Year-End Lists

So Mayer: The Best Films of 2019, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

[see also 2012]

• For Sama
  Waad Al-Khateab and Edward Watts
• Pain and Glory
  Pedro Almodóvar
• Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen
  Hepi Mita
• Varda by Agnès
  Agnès Varda
• Indianara
  Aude Chevalier-Beaumel and Marcelo Barbosa
• Rose Plays Julie
  Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor
• Vai
• The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
  Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn
• Steven Universe: The Movie
  Rebecca Sugar
• A Deal with the Universe
  Jason Barker

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: The 50 Best Films of 2019

Elena Lazic: Best Films of 2019, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2018]

1. The Nightingale
   Jennifer Kent
2. Adoration
   Fabrice Du Welz
3. Deerskin
   Quentin Dupieux
4. Isadora's Children
   Damien Manivel
5. For Sama
   Waad Al-Khateab and Edward Watts
6. Instinct
   Halina Reijn
7. Dragged Across Concrete
   S. Craig Zahler
8. Animals
   Sophie Hyde
9. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
   Joe Berlinger
10. Our Time
    Carlos Reygadas

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: The 50 Best Films of 2019
• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2019

B. Ruby Rich: The Best Films of 2019, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

[see also 2016]

• American Factory
  Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• Atlantics
  Mati Diop
• Collective
  Alexander Nanau
• One Child Nation
  Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang
• Pain and Glory
  Pedro Almodóvar
• Parasite
  Bong Joon-ho
• The Souvenir
  Joanna Hogg
• The Edge of Democracy
  Petra Costa
• The Infiltrators
  Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra
• Three Summers
  Sandra Kogut

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: The 50 Best Films of 2019

Erika Balsom: Best Films of 2019, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

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

• Just Don't Think I'll Scream
  Frank Beauvais
• Transit
  Christian Petzold
• Martin Eden
  Pietro Marcello
• No Data Plan
  Miko Revereza
• SaF05
  Charlotte Prodger
• Vitalina Varela
  Pedro Costa
• Fire Will Come
  Oliver Laxe
• The Hottest August
  Brett Story
• Present.Perfect.
  Shengze Zhu
• Your Face
  Tsai Ming-liang

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: The 50 Best Films of 2019

Sean Burns: The 10 Best Films of 2019, as posted by WBUR’s The ARTery

[see also 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2012 • 2011]

• Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
  Quentin Tarantino
• The Irishman
  Martin Scorsese
• Ash is Purest White
  Jia Zhang-ke
• Little Women
  Greta Gerwig
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  Céline Sciamma
• Parasite
  Bong Joon-ho
• Atlantics
  Mati Diop
• High Life
  Claire Denis
• Diane
  Kent Jones
• Dolemite Is My Name
  Craig Brewer

Honorable Mentions

• Amazing Grace
  Sydney Pollack
• The Lighthouse
  Robert Eggers
• Pain and Glory
  Pedro Almodóvar
• Rolling Thunder Revue
  Martin Scorsese
• Tigers Are Not Afraid
  Issa López

Slant Magazine: The 25 Best Films of 2019

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
2. Transit
   Christian Petzold
3. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
   Quentin Tarantino
4. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
5. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
6. Ash is Purest White
   Jia Zhang-ke
7. La Flor
   Mariano Llinás
8. The Souvenir
   Joanna Hogg
9. Long Day's Journey Into Night
   Bi Gan
10. Marriage Story
    Noah Baumbach
11. A Hidden Life
    Terrence Malick
12. Atlantics
    Mati Diop
13. An Elephant Sitting Still
    Hu Bo
14. Black Mother
    Khalik Allah
15. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
    Marielle Heller
16. Pain and Glory
    Pedro Almodóvar
17. Peterloo
    Mike Leigh
18. I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians
    Radu Jude
19. High Life
    Claire Denis
20. The Beach Bum
    Harmony Korine
21. Climax
    Gaspar Noé
22. Ad Astra
    James Gray
23. The Competition
    Claire Simon
24. Chinese Portrait
    Wang Xiaoshuai
25. The Gospel of Eureka
    Donal Mosher and Michael Palmieri

The Runners-Up

26. The Plagiarists
    Peter Parlow
27. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
    Céline Sciamma
28. The Lighthouse
    Robert Eggers
29. What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire?
    Roberto Minervini
30. End of the Century
    Lucio Castro
31. Ray & Liz
    Richard Billingham
32. The Wild Pear Tree
    Nuri Bilge Ceylan
33. Honeyland
    Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov
34. In My Room
    Ulrich Köhler
35. Varda by Agnès
    Agnès Varda
36. Her Smell
    Alex Ross Perry
37. Dragged Across Concrete
    S. Craig Zahler
38. The Image Book
    Jean-Luc Godard
39. Diane
    Kent Jones
40. Asako I & II
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
41. I Lost My Body
    Jérémy Clapin
42. Gemini Man
    Ang Lee
43. Shadow
    Zhang Yimou
44. In Fabric
    Peter Strickland
45. Us
    Jordan Peele
46. The Mountain
    Rick Alverson
47. Our Time
    Carlos Reygadas
48. Little Women
    Greta Gerwig
49. The Dead Don't Die
    Jim Jarmusch
50. Diamantino
    Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt

