Year-End Lists

Manohla Dargis: 37 Best Movies of 2015, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. The Assassin
   Hou Hsiao-Hsien
1. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
2. Luminous Intimacy: The Cinema of Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler [retrospective]
   Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler
3. Bridge of Spies
   Steven Spielberg
4. Carol
   Todd Haynes
5. In Jackson Heights
   Frederick Wiseman
6. The Martian
   Ridley Scott
7. The Kindergarten Teacher
   Nadav Lapid
8. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
   Marielle Heller
9. The Big Short
   Adam McKay
10. Sixty Six
    Lewis Klahr

Another 26 Favorites

• ’71
  Yann Demange
• Amy
  Asif Kapadia
• Anomalisa
  Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
• Blackhat
  Michael Mann
• Chi-Raq
  Spike Lee
• Ex Machina
  Alex Garland
• Experimenter
  Michael Almereyda
• Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
  Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz
• The Good Dinosaur
  Peter Sohn
• The Great Man
  Sarah Leonor
• Inside Out
  Pete Docter
• Joy
  David O. Russell
• Lost Landscapes of Los Angeles
  Rick Prelinger
• Magic Mike XXL
  Gregory Jacobs
• Office
  Johnnie To
• Results
  Andrew Bujalski
• The Revenant
  Alejandro González Iñárritu
• Seymour: An Introduction
  Ethan Hawke
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
  Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
• Spy
  Paul Feig
• Straight Outta Compton
  F. Gary Gray
• Tangerine
  Sean Baker
• Timbuktu
  Abderrahmane Sissako
• Trainwreck
  Judd Apatow
• White God
  Kornél Mundruczó
• The Wolfpack
  Crystal Moselle

Ann Hornaday: 29 Best Films of 2015, as published by The Washington Post

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
2. Love & Mercy
   Bill Pohlad
3. Brooklyn
   John Crowley
4. Carol
   Todd Haynes
5. Ex Machina
   Alex Garland
6. Chi-Raq
   Spike Lee
7. Son of Saul
   László Nemes
8. Creed
   Ryan Coogler
9. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
10. The Martian
    Ridley Scott

Could easily have ended up in the top ten

• Amy
  Asif Kapadia
• Beasts of No Nation
  Cary Joji Fukunaga
• The Babadook
  Jennifer Kent
• The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
  Stanley Nelson
• Bridge of Spies
  Steven Spielberg
• The Diary of a Teenage Girl
  Marielle Heller
• The End of the Tour
  James Ponsoldt
• Joy
  David O. Russell
• Mad Max: Fury Road
  George Miller
• Meru
  Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
• Mistress America
  Noah Baumbach
• Mustang
  Deniz Gamze Ergüven
• Room
  Lenny Abrahamson
• Seymour: An Introduction
  Ethan Hawke
• Straight Outta Compton
  F. Gary Gray
• Tangerine
  Sean Baker
• Timbuktu
  Abderrahmane Sissako
• While We’re Young
  Noah Baumbach
• The Wolfpack
  Crystal Moselle

Richard Lawson: 17 Best Films of 2015, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014 • 2013]

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
2. Clouds of Sils Maria
   Olivier Assayas
3. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
4. Carol
   Todd Haynes
5. Ex Machina
   Alex Garland
6. Tangerine
   Sean Baker
7. The End of the Tour
   James Ponsoldt
8. Eden
   Mia Hansen-Løve
9. Steve Jobs
   Danny Boyle
10. The Martian
    Ridley Scott

Honorable Mention

• Son of Saul
  László Nemes
• Slow West
  John Maclean
• Brooklyn
  John Crowley
• A Little Chaos
  Alan Rickman
• Mistress America
  Noah Baumbach
• Iris
  Albert Maysles
• Phoenix
  Christian Petzold

Anne Thompson: Top 10 Films of 2015, as published by IndieWire’s Thompson on Hollywood.

[see also 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2011]

1. Son of Saul
   László Nemes
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
3. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
4. The Martian
   Ridley Scott
5. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
6. Steve Jobs
   Danny Boyle
7. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
   Marielle Heller
8. Tangerine
   Sean Baker
9. 45 Years
   Andrew Haigh
10. Clouds of Sils Maria
    Olivier Assayas

Fandor: Top 25 Films of 2015 (as voted by 43 of the Keyframe blog’s favorite critics and cineastes)

[see also 2011]

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
2. The Assassin
   Hou Hsiao-Hsien
3. Phoenix
   Christian Petzold
4. Carol
   Todd Haynes
5. Arabian Nights
   Miguel Gomes
6. Timbuktu
   Abderrahmane Sissako
7. Jafar Panahi’s Taxi
   Jafar Panahi
8. Jauja
   Lisandro Alonso
9. The Duke of Burgundy
   Peter Strickland
10. Hard to Be a God
    Aleksey German
11. Brooklyn
    John Crowley
12. It Follows
    David Robert Mitchell
13. In Jackson Heights
    Frederick Wiseman
14. Magic Mike XXL
    Gregory Jacobs
15. Clouds of Sils Maria
    Olivier Assayas
16. 45 Years
    Andrew Haigh
17. The Forbidden Room
    Guy Maddin
18. Spotlight
    Tom McCarthy
19. Son of Saul
    László Nemes
20. The Royal Road
    Jenni Olson
21. The Pearl Button
    Patricio Guzmán
22. Horse Money
    Pedro Costa
23. Tangerine
    Sean Baker
24. The Wonders
    Alice Rohrwacher
25. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
    Roy Andersson

