Year-End Lists

The Ringer: Best Movies of 2018, composed by Sean Fennessey and Adam Nayman

[see also 2020 • 2019]

1. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
2. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
3. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
4. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
5. Black Panther
   Ryan Coogler
6. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
7. Let the Sunshine In
   Claire Denis
8. Annihilation
   Alex Garland
9. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
10. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins

With Apologies To

• The Favourite
  Yorgos Lanthimos
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Hereditary
  Ari Aster
• A Star Is Born
  Bradley Cooper
• First Man
  Damien Chazelle
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• Cold War
  Pawel Pawlikowski
• Eighth Grade
  Bo Burnham
• The Old Man & the Gun
  David Lowery
• Game Night
  John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
• Mid90s
  Jonah Hill
• Widows
  Steve McQueen
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
  Morgan Neville
• Wildlife
  Paul Dano
• A Quiet Place
  John Krasinski
• The Price of Everything
  Nathaniel Kahn
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Vice
  Adam McKay
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Infinite Football
  Corneliu Porumboiu
• The Death of Stalin
  Armando Iannucci
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee

K. Austin Collins: 10 Best Movies of 2018, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016]

Honorable Mentions

• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• A Bread Factory
  Patrick Wang
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• The Day After
  Hong Sang-soo
• Happy as Lazzaro
  Alice Rohrwacher
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis
• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• Mandy
  Panos Cosmatos
• Mom and Dad
  Brian Taylor
• Isle of Dogs
  Wes Anderson
• The Old Man & the Gun
  David Lowery
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• A Star Is Born
  Bradley Cooper
• Thunder Road
  Jim Cummings
• Unfriended: Dark Web
  Stephen Susco
• Unsane
  Steven Soderbergh

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
   Travis Wilkerson
3. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
4. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
5. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Joel & Ethan Coen
6. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
7. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
8. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
9. First Man
   Damien Chazelle
10. Sollers Point
    Matthew Porterfield

Ed Gonzalez: Top 10 Films of 2018, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2012 • 2011]

10 Honorable Mentions

• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• Before I Wake
  Mike Flanagan
• Claire’s Camera
  Hong Sang-soo
• Isle of Dogs
  Wes Anderson
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• The Other Side of the Wind
  Orson Welles
• Unfriended: Dark Web
  Stephen Susco
• Unsane
  Steven Soderbergh
• Western
  Valeska Grisebach
• The Wild Boys
  Bertrand Mandico

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
3. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
   Travis Wilkerson
4. Bisbee '17
   Robert Greene
5. Monrovia, Indiana
   Frederick Wiseman
6. Paddington 2
   Paul King
7. Bodied
   Joseph Kahn
8. The Day After
   Hong Sang-soo
9. The Green Fog
   Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson
10. Let the Sunshine In
    Claire Denis

Miriam Bale: Best Movies of 2018, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2010s • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Beychella [Beyoncé live at Coachella]
2. The Day After
   Hong Sang-soo
3. Black Panther
   Ryan Coogler
4. Leave No Trace
   Debra Granik
5. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
6. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
7. My First Film [live]
   Zia Anger
8. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
9. Kinshasa Makambo
   Dieudo Hamadi
10. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley

Emily Yoshida: Best Movies of 2018, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2017]

1. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
2. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
3. Shirkers
   Sandi Tan
4. Suspiria
   Luca Guadagnino
5. The Rider
   Chloé Zhao
6. Eighth Grade
   Bo Burnham
7. Shoplifters
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
8. Sorry to Bother You
   Boots Riley
9. Have a Nice Day
   Liu Jian
10. A Star Is Born
    Bradley Cooper

Richard Brody: Best Movies of 2018, as published by The New Yorker

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2012 • 2011]

• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis
• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel
• Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
  Travis Wilkerson
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• Werewolf
  Ashley McKenzie
• Mrs. Hyde
  Serge Bozon
• The Old Man & the Gun
  David Lowery
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
  Bruno Dumont
• Claire’s Camera
  Hong Sang-soo
• Infinite Football
  Corneliu Porumboiu
• Monrovia, Indiana
  Frederick Wiseman
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• Sollers Point
  Matthew Porterfield
• Isle of Dogs
  Wes Anderson
• Golden Exits
  Alex Ross Perry
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  Marielle Heller
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• I Am Not a Witch
  Rungano Nyoni
• A Bread Factory
  Patrick Wang
• The 15:17 to Paris
  Clint Eastwood
• The Rest I Make Up
  Michelle Morgan
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• Bisbee '17
  Robert Greene
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Gavagai
  Rob Tregenza
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• Hale County This Morning, This Evening
  RaMell Ross
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• Notes on an Appearance
  Ricky D'Ambrose
• The Other Side of Everything
  Mila Turajlic
• The Spy Who Dumped Me
  Susanna Fogel
• Scarred Hearts
  Radu Jude
• Pow Wow
  Robinson Devor
• A Season in France
  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable
  Sasha Waters Freyer
• The Hate U Give
  George Tillman Jr.
• The Waldheim Waltz
  Ruth Beckermann

A.O. Scott: Best Movies of 2018, as published by The New York Times

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

1. Monrovia, Indiana
   Frederick Wiseman
1. Bisbee '17
   Robert Greene
1. Hale County This Morning, This Evening
   RaMell Ross
1. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
2. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
3. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
4. Private Life
   Tamara Jenkins
5. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
6. Let the Sunshine In
   Claire Denis
7. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
   Marielle Heller
8. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
9. Capernaum
   Nadine Labaki
10. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos

The Runners-Up

• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• Custody
  Xavier Legrand
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• Western
  Valeska Grisebach
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
  Morgan Neville
• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel

Manohla Dargis: Best Movies of 2018, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
2. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
3. Shoplifters
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
4. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
5. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
6. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
7. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
8. The Death of Stalin
   Armando Iannucci
9. Monrovia, Indiana
   Frederick Wiseman
10. Colophon (for the Arboretum Cycle)
    Nathaniel Dorsky

Honor Roll

• At Eternity’s Gate
  Julian Schnabel
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• Bodied
  Joseph Kahn
• Cold War
  Pawel Pawlikowski
• The Day After
  Hong Sang-soo
• Destroyer
  Karyn Kusama
• Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
  Travis Wilkerson
• Eighth Grade
  Bo Burnham
• Golden Exits
  Alex Ross Perry
• The Guardians
  Xavier Beauvois
• Hale County This Morning, This Evening
  RaMell Ross
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• Custody
  Xavier Legrand
• Isle of Dogs
  Wes Anderson
• The King
  Eugene Jarecki
• Lean On Pete
  Andrew Haigh
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Lizzie
  Craig William Macneill
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• The Other Side of the Wind
  Orson Welles
• RBG
  Betsy West and Julie Cohen
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Shoah: Four Sisters
  Claude Lanzmann
• The Sisters Brothers
  Jacques Audiard
• Skate Kitchen
  Crystal Moselle
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• A Star Is Born
  Bradley Cooper
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• The Third Murder
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Three Identical Strangers
  Tim Wardle
• Vox Lux
  Brady Corbet
• Western
  Valeska Grisebach

Matthew Jacobs: 20 Best Movies Of 2018, as published by HuffPost

[see also 2020 • 2017]

1. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
2. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
   Marielle Heller
3. Widows
   Steve McQueen
4. Sorry to Bother You
   Boots Riley
5. Suspiria
   Luca Guadagnino
6. A Star Is Born
   Bradley Cooper
7. Eighth Grade
   Bo Burnham
8. Annihilation
   Alex Garland
9. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
10. The Old Man & the Gun
    David Lowery
11. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
12. Paddington 2
    Paul King
13. The Tale
    Jennifer Fox
14. Hereditary
    Ari Aster
15. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski
16. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
17. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
    Christopher McQuarrie
18. Thoroughbreds
    Cory Finley
19. Skate Kitchen
    Crystal Moselle
20. A Simple Favor
    Paul Feig

Richard Lawson: 10 Best Movies of 2018, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

1. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
2. Leave No Trace
   Debra Granik
3. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
   Marielle Heller
4. Free Solo
   Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
5. Shoplifters
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
6. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
7. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
   Christopher McQuarrie
8. A Star Is Born
   Bradley Cooper
9. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
10. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
    Ol Parker