Year-End Lists

Alissa Wilkinson: The 21 Best Films of 2019, as published by Vox

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

1. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
1. Marriage Story
   Noah Baumbach
3. The Souvenir
   Joanna Hogg
4. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
5. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
   Quentin Tarantino
6. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
7. The Hottest August
   Brett Story
8. Black Mother
   Khalik Allah
9. The Farewell
   Lulu Wang
10. Peterloo
    Mike Leigh
11. A Hidden Life
    Terrence Malick
12. Little Women
    Greta Gerwig
13. Her Smell
    Alex Ross Perry
14. Wild Nights with Emily
    Madeleine Olnek
15. For Sama
    Waad Al-Khateab and Edward Watts
16. Chinese Portrait
    Wang Xiaoshuai
17. Honey Boy
    Alma Har'el
18. 3 Faces
    Jafar Panahi
19. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
    Céline Sciamma
20. Midsommar
    Ari Aster
21. The Competition
    Claire Simon

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2019

Owen Gleiberman: The Best Films of 2019, as published by Variety

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

1. Joker
   Todd Phillips
2. Marriage Story
   Noah Baumbach
3. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
4. Diane
   Kent Jones
5. Toy Story 4
   Josh Cooley
6. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
7. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
   Quentin Tarantino
8. Bombshell
   Jay Roach
9. A Hidden Life
   Terrence Malick
10. The Report
    Scott Z. Burns

Peter Debruge: The Best Films of 2019, as published by Variety

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

1. Waves
   Trey Edward Shults
2. Pain and Glory
   Pedro Almodóvar
3. Birds of Passage
   Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
4. Diane
   Kent Jones
5. Toy Story 4
   Josh Cooley
6. The Chambermaid
   Lila Avilés
7. Woman at War
   Benedikt Erlingsson
8. The Hottest August
   Brett Story
9. I Lost My Body
   Jérémy Clapin
10. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
    Marielle Heller

Honorable mentions

• Greener Grass
  Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe
• Midsommar
  Ari Aster
• Our Time
  Carlos Reygadas
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  Céline Sciamma
• The Two Popes
  Fernando Meirelles

Richard Brody: The Best Movies of 2019, as published by The New Yorker

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2012 • 2011]

• The Irishman
  Martin Scorsese
• The Dead Don't Die
  Jim Jarmusch
• An Elephant Sitting Still
  Hu Bo
• Us
  Jordan Peele
• Coincoin and the Extra-Humans
  Bruno Dumont
• Uncut Gems
  Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
• My First Film [live]
  Zia Anger
• A Family Tour
  Ying Liang
• One Child Nation
  Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang
• Her Smell
  Alex Ross Perry
• The Two Faces of a Bamiléké Woman
  Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam
• A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
  Marielle Heller
• Frankie
  Ira Sachs
• Before Summer Ends
  Maryam Goormaghtigh
• August at Akiko's
  Christopher Makoto Yogi
• Birds of Passage
  Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
• Atlantics
  Mati Diop
• Richard Jewell
  Clint Eastwood
• Hotel by the River
  Hong Sang-soo
• Chaos
  Sara Fattahi
• The Competition
  Claire Simon
• Marriage Story
  Noah Baumbach
• The Pig
  Mani Haghighi
• Burning Cane
  Phillip Youmans
• Napalm
  Claude Lanzmann
• Varda by Agnès
  Agnès Varda
• Chez jolie coiffure
  Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam
• Tux and Fanny
  Albert Birney
• Harriet
  Kasi Lemmons
• Little Women
  Greta Gerwig
• Ad Astra
  James Gray
• Sword of Trust
  Lynn Shelton
• Return to Bollene
  Saïd Hamich
• High Flying Bird
  Steven Soderbergh
• Black Mother
  Khalik Allah
• Cassandro, the Exotico!
  Marie Losier
• Chained for Life
  Aaron Schimberg
• The Laundromat
  Steven Soderbergh
• American Factory
  Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• Waiting for the Barbarians
  Eugène Green
• The Image Book
  Jean-Luc Godard
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  Céline Sciamma
• The Burial Of Kojo
  Blitz Bazawule
• Two Plains & a Fancy
  Lev Kalman & Whitney Horn
• Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
  Matt Wolf
• Ghosts of Sugar Land
  Bassam Tariq

