Year-End Lists

Complex: The Best TV Shows of 2020

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018]

1. Fargo
2. Better Call Saul
3. Curb Your Enthusiasm
4. I May Destroy You
5. Better Things
6. Insecure
7. Dead to Me
8. Ozark
9. Normal People
10. Gangs of London
11. Lovecraft Country
12. The Boys
13. ZeroZeroZero
14. Ramy
15. Vida
16. Devs
17. The Outsider
18. Narcos: Mexico
19. P-Valley
20. Dare Me

Decider: The 19 Best TV Shows of 2020

[see also 2021 • 2019 • 2018]

1. Ted Lasso
2. What We Do in the Shadows
3. Dave
4. High Fidelity
5. Raised by Wolves
6. The Haunting of Bly Manor
7. The Baby-Sitters Club
8. Never Have I Ever
9. Normal People
10. Better Call Saul
11. Search Party
12. Schitt's Creek
13. The Mandalorian
14. PEN15
15. Teenage Bounty Hunters
16. BoJack Horseman
17. Cheer
18. I May Destroy You
19. ZeroZeroZero

Richard Brody: The Best Movies of 2020, as published by The New Yorker

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Kajillionaire
   Miranda July
2. Da 5 Bloods
   Spike Lee
3. The Whistlers
   Corneliu Porumboiu
4. Dick Johnson Is Dead
   Kirsten Johnson
5. An Easy Girl
   Rebecca Zlotowski
6. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
   Eliza Hittman
7. On the Rocks
   Sofia Coppola
8. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
9. Time
   Garrett Bradley
10. City Hall
    Frederick Wiseman
11. Fourteen
    Dan Sallitt
12. Yes, God, Yes
    Karen Maine
13. Shirley
    Josephine Decker
14. Cuties
    Maïmouna Doucouré
15. Small Axe: Mangrove
    Steve McQueen
16. Talking About Trees
    Suhaib Gasmelbari
17. The 11th Green
    Christopher Munch
18. The American Sector
    Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez
19. The 40-Year-Old Version
    Radha Blank
20. Paris Calligrammes
    Ulrike Ottinger
21. Small Axe: Red, White and Blue
    Steve McQueen
22. Small Axe: Alex Wheatle
    Steve McQueen
23. Small Axe: Education
    Steve McQueen
24. Joan of Arc
    Bruno Dumont
25. Residue
    Merawi Gerima
26. The 24th
    Kevin Willmott
27. Bacurau
    Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
28. She Dies Tomorrow
    Amy Seimetz
29. The Assistant
    Kitty Green
30. Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story
    Robert Steven Williams
31. Ham on Rye
    Tyler Taormina
32. Wojnarowicz
    Chris McKim
33. One Night in Miami
    Regina King
34. Build the Wall
    Joe Swanberg
35. Mank
    David Fincher
36. Santiago, Italia
    Nanni Moretti

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2020

NPR Music: The 50 Best Albums of 2020

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

1. Untitled (Black Is)
   Sault
2. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
3. Miss Colombia
   Lido Pimienta
4. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
5. Spilligion
   Spillage Village
6. Adès Conducts Adès
   Boston Symphony Orchestra & Thomas Adès & Kirill Gerstein & Christianne Stotijn & Mark Stone
7. YHLQMDLG
   Bad Bunny
8. SOURCE
   Nubya Garcia
9. Eternal Atake
   Lil Uzi Vert
10. Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me
    Waylon Payne
11. Women in Music Pt. III
    Haim
12. Lianne La Havas
    Lianne La Havas
13. Ho, Why Is You Here?
    Flo Milli
14. Future Nostalgia
    Dua Lipa
15. RTJ4
    Run the Jewels
16. Expectations
    Katie Pruitt
17. Data Lords
    Maria Schneider Orchestra
18. Underneath
    Code Orange
19. On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment
    Ambrose Akinmusire
20. Jaguar
    Victoria Monét
21. Regresa
    Buscabulla
22. Negro Folk Symphony
    ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
23. Ungodly Hour
    Chloe x Halle
24. The Slow Rush
    Tame Impala
25. A Small Death
    Samantha Crain
26. Pauline
    Ashley Ray
27. Mama, You Can Bet!
    Jyoti
28. Siti of Unguja (Romance Revolution On Zanzibar)
    Siti Muharam
29. songs
    Adrianne Lenker
30. My Turn
    Lil Baby
31. It Is What It Is
    Thundercat
32. Live Forever
    Bartees Strange
33. Spider Tales
    Jake Blount
34. Silver Ladders
    Mary Lattimore
35. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
    Perfume Genius
36. Fuck The World
    Brent Faiyaz
37. Debussy - Rameau
    Vikingur Ólafsson
38. Muthaland
    Bbymutha
39. Sawayama
    Rina Sawayama
40. En Español
    The Mavericks
41. Thank You for Using GTL
    Drakeo the Ruler
42. The experience of repetition as death
    Clarice Jensen
43. Inside
    X Alfonso
44. Total Freedom
    Kathleen Edwards
45. Savage Mode II
    21 Savage & Metro Boomin
46. Some Kind of Peace
    Ólafur Arnalds
47. Saint Cloud
    Waxahatchee
48. Giver Taker
    Anjimile
49. Don't Feed The Monster
    Homeboy Sandman
50. how I'm feeling now
    Charli XCX

