Here's our favorite films of 2018, as voted on by more than 20 of our contributing writers, who collectively picked 114 films as their favorites.
1. Roma
2. The Favourite
3 (tie). BlacKkKlansman / You Were Never Really Here
5. Sorry to Bother You
6. Mandy
7. Annihilation
8. Hereditary
9. One Cut of the Dead
10 (tie): Phantom Thread / Shoplifters
We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to the site over the past year, including the many in our community who freely post material. As managing editor, I am especially indebted to Todd Brown, founder and editor, who made all of this possible in the first place.
My fellow editors contribute invaluably behind the scenes, as consultants and advisors, as well as through their written articles here on the site. We are happy to have a grand variety of talented and creative voices from around the globe who offer their own unique perspective with their news articles, festival coverage, and reviews.
Most of all, though, we are grateful to the filmmakers who offer their weird, wacky, and wonderful visions to the world.
In the gallery below, see individual picks by our writers for their favorite films from the past 12 months.
Christopher Bourne Featured Critic
- ROMA (Alfonso Cuaron)
- BURNING (Lee Chang-dong)
- DID YOU WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN? (Travis Wilkerson)
- CLAIRE'S CAMERA (Hong Sang-soo)
- THE DAY AFTER (Hong Sang-soo)
- 24 FRAMES (Abbas Kiarostami)
- IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (Barry Jenkins)
- BLACKKKLANSMAN (Spike Lee)
- BODIED (Joseph Kahn)
- YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (Lynne Ramsay)
Dustin Chang Featured Critic
- Long Day's Journey into Night - Bi Gan
- Ash is the Purest White - Jia Zhangke
- 24 Frames - Abbas Kiarostami
- High Life - Claire Denis
- The Wild Pear Tree - Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Burning - Lee Changdong
- Les garçons sauvages - Bertrand Mandico
- The Favourite - Yorgos Lanthimos
- Transit - Christian Petzold
- Roma - Alfonso Cuaron
- Jeannette, l'enfrance de Jean D'Arc - Bruno Dumont
- First Reformed - Paul Schrader
- Happy as Lazzaro - Alice Rohrwacher
- Mandy - Panos Costamos
- Shirkers - Sandi Tan
- Barbara - Mathieu Amalric
- Cold War - Pawel Pawlikowski
- Bisbee '17 - Robert Greene
- Image Book - Jean-Luc Godard
- You were Never Really Here - Lynne Ramsay
Jim Tudor Featured Critic
First Reformed BlackKklansman The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Won’t You Be My Neighbor The Other Side of the Wind Avengers: Infinity War The King If Beale Street Could Talk November The Favourite
Andrew Mack Editor, News
Roma One Cut of the Dead The Night Comes For Us Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse The Favourite Blackkklansman Luz If Beale Street Could Talk Mandy Annihilation
Ard Vijn Editor, Europe
1: ANNIHILATION 2: TUMBBAD 3: THE GUILTY 4: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD 5: THE BORDER (GRÄNS) 6: THE ENDLESS 7: THE DEATH OF STALIN 8: SALYUT 7 9: RAMPAGE 10: THE WIND
Benjamin Umstead Editor, U.S.
- The Favourite
- Paddington 2
- Madeline's Madeline
- Bisbee '17
- The Sisters Brothers
- Roma
- Transit
- We The Animals
- Won't You Be My Neighbor?
- Three Identical Strangers
J. Hurtado Editor, U.S.
Roma Tigers Are Not Afraid Tumbbad One Cut of the Dead Ee.Ma.Yau The Night Comes For Us Sorry To Bother You In Fabric Border Blue My Mind I Am Not A Witch The Favourite
James Marsh Editor, Asia
- Suspiria
- First Man
- Phantom Thread
- Shoplifters
- Roma
- Burning
- Mission Impossible - Fallout
- You Were Never Really Here
- Three Identical Strangers
- The Favourite
Kwenton Bellette Editor, Australia
- Shirkers
- The Gutenberg Project
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Roma
- Piercing
- Thoroughbreds
- Hold the dark
- The house that Jack built
- Cold war
- One cut of the dead
Michele Galgana Editor, U.S.
- You Were Never Really Here
- Upgrade
- Hereditary
- Sorry to Bother You
- BlacKkKlansman
- Annihilation
- Luz
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- Widows
- Revenge
Shelagh Rowan-Legg Editor, Canada
- You Were Never Really Here
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- High Life
- Sorry to Bother You
- BlacKkKlansman
- Madeline's Madeline
- Quien Te Cantará
- Leave No Trace
- Border
- Mouthpiece
Chris Webster Contributing Writer
Mandy You Were Never Really Here Prospect Upgrade Solo: A Star Wars Story Annihilation Hereditary A Quiet Place The Night Comes for Us Searching
Dave Canfield Contributing Writer
Here's my year end list in no particular order.
