Year-End Lists

David Rooney: The Best Films of 2020, as published by The Hollywood Reporter

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019]

1. David Byrne's American Utopia
   Spike Lee
2. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
3. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
   Eliza Hittman
4. Ammonite
   Francis Lee
5. Beanpole
   Kantemir Balagov
6. Minari
   Lee Isaac Chung
7. Promising Young Woman
   Emerald Fennell
8. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
9. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
10. Bacurau
    Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles

Honorable mentions

• The Assistant
  Kitty Green
• Da 5 Bloods
  Spike Lee
• The 40-Year-Old Version
  Radha Blank
• The Invisible Man
  Leigh Whannell
• Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
  George C. Wolfe
• News of the World
  Paul Greengrass
• The Old Guard
  Gina Prince-Bythewood
• One Night in Miami
  Regina King
• The Surrogate
  Jeremy Hersh
• Wolfwalkers
  Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart

Candice Frederick: The Best Films of 2020, as published by Harper’s Bazaar

1. On the Record
   Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering
2. Assassins
   Ryan White
3. Minari
   Lee Isaac Chung
4. Miss Juneteenth
   Channing Godfrey Peoples
5. Relic
   Natalie Erika James
6. Sylvie's Love
   Eugene Ashe
7. Da 5 Bloods
   Spike Lee
8. Tigertail
   Alan Yang
9. Promising Young Woman
   Emerald Fennell
10. The Donut King
    Alice Gu

Honorable Mention

• MLK/FBI
  Sam Pollard
• Coming Home Again
  Wayne Wang
• Finding Yingying
  Jiayan "Jenny" Shi
• Cuties
  Maïmouna Doucouré
• Another Round
  Thomas Vinterberg

IndieWire: Best Movies of 2020, as voted by film critics from around the world

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
2. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
   Eliza Hittman
3. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
4. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
5. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
   Charlie Kaufman
6. Beanpole
   Kantemir Balagov
7. Time
   Garrett Bradley
8. Da 5 Bloods
   Spike Lee
9. Martin Eden
   Pietro Marcello
10. Bacurau
    Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles

Dana Stevens: The Best Movies of 2020, as published by Slate

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

• The Assistant
  Kitty Green
• Bacurau
  Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
• Beanpole
  Kantemir Balagov
• Collective
  Alexander Nanau
• Da 5 Bloods
  Spike Lee
• First Cow
  Kelly Reichardt
• Let Them All Talk
  Steven Soderbergh
• Minari
  Lee Isaac Chung
• Nomadland
  Chloé Zhao
• Saint Maud
  Rose Glass

Plus five runners-up

• City Hall
  Frederick Wiseman
• Dick Johnson Is Dead
  Kirsten Johnson
• Fourteen
  Dan Sallitt
• Small Axe: Lovers Rock
  Steve McQueen
• Time
  Garrett Bradley

Mara Reinstein: The Best Movies of 2020, as published by Us Weekly

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

1. Promising Young Woman
   Emerald Fennell
2. Palm Springs
   Max Barbakow
3. The Prom
   Ryan Murphy
4. Minari
   Lee Isaac Chung
5. Da 5 Bloods
   Spike Lee
6. The Trial of the Chicago 7
   Aaron Sorkin
7. The Invisible Man
   Leigh Whannell
8. Bad Education
   Cory Finley
9. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
10. Taylor Swift: Miss Americana
    Lana Wilson

Honorable mentions

• The Father
  Florian Zeller
• Babyteeth
  Shannon Murphy
• Sylvie's Love
  Eugene Ashe
• Run
  Aneesh Chaganty
• Sound of Metal
  Darius Marder
• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
  Jason Woliner

Randy Myers: The Best 10 Movies of 2020, as published by San Jose Mercury News

[see also 2022]

1. Driveways
   Andrew Ahn
2. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
3. Minari
   Lee Isaac Chung
4. Small Axe
   Steve McQueen
5. Collective
   Alexander Nanau
6. Bacurau
   Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
7. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
8. Promising Young Woman
   Emerald Fennell
9. Mank
   David Fincher
10. Wolfwalkers
    Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart

Honorable Mentions

• Let Them All Talk
  Steven Soderbergh
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  Eliza Hittman
• I Carry You with Me
  Heidi Ewing
• The Personal History of David Copperfield
  Armando Iannucci
• Sound of Metal
  Darius Marder
• Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
  Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht
• The Climb
  Michael Angelo Covino
• The Midnight Sky
  George Clooney
• The Father
  Florian Zeller
• Sylvie's Love
  Eugene Ashe
• The Truffle Hunters
  Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
• Soul
  Pete Docter
• The Trial of the Chicago 7
  Aaron Sorkin
• Palm Springs
  Max Barbakow
• Shirley
  Josephine Decker
• Survival Skills
  Quinn Armstrong
• Around the Sun
  Oliver Krimpas
• News of the World
  Paul Greengrass
• Embattled
  Nick Sarkisov
• The Half of It
  Alice Wu
• Boys State
  Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine
• Athlete A
  Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk
• Da 5 Bloods
  Spike Lee

IndieWire: The Best Documentaries of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2015]

• All In: The Fight for Democracy
  Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés
• Athlete A
  Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk
• Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
  Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
• Boys State
  Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine
• City Hall
  Frederick Wiseman
• Collective
  Alexander Nanau
• Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
  Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht
• Dick Johnson Is Dead
  Kirsten Johnson
• Gunda
  Viktor Kosakovskiy
• Mayor
  David Osit
• The Mole Agent
  Maite Alberdi
• 76 days
  Hao Wu, Weixi Chen and Anonymous
• The Social Dilemma
  Jeff Orlowski
• Time
  Garrett Bradley
• The Truffle Hunters
  Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw

David Sims: The 10 Best Films of 2020, as published by The Atlantic

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018]

1. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
2. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
3. The Nest
   Sean Durkin
4. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
   Charlie Kaufman
5. Mank
   David Fincher
6. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
7. Bacurau
   Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
8. Tenet
   Christopher Nolan
9. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
   Eliza Hittman
10. Da 5 Bloods
    Spike Lee

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2020

Justin Chang: The Best Movies of 2020, as published by The Los Angeles Times. Visit the Times to see how Chang's choices are presented in pairs: "As has become standard practice, I’ve listed my favorite titles as a series of thematic pairings. Treat them as double bills, or just as another reminder that art never takes place in a vacuum."

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Vitalina Varela
   Pedro Costa
2. Time
   Garrett Bradley
3. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
4. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
5. Martin Eden
   Pietro Marcello
6. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
   Charlie Kaufman
7. City Hall
   Frederick Wiseman
8. Collective
   Alexander Nanau
9. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
   Eliza Hittman
10. Beanpole
    Kantemir Balagov

10 honorable mentions (in no particular order)

• The Assistant
  Kitty Green
• The Invisible Man
  Leigh Whannell
• I Was at Home, But
  Angela Schanelec
• Relic
  Natalie Erika James
• Small Axe: Lovers Rock
  Steve McQueen
• Small Axe: Mangrove
  Steve McQueen
• Mank
  David Fincher
• Tesla
  Michael Almereyda
• The Nest
  Sean Durkin
• Tenet
  Christopher Nolan

And 15 more close to my heart

• Bad Education
  Cory Finley
• Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
  Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht
• David Byrne's American Utopia
  Spike Lee
• Driveways
  Andrew Ahn
• The 40-Year-Old Version
  Radha Blank
• Fourteen
  Dan Sallitt
• Kajillionaire
  Miranda July
• Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
  George C. Wolfe
• Proxima
  Alice Winocour
• She Dies Tomorrow
  Amy Seimetz
• Sound of Metal
  Darius Marder
• The Vast of Night
  Andrew Patterson
• A White, White Day
  Hlynur Pálmason
• The Wild Goose Lake
  Diao Yinan
• Wolfwalkers
  Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2020

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

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2020