Cahiers du Cinéma: Top 10 Films of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. City Hall
   Frederick Wiseman
2. The Woman Who Ran
   Hong Sang-soo
3. Uncut Gems
   Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
4. Malmkrog
   Cristi Puiu
5. The Things We Say, the Things We Do
   Emmanuel Mouret
6. Hotel by the River
   Hong Sang-soo
7. Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains
   Gu Xiaogang
8. The Salt of Tears
   Philippe Garrel
9. Enormous
   Sophie Letourneur
10. The August Virgin
    Jonás Trueba

Consequence: Top 50 Albums of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
2. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
3. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
4. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
   Perfume Genius
5. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
6. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
7. Ohms
   Deftones
8. Chromatica
   Lady Gaga
9. Alfredo
   Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
10. Gigaton
    Pearl Jam
11. Reunions
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
12. Map of the Soul: 7
    BTS
13. Sawayama
    Rina Sawayama
14. It Is What It Is
    Thundercat
15. After Hours
    The Weeknd
16. YHLQMDLG
    Bad Bunny
17. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    Yves Tumor
18. how I'm feeling now
    Charli XCX
19. The Ascension
    Sufjan Stevens
20. Eternal Atake
    Lil Uzi Vert
21. Petals for Armor
    Hayley Williams
22. A Written Testimony
    Jay Electronica
23. Fake It Flowers
    Beabadoobee
24. Likewise
    Frances Quinlan
25. Ultra Mono
    Idles
26. Forgotten Days
    Pallbearer
27. Folklore
    Taylor Swift
28. Suddenly
    Caribou
29. Everything is Beautiful
    Princess Nokia
30. As Long as You Are
    Future Islands
31. Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
    Oneohtrix Point Never
32. Shore
    Fleet Foxes
33. Letter to You
    Bruce Springsteen
34. The Price of Tea in China
    Boldy James & The Alchemist
35. That's How Rumors Get Started
    Margo Price
36. Giver Taker
    Anjimile
37. Twice as Tall
    Burna Boy
38. Gaslighter
    The Chicks
39. Shamir
    Shamir
40. Lamb of God
    Lamb of God
41. Pray for Paris
    Westside Gunn
42. Live Forever
    Bartees Strange
43. The Greatest Part
    Becca Mancari
44. Power Up
    AC/DC
45. The Liz
    Armani Caesar
46. Miss Anthropocene
    Grimes
47. American Head
    The Flaming Lips
48. The Neon Skyline
    Andy Shauf
49. Good News
    Megan Thee Stallion
50. Honeymoon
    Beach Bunny

Complex: The Best Albums of 2020

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

1. After Hours
   The Weeknd
2. My Turn
   Lil Baby
3. Eternal Atake
   Lil Uzi Vert
4. Alfredo
   Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
5. Burden of Proof
   Benny the Butcher
6. Savage Mode II
   21 Savage & Metro Boomin
7. The Slow Rush
   Tame Impala
8. Circles
   Mac Miller
9. Pray for Paris
   Westside Gunn
10. Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
    Pop Smoke
11. The Goat
    Polo G
12. From King to a God
    Conway the Machine
13. Folklore
    Taylor Swift
14. Wunna
    Gunna
15. Ungodly Hour
    Chloe x Halle
16. YHLQMDLG
    Bad Bunny
17. A Muse in Her Feelings
    dvsn
18. A Written Testimony
    Jay Electronica
19. Meet the Woo 2
    Pop Smoke
20. Ho, Why Is You Here?
    Flo Milli
21. So Help Me God!
    2 Chainz
22. Angelic Hoodrat
    Kenny Mason
23. It Was Good Until It Wasn't
    Kehlani
24. The Price of Tea in China
    Boldy James & The Alchemist
25. RTJ4
    Run the Jewels
26. Fuck The World
    Brent Faiyaz
27. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    Fiona Apple
28. Dark Lane Demo Tapes
    Drake
29. Young & Turnt 2
    42 Dugg
30. Good News
    Megan Thee Stallion
31. Top
    YoungBoy Never Broke Again
32. Mt. Marci
    Roc Marciano
33. Notes on a Conditional Form
    The 1975
34. Future Nostalgia
    Dua Lipa
35. One and Only
    Sheff G
36. Positions
    Ariana Grande
37. Limbo
    Aminé
38. Unlocked
    Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats
39. Anyways
    Young Nudy
40. Legends Never Die
    Juice WRLD
41. Industry Games
    Chika
42. Reasonable Drought
    Stove God Cooks & Roc Marciano
43. Spilligion
    Spillage Village
44. King's Disease
    Nas
45. While The World Was Burning
    Saint Jhn
46. Only for Dolphins
    Action Bronson
47. Just Cause Y'all Waited 2
    Lil Durk
48. Featuring Ty Dolla Sign
    Ty Dolla $ign
49. Detroit 2
    Big Sean
50. Forever, Ya Girl
    KeiyaA

