Todd McCarthy: 19 Best Films of 2016, as published by The Hollywood Reporter
- O.J.: Made in America — Ezra Edelman
- La La Land — Damien Chazelle
- 13th — Ava DuVernay
- Toni Erdmann — Maren Ade
- I Am Not Your Negro — Raoul Peck
- Elle — Paul Verhoeven
- Manchester by the Sea — Kenneth Lonergan
- The Handmaiden — Park Chan-wook
- Silence — Martin Scorsese
- Hell or High Water — David Mackenzie
- Moonlight — Barry Jenkins
- Eye in the Sky — Gavin Hood
- The Edge of Seventeen — Kelly Fremon Craig
- I, Daniel Blake — Ken Loach
- Life, Animated — Roger Ross Williams
- Aquarius — Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Southside with You — Richard Tanne
- Certain Women — Kelly Reichardt
- Sunset Song — Terence Davies