Year-End Lists

The Ringer: Best Albums of 2018, compiled by Rob Harvilla and Shea Serrano

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019]

1. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
2. Daytona
   Pusha T
3. Clean
   Soccer Mommy
4. FM!
   Vince Staples
5. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
6. All Melody
   Nils Frahm
7. NOIR
   Smino
8. Sparkle Hard
   Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
9. Interstate Gospel
   Pistol Annies
10. White Bronco
    Action Bronson

Caroline Framke: Best TV Shows of 2018, as published by Variety

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020]

• The Americans
• American Vandal
• High Maintenance
• Killing Eve
• One Day at a Time
• Pose
• Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
• Schitt's Creek
• Sharp Objects
• Vida

Justine Smith: Top Ten Films of 2018, as published by RogerEbert.com

[see also 2019 • 2017]

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. Padmaavat
   Sanjay Leela Bhansali
3. Genesis
   Philippe Lesage
4. Annihilation
   Alex Garland
5. Hereditary
   Ari Aster
6. Cam
   Daniel Goldhaber
7. Black Mother
   Khalik Allah
8. Profile
   Timur Bekmambetov
9. The Rider
   Chloé Zhao
10. Birds of Passage
    Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra

Honorable Mentions

• Thunder Road
  Jim Cummings
• Ray & Liz
  Richard Billingham
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis
• Srbenka
  Nebojsa Slijepcevic
• Hale County This Morning, This Evening
  RaMell Ross
• Balangiga: Howling Wilderness
  Khavn
• Relaxer
  Joel Potrykus

This list contributes to:

• RogerEbert.com: Ten Best Films of 2018

Christy Lemire: 10 Best Films of 2018

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

1. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
2. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
3. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
4. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
5. Suspiria
   Luca Guadagnino
6. Sorry to Bother You
   Boots Riley
7. Eighth Grade
   Bo Burnham
8. Hereditary
   Ari Aster
9. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
10. A Star Is Born
    Bradley Cooper

Popsugar: Best Books of 2018

1. The Death of Mrs. Westaway
   Ruth Ware
2. The Immortalists
   Chloe Benjamin
3. Children of Blood and Bone
   Tomi Adeyemi
4. Calypso
   David Sedaris
5. Nine Perfect Strangers
   Liane Moriarty
6. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
   Hank Green
7. There There
   Tommy Orange
8. The Woman in the Window
   A.J. Finn
9. The Witch Elm
   Tana French
10. The Outsider
    Stephen King

Ben Kenigsberg: Top Ten Films of 2018, as published by RogerEbert.com

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

1. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
2. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
3. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
   Travis Wilkerson
4. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
5. Classical Period
   Ted Fendt
6. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
7. Thoroughbreds
   Cory Finley
8. Western
   Valeska Grisebach
9. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
10. Monrovia, Indiana
    Frederick Wiseman

This list contributes to:

• RogerEbert.com: Ten Best Films of 2018

Jordan Cronk: Top 20 Films of 2018, as posted to Twitter

[see also The Ten Best Experimental Films of 2022 • Top Ten Films of 2022 • Top Ten Films of 2021 • Top Ten Films of 2020 • The 50 Best Films of the 2010s • Top 20 Films of 2019 • Top Ten Films of 2017]

1. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
2. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
3. Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
   Bruno Dumont
4. Western
   Valeska Grisebach
5. Dead Souls
   Wang Bing
6. Good Luck
   Ben Russell
7. Infinite Football
   Corneliu Porumboiu
8. PROTOTYPE
   Blake Williams
9. All the Cities of the North
   Dane Komljen
10. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
11. Lover for a Day
    Philippe Garrel
12. El mar la mar
    Joshua Bonnetta and J.P. Sniadecki
13. The Day After
    Hong Sang-soo
14. Scarred Hearts
    Radu Jude
15. Milla
    Valérie Massadian
16. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
17. Personal Problems
    Bill Gunn
18. Notes on an Appearance
    Ricky D'Ambrose
19. Classical Period
    Ted Fendt
20. Shoah: Four Sisters
    Claude Lanzmann

Laura Winnick: 10 Best Books of 2018, as published by Broadly

• Heads of the Colored People
  Nafissa Thompson-Spires
• The Incendiaries
  R.O. Kwon
• The Mars Room
  Rachel Kushner
• My Year of Rest and Relaxation
  Ottessa Moshfegh
• Wild Milk
  Sabrina Mark
• Heavy

  An American Memoir
  Kiese Laymon
• Julián Is a Mermaid
  Jessica Love
• Care Work

  Dreaming Disability Justice
  Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
• All We Know of Pleasure

  Poetic Erotica by Women
  Enid Shomer
• Shout Your Abortion
  Amelia Bonow and Emily Nokes (editors)