Les Inrockuptibles: Our Top 100 Albums of 2020

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

1. The New Abnormal
   The Strokes
2. Working Men's Club
   Working Men's Club
3. Immensità
   Andrea Laszlo De Simone
4. A Hero's Death
   Fontaines D.C.
5. Someone New
   Helena Deland
6. Ludi
   Chassol
7. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
8. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
   Gorillaz
9. acts of rebellion
   ela minus
10. QALF
    Damso
11. Positive Mental Health Music
    Tiña
12. Man Alive!
    King Krule
13. Grand Prix
    Benjamin Biolay
14. L'Ère du Verseau
    Yelle
15. Ultra Mono
    Idles
16. Sexy Planet
    Bonnie Banane
17. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    Yves Tumor
18. The Mother Stone
    Caleb Landry Jones
19. Gong!
    Catastrophe
20. Trinity
    Laylow
21. American Head
    The Flaming Lips
22. Galore
    Oklou
23. Renegade Breakdown
    Marie Davidson & L’Œil Nu
24. Mordechai
    Khruangbin
25. Pour de vrai
    Ichon
26. The Ascension
    Sufjan Stevens
27. Beyond the Pale
    Jarv Is
28. Baby Love
    Jean-Louis Murat
29. The Slow Rush
    Tame Impala
30. Gore
    Lous and The Yakuza
31. Bon Voyage Organisation
    La Course
32. KiCk i
    Arca
33. Surex
    Perez
34. All the Time
    Jessy Lanza
35. Vierge
    ascendant vierge
36. Fall to Pieces
    Tricky
37. Have We Met
    Destroyer
38. Telas
    Nicolas Jaar
39. We Will Always Love You
    The Avalanches
40. Róisín Machine
    Róisín Murphy
41. To Love Is to Live
    Jehnny Beth
42. Domesticated
    Sébastien Tellier
43. The Night Chancers
    Baxter Dury
44. Happy Birthday
    Sneaks
45. Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
    Oneohtrix Point Never
46. Feral
    RVG
47. Au Paradis
    Thousand
48. Welcome to Bobby's Motel
    Pottery
49. Room With A View
    Rone
50. Disparitions
    Jonathan Personne
51. ACR LOCO
    A Certain Ratio
52. Inner Song
    Kelly Lee Owens
53. Sing In A World That's Falling Apart
    Black Lips
54. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    Fiona Apple
55. L'appel de la forêt
    Julien Gasc
56. What We Drew
    yaeji
57. Beauseigne
    Zed Yun Pavarotti
58. Earth to Dora
    Eels
59. Suddenly
    Caribou
60. Gold Record
    Bill Callahan
61. Star Feminine Band
    Star Feminine Band
62. Karma & Desire
    Actress
63. On​/​Off
    Bachar Mar-Khalifé
64. Sideways to New Italy
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
65. Sundowner
    Kevin Morby
66. Hystérie!
    Régina Demina
67. I Think I'm Good
    Kassa Overall
68. Corse île d'amour
    Barbara Carlotti
69. The Fifth Season
    Lafawndah
70. Myopia
    Agnes Obel
71. Song for Our Daughter
    Laura Marling
72. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
    Perfume Genius
73. Dixie Blur
    Jonathan Wilson
74. Zeros
    Declan McKenna
75. Seeking Thrils
    Georgia
76. Island
    Owen Pallett
77. There Is No Year
    Algiers
78. Le cut-up populaire
    Pascal Comelade
79. Vie étrange
    Dominique A
80. Farewell To All We Know
    Matt Elliott
81. It Is What It Is
    Thundercat
82. The Neon Skyline
    Andy Shauf
83. Traditional Techniques
    Stephen Malkmus
84. Serpentine Prison
    Matt Berninger
85. Homegrown
    Neil Young
86. Starmaker
    Honey Harper
87. Feel Feelings
    Soko
88. In and Out of the Light
    The Apartments
89. Satan & Eve
    Damien
90. Love + Light
    Daniel Avery
91. The Performer
    James Righton
92. Aimée
    Julien Doré
93. Strange To Explain
    Woods
94. Un, Deux, Trois
    Juniore
95. Vanité
    Klub des Loosers
96. Nosso Ritmo
    Yuksek
97. Songs for the General Public
    The Lemon Twigs
98. Figures
    Aksak Maboul
99. Hey Clockface
    Elvis Costello
100. On&On
     Daniel Blumberg

