Year-End Lists

IndieWire: 66 Best Films of 2015, as voted by Indiewire’s writers and staffers, not to be confused with the Indiewire poll of hundreds of critics

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s]

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
2. Sicario
   Denis Villeneuve
3. The Duke of Burgundy
   Peter Strickland
4. Carol
   Todd Haynes
5. 45 Years
   Andrew Haigh
6. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
7. Room
   Lenny Abrahamson
8. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
9. Brooklyn
   John Crowley
10. Son of Saul
    László Nemes
11. Ex Machina
    Alex Garland
12. Steve Jobs
    Danny Boyle
13. Anomalisa
    Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
14. The End of the Tour
    James Ponsoldt
15. The Tribe
    Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
16. Tangerine
    Sean Baker
17. Mustang
    Deniz Gamze Ergüven
18. The Assassin
    Hou Hsiao-Hsien
19. Creed
    Ryan Coogler
20. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
    Marielle Heller

Just missing out on the top 20

• It Follows
  David Robert Mitchell
• Clouds of Sils Maria
  Olivier Assayas
• Crimson Peak
  Guillermo del Toro
• Mistress America
  Noah Baumbach
• Beasts of No Nation
  Cary Joji Fukunaga
• Wild Tales
  Damián Szifrón
• Far from the Madding Crowd
  Thomas Vinterberg
• A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
  Roy Andersson

Clocking up a vote or two

• Bridge of Spies
  Steven Spielberg
• Heaven Knows What
  Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
• The Good Dinosaur
  Peter Sohn
• The Walk
  Robert Zemeckis
• Magic Mike XXL
  Gregory Jacobs
• James White
  Josh Mond
• Victoria
  Sebastian Schipper
• Youth
  Paolo Sorrentino
• Tokyo Tribe
  Sion Sono
• The Look of Silence
  Joshua Oppenheimer
• Eden
  Mia Hansen-Løve
• Queen of Earth
  Alex Ross Perry
• Entertainment
  Rick Alverson
• Tu Dors Nicole
  Stéphane Lafleur
• Bone Tomahawk
  S. Craig Zahler
• Arabian Nights
  Miguel Gomes
• What We Do in the Shadows
  Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi
• Slow West
  John Maclean
• Heart of a Dog
  Laurie Anderson
• Ballet 422
  Jody Lee Lipes
• Timbuktu
  Abderrahmane Sissako
• Experimenter
  Michael Almereyda
• The Pearl Button
  Patricio Guzmán
• Cartel Land
  Matthew Heineman
• Li’l Quinquin
  Bruno Dumont
• Listen to Me Marlon
  Stevan Riley
• Dope
  Rick Famuyiwa
• The Night Before
  Jonathan Levine
• Phoenix
  Christian Petzold
• Jauja
  Lisandro Alonso
• The Forbidden Room
  Guy Maddin
• Hard to Be a God
  Aleksey German
• Mississippi Grind
  Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden
• Breathe
  Mélanie Laurent
• While We’re Young
  Noah Baumbach
• Cobain: Montage of Heck
  Brett Morgen
• The Martian
  Ridley Scott
• White God
  Kornél Mundruczó

AllMusic: 55 Best Albums of 2015 (roughly alphabetical by artist)

