Year-End Lists

Peter Debruge: Best Movies of 2020, as published by Variety

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

1. A Sun
   Chung Mong-hong
2. Saint Frances
   Alex Thompson
3. Soul
   Pete Docter
4. Herself
   Phyllida Lloyd
5. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
6. Small Axe: Mangrove
   Steve McQueen
7. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
   George C. Wolfe
8. A White, White Day
   Hlynur Pálmason
9. Antebellum
   Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz
10. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
    Jason Woliner

Honorable Mention

• Bad Education
  Cory Finley

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2020

Uproxx: The Best Movies of 2020, in no particular order

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

• Palm Springs
  Max Barbakow
• Minari
  Lee Isaac Chung
• I'm Thinking of Ending Things
  Charlie Kaufman
• Dick Johnson Is Dead
  Kirsten Johnson
• Small Axe: Lovers Rock
  Steve McQueen
• The Invisible Man
  Leigh Whannell
• Extraction
  Sam Hargrave
• One Night in Miami
  Regina King
• The Trial of the Chicago 7
  Aaron Sorkin
• Nomadland
  Chloé Zhao
• First Cow
  Kelly Reichardt
• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
  Jason Woliner
• The King of Staten Island
  Judd Apatow
• Da 5 Bloods
  Spike Lee
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  Eliza Hittman

Angelica Jade Bastién: The Best Movies of 2020, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2021]

1. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
2. The Nest
   Sean Durkin
3. Black Bear
   Lawrence Michael Levine
4. Possessor Uncut
   Brandon Cronenberg
5. Another Round
   Thomas Vinterberg
6. Shirley
   Josephine Decker
7. Kindred
   Joe Marcantonio
8. I'm Your Woman
   Julia Hart
9. Miss Juneteenth
   Channing Godfrey Peoples
10. Console Wars
    Jonah Tulis and Blake J. Harris

Bilge Ebiri: The Best Movies of 2020, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2012]

1. Martin Eden
   Pietro Marcello
2. Time
   Garrett Bradley
3. Da 5 Bloods
   Spike Lee
4. Beanpole
   Kantemir Balagov
5. Collective
   Alexander Nanau
6. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
   Eliza Hittman
7. Tenet
   Christopher Nolan
8. Eurovision
   David Dobkin
9. The Old Guard
   Gina Prince-Bythewood
10. Mayor
    David Osit
11. Another Round
    Thomas Vinterberg
12. News of the World
    Paul Greengrass
13. Kajillionaire
    Miranda July
14. Mank
    David Fincher
15. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
    Steve McQueen
15. Small Axe: Mangrove
    Steve McQueen
16. She Dies Tomorrow
    Amy Seimetz
17. The Sharks
    Lucía Garibaldi
18. Dick Johnson Is Dead
    Kirsten Johnson
19. His House
    Remi Weekes
20. Bacurau
    Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2020

Alison Willmore: The Best Movies of 2020, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture plus some runners-up, in no particular order

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

1. Bacurau
   Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
2. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
3. Time
   Garrett Bradley
4. Dick Johnson Is Dead
   Kirsten Johnson
5. The Assistant
   Kitty Green
6. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
   Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
7. Beanpole
   Kantemir Balagov
8. Martin Eden
   Pietro Marcello
9. Another Round
   Thomas Vinterberg
10. Relic
    Natalie Erika James

some runners-up, in no particular order

• The Father
  Florian Zeller
• First Cow
  Kelly Reichardt
• La Llorona
  Jayro Bustamante
• Minari
  Lee Isaac Chung
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  Eliza Hittman
• The Nest
  Sean Durkin
• Nomadland
  Chloé Zhao
• The Painter and the Thief
  Benjamin Ree
• The Vast of Night
  Andrew Patterson
• Wolfwalkers
  Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2020

Ann Hornaday: Best Movies of 2020, as published by The Washington Post

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. Small Axe
   Steve McQueen
2. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
3. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
4. Miss Juneteenth
   Channing Godfrey Peoples
5. The Personal History of David Copperfield
   Armando Iannucci
6. Palm Springs
   Max Barbakow
7. The Assistant
   Kitty Green
8. The Half of It
   Alice Wu
9. The Trip to Greece
   Michael Winterbottom
10. Host
    Rob Savage

