Year-End Lists

Ben Sachs: Top Movies of 2018, as published by The Chicago Reader

[see also 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. L’enfant secret
   Philippe Garrel
2. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
3. Ash is Purest White
   Jia Zhang-ke
3. Bitter Money
   Wang Bing
4. 24 Frames
   Abbas Kiarostami
4. The Arboretum Cycle
   Nathaniel Dorsky
5. Good Manners
   Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas
6. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
7. Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day
   Rainer Werner Fassbinder
8. The Commuter
   Jaume Collet-Serra
8. The Hate U Give
   George Tillman Jr.
9. The Third Murder
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
10. Rainbow: A Private Affair
    Paolo and Vittorio Taviani

Runners-up (in order of preference)

• Bisbee '17
  Robert Greene
• Araby
  João Dumans and Affonso Uchôa
• Personal Problems
  Bill Gunn
• Non-Fiction
  Olivier Assayas
• The Woman Who Left
  Lav Diaz
• Diane
  Kent Jones
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• Scarred Hearts
  Radu Jude
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• The Mule
  Clint Eastwood
• Rodin
  Jacques Doillon
• Good Luck
  Ben Russell
• Claire’s Camera
  Hong Sang-soo
• The Day After
  Hong Sang-soo
• Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
  Gus Van Sant
• Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
  Bruno Dumont

Glenn Kenny: Best Films of 2018

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

The first ten in vigorous preferential order

• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• The Other Side of the Wind
  Orson Welles
• Mandy
  Panos Cosmatos
• Hale County This Morning, This Evening
  RaMell Ross
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• Skate Kitchen
  Crystal Moselle
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley

The second twenty in looser preferential order

• Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
  Bruno Dumont
• Milford Graves Full Mantis
  Jake Meginsky and Neil Young
• Personal Problems
  Bill Gunn
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis
• Unsane
  Steven Soderbergh
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Angels Wear White
  Vivian Qu
• Vox Lux
  Brady Corbet
• Wildlife
  Paul Dano
• The Mule
  Clint Eastwood
• Ismael’s Ghosts
  Arnaud Desplechin
• You Were Never Really Here
  Lynne Ramsay
• Isle of Dogs
  Wes Anderson
• Gemini
  Aaron Katz
• The Endless
  Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

The next batch in looser still preferential order

• The 15:17 to Paris
  Clint Eastwood
• Happy as Lazzaro
  Alice Rohrwacher
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• Ready Player One
  Steven Spielberg
• Double Lover
  François Ozon
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• Sollers Point
  Matthew Porterfield
• Monrovia, Indiana
  Frederick Wiseman
• Barbara
  Mathieu Amalric
• Private Life
  Tamara Jenkins
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  Marielle Heller
• At Eternity’s Gate
  Julian Schnabel
• Rendezvous in July
  Jacques Becker
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• The 317th Platoon
  Pierre Schoendoerffer
• PROTOTYPE
  Blake Williams
• Claire’s Camera
  Hong Sang-soo
• Infinite Football
  Corneliu Porumboiu
• Ghostbox Cowboy
  John Maringouin

And so on

• The Young Karl Marx
  Raoul Peck
• Annihilation
  Alex Garland
• Mrs. Hyde
  Serge Bozon
• Rogers Park
  Kyle Henry
• The Death of Stalin
  Armando Iannucci
• Who We Are Now
  Matthew Newton
• Nancy
  Christina Choe
• The World Before Your Feet
  Jeremy Workman
• A Prayer Before Dawn
  Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout
  Christopher McQuarrie
• Ralph Breaks the Internet
  Rich Moore and Phil Johnston
• Electro-Pythagorus: A Portrait of Martin Bartlett
  Luke Fowler
• The Cured
  David Freyne

Vikram Murthi: Top 15 Films of 2018, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2019]

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
3. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
4. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
5. Private Life
   Tamara Jenkins
6. Shirkers
   Sandi Tan
7. Amazing Grace
   Sydney Pollack
8. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Joel & Ethan Coen
9. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
10. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
    Marielle Heller
11. Isle of Dogs
    Wes Anderson
12. Minding the Gap
    Bing Liu
13. Thoroughbreds
    Cory Finley
14. Blaze
    Ethan Hawke
15. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
    Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: Best 25 Films of 2018

Christina Newland: Top 10 Films of 2018, as published by Little White Lies

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016]

1. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
2. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
3. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
4. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
5. A Star Is Born
   Bradley Cooper
6. Leave No Trace
   Debra Granik
7. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
8. High Life
   Claire Denis
9. The Sisters Brothers
   Jacques Audiard
10. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley

Jesse Hassenger: Top 15 Films of 2018, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014]

1. Thoroughbreds
   Cory Finley
2. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
3. Eighth Grade
   Bo Burnham
4. Tully
   Jason Reitman
5. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Joel & Ethan Coen
6. First Man
   Damien Chazelle
7. The Old Man & the Gun
   David Lowery
8. Widows
   Steve McQueen
9. A Quiet Place
   John Krasinski
10. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
11. BlacKkKlansman
    Spike Lee
12. Lean On Pete
    Andrew Haigh
13. Black Panther
    Ryan Coogler
14. Gemini
    Aaron Katz
15. The Sisters Brothers
    Jacques Audiard

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: Best 25 Films of 2018

The Film Stage: Top 50 Films of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2017]

