Year-End Lists

Todd McCarthy: 19 Best Films of 2016, as published by The Hollywood Reporter

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

1. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
2. La La Land
   Damien Chazelle
3. 13th
   Ava DuVernay
4. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
5. I Am Not Your Negro
   Raoul Peck
6. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
7. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
8. The Handmaiden
   Park Chan-wook
9. Silence
   Martin Scorsese
10. Hell or High Water
    David Mackenzie

Nine Other Worthy Films

• 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

Film Comment: 20 Best Films of 2016 (as selected by contributors)

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
2. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
3. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
4. Cemetery of Splendor
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
5. Certain Women
   Kelly Reichardt
6. Paterson
   Jim Jarmusch
7. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
8. Aquarius
   Kleber Mendonça Filho
9. Things to Come
   Mia Hansen-Løve
10. No Home Movie
    Chantal Akerman
11. The Lobster
    Yorgos Lanthimos
12. Right Now, Wrong Then
    Hong Sang-soo
13. Love & Friendship
    Whit Stillman
14. Cameraperson
    Kirsten Johnson
15. Kaili Blues
    Bi Gan
16. The Handmaiden
    Park Chan-wook
17. Everybody Wants Some!!
    Richard Linklater
18. The Fits
    Anna Rose Holmer
19. Neruda
    Pablo Larraín
20. The Other Side
    Roberto Minervini

Ann Hornaday: 26 Best Movies of 2016, as published by The Washington Post

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015]

1. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
2. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
3. Hell or High Water
   David Mackenzie
4. The Confirmation
   Bob Nelson
5. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
6. Cameraperson
   Kirsten Johnson
7. La La Land
   Damien Chazelle
8. Lemonade
   Beyoncé Knowles Carter and Kahlil Joseph with Jonas Åkerlund, Melina Matsoukas, Dikayl Rimmasch, Mark Romanek and Tod Tourso
9. 13th
   Ava DuVernay
10. Southside with You
    Richard Tanne

“…had I not been constrained by numerical obstinacy”

• Loving
  Jeff Nichols
• Arrival
  Denis Villeneuve
• The Fits
  Anna Rose Holmer
• A Bigger Splash
  Luca Guadagnino
• Love & Friendship
  Whit Stillman
• Sully
  Clint Eastwood
• Captain Fantastic
  Matt Ross
• Paterson
  Jim Jarmusch
• Eye in the Sky
  Gavin Hood
• Hail, Caesar!
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• Last Days in the Desert
  Rodrigo García
• I Am Not Your Negro
  Raoul Peck
• Tower
  Keith Maitland
• Weiner
  Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg
• The Eagle Huntress
  Otto Bell
• Jackie
  Pablo Larraín

Slant Magazine: 50 Best Films of 2016

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
2. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
3. Happy Hour
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
4. Cemetery of Splendor
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
5. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
6. Paterson
   Jim Jarmusch
7. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
8. Cameraperson
   Kirsten Johnson
9. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
10. The Treasure
    Corneliu Porumboiu
11. Right Now, Wrong Then
    Hong Sang-soo
12. No Home Movie
    Chantal Akerman
13. Knight of Cups
    Terrence Malick
14. Sunset Song
    Terence Davies
15. The Love Witch
    Anna Biller
16. Certain Women
    Kelly Reichardt
17. Everybody Wants Some!!
    Richard Linklater
18. Love & Friendship
    Whit Stillman
19. The Illinois Parables
    Deborah Stratman
20. Homo sapiens
    Nikolaus Geyrhalter
21. Kate Plays Christine
    Robert Greene
22. The Academy of Muses
    José Luis Guerín
23. Fire at Sea
    Gianfranco Rosi
24. Homeland (Iraq Year Zero)
    Abbas Fahdel
25. The Neon Demon
    Nicolas Winding Refn
26. Kaili Blues
    Bi Gan
27. In the Shadow of Women
    Philippe Garrel
28. Aquarius
    Kleber Mendonça Filho
29. Neon Bull
    Gabriel Mascaro
30. Hail, Caesar!
    Joel & Ethan Coen
31. The Other Side
    Roberto Minervini
32. The Lobster
    Yorgos Lanthimos
33. Wiener-Dog
    Todd Solondz
34. 20th Century Women
    Mike Mills
35. Mia Madre
    Nanni Moretti
36. Aferim!
    Radu Jude
37. The Fits
    Anna Rose Holmer
38. Midnight Special
    Jeff Nichols
39. Little Men
    Ira Sachs
40. Cosmos
    Andrzej Zulawski
41. Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
    Stephen Cone
42. Do Not Resist
    Craig Atkinson
43. The Handmaiden
    Park Chan-wook
44. Mountains May Depart
    Jia Zhang-ke
45. Demon
    Marcin Wrona
46. Creepy
    Kiyoshi Kurosawa
47. Things to Come
    Mia Hansen-Løve
48. I Am Not Madame Bovary
    Feng Xiaogang
49. 13th
    Ava DuVernay
50. Fort Buchanan
    Benjamin Crotty