Real Simple: The Best Books of 2020

1. Rest and Be Thankful
   Emma Glass
2. Take It Back
   Kia Abdullah
3. To Be a Man
   Nicole Krauss
4. Survival of the Thickest
   Michelle Buteau
5. The Chicken Sisters
   KJ Dell'Antonia
6. The Office of Historical Corrections
   Danielle Evans
7. I'll Be Seeing You
   Elizabeth Berg
8. White Ivy
   Susie Yang
9. Cobble Hill
   Cecily von Ziegesar
10. Memorial
    Bryan Washington
11. Just Like You
    Nick Hornby
12. Once I Was You

    A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America
    Maria Hinojosa
13. The Talented Miss Farwell
    Emily Gray Tedrowe
14. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
    V.E. Schwab
15. Dear Child
    Romy Hausmann
16. The Smallest Lights in the Universe
    Sara Seager
17. A Knock at Midnight

    A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom
    Brittany K. Barnett
18. Transcendent Kingdom
    Yaa Gyasi
19. Anxious People
    Fredrik Backman
20. The Exiles
    Christina Baker Kline
21. What You Wish For
    Katherine Center
22. Fast Girls

    A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team
    Elise Hooper
23. Notes on a Silencing
    Lacy Crawford
24. The Golden Cage
    Camilla Läckberg
25. Mother Land
    Leah Franqui
26. You Exist Too Much
    Zaina Arafat
27. The Last Flight
    Julie Clark
28. Friends and Strangers
    J. Courtney Sullivan
29. Empty
    Susan Burton
30. All My Mother's Lovers
    Ilana Masad
31. Big Summer
    Jennifer Weiner
32. The Book of V.
    Anna Solomon
33. Like Crazy

    Life with My Mother and Her Invisible Friends
    Dan Mathews
34. Rodham
    Curtis Sittenfeld
35. The Book of Longings
    Sue Monk Kidd
36. A Hundred Suns
    Karin Tanabe
37. This Is Big

    How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World
    Marisa Meltzer
38. Pretty Things
    Janelle Brown
39. Valentine
    Elizabeth Wetmore
40. The Herd
    Andrea Bartz
41. The Mountains Sing
    Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
42. House Lessons

    Renovating a Life
    Erica Bauermeister
43. The Glass Hotel
    Emily St. John Mandel
44. Separation Anxiety
    Laura Zigman
45. Oona Out of Order
    Margarita Montimore
46. The Authenticity Project
    Clare Pooley
47. You Never Forget Your First

    A Biography of George Washington
    Alexis Coe
48. When Time Stopped

    A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains
    Ariana Neumann
49. Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes
    Kathleen West
50. A Long Petal of the Sea
    Isabel Allende
51. Friendship

    The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental
    Lydia Denworth
52. Recipe for a Perfect Wife
    Karma Brown
53. Such a Fun Age
    Kiley Reid
54. Topics of Conversation
    Miranda Popkey
55. Followers
    Megan Angelo
56. Dear Edward
    Ann Napolitano
57. Why We Can't Sleep

    Women's New Midlife Crisis
    Ada Calhoun
58. Long Bright River
    Liz Moore
59. American Dirt
    Jeanine Cummins

The New Yorker: The Best Books We Read in 2020

[see also The Best Books of 2023 • The Best Fiction and Poetry of 2022 • The Best Nonfiction of 2022]

• Cleanness
  Garth Greenwell
• Stranger Faces
  Namwali Serpell
• Want
  Lynn Steger Strong
• On Anger
  Agnes Callard [editor]
• Mexican Gothic
  Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Blindness
  José Saramago
• Children of Ash and Elm

  A History of the Vikings
  Neil Price
• Rodham
  Curtis Sittenfeld
• The Art of Doing Science and Engineering

  Learning to Learn
  Richard W. Hamming
• Balzac's Lives
  Peter Brooks
• The Year of the French
  Thomas Flanagan
• So Long, See You Tomorrow
  William Maxwell
• Corregidora
  Gayl Jones
• Something New Under the Sun

  An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World
  J.R. McNeill
• The Known World
  Edward P. Jones