The Guardian: 50 Best Films of 2015 (of US releases)
[see also 2017]
- Son of Saul — László Nemes
- 45 Years — Andrew Haigh
- The Revenant — Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Anomalisa — Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
- Bridge of Spies — Steven Spielberg
- The Look of Silence — Joshua Oppenheimer
- Carol — Todd Haynes
- Amy — Asif Kapadia
- Joy — David O. Russell
- Mistress America — Noah Baumbach
- A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence — Roy Andersson
- While We’re Young — Noah Baumbach
- Paddington — Paul King
- Mommy — Xavier Dolan
- Chi-Raq — Spike Lee
- The Diary of a Teenage Girl — Marielle Heller
- Jafar Panahi’s Taxi — Jafar Panahi
- Appropriate Behavior — Desiree Akhavan
- The Salt of the Earth — Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
- Beasts of No Nation — Cary Joji Fukunaga
- The Wolfpack — Crystal Moselle
- The End of the Tour — James Ponsoldt
- Eden — Mia Hansen-Løve
- Slow West — John Maclean
- White God — Kornél Mundruczó
- It Follows — David Robert Mitchell
- Heaven Knows What — Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
- The Gift — Joel Edgerton
- The Seven Five — Tiller Russell
- Timbuktu — Abderrahmane Sissako
- The Assassin — Hou Hsiao-Hsien
- The Nightmare — Rodney Ascher
- Red Army — Gabe Polsky
- Mad Max: Fury Road — George Miller
- Inside Out — Pete Docter
- Room — Lenny Abrahamson
- Creed — Ryan Coogler
- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night — Ana Lily Amirpour
- The Duke of Burgundy — Peter Strickland
- Black Mass — Scott Cooper
- The Tribe — Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
- Girlhood — Céline Sciamma
- Clouds of Sils Maria — Olivier Assayas
- Spotlight — Tom McCarthy
- Sicario — Denis Villeneuve
- Macbeth — Justin Kurzel
- Tangerine — Sean Baker
- Youth — Paolo Sorrentino
- Steve Jobs — Danny Boyle
- Wild Tales — Damián Szifrón