Michael Glover Smith: Top 25 Films of 2019, posted on his blog White City Cinema

1. Vitalina Varela
   Pedro Costa
2. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
2. Rolling Thunder Revue
   Martin Scorsese
3. The Image Book
   Jean-Luc Godard
4. Coincoin and the Extra-Humans
   Bruno Dumont
5. A Hidden Life
   Terrence Malick
6. I Was at Home, But
   Angela Schanelec
7. High Life
   Claire Denis
8. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
9. Atlantics
   Mati Diop
10. Black Mother
    Khalik Allah

The Runners-Up

11. Pasolini
    Abel Ferrara
12. The Souvenir
    Joanna Hogg
13. Little Women
    Greta Gerwig
14. Long Day's Journey Into Night
    Bi Gan
15. Pain and Glory
    Pedro Almodóvar
16. Hale County This Morning, This Evening
    RaMell Ross
17. Parasite
    Bong Joon-ho
18. Richard Jewell
    Clint Eastwood
19. Grass
    Hong Sang-soo
19. Hotel by the River
    Hong Sang-soo
20. The Wild Pear Tree
    Nuri Bilge Ceylan
21. Asako I & II
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
22. Saint Frances
    Alex Thompson
23. Varda by Agnès
    Agnès Varda
24. An Elephant Sitting Still
    Hu Bo
25. Knives and Skin
    Jennifer Reeder

NPR: Favorite Movies Of 2019

• 1917
  Sam Mendes
• Atlantics
  Mati Diop
• Avengers: Endgame
  Anthony and Joe Russo
• Booksmart
  Olivia Wilde
• The Cave
  Firas Fayyad
• The Farewell
  Lulu Wang
• Fast Color
  Julia Hart
• Gloria Bell
  Sebastián Lelio
• Hustlers
  Lorene Scafaria
• I Lost My Body
  Jérémy Clapin
• The Irishman
  Martin Scorsese
• Knives Out
  Rian Johnson
• The Lighthouse
  Robert Eggers
• Little Women
  Greta Gerwig
• Marriage Story
  Noah Baumbach
• Midsommar
  Ari Aster
• Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
  Quentin Tarantino
• Pain and Glory
  Pedro Almodóvar
• Parasite
  Bong Joon-ho
• Us
  Jordan Peele

IndieWire: The 50 Best Movies of 2019, as voted by film critics from around the world

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
2. The Irishman
   Martin Scorsese
3. Marriage Story
   Noah Baumbach
4. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
   Quentin Tarantino
5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
   Céline Sciamma
6. Pain and Glory
   Pedro Almodóvar
7. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
8. The Souvenir
   Joanna Hogg
9. Joker
   Todd Phillips
10. Little Women
    Greta Gerwig
11. The Farewell
    Lulu Wang
12. Knives Out
    Rian Johnson
13. Transit
    Christian Petzold
14. The Lighthouse
    Robert Eggers
15. Us
    Jordan Peele
16. A Hidden Life
    Terrence Malick
17. Ad Astra
    James Gray
18. Long Day's Journey Into Night
    Bi Gan
19. Atlantics
    Mati Diop
20. High Life
    Claire Denis
21. 1917
    Sam Mendes
22. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
    Joe Talbot
23. Jojo Rabbit
    Taika Waititi
24. An Elephant Sitting Still
    Hu Bo
25. Midsommar
    Ari Aster
26. Ash is Purest White
    Jia Zhang-ke
27. Apollo 11
    Todd Douglas Miller
28. Synonyms
    Nadav Lapid
29. Waves
    Trey Edward Shults
30. Honeyland
    Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov

The Rest of the Best

31. Her Smell
    Alex Ross Perry
32. Booksmart
    Olivia Wilde
33. The Image Book
    Jean-Luc Godard
34. Monos
    Alejandro Landes
35. Dolemite Is My Name
    Craig Brewer
36. The Nightingale
    Jennifer Kent
37. Under the Silver Lake
    David Robert Mitchell
38. Climax
    Gaspar Noé
39. Toy Story 4
    Josh Cooley
40. La Flor
    Mariano Llinás
41. Honey Boy
    Alma Har'el
42. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
    Marielle Heller
43. Avengers: Endgame
    Anthony and Joe Russo
44. I Lost My Body
    Jérémy Clapin
45. Hustlers
    Lorene Scafaria
46. Birds of Passage
    Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
47. Diane
    Kent Jones
48. Peterloo
    Mike Leigh
49. Give Me Liberty
    Kirill Mikhanovsky
50. Beanpole
    Kantemir Balagov

The Economist: The Best Films Released in 2019

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020]

• Parasite
  Bong Joon-ho
• The Lighthouse
  Robert Eggers
• Atlantics
  Mati Diop
• Monos
  Alejandro Landes
• By the Grace of God
  François Ozon
• The Street
  Zed Nelson
• The Irishman
  Martin Scorsese
• Apollo 11
  Todd Douglas Miller
• Us
  Jordan Peele
• For Sama
  Waad Al-Khateab and Edward Watts
• Knives Out
  Rian Johnson
• La Belle Époque
  Nicolas Bedos
• Hitsville: The Making of Motown
  Ben Turner and Gabe Turner
• Jojo Rabbit
  Taika Waititi
• Marriage Story
  Noah Baumbach