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

• Sirope
  Alejandro Sanz
• The Blade
  Ashley Monroe
• In Another Life
  Bilal
• Vulnicura
  Björk
• E•MO•TION
  Carly Rae Jepsen
• Time to Go Home
  Chastity Belt
• Captain of None
  Colleen
• LP
  Container
• Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
  Courtney Barnett
• For One to Love
  Cécile McLorin Salvant
• Fading Frontier
  Deerhunter
• Poison Season
  Destroyer
• Dornik
  Dornik
• Full Communism
  Downtown Boys
• Compton
  Dr. Dre
• Mr. Misunderstood
  Eric Church
• Calling Out
  EZTV
• I Love You, Honeybear
  Father John Misty
• Elaenia
  Floating Points
• All Are Saved
  Fred Thomas
• Hoy Más Fuerte
  Gerardo Ortíz
• Meliora
  Ghost B.C.
• Before the World Was Big
  girlpool
• Detroit’s Son
  Guilty Simpson
• Choose Your Weapon
  Hiatus Kaiyote
• Jake Xerxes Fussell
  Jake Xerxes Fussell
• In Colour
  Jamie xx
• Reality Show
  Jazmine Sullivan
• A Year With 13 Moons
  Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
• Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
  John Grant
• Have You In My Wilderness
  Julia Holter
• The Epic
  Kamasi Washington
• To Pimp A Butterfly
  Kendrick Lamar
• B’lieve I’m Goin Down…
  Kurt Vile
• The Incredible True Story
  Logic
• Hi Honey
  Low Cut Connie
• Start Here
  Maddie & Tae
• Are You Alone?
  Majical Cloudz
• Somnaphoria
  Matchess
• Natalie Prass
  Natalie Prass
• Sibelius: The Symphonies
  Lahti Symphony Orchestra & Okko Kamu
• The Longest River
  Olivia Chaney
• Garden of Delete
  Oneohtrix Point Never
• Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, WAB 105 (Live)
  Philharmoniker Hamburg & Simone Young
• Communion
  Years & Years
• The Clearing
  Rachel Grimes
• Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: Rosary Sonatas
  Rachel Podger
• Hairless Toys
  Róisín Murphy
• Ratchet
  Shamir
• Fear and Lies
  Sick Sad World
• Carrie & Lowell
  Sufjan Stevens
• Ego Death
  The Internet
• This Is the Sonics
  The Sonics
• Summertime ’06
  Vince Staples
• Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé & Pavane pour une infante défunte
  Groot Omroepkoor, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest & Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Slant Magazine: 25 Best Albums of 2015

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

1. To Pimp A Butterfly
   Kendrick Lamar
2. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
   Courtney Barnett
3. Art Angels
   Grimes
4. Summertime ’06
   Vince Staples
5. I Love You, Honeybear
   Father John Misty
6. Wildheart
   Miguel
7. Ratchet
   Shamir
8. The Most Lamentable Tragedy
   Titus Andronicus
9. Complicated Game
   James McMurtry
10. The Epic
    Kamasi Washington
11. Love Is Free
    Robyn & La Bagatelle Magique
12. E•MO•TION
    Carly Rae Jepsen
13. Unbreakable
    Janet Jackson
14. Viet Cong
    Viet Cong
15. But You Caint Use My Phone
    Erykah Badu
16. Another Eternity
    Purity Ring
17. Barter 6
    Young Thug
18. Surf
    Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment
19. Vulnicura
    Björk
20. Divers
    Joanna Newsom
21. Revival
    Selena Gomez
22. The Blade
    Ashley Monroe
23. Short Movie
    Laura Marling
24. Everything Is 4
    Jason Derulo
25. Caracal
    Disclosure

Joshua Rothkopf: 20 Best Movies of 2015, as published by Time Out New York

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Brooklyn
   John Crowley
2. Son of Saul
   László Nemes
3. Heaven Knows What
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
4. Phoenix
   Christian Petzold
5. Sicario
   Denis Villeneuve
6. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
7. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
   Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz
8. The Look of Silence
   Joshua Oppenheimer
9. Carol
   Todd Haynes
10. Mad Max: Fury Road
    George Miller
11. Love & Mercy
    Bill Pohlad
12. Mississippi Grind
    Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden
13. Democrats
    Camilla Nielsson
14. While We’re Young
    Noah Baumbach
15. Creed
    Ryan Coogler
16. 45 Years
    Andrew Haigh
17. The Big Short
    Adam McKay
18. Girlhood
    Céline Sciamma
19. Buzzard
    Joel Potrykus
20. Inside Out
    Pete Docter

A.O. Scott: 20 Best Movies of 2015, as published by The New York Times

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

1. Timbuktu
   Abderrahmane Sissako
2. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
3. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
3. The Big Short
   Adam McKay
4. Heart of a Dog
   Laurie Anderson
5. Carol
   Todd Haynes
5. Anomalisa
   Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
6. Jafar Panahi’s Taxi
   Jafar Panahi
7. Out 1: Noli Me Tangere [1971]
   Jacques Rivette
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
9. Creed
   Ryan Coogler
10. Results
    Andrew Bujalski
10. Welcome to Me
    Shira Piven
11. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
    Stanley Nelson
11. What Happened, Miss Simone?
    Liz Garbus
12. The Kindergarten Teacher
    Nadav Lapid
13. Girlhood
    Céline Sciamma
13. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
    Marielle Heller
14. Grandma
    Paul Weitz
14. Tangerine
    Sean Baker
15. The End of the Tour
    James Ponsoldt