David Edelstein: 30 Best Movies of 2015, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Room
   Lenny Abrahamson
2. The Big Short
   Adam McKay
3. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
4. Listen to Me Marlon
   Stevan Riley
5. Heart of a Dog
   Laurie Anderson
6. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
7. Timbuktu
   Abderrahmane Sissako
8. Experimenter
   Michael Almereyda
9. Mustang
   Deniz Gamze Ergüven
10. Chi-Raq
    Spike Lee

Honorable Mentions

• White God
  Kornél Mundruczó
• Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
  Alex Gibney
• Meru
  Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
• 99 Homes
  Ramin Bahrani
• Creed
  Ryan Coogler
• Tangerine
  Sean Baker
• The Wolfpack
  Crystal Moselle
• In Jackson Heights
  Frederick Wiseman
• Janis: Little Girl Blue
  Amy Berg
• Clouds of Sils Maria
  Olivier Assayas
• I’ll See You in My Dreams
  Brett Haley
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
  Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
• Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
  Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz
• James White
  Josh Mond
• Beasts of No Nation
  Cary Joji Fukunaga
• The Mend
  John Magary
• The Martian
  Ridley Scott
• Sicario
  Denis Villeneuve
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
  Guy Ritchie
• It Follows
  David Robert Mitchell

This year’s installment of David Ehrlich’s always enjoyable video countdown: 25 Best Films of 2015.

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Carol
   Todd Haynes
2. World of Tomorrow
   Don Hertzfeldt
3. Phoenix
   Christian Petzold
4. The Look of Silence
   Joshua Oppenheimer
5. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
   Roy Andersson
6. The Duke of Burgundy
   Peter Strickland
7. Eden
   Mia Hansen-Løve
8. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
   David Zellner
9. Mistress America
   Noah Baumbach
10. Mad Max: Fury Road
    George Miller
11. Clouds of Sils Maria
    Olivier Assayas
12. Magic Mike XXL
    Gregory Jacobs
13. Tokyo Tribe
    Sion Sono
14. Anomalisa
    Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
15. Listen to Me Marlon
    Stevan Riley
16. Black Coal, Thin Ice
    Diao Yinan
17. Heaven Knows What
    Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
18. The Hateful Eight
    Quentin Tarantino
19. The Mend
    John Magary
20. James White
    Josh Mond
21. The Forbidden Room
    Guy Maddin
22. Junun
    Paul Thomas Anderson
23. Mustang
    Deniz Gamze Ergüven
24. Tangerine
    Sean Baker
25. Girlhood
    Céline Sciamma

Little White Lies: 20 Best Films of 2015

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2012]

1. Carol
   Todd Haynes
2. Sunset Song
   Terence Davies
3. The Look of Silence
   Joshua Oppenheimer
4. Jafar Panahi’s Taxi
   Jafar Panahi
5. Timbuktu
   Abderrahmane Sissako
6. Selma
   Ava DuVernay
7. Eden
   Mia Hansen-Løve
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
9. Horse Money
   Pedro Costa
10. The Voices
    Marjane Satrapi
11. Phoenix
    Christian Petzold
12. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
    Marielle Heller
13. Aaaaaaaah!
    Steve Oram
14. Jauja
    Lisandro Alonso
15. Crimson Peak
    Guillermo del Toro
16. Dreamcatcher
    Kim Longinotto
17. Inherent Vice
    Paul Thomas Anderson
18. Inside Out
    Pete Docter
19. The Supreme Price
    Joanna Lipper
20. Tangerine
    Sean Baker

Time Out London: 20 Best Movies of 2015

[see also 2021 • 2018 • 2016]

1. Carol
   Todd Haynes
2. Inherent Vice
   Paul Thomas Anderson
3. 45 Years
   Andrew Haigh
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
5. Amy
   Asif Kapadia
6. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
7. It Follows
   David Robert Mitchell
8. Birdman
   Alejandro G. Iñárritu
9. Girlhood
   Céline Sciamma
10. London Road
    Rufus Norris
11. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
    Roy Andersson
12. Brooklyn
    John Crowley
13. Chappie
    John Crowley
14. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
    Marielle Heller
15. Sunset Song
    Terence Davies
16. Love is Strange
    Ira Sachs
17. Jafar Panahi’s Taxi
    Jafar Panahi
18. Magic Mike XXL
    Gregory Jacobs
19. The Look of Silence
    Joshua Oppenheimer
20. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
    Ana Lily Amirpour

Eric Kohn: Best 15 Films of 2015, as published by IndieWire

[see also 2023 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014 • 2012]

1. Son of Saul
   László Nemes
2. Tangerine
   Sean Baker
3. Heaven Knows What
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
4. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
   Roy Andersson
5. Buzzard
   Joel Potrykus
6. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
7. Anomalisa
   Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
8. Jafar Panahi’s Taxi
   Jafar Panahi
9. Heart of a Dog
   Laurie Anderson
10. Carol
    Todd Haynes
11. Ex Machina
    Alex Garland
12. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
    Marielle Heller
13. The Duke of Burgundy
    Peter Strickland
14. The Tribe
    Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
15. Horse Money
    Pedro Costa