K. Austin Collins: The 15 Best Movies of 2019, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Ash is Purest White
   Jia Zhang-ke
1. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
2. The Souvenir
   Joanna Hogg
3. An Elephant Sitting Still
   Hu Bo
4. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
5. Atlantics
   Mati Diop
6. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
   Quentin Tarantino
7. Asako I & II
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
8. Black Mother
   Khalik Allah
9. A Hidden Life
   Terrence Malick
10. Peterloo
    Mike Leigh
11. Ghosts of Sugar Land
    Bassam Tariq
12. Birds of Passage
    Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
13. One Child Nation
    Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang
14. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
    Marielle Heller

Honorable Mentions

• Ad Astra
  James Gray
• Aniara
  Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja
• Avengement
  Jesse V. Johnson
• Chained for Life
  Aaron Schimberg
• The Dead Don't Die
  Jim Jarmusch
• The Farewell
  Lulu Wang
• Her Smell
  Alex Ross Perry
• High Flying Bird
  Steven Soderbergh
• Light from Light
  Paul Harrill
• Little Women
  Greta Gerwig
• Pain and Glory
  Pedro Almodóvar
• Parasite
  Bong Joon-ho
• The Sun Is Also a Star
  Ry Russo-Young
• Transit
  Christian Petzold
• Us
  Jordan Peele
• Varda by Agnès
  Agnès Varda

Richard Lawson: The 10 Best Movies of 2019, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

1. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
   Céline Sciamma
3. The Souvenir
   Joanna Hogg
4. The Farewell
   Lulu Wang
5. Honeyland
   Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov
6. Hustlers
   Lorene Scafaria
7. Atlantics
   Mati Diop
8. The Ground Beneath My Feet
   Marie Kreutzer
9. Her Smell
   Alex Ross Perry
10. Uncut Gems
    Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie

Eric Kohn: The 19 Best Movies of 2019, as published by IndieWire

[see also 2023 • 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012]

1. Pain and Glory
   Pedro Almodóvar
2. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
3. Monos
   Alejandro Landes
4. Long Day's Journey Into Night
   Bi Gan
5. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
6. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
7. Marriage Story
   Noah Baumbach
8. Us
   Jordan Peele
9. The Farewell
   Lulu Wang
10. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
    Céline Sciamma
11. Atlantics
    Mati Diop
12. Apollo 11
    Todd Douglas Miller
13. The Nightingale
    Jennifer Kent
14. The Lighthouse
    Robert Eggers
15. Clemency
    Chinonye Chukwu
16. The Souvenir
    Joanna Hogg
17. One Child Nation
    Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang
18. Her Smell
    Alex Ross Perry
19. High Life
    Claire Denis

Nictate: Top 16 Films of 2019, as posted to Letterboxd

[see also 2022 • 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. Transit
   Christian Petzold
2. Our Time
   Carlos Reygadas
3. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
   Quentin Tarantino
4. Non-Fiction
   Olivier Assayas
5. Frankie
   Ira Sachs
6. The Souvenir
   Joanna Hogg
7. Ivana the Terrible
   Ivana Mladenović
8. To the Ends of the Earth
   Kiyoshi Kurosawa
9. Atlantics
   Mati Diop
10. Too Late to Die Young
    Dominga Sotomayor
11. High Life
    Claire Denis
12. Marriage Story
    Noah Baumbach
13. Pain and Glory
    Pedro Almodóvar
14. Ash is Purest White
    Jia Zhang-ke
15. Uncut Gems
    Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
16. Parasite
    Bong Joon-ho

Bilge Ebiri: Top 10 Movies of 2019, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2012]

1. Climax
   Gaspar Noé
2. Marriage Story
   Noah Baumbach
3. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
4. Pain and Glory
   Pedro Almodóvar
5. The Wild Pear Tree
   Nuri Bilge Ceylan
6. A Hidden Life
   Terrence Malick
7. Atlantics
   Mati Diop
8. Shadow
   Zhang Yimou
9. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
10. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
    Quentin Tarantino

David Edelstein: Top 10 Movies of 2019, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
   Quentin Tarantino
2. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
3. Diane
   Kent Jones
4. Little Women
   Greta Gerwig
5. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
6. American Factory
   Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
7. Honeyland
   Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov
8. Dolemite Is My Name
   Craig Brewer
9. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
10. For Sama
    Waad Al-Khateab and Edward Watts