Stephen Holden: 18 Best Movies of 2015, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2016 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Carol
   Todd Haynes
2. The Big Short
   Adam McKay
3. Spotlight
   Tom McCarthy
4. The Fool
   Yuri Bykov
5. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
   Marielle Heller
6. The Look of Silence
   Joshua Oppenheimer
7. Truth
   James Vanderbilt
8. 45 Years
   Andrew Haigh
9. Tangerine
   Sean Baker
10. Brooklyn
    John Crowley

Runners-up

• Son of Saul
  László Nemes
• Li’l Quinquin
  Bruno Dumont
• Timbuktu
  Abderrahmane Sissako
• Love & Mercy
  Bill Pohlad
• Clouds of Sils Maria
  Olivier Assayas
• Wild Tales
  Damián Szifrón
• The Salt of the Earth
  Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
• Inside Out
  Pete Docter

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

Entertainment Weekly: 40 Best Albums of 2015

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

1. To Pimp A Butterfly
   Kendrick Lamar
2. E•MO•TION
   Carly Rae Jepsen
3. 25
   Adele
4. In Colour
   Jamie xx
5. AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP
   A$AP Rocky
6. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
   Courtney Barnett
7. Traveller
   Chris Stapleton
8. I Love You, Honeybear
   Father John Misty
9. Star Wars
   Wilco
10. Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz
    Miley Cyrus
11. Unbreakable
    Janet Jackson
12. Wildheart
    Miguel
13. Sound & Color
    Alabama Shakes
14. No Cities To Love
    Sleater-Kinney
15. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
    Florence + The Machine
16. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
    Drake
17. Purpose
    Justin Bieber
18. Currents
    Tame Impala
19. Multi-Love
    Unknown Mortal Orchestra
20. Summertime ’06
    Vince Staples
21. Surf
    Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment
22. Mr. Misunderstood
    Eric Church
23. SremmLife
    Rae Sremmurd
24. Algiers
    Algiers
25. Froot
    Marina and the Diamonds
26. Every Open Eye
    Chvrches
27. II
    METZ
28. Sounds Good Feels Good
    5 Seconds of Summer
29. A Head Full of Dreams
    Coldplay
30. Days Gone By
    Bob Moses
31. Yours, Dreamily
    The Arcs
32. Revival
    Selena Gomez
33. Divers
    Joanna Newsom
34. Fading Frontier
    Deerhunter
35. Painted Shut
    Hop Along
36. Something More Than Free
    Jason Isbell
37. Feels Like
    Bully
38. The Story of Sonny Boy Slim
    Gary Clark Jr.
39. Vulnicura
    Björk
40. 1989
    Ryan Adams

The Center for Fiction: 2015 First Novel Prize

[see also 2016]

Winner

• The Sympathizer
  Viet Thanh Nguyen

Shortlist

• After the Parade
  Lori Ostlund
• Against the Country
  Ben Metcalf
• Bright Lines
  Tanwi Nandini Islam
• The Fishermen
  Chigozie Obioma
• The Turner House
  Angela Flournoy
• The Unfortunates
  Sophie McManus

Longlist

• The Beautiful Bureaucrat
  Helen Phillips
• Black River
  S.M. Hulse
• City on Fire
  Garth Risk Hallberg
• Eileen
  Ottessa Moshfegh
• Find Me
  Laura van den Berg
• The First Bad Man
  Miranda July
• Girl at War
  Sara Novic
• The Girl from the Garden
  Parnaz Foroutan
• Gold Fame Citrus
  Claire Vaye Watkins
• The Heart of the Order
  Theo Schell-Lambert
• The Hopeful
  Tracy O'Neill
• I'd Walk with My Friends If I Could Find Them
  Jesse Goolsby
• Landfalls
  Naomi J. Williams
• The Language of Paradise
  Barbara Klein Moss
• Make Your Home Among Strangers
  Jennine Capo Crucet
• Orhan's Inheritance
  Aline Ohanesian
• She Weeps Each Time You're Born
  Quan Barry
• The Star Side of Bird Hill
  Naomi Jackson
• The Sunlit Night
  Rebecca Dinerstein
• The Sweetheart
  Angelina Mirabella
• Under the Udala Trees
  Chinelo Okparanta
• You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine
  Alexandra Kleeman