The year's five best documentaries

1. The Painter and the Thief
   Benjamin Ree
2. The Fight
   Eli Despres, Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg
3. 76 days
   Hao Wu, Weixi Chen and Anonymous
4. Coup 53
   Taghi Amirani
5. Dick Johnson Is Dead
   Kirsten Johnson

Matthew Jacobs: The 17 Best Movies of 2020, as published by HuffPost along with "a handful of must-see performances"

[see also 2018 • 2017]

1. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
2. Promising Young Woman
   Emerald Fennell
3. Minari
   Lee Isaac Chung
4. Dick Johnson Is Dead
   Kirsten Johnson
5. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
6. Kajillionaire
   Miranda July
7. Bad Education
   Cory Finley
8. David Byrne's American Utopia
   Spike Lee
9. Bacurau
   Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
10. The 40-Year-Old Version
    Radha Blank
11. Sound of Metal
    Darius Marder
12. The Truffle Hunters
    Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
13. Freaky
    Christopher Landon
14. Driveways
    Andrew Ahn
15. Da 5 Bloods
    Spike Lee
16. Shithouse
    Cooper Raiff
17. Palm Springs
    Max Barbakow

Honorable mentions

• Boys State
  Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine
• Small Axe: Lovers Rock
  Steve McQueen
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  Eliza Hittman
• Relic
  Natalie Erika James
• Saint Frances
  Alex Thompson
• Save Yourselves!
  Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson
• The Vast of Night
  Andrew Patterson

Leah Greenblatt: The 10 Best Movies of 2020, as published by Entertainment Weekly along with nods to a few more "smart, strange, and often entirely unexpected films we were lucky enough to get"

[see also 2022]

1. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
2. Minari
   Lee Isaac Chung
3. Soul
   Pete Docter
4. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
5. The White Tiger
   Ramin Bahrani
6. Emma.
   Autumn de Wilde
7. Kajillionaire
   Miranda July
8. One Night in Miami
   Regina King
9. Promising Young Woman
   Emerald Fennell
10. Dick Johnson Is Dead
    Kirsten Johnson

Manohla Dargis: Best Movies of 2020, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Martin Eden
   Pietro Marcello
2. City Hall
   Frederick Wiseman
3. Gunda
   Viktor Kosakovskiy
4. David Byrne's American Utopia
   Spike Lee
5. Bacurau
   Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
6. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
   Eliza Hittman
8. Collective
   Alexander Nanau
9. The 40-Year-Old Version
   Radha Blank
10. Beanpole
    Kantemir Balagov

Other movies I'm grateful for

• 76 days
  Hao Wu, Weixi Chen and Anonymous
• Small Axe: Alex Wheatle
  Steve McQueen
• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
  Jason Woliner
• Buoyancy
  Rodd Rathjen
• Circumstantial Pleasures
  Lewis Klahr
• Coded Bias
  Shalini Kantayya
• Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
  Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht
• Da 5 Bloods
  Spike Lee
• Dick Johnson Is Dead
  Kirsten Johnson
• Emma.
  Autumn de Wilde
• Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
  Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer
• Birds of Prey
  Cathy Yan
• House of Hummingbird
  Kim Bora
• I Wish I Knew
  Jia Zhang-ke
• The Invisible Man
  Leigh Whannell
• Lost Girls
  Liz Garbus
• Minari
  Lee Isaac Chung
• Miss Juneteenth
  Channing Godfrey Peoples
• Nomadland
  Chloé Zhao
• The Old Guard
  Gina Prince-Bythewood
• On the Record
  Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering
• On the Rocks
  Sofia Coppola
• One Night in Miami
  Regina King
• The Photograph
  Stella Meghie
• Tesla
  Michael Almereyda
• The Traitor
  Marco Bellocchio
• The Wild Goose Lake
  Diao Yinan
• Sorry We Missed You
  Ken Loach
• Soul
  Pete Docter
• The Truffle Hunters
  Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
• The Truth
  Hirokazu Kore-eda

A.O. Scott: Best Movies of 2020, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
   Jason Woliner
2. City Hall
   Frederick Wiseman
2. Collective
   Alexander Nanau
3. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
4. Martin Eden
   Pietro Marcello
5. The 40-Year-Old Version
   Radha Blank
6. Palm Springs
   Max Barbakow
7. Bacurau
   Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
8. David Byrne's American Utopia
   Spike Lee
8. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
9. Dick Johnson Is Dead
   Kirsten Johnson
10. Soul
    Pete Docter