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
3. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
4. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
5. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
   Christopher McQuarrie
6. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
7. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
8. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
9. A Star Is Born
   Bradley Cooper
10. You Were Never Really Here
    Lynne Ramsay
11. Zama
    Lucrecia Martel
12. Leave No Trace
    Debra Granik
13. Paddington 2
    Paul King
14. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
15. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski
16. Annihilation
    Alex Garland
17. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
18. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley
19. Western
    Valeska Grisebach
20. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
21. Minding the Gap
    Bing Liu
22. The Mule
    Clint Eastwood
23. Lover for a Day
    Philippe Garrel
24. The Tale
    Jennifer Fox
25. Let the Sunshine In
    Claire Denis
26. The Day After
    Hong Sang-soo
27. The House That Jack Built
    Lars von Trier
28. Vox Lux
    Brady Corbet
29. BlacKkKlansman
    Spike Lee
30. 24 Frames
    Abbas Kiarostami
31. High Life
    Claire Denis
32. An Elephant Sitting Still
    Hu Bo
33. Mandy
    Panos Cosmatos
34. First Man
    Damien Chazelle
35. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
    Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
36. Madeline’s Madeline
    Josephine Decker
37. Private Life
    Tamara Jenkins
38. The 15:17 to Paris
    Clint Eastwood
39. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Joel & Ethan Coen
40. Custody
    Xavier Legrand
41. Sunset
    László Nemes
42. Amazing Grace
    Sydney Pollack
43. Before We Vanish
    Kiyoshi Kurosawa
44. Revenge
    Coralie Fargeat
45. A Paris Education
    Jean-Paul Civeyrac
46. The Old Man & the Gun
    David Lowery
47. Dead Souls
    Wang Bing
48. Personal Problems
    Bill Gunn
49. Widows
    Steve McQueen
50. Ash is Purest White
    Jia Zhang-ke

Valerie Ettenhofer: Best Movies Directed By Women in 2018, as published by Film School Rejects

More noteworthy 2018 films directed by women

• Angels Wear White
  Vivian Qu
• Blame
  Quinn Shephard
• Blockers
  Kay Cannon
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  Marielle Heller
• Dumplin'
  Anne Fletcher
• Half the Picture
  Amy Adrion
• Happy as Lazzaro
  Alice Rohrwacher
• Mary Shelley
  Haifaa al-Mansour
• Oh Lucy!
  Atsuko Hirayanagi
• On Her Shoulders
  Alexandria Bombach
• The Rachel Divide
  Laura Brownson
• RBG
  Betsy West and Julie Cohen
• Rafiki
  Wanuri Kahiu
• Seeing Allred
  Roberta Grossman and Sophie Sartain
• Set It Up
  Claire Scanlon
• Skate Kitchen
  Crystal Moselle
• The Spy Who Dumped Me
  Susanna Fogel
• The Strange Ones
  Lauren Wolkstein and Christopher Radcliff
• I Think We're Alone Now
  Reed Morano
• Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin
  Arwen Curry
• What They Had
  Elizabeth Chomko
• A Wrinkle in Time
  Ava DuVernay
• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel

• Free Solo
  Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
• I Am Not a Witch
  Rungano Nyoni
• The Kindergarten Teacher
  Nadav Lapid
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis
• Love, Gilda
  Lisa Dapolito
• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post
  Desiree Akhavan
• Night Comes On
  Jordana Spiro
• Outside In
  Lynn Shelton
• Private Life
  Tamara Jenkins
• Revenge
  Coralie Fargeat
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• The Tale
  Jennifer Fox
• Tigers Are Not Afraid
  Issa López
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before
  Susan Johnson
• You Were Never Really Here
  Lynne Ramsay

Siddhant Adlakha: 20 Best Films of 2018 Born from the Asian Diaspora, as published by Polygon

• Abu
  Arshad Khan
• Bitter Melon
  H.P. Mendoza
• Bodied
  Joseph Kahn
• Border
  Ali Abbasi
• A Bread Factory
  Patrick Wang
• Crazy Rich Asians
  Jon M. Chu
• Darkland
  Fenar Ahmad
• A Family Tour
  Ying Liang
• For Izzy
  Alex Chu
• The Hungry
  Bornila Chatterjee
• Invisible Hands
  Shraysi Tandon
• Meditation Park
  Mina Shum
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Searching
  Aneesh Chaganty
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• A Touch of Spring
  Xiaodan He
• Toward a Common Tenderness
  Kaori Oda
• What Will People Say
  Iram Haq
• When We Grow Up
  Zorinah Juan

Lawrence Garcia: Top 15 Films of 2018, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2020 • 2019]

1. Western
   Valeska Grisebach
2. The House That Jack Built
   Lars von Trier
3. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
4. PROTOTYPE
   Blake Williams
5. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
6. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
7. Unfriended: Dark Web
   Stephen Susco
8. Isle of Dogs
   Wes Anderson
9. Golden Exits
   Alex Ross Perry
10. Maison du bonheur
    Sofia Bohdanowicz
11. Mrs. Hyde
    Serge Bozon
12. Scarred Hearts
    Radu Jude
13. 24 Frames
    Abbas Kiarostami
14. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Joel & Ethan Coen
15. Notes on an Appearance
    Ricky D'Ambrose

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: Best 25 Films of 2018

David Fear: Top 20 Movies of 2018, as published by Rolling Stone

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2017 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
2. Hereditary
   Ari Aster
3. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
4. Eighth Grade
   Bo Burnham
5. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
6. Amazing Grace
   Sydney Pollack
7. The Rider
   Chloé Zhao
8. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
9. The Old Man & the Gun
   David Lowery
10. Zama
    Lucrecia Martel
11. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
12. The Death of Stalin
    Armando Iannucci
13. Where Is Kyra?
    Andrew Dosunmu
14. Minding the Gap
    Bing Liu
15. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
16. Tyrel
    Sebastián Silva
17. Set It Up
    Claire Scanlon
18. Let the Corpses Tan
    Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
19. A Star Is Born
    Bradley Cooper
20. Thunder Road
    Jim Cummings