Year-End Lists

Film School Rejects: The 100 Best Movies of the 2010s

[see also 2018 • 2017]

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
2. Get Out
   Jordan Peele
3. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
4. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
5. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
   Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
6. The Social Network
   David Fincher
7. The Master
   Paul Thomas Anderson
8. What We Do in the Shadows
   Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi
9. The Lobster
   Yorgos Lanthimos
10. Inside Llewyn Davis
    Joel & Ethan Coen
11. Call Me by Your Name
    Luca Guadagnino
12. Gone Girl
    David Fincher
13. The Farewell
    Lulu Wang
14. Phantom Thread
    Paul Thomas Anderson
15. Annihilation
    Alex Garland
16. Paddington 2
    Paul King
17. The Florida Project
    Sean Baker
18. The Witch
    Robert Eggers
19. Arrival
    Denis Villeneuve
20. Logan
    James Mangold
21. Let the Sunshine In
    Claire Denis
22. Take Shelter
    Jeff Nichols
23. Lady Bird
    Greta Gerwig
24. Phoenix
    Christian Petzold
25. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
    Rian Johnson
26. Whiplash
    Damien Chazelle
27. Certified Copy
    Abbas Kiarostami
28. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
29. The Wolf of Wall Street
    Martin Scorsese
30. True Grit
    Joel & Ethan Coen
31. 20th Century Women
    Mike Mills
32. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
    Brad Bird
33. Nightcrawler
    Dan Gilroy
34. Hereditary
    Ari Aster
35. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
    Taika Waititi
36. Ex Machina
    Alex Garland
37. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
38. Green Room
    Jeremy Saulnier
39. Toni Erdmann
    Maren Ade
40. Eighth Grade
    Bo Burnham
41. No Home Movie
    Chantal Akerman
42. The Handmaiden
    Park Chan-wook
43. Cold War
    Pawel Pawlikowski
44. Inception
    Christopher Nolan
45. Frances Ha
    Noah Baumbach
46. Faces Places
    Agnès Varda and JR
47. The Nice Guys
    Shane Black
48. Mandy
    Panos Cosmatos
49. Foxtrot
    Samuel Maoz
50. Upstream Color
    Shane Carruth
51. The Cabin in the Woods
    Drew Goddard
52. Black Panther
    Ryan Coogler
53. Wonder Woman
    Patty Jenkins
54. Oslo, August 31st
    Joachim Trier
55. Only Lovers Left Alive
    Jim Jarmusch
56. Under the Skin
    Jonathan Glazer
57. Force Majeure
    Ruben Östlund
58. Swiss Army Man
    Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
59. You Were Never Really Here
    Lynne Ramsay
60. Inherent Vice
    Paul Thomas Anderson
61. The Tree of Life
    Terrence Malick
62. Elle
    Paul Verhoeven
63. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
    Anthony and Joe Russo
64. La La Land
    Damien Chazelle
65. Young Adult
    Jason Reitman
66. Stories We Tell
    Sarah Polley
67. The Grey
    Joe Carnahan
68. Goodbye First Love
    Mia Hansen-Løve
69. Carol
    Todd Haynes
70. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
    Céline Sciamma
71. Attack the Block
    Joe Cornish
72. Blue Valentine
    Derek Cianfrance
73. The Raid: Redemption
    Gareth Evans
74. Thelma
    Joachim Trier
75. Her
    Spike Jonze
76. Gravity
    Alfonso Cuaron
77. Melancholia
    Lars von Trier
78. Exit Through the Gift Shop
    Banksy
79. Blindspotting
    Carlos López Estrada
80. Blade Runner 2049
    Denis Villeneuve
81. John Wick
    Chad Stahelski
82. I Saw the Devil
    Kim Ji-woon
83. Interstellar
    Christopher Nolan
84. Magic Mike XXL
    Gregory Jacobs
85. Revenge
    Coralie Fargeat
86. Margaret
    Kenneth Lonergan
87. Goodnight Mommy
    Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
88. The Grand Budapest Hotel
    Wes Anderson
89. Shin Godzilla
    Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi
90. Holy Motors
    Leos Carax
91. American Honey
    Andrea Arnold
92. The Invitation
    Karyn Kusama
93. Kill List
    Ben Wheatley
94. High Life
    Claire Denis
95. Mustang
    Deniz Gamze Ergüven
96. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
    Edgar Wright
97. A Ghost Story
    David Lowery
98. Silence
    Martin Scorsese
99. Borg vs. McEnroe
    Janus Metz
100. Bone Tomahawk
     S. Craig Zahler