PopMatters: 70 Best Albums of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Cocoa Sugar
   Young Fathers
2. Golden Hour
   Kacey Musgraves
3. Joy as an Act of Resistance
   Idles
4. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
5. soil
   serpentwithfeet
6. All That Must Be
   George FitzGerald
7. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
   Deafheaven
8. Power
   Lotic
9. Room 25
   Noname
10. Kingdoms In Colour
    Maribou State
11. Honey
    Robyn
12. Safe in the Hands of Love
    Yves Tumor
13. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
14. Empress
    Ray BLK
15. Care for Me
    Saba
16. Aviary
    Julia Holter
17. Chris
    Christine and the Queens
18. Persona
    Rival Consoles
19. Young Sick Camellia
    St. Paul & The Broken Bones
20. New Bodies
    Tangents
21. Queen of Golden Dogs
    Vessel
22. Double Negative
    Low
23. MITH
    Lonnie Holley
24. Heaven and Earth
    Kamasi Washington
25. Hell-On
    Neko Case
26. You Won't Get What You Want
    Daughters
27. boygenius
    boygenius
28. Konoyo
    Tim Hecker
29. And Nothing Hurt
    Spiritualized
30. Last Night
    Benin City
31. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
32. Years
    Sarah Shook & the Disarmers
33. See You Around
    I’m With Her
34. 7
    Beach House
35. Bodied
    Ital Tek
36. IRISIRI
    Eartheater
37. Interstate Gospel
    Pistol Annies
38. Be the Cowboy
    Mitski
39. iridescence
    BROCKHAMPTON
40. Lost & Found
    Jorja Smith
41. Ultraviolet
    Kelly Moran
42. Invasion of Privacy
    Cardi B
43. Ten Fables of Young Ambition and Passionate Love
    St. Lenox
44. Elysia Crampton
    Elysia Crampton
45. Love Is Dead
    Chvrches
46. Sweetener
    Ariana Grande
47. Singularity
    Jon Hopkins
48. Closer Apart
    Okzharp & Manthe Ribane
49. Fenfo
    Fatoumata Diawara
50. Post-
    Jeff Rosenstock
51. Knock Knock
    DJ Koze
52. Open Here
    Field Music
53. God’s Favorite Customer
    Father John Misty
54. Historian
    Lucy Dacus
55. Black Times
    Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
56. Landfall
    Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet
57. Wide Awake!
    Parquet Courts
58. Volunteer
    Old Crow Medicine Show
59. The Future and the Past
    Natalie Prass
60. American Utopia
    David Byrne
61. Le Kov
    Gwenno
62. Daytona
    Pusha T
63. By The Way, I Forgive You
    Brandi Carlile
64. High As Hope
    Florence + The Machine
65. Paraffin
    Armand Hammer
66. Heaven
    Dilly Dally
67. Record
    Tracey Thorn
68. Full Circle Nightmare
    Kyle Craft
69. Prequelle
    Ghost
70. Evening Machines
    Gregory Alan Isakov

The Playlist: 25 Best Films of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019]

1. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
2. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
3. Hereditary
   Ari Aster
4. Annihilation
   Alex Garland
5. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
6. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
7. Eighth Grade
   Bo Burnham
8. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
9. Leave No Trace
   Debra Granik
10. Suspiria
    Luca Guadagnino
11. Paddington 2
    Paul King
12. First Man
    Damien Chazelle
13. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins
14. Mandy
    Panos Cosmatos
15. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
16. A Quiet Place
    John Krasinski
17. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
    Morgan Neville
18. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley
19. Wildlife
    Paul Dano
20. The Death of Stalin
    Armando Iannucci
21. Private Life
    Tamara Jenkins
22. A Star Is Born
    Bradley Cooper
23. BlacKkKlansman
    Spike Lee
24. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
25. Black Panther
    Ryan Coogler

Just a point or two from cracking the top 25

26. Blindspotting
    Carlos López Estrada
27. Vice
    Adam McKay
28. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
    Marielle Heller
29. Cold War
    Pawel Pawlikowski
30. Crazy Rich Asians
    Jon M. Chu

After that

31. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
    Christopher McQuarrie
32. Widows
    Steve McQueen
33. Thunder Road
    Jim Cummings
34. Thoroughbreds
    Cory Finley
35. Love, Simon
    Greg Berlanti
36. Incredibles 2
    Brad Bird
37. Let the Sunshine In
    Claire Denis
38. The Tale
    Jennifer Fox
39. Custody
    Xavier Legrand
40. Claire’s Camera
    Hong Sang-soo
41. Game Night
    John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
42. Upgrade
    Leigh Whannell
43. Madeline’s Madeline
    Josephine Decker
44. 1985
    Yen Tan
45. Araby
    João Dumans and Affonso Uchôa
46. Foxtrot
    Samuel Maoz
47. Minding the Gap
    Bing Liu
48. Vox Lux
    Brady Corbet
49. Museo
    Alonso Ruizpalacios
50. This Is Congo
    Daniel McCabe