Glenn Kenny: 47 Noteworthy Films of 2015 (released in the United States)
[see also 2010s, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2013, 2012]
- Hard to Be a God — Aleksey German
- Anomalisa — Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
- Girlhood — Céline Sciamma
- Horse Money — Pedro Costa
- Mad Max: Fury Road — George Miller
- Heart of a Dog — Laurie Anderson
- Heaven Knows What — Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
- Brooklyn — John Crowley
- The Hateful Eight — Quentin Tarantino
- Shaun the Sheep Movie — Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
- Ex Machina — Alex Garland
- Phoenix — Christian Petzold
- Son of Saul — László Nemes
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens — JJ Abrams
- The Assassin — Hou Hsiao-Hsien
- Inside Out — Pete Docter
- Carol — Todd Haynes
- The Mend — John Magary
- Timbuktu — Abderrahmane Sissako
- Creed — Ryan Coogler
- Fort Tilden — Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers
- Clouds of Sils Maria — Olivier Assayas
- The Revenant — Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Magic Mike XXL — Gregory Jacobs
- The Forbidden Room — Guy Maddin
- Experimenter — Michael Almereyda
- Queen of Earth — Alex Ross Perry
- Hitchcock/Truffaut — Kent Jones
- Democrats — Camilla Nielsson
- Field Niggas — Khalik Allah
- Bridge of Spies — Steven Spielberg
- Eden — Mia Hansen-Løve
- Mistress America — Noah Baumbach
- Crimson Peak — Guillermo del Toro
- Grandma — Paul Weitz
- Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation — Christopher McQuarrie
- Trainwreck — Judd Apatow
- Blackhat — Michael Mann
- The Martian — Ridley Scott
- Love & Mercy — Bill Pohlad
- Tangerine — Sean Baker
- Spotlight — Tom McCarthy
- The Duke of Burgundy — Peter Strickland
- The Big Short — Adam McKay
- Ant-Man — Peyton Reed
- I’ll See You in My Dreams — Brett Haley
- Ballet 422 — Jody Lee Lipes