- First Reformed
- Hereditary
- Sorry To Bother You
- Three Identical Strangers
- Annihilation
- The Favorite
- Chained For Life
- One Cut of the Dead
- The Perfection
- 3615 Code Pere Noel
Ernesto Zelaya Minano Contributing Writer
As Boas Maneiras (Good Manners) Roma The Shape of Water The Night Comes For Us BlacKkKlansman Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Avengers: Infinity War Revenge Lords of Chaos Annihilation
Eric Ortiz Garcia Contributing Writer
BlacKkKlansman Diamantino Isle of Dogs Lords of Chaos Lucky Mandy One Cut of the Dead Phantom Thread Roma Shoplifters Suspiria The Disaster Artist The Post The Shape of Water Tumbbad
Jaime Grijalba Contributing Writer
- Roma (Alfonso Cuarón)
- Relaxer (Joel Potrykus)
- John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (Julien Faraut)
- Yara (Abbas Fahdel)
- Season of the Devil (Lav Diaz)
- Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson)
- Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (Tsui Hark)
- The Other Side of the Wind (Orson Welles)
- Hotel by the River (Hong Sang-soo)
- The Waldheim Waltz (Ruth Beckermann)
Joshua Chaplinsky: Contributing Writer
The Favourite Bodied Madeline’s Madeline Hereditary You Were Never Really Here Three Identical Strangers Death of Stalin Annihilation Sorry to Bother You Mandy
Kurt Halfyard Contributing Writer
I haven't seen all that I would have liked to (see below!) as I kind of took it easy on 'new releases' this year to focus more on repertory viewings in the cinema, but what the heck, here is my Top 10, FWIW:
1 Phantom Thread 70mm (USA/UK) 2 Suspiria (Italy) 3 Widows (UK) 4 The Favourite (Greece/UK) 5 Sorry To Bother You (USA) 6 The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (USA) 7 Shoplifters (Japan) 8 Annihilation (UK) 9 Luz (Germany) 10 The House That Jack Built (Denmark)
Honourable mention: High Life, Hereditary, Blackkklansman, American Dharma, Killing, The Sisters Brothers, First Reformed (2017 title for me), Loveless (2017 title for me), Bodied (2017 title for me), The Old Man & The Gun, Won't You Be My Neighbor, Making Murakami, MI:6, Neomanilla, First Man, Tigers Are Not Afraid, Mandy, Summer of '84
Notably missed (oh so many this year!): The Rider, Black Panther, Burning, A Star Is Born, ROMA, Isle of Dogs, If Beale Street Could Talk, Border, The Rider, Cold War, Anna & The Apocalypse, Halloween, Eighth Grade, Thoroughbreds, Paddington 2, Death of Stalin, A Quiet Place, Anon, Can You Ever Forgive Me, Vice, Under The Silver Lake, Vox Lux, Mid90s
Biggest Disappointments: Incredibles 2, Cold Skin, Beautiful Boy, Destroyer
Best Short Film: Tungrus
Loïc Valceschini Contributing Writer
- Roma
- Shoplifters
- Burning
- Hanagatami
- The Guilty
- Mirai
- Piercing
- Luz
- Ash
- Pájaros de verano
Matt Brown Contributing Writer
Phantom Thread Sorry To Bother You The Hate U Give Black Panther If Beale Street Could Talk Twin Flower Paddington 2 Annihilation The Rider Roma
Niels Matthijs Contributing Writer
Here’s mine, all production year 2018.
- The House That Jack Built
- Batman Ninja
- Ghostland
- An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn
- Animal World [Dongwu Shijie]
- Zoe
- Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle [Gojira: Kessen Kidô Zôshoku Toshi]
- Shadow [Ying]
- Mandy
- Isle of Dogs
Like most years though, I expect the best 2018 films to arrive next year, maybe even 2020. For reference, Isle of Dogs is the only film that made it into my 10 best seen this year (at number 9).
Pierce Conran Contributing Writer
Way behind on end-of-year awards films but plenty of great stuff this year already:
- Burning
- Roma
- Suspiria
- The Guilty
- Hereditary
- Shoplifters
- House of Hummingbird
- Happy as Lazarro
- Swing Kids
- In Fabric
Arghhh, couldn't fit these in: Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Birds of Passage, Dogman
Tom Kiesecoms Contributing Writer
10) Keep an Eye Out 9) The Miseducation of Cameron Post 8) Xiao Mei 7) Mandy 6) Wildlife 5) Madeline's Madeline 4) Eighth Grade 3) Utøya: July 22 2) Border 1) Thunder Road
Zach Gayne Contributing Writer
- Lords of Chaos
- You Were Never Really Here
- The Favourite
- Roma
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Mandy
- Blaze
- BlacKkKlansman
- Thunder Road
- A Futile And Stupid Gesture
Peter Martin Managing Editor
Dial Code Santa Claus The Night Comes For Us Roma Leave No Trace BlacKkKlansman Shoplifters Shirkers The Guilty Border Mandy