNWS (installation) — Kahlil Joseph

La Internacional Cinéfila Poll: Best Movies of 2020, a survey of 161 programmers, critics, and filmmakers from around the world, posted with entries and notes from each participant

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015]

• First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
• The Year of the Discovery — Luis López Carrasco
• Days — Tsai Ming-liang
• The Woman Who Ran — Hong Sang-soo
• The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) — Anders Edström and C.W. Winter
• My Dear Spies — Vladimir Léon

Saige Walton: Favorite Films of 2020, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017]

1. David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
2. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
3. Another Round — Thomas Vinterberg
4. Uncut Gems — Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
5. Possessor — Brandon Cronenberg
6. Eurovision — David Dobkin
7. Apples — Christos Nikou
8. When Pomegranates Howl — Granaz Moussavi
9. The Invisible Man — Leigh Whannell
10. On the Rocks — Sofia Coppola

Jordan Ruimy: The 15 Best Movies of 2020, as published by World of Reel

[see also 2010s, 2019]

1. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
2. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
3. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
4. Da 5 Bloods — Spike Lee
5. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
6. The Invisible Man — Leigh Whannell
7. Bad Education — Cory Finley
8. Young Ahmed — Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
9. Sound of Metal — Darius Marder
10. The Assistant — Kitty Green
11. Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell
12. Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
13. Pieces of a Woman — Kornél Mundruczó
14. David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
15. Palm Springs — Max Barbakow

Runners-Up

• The Nest — Sean Durkin
• Spree — Eugene Kotlyarenko
• Possessor — Brandon Cronenberg
• The Father — Florian Zeller
• Host — Rob Savage
• Incitement — Yaron Zilberman
• Small Axe: Mangrove — Steve McQueen
• The Devil All the Time — Antonio Campos
• 76 days — Hao Wu, Weixi Chen and Anonymous

Todd McCarthy: Top 10 Films of 2020, as published by Deadline

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016]

1. Nomadland — Chloé Zhao
2. The Father — Florian Zeller
3. Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell
4. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
5. Small Axe: Mangrove — Steve McQueen
6. Into the Deep — Emma Sullivan
7. Soul — Pete Docter
8. The King of Staten Island — Judd Apatow
9. The Outpost — Rod Lurie
10. Devil Between the Legs — Arturo Ripstein

Runners-up

11. Minari — Lee Isaac Chung
12. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
13. The Dissident — Bryan Fogel
14. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
15. Martin Eden — Pietro Marcello
16. I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Charlie Kaufman
17. The Painted Bird — Václav Marhoul
18. Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov
19. On the Rocks — Sofia Coppola
20. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom — George C. Wolfe

Jordan Cronk: Top Ten Films of 2020 as posted to Patreon

[see also 2010s, 2019, 2018, 2017]

1. DAU — Ilya Khrzhanovsky
2. Days — Tsai Ming-liang
3. Malmkrog — Cristi Puiu
4. The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) — Anders Edström and C.W. Winter
5. Beginning — Déa Kulumbegashvili
6. Her Socialist Smile — John Gianvito
7. The Salt of Tears — Philippe Garrel
8. Siberia — Abel Ferrara
9. The Woman Who Ran — Hong Sang-soo
10. The Year of the Discovery — Luis López Carrasco

Ela Bittencourt: The Best Films of 2020, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll, "some films that made this year less sufferable and more humane"

1. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection — Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
2. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
3. Days — Tsai Ming-liang
4. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
5. The Calming — Song Fang
6. letter to a friend — Emily Jacir
7. Sertânia — Geraldo Sarno
8. The Year of the Discovery — Luis López Carrasco
9. Never Gonna Snow Again — Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert
10. Shiva Baby — Emma Seligman

Sheila O’Malley: Top Ten Films of 2020, as submitted to the RogerEbert.com Survey

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017]

• Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
• Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov
• Collective — Alexander Nanau
• Da 5 Bloods — Spike Lee
• Minari — Lee Isaac Chung
• The Nest — Sean Durkin
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
• Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
• Time — Garrett Bradley
• The Vast of Night — Andrew Patterson

Jeremy D. Larson: Favorite Albums of 2020

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015]

1. The Microphones — Microphones in 2020
2. Fiona Apple — Fetch the Bolt Cutters
3. Waxahatchee — Saint Cloud
4. Nubya Garcia — SOURCE
5. H.C. McEntire — Eno Axis
6. Dogleg — Melee
7. Destroyer — Have We Met
8. Moses Sumney — Græ
9. Special Interest — The Passion Of
10. KMRU — Peel
11. Beatrice Dillon — Workaround
12. Alabaster DePlume — To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1
13. Rio Da Yung OG — City on My Back
14. Bartees Strange — Live Forever
15. Kate NV — Room for the Moon
16. Jeff Parker — Suite for Max Brown
17. The Soft Pink Truth — Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?
18. Soul Glo — Songs to Yeet At The Sun
19. Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood — LIVE
20. Roc Marciano — Mt. Marci
21. Lomelda — Hannah
22. The Killers — Imploding the Mirage
23. Chris Forsyth / Dave Harrington / Ryan Jewell / Spencer Zahn — First Flight
24. Phoebe Bridgers — Punisher
25. Oneohtrix Point Never — Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
26. Country Westerns — Country Westerns

David Morgan: The 10 Best Films of 2020, as posted by CBS News

[see also 2019, 2018]

1. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
2. Nomadland — Chloé Zhao
3. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
4. 76 days — Hao Wu, Weixi Chen and Anonymous
5. Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov
6. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom — George C. Wolfe
7. Wolfwalkers — Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart
8. Sound of Metal — Darius Marder
9. Soul — Pete Docter
10. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen

Special Mention

• Hamilton — Thomas Kail