Scott Tobias: Top 10 Films of 2020, as posted to Twitter and discussed on The Next Picture Show

[see also 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011]

1. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
2. The Assistant — Kitty Green
3. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
4. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
5. Nomadland — Chloé Zhao
6. Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
7. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
8. I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Charlie Kaufman
9. Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov
10. The Nest — Sean Durkin

Honorable Mentions (no order)

• David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
• Fourteen — Dan Sallitt
• Collective — Alexander Nanau
• Time — Garrett Bradley
• Boys State — Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine
• Bad Education — Cory Finley
• The Vast of Night — Andrew Patterson
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
• Minari — Lee Isaac Chung
• Wolfwalkers — Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart
• Sound of Metal — Darius Marder
• A White, White Day — Hlynur Pálmason
• Soul — Pete Docter
• Another Round — Thomas Vinterberg

Susannah Gruder: Best Films of 2020, as published by Screen Slate along with a list of best first-time views

[see also 2010s]

1. Epicentro — Hubert Sauper
2. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
3. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
4. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
5. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
6. A Night at the Opera — Sergei Loznitsa
7. The Calming — Song Fang
8. Acasa, My Home — Radu Ciorniciuc
9. Kajillionaire — Miranda July
10. Time — Garrett Bradley

Molly Haskell: Best Films of 2020, as published by Screen Slate along with a list of discoveries

• Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov
• Martin Eden — Pietro Marcello
• The Woman Who Ran — Hong Sang-soo
• Undine — Christian Petzold
• The Salt of Tears — Philippe Garrel
• David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
• City Hall — Frederick Wiseman
• Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
• Vitalina Varela — Pedro Costa
• Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles

Runners-up

• Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue — Jia Zhang-ke
• The Assistant — Kitty Green
• Relic — Natalie Erika James
• First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
• The Expecting — Mary Harron

Joshua Rothkopf: Top 20 Films of 2020, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011]

1. Martin Eden — Pietro Marcello
2. Nomadland — Chloé Zhao
3. I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Charlie Kaufman
4. Kajillionaire — Miranda July
5. Small Axe: Mangrove — Steve McQueen
6. The Nest — Sean Durkin
7. Welcome to Chechnya — David France
8. The Invisible Man — Leigh Whannell
9. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
10. Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
11. Soul — Pete Docter
12. Minari — Lee Isaac Chung
13. Collective — Alexander Nanau
14. Tommaso — Abel Ferrara
15. She Dies Tomorrow — Amy Seimetz
16. The Truffle Hunters — Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
17. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
18. Gunda — Viktor Kosakovskiy
19. Bad Education — Cory Finley
20. Sound of Metal — Darius Marder

Mike D’Angelo: The Best Films of 2020, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012]

1. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
2. A White, White Day — Hlynur Pálmason
3. The Grand Bizarre — Jodie Mack
4. The Nest — Sean Durkin
5. Fourteen — Dan Sallitt
6. Small Axe: Red, White and Blue — Steve McQueen
7. Tenet — Christopher Nolan
8. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
9. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
10. The Old Guard — Gina Prince-Bythewood
11. 76 days — Hao Wu, Weixi Chen and Anonymous
12. Save Yourselves! — Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson
13. Sibyl — Justine Triet
14. The Vast of Night — Andrew Patterson
15. The Invisible Man — Leigh Whannell

Christina Newland: The Best Films of 2020, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016]

1. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
2. Mank — David Fincher
3. About Endlessness — Roy Andersson
4. Rocks — Sarah Gavron
5. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
6. Time — Garrett Bradley
7. Shirley — Josephine Decker
8. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
9. Da 5 Bloods — Spike Lee
10. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson

Little White Lies: The 30 Best Films of 2020

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012]

1. Small Axe — Steve McQueen
2. Nomadland — Chloé Zhao
3. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
4. Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell
5. About Endlessness — Roy Andersson
6. Shirley — Josephine Decker
7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
8. Time — Garrett Bradley
9. I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Charlie Kaufman
10. Rocks — Sarah Gavron
11. Portrait of a Lady on Fire — Céline Sciamma
12. Mank — David Fincher
13. Parasite — Bong Joon-ho
14. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
15. The Assistant — Kitty Green
16. Babyteeth — Shannon Murphy
17. Martin Eden — Pietro Marcello
18. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
19. Liberty — Albert Serra
20. Birds of Prey — Cathy Yan
21. Bad Education — Cory Finley
22. Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
23. David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
24. His House — Remi Weekes
25. Isadora's Children — Damien Manivel
26. Wolfwalkers — Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart
27. Mogul Mowgli — Bassam Tariq
28. Da 5 Bloods — Spike Lee
29. And Then We Danced — Levan Akin
30. She Dies Tomorrow — Amy Seimetz

The Playlist: The 25 Best Films of 2020

[see also 2010s, 2019, 2018]

1. Nomadland — Chloé Zhao
2. First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
3. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
4. I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Charlie Kaufman
5. David Byrne's American Utopia — Spike Lee
6. Sound of Metal — Darius Marder
7. Da 5 Bloods — Spike Lee
8. Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
9. Dick Johnson Is Dead — Kirsten Johnson
10. Minari — Lee Isaac Chung
11. Possessor — Brandon Cronenberg
12. Tenet — Christopher Nolan
13. The Nest — Sean Durkin
14. The Invisible Man — Leigh Whannell
15. Martin Eden — Pietro Marcello
16. The Assistant — Kitty Green
17. Beanpole — Kantemir Balagov
18. Soul — Pete Docter
19. Shirley — Josephine Decker
20. Palm Springs — Max Barbakow
21. Bacurau — Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
22. Babyteeth — Shannon Murphy
23. Ema — Pablo Larraín
24. Boys State — Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine
25. Mank — David Fincher

Ed Gonzalez: Best Films of 2020, as published by Slant Magazine

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2012, 2011]

1. City Hall — Frederick Wiseman
2. To the Ends of the Earth — Kiyoshi Kurosawa
3. Tommaso — Abel Ferrara
4. The Cordillera of Dreams — Patricio Guzmán
5. The Grand Bizarre — Jodie Mack
6. Welcome to Chechnya — David France
7. Space Dogs — Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter
8. Ghost Tropic — Bas Devos
9. Time — Garrett Bradley
10. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets — Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross

Honorable Mention

• Another Round — Thomas Vinterberg
• First Cow — Kelly Reichardt
• Fourteen — Dan Sallitt
• I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Charlie Kaufman
• Small Axe: Lovers Rock — Steve McQueen
• Pahokee — Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan
• Possessor — Brandon Cronenberg
• Small Axe: Red, White and Blue — Steve McQueen
• This Is Not a Movie — Yung Chang
• Zombi Child — Bertrand Bonello

Mark Kermode: 10 Best Films of 2020, as published by The Guardian

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014]

1. Saint Maud — Rose Glass
2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire — Céline Sciamma
3. Parasite — Bong Joon-ho
4. Relic — Natalie Erika James
5. Clemency — Chinonye Chukwu
6. Never Rarely Sometimes Always — Eliza Hittman
7. Rocks — Sarah Gavron
8. Saint Frances — Alex Thompson
9. Wolfwalkers — Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart
10. The Personal History of David Copperfield — Armando Iannucci