The Young Folks: Top 50 Films of the 2010s

1. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
3. The Social Network
   David Fincher
4. Get Out
   Jordan Peele
5. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
   Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
6. Inception
   Christopher Nolan
7. Her
   Spike Jonze
8. Mudbound
   Dee Rees
9. The Handmaiden
   Park Chan-wook
10. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
11. Inside Llewyn Davis
    Joel & Ethan Coen
12. Obvious Child
    Gillian Robespierre
13. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
14. Snowpiercer
    Bong Joon-ho
15. What We Do in the Shadows
    Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi
16. Annihilation
    Alex Garland
17. Mustang
    Deniz Gamze Ergüven
18. A Separation
    Asghar Farhadi
19. Frances Ha
    Noah Baumbach
20. Leave No Trace
    Debra Granik
21. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
    Isao Takahata
22. Ex Machina
    Alex Garland
23. The Grand Budapest Hotel
    Wes Anderson
24. Lady Bird
    Greta Gerwig
25. You Were Never Really Here
    Lynne Ramsay
26. The Farewell
    Lulu Wang
27. Arrival
    Denis Villeneuve
28. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
    Edgar Wright
29. Drive
    Nicolas Winding Refn
30. Call Me by Your Name
    Luca Guadagnino
31. Your Name
    Makoto Shinkai
32. Beyond the Lights
    Gina Prince-Bythewood
33. 12 Years a Slave
    Steve McQueen
34. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Benh Zeitlin
35. Before Midnight
    Richard Linklater
36. Weekend
    Andrew Haigh
37. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
    Rian Johnson
38. Columbus
    Kogonada
39. American Honey
    Andrea Arnold
40. Bridesmaids
    Paul Feig
41. The Shape of Water
    Guillermo del Toro
42. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
43. Parasite
    Bong Joon-ho
44. Under the Skin
    Jonathan Glazer
45. The Tree of Life
    Terrence Malick
46. Prisoners
    Denis Villeneuve
47. The Master
    Paul Thomas Anderson
48. Inside Out
    Pete Docter
49. Attack the Block
    Joe Cornish
50. Hell or High Water
    David Mackenzie

Karen Han: The Best Movies of the 2010s Decade, as published by Polygon

[see also 2019]

1. Parasite
   Bong Joon-ho
2. Take Shelter
   Jeff Nichols
3. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
   Tomas Alfredson
4. True Grit
   Joel & Ethan Coen
5. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
6. The Lost City of Z
   James Gray
7. The Hateful Eight
   Quentin Tarantino
8. Shoplifters
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
9. Toni Erdmann
   Maren Ade
10. Paddington 2
    Paul King
10. A Cure for Wellness
    Gore Verbinski

RogerEbert.com: The Best Films of the 2010s

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
2. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
   Joel & Ethan Coen
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
5. Phantom Thread
   Paul Thomas Anderson
6. The Wolf of Wall Street
   Martin Scorsese
7. Under the Skin
   Jonathan Glazer
8. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
9. Get Out
   Jordan Peele
10. The Master
    Paul Thomas Anderson
11. The Social Network
    David Fincher
12. A Separation
    Asghar Farhadi
13. Silence
    Martin Scorsese
14. Inside Out
    Pete Docter
15. Parasite
    Bong Joon-ho
16. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins
17. 12 Years a Slave
    Steve McQueen
18. This is Not a Film
    Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
19. Cameraperson
    Kirsten Johnson
20. Inherent Vice
    Paul Thomas Anderson
21. The Act of Killing
    Joshua Oppenheimer
21. The Look of Silence
    Joshua Oppenheimer
22. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
    Quentin Tarantino
23. Manchester by the Sea
    Kenneth Lonergan
24. Melancholia
    Lars von Trier
25. Boyhood
    Richard Linklater

Honorable Mentions

• Annihilation
  Alex Garland
• The Babadook
  Jennifer Kent
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
  Benh Zeitlin
• Before Midnight
  Richard Linklater
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• Blindspotting
  Carlos López Estrada
• Blue is the Warmest Color
  Abdellatif Kechiche
• A Bread Factory
  Patrick Wang
• Brooklyn
  John Crowley
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• Call Me by Your Name
  Luca Guadagnino
• Certified Copy
  Abbas Kiarostami
• A Dangerous Method
  David Cronenberg
• Dawson City: Frozen Time
  Bill Morrison
• Dogtooth
  Yorgos Lanthimos
• Elle
  Paul Verhoeven
• Ex Machina
  Alex Garland
• The Farewell
  Lulu Wang
• Fences
  Denzel Washington
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• The Florida Project
  Sean Baker
• Fruitvale Station
  Ryan Coogler
• Gone Girl
  David Fincher
• Goodbye to Language
  Jean-Luc Godard
• Hidden Figures
  Theodore Melfi
• Holy Motors
  Leos Carax
• Inception
  Christopher Nolan
• The Irishman
  Martin Scorsese
• La La Land
  Damien Chazelle
• The Last of the Unjust
  Claude Lanzmann
• The Love Witch
  Anna Biller
• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• Marriage Story
  Noah Baumbach
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• Only Lovers Left Alive
  Jim Jarmusch
• Paterson
  Jim Jarmusch
• Personal Shopper
  Olivier Assayas
• A Quiet Passion
  Terence Davies
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
  Rian Johnson
• Stories We Tell
  Sarah Polley
• Toy Story 3
  Lee Unkrich
• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel
• Zero Dark Thirty
  Kathryn Bigelow