Amy Taubin: 10 Best Films of 2016, as published by Artforum

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Bruce Conner: It’s All True (exhibition and retrospective) at Museum of Modern Art, New York
2. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
3. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
4. Everything Else
   Natalia Almada
5. I Am Not Your Negro
   Raoul Peck
6. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
7. My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea
   Dash Shaw
8. Tempestad
   Tatiana Huezo
9. Sand Storm
   Elite Zexer
10. Command and Control
    Robert Kenner

K. Austin Collins: 12 Best Movies of 2016, as published by The Ringer

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
2. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
3. Sully
   Clint Eastwood
4. Cemetery of Splendor
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
5. Silence
   Martin Scorsese
6. Love & Friendship
   Whit Stillman
7. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
8. The Love Witch
   Anna Biller
9. Everybody Wants Some!!
   Richard Linklater
10. Cameraperson
    Kirsten Johnson
11. The Witness
    James D. Solomon
12. Elvis & Nixon
    Liza Johnson

Anne Thompson: 10 Best Films of 2016, as published by IndieWire

[see also 2019 • 2017 • 2015 • 2011]

1. The Jungle Book
   Jon Favreau
2. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
3. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
4. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
5. La La Land
   Damien Chazelle
6. Arrival
   Denis Villeneuve
7. Loving
   Jeff Nichols
8. Maggie’s Plan
   Rebecca Miller
9. 20th Century Women
   Mike Mills
10. Fences
    Denzel Washington

Melissa Anderson: 10 Best Movies of 2016, as published by Artforum

[see also 2019 • 2018 • 2015 • 2012]

1. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
2. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
3. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
4. Happy Hour
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
5. Fort Buchanan
   Benjamin Crotty
6. Born in Flames
   Lizzie Borden
6. Regrouping
   Lizzie Borden
7. An Early Clue to the New Direction: Queer Cinema Before Stonewall, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York
8. The Ornithologist
   João Pedro Rodrigues
9. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
10. Hermia & Helena
    Matías Piñeiro

J Hoberman: 10 Best Films of 2016, as published by Artforum

[see also 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. THREE SCREEN RAY
   Bruce Conner
2. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
3. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
4. Kaili Blues
   Bi Gan
5. The Death of Louis XIV
   Albert Serra
6. Sieranevada
   Cristi Puiu
7. Austerlitz
   Sergei Loznitsa
8. The Witch
   Robert Eggers
9. Demon
   Marcin Wrona
10. Walkers: Hollywood Afterlives in Art and Artifact at Museum of the Moving Image, New York

James Quandt: 10 Best Films of 2016, as published by Artforum

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet retrospective at Museum of Modern Art, New York
2. From the Branches Drops the Withered Blossom
   Paul Meyer
3. Sieranevada
   Cristi Puiu
4. The Death of Louis XIV
   Albert Serra
5. The Ornithologist
   João Pedro Rodrigues
6. Ma’ Rosa
   Brillante Mendoza
7. Yourself and Yours
   Hong Sang-soo
8. Neruda
   Pablo Larraín
9. Kékszakállú
   Gastón Solnicki
10. As Without So Within
    Manuela De Laborde