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Ten Best Films of 2019, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Vitalina Varela
   Pedro Costa
2. Transit
   Christian Petzold
3. It Must Be Heaven
   Elia Suleiman
4. Flannery
   Elizabeth Coffman and Mark Bosco
5. Foxtrot
   Samuel Maoz
6. Conrad Veidt: My Life
   Mark Rappaport
7. Where's My Roy Cohn?
   Matt Tyrnauer
8. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
9. Ad Astra
   James Gray
10. The Souvenir
    Joanna Hogg

This list contributes to:

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

Matt Singer: The Best Movies of the 2010s, as published by ScreenCrush

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Boyhood
   Richard Linklater
2. O.J.: Made in America
   Ezra Edelman
3. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
   Quentin Tarantino
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
5. Lady Bird
   Greta Gerwig
6. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
7. Inside Out
   Pete Docter
8. The Social Network
   David Fincher
9. The Master
   Paul Thomas Anderson
10. Inside Llewyn Davis
    Joel & Ethan Coen
11. Holy Motors
    Leos Carax
12. Short Term 12
    Destin Cretton
13. Exit Through the Gift Shop
    Banksy
14. Bad Black
    Nabwana I.G.G.
15. Sing Street
    John Carney
16. Take Shelter
    Jeff Nichols
17. The Duke of Burgundy
    Peter Strickland
18. Force Majeure
    Ruben Östlund
19. Uncut Gems
    Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
20. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
    Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone

Honorable Mentions (In Alphabetical Order)

• Annihilation
  Alex Garland
• Anomalisa
  Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
• The Cabin in the Woods
  Drew Goddard
• Certified Copy
  Abbas Kiarostami
• A Ghost Story
  David Lowery
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
  Wes Anderson
• Her
  Spike Jonze
• The Interrupters
  Steve James
• I Saw the Devil
  Kim Ji-woon
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout
  Christopher McQuarrie
• Moonlight
  Barry Jenkins
• Mother
  Bong Joon-ho
• Phantom Thread
  Paul Thomas Anderson
• Private Life
  Tamara Jenkins
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• A Separation
  Asghar Farhadi
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  Martin McDonagh
• Toni Erdmann
  Maren Ade
• Under the Skin
  Jonathan Glazer
• Zero Dark Thirty
  Kathryn Bigelow

IndieWire: The 100 Best Movies of the 2010s

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2015]

1. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
2. Under the Skin
   Jonathan Glazer
3. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
4. The Act of Killing
   Joshua Oppenheimer
4. The Look of Silence
   Joshua Oppenheimer
5. Inside Llewyn Davis
   Joel & Ethan Coen
6. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
7. Carol
   Todd Haynes
8. The Master
   Paul Thomas Anderson
9. Mad Max: Fury Road
   George Miller
10. Lady Bird
    Greta Gerwig
11. The Wolf of Wall Street
    Martin Scorsese
12. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
13. The Tree of Life
    Terrence Malick
14. Leviathan
    Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
15. Dogtooth
    Yorgos Lanthimos
16. The Social Network
    David Fincher
17. World of Tomorrow
    Don Hertzfeldt
18. Call Me by Your Name
    Luca Guadagnino
19. Toni Erdmann
    Maren Ade
20. Phantom Thread
    Paul Thomas Anderson
21. Get Out
    Jordan Peele
22. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
23. O.J.: Made in America
    Ezra Edelman
24. Boyhood
    Richard Linklater
25. Amour
    Michael Haneke
26. Magic Mike XXL
    Gregory Jacobs
27. The Wind Rises
    Hayao Miyazaki
28. Paddington 2
    Paul King
29. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
30. This is Not a Film
    Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
31. Somewhere
    Sofia Coppola
32. The Grand Budapest Hotel
    Wes Anderson
33. Madeline’s Madeline
    Josephine Decker
34. Stories We Tell
    Sarah Polley
35. Only Lovers Left Alive
    Jim Jarmusch
36. Spring Breakers
    Harmony Korine
37. Roma
    Alfonso Cuaron
38. Timbuktu
    Abderrahmane Sissako
39. The Babadook
    Jennifer Kent
40. Personal Shopper
    Olivier Assayas
41. Margaret
    Kenneth Lonergan
42. Zero Dark Thirty
    Kathryn Bigelow
43. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
    Céline Sciamma
44. Cameraperson
    Kirsten Johnson
45. A Separation
    Asghar Farhadi
46. Hereditary
    Ari Aster
47. The Lost City of Z
    James Gray
48. Parasite
    Bong Joon-ho
49. Before Midnight
    Richard Linklater
50. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
    Isao Takahata
51. Elle
    Paul Verhoeven
52. Eden
    Mia Hansen-Løve
53. A Ghost Story
    David Lowery
54. Cold War
    Pawel Pawlikowski
55. Frances Ha
    Noah Baumbach
56. Happy as Lazzaro
    Alice Rohrwacher
57. Tangerine
    Sean Baker
58. The Turin Horse
    Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
59. The Farewell
    Lulu Wang
60. Black Panther
    Ryan Coogler
61. Faces Places
    Agnès Varda and JR
62. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
63. Inception
    Christopher Nolan
64. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
    Christopher McQuarrie
65. Melancholia
    Lars von Trier
66. Force Majeure
    Ruben Östlund
67. At Berkeley
    Frederick Wiseman
68. Jackie
    Pablo Larraín
69. The Duke of Burgundy
    Peter Strickland
70. Pariah
    Dee Rees
71. Goodbye to Language
    Jean-Luc Godard
72. The Handmaiden
    Park Chan-wook
73. La La Land
    Damien Chazelle
74. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
    Rian Johnson
75. A Star Is Born
    Bradley Cooper
76. Leave No Trace
    Debra Granik
77. The Souvenir
    Joanna Hogg
78. Inside Out
    Pete Docter
79. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
    David Zellner
80. No Home Movie
    Chantal Akerman
81. High Life
    Claire Denis
82. Sunset Song
    Terence Davies
83. Synonyms
    Nadav Lapid
84. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Benh Zeitlin
85. The Illusionist
    Sylvain Chomet
86. Kate Plays Christine
    Robert Greene
87. Her Smell
    Alex Ross Perry
88. We Need to Talk About Kevin
    Lynne Ramsay
89. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski
90. Private Life
    Tamara Jenkins
91. Fire at Sea
    Gianfranco Rosi
92. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
    Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
93. Mother of George
    Andrew Dosunmu
94. Happy Hour
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
95. The Arbor
    Clio Barnard
96. Girl Walk // All Day
    Jacob Krupnick
97. All These Sleepless Nights
    Michal Marczak
98. The Great Gatsby
    Baz Luhrmann
99. The Loneliest Planet
    Julia Loktev
100. Inherent Vice
     Paul Thomas Anderson

Cinema Scope: Top Ten Films of 2018

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. An Elephant Sitting Still
   Hu Bo
2. The Image Book
   Jean-Luc Godard
3. La Flor
   Mariano Llinás
4. Transit
   Christian Petzold
5. What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire?
   Roberto Minervini
6. Long Day's Journey Into Night
   Bi Gan
7. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
8. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
9. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
10. High Life
    Claire Denis

Special Mentions

• Asako I & II
  Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
• Ash is Purest White
  Jia Zhang-ke
• The Grand Bizarre
  Jodie Mack
• In My Room
  Ulrich Köhler
• L. Cohen
  James Benning

Dan Sallitt: Favorite Films of 2018, of those "that played at least one week in Manhattan for the first time in 2018, in approximate order of preference"

[see also 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2012]

1. The Day After
   Hong Sang-soo
2. Classical Period
   Ted Fendt
3. Western
   Valeska Grisebach
4. 24 Frames
   Abbas Kiarostami
5. The Grief of Others
   Patrick Wang
6. Dim the Fluorescents
   Daniel Warth
7. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
8. The Banishment
   Andrey Zvyagintsev
9. Ray Meets Helen
   Alan Rudolph
10. Ismael’s Ghosts
    Arnaud Desplechin
11. Mrs. Hyde
    Serge Bozon
12. Before We Vanish
    Kiyoshi Kurosawa
13. On Body and Soul
    Ildikó Enyedi
14. Notes on an Appearance
    Ricky D'Ambrose
15. Dovlatov
    Aleksey German
16. Rodin
    Jacques Doillon

Brian Darr: Top Ten Films of 2018, limited to US commercial releases, as submitted to the annual Senses of Cinema World Poll

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

• The Other Side of the Wind
  Orson Welles
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• I Am Not a Witch
  Rungano Nyoni
• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• Bisbee '17
  Robert Greene
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  Marielle Heller
• Mrs. Hyde
  Serge Bozon

Plus one more commercial release that didn’t screen in San Francisco until 2018

• Phantom Thread
  Paul Thomas Anderson