It is once again the time to list the best films of the year. I have already published other lists at Film Festival Today (where I am editor) and Hammer to Nail (where I am lead film critic). I break up my choices into documentary and narrative (fiction); this latter category includes animation. I do not differentiate between films that screened at film festivals and those that received streaming or theatrical releases. I offer a “Top 10” in each category, then an additional 10 runners-up for both, for 40 films total. In addition, I offer 20 more “honorable mentions,” bringing that final number to 60. Enjoy! Where I have previously reviewed a film, I link to that review in the title.
TOP 10 DOCUMENTARIES (in alphabetical order):
- André Is an Idiot (Tony Benna)
- Backside (Raúl O. Paz Pastrana)
- Boorman and the Devil (David Kittredge)
- Coexistence, My Ass! (Amber Fares)
- Cutting Through Rocks (Mohammadreza Eyni/Sara Khaki)
- Holding Liat (Brandon Kramer)
- Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (Shoshannah Stern)
- Mr. Nobody Against Putin (David Borenstein/Pavel Ilyich Talankin)
- Natchez (Suzannah Herbert)
- Teenage Wasteland (Amanda McBaine/Jesse Moss)
TOP 10 FICTION FILMS (in alphabetical order):
- All That’s Left of You (Cherien Dabis)
- Left-Handed Girl (Shih-Ching Tsou)
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Liane-Cho Han/Maïlys Vallade)
- Nouvelle Vague (Richard Linklater)
- Rental Family (Hikari)
- Rebuilding (Max Walker-Silverman)
- Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)
- Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
- Train Dreams (Clint Bentley)
- The Voice of Hind Rajab (Kaouther Ben Hania)
10 DOCUMENTARY RUNNERS-UP (in alphabetical order):
- Come See Me in the Good Light (Ryan White)
- Coroner to the Stars (Ben Hethcoat/Keita Ideno)
- Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print (Cecilia Aldarondo/Alice Gu/Salima Koroma)
- Folktales (Heidi Ewing/Rachel Grady)
- Happy and You Know It (Penny Lane)
- Life After (Reid Davenport)
- Love Chaos Kin (Chithra Jeyaram)
- Prime Minister (Lindsay Utz/Michelle Walshe)
- The Tale of Silyan (Tamara Kotevska)
- WTO/90 (Ian Bell)
10 FICTION FILMS RUNNERS-UP (in alphabetical order):
- Amoeba (Siyou Tan)
- Arco (Ugo Bienvenu)
- The Balconettes (Noémie Merlant)
- Drowning Dry (Laurynas Bareisa)
- 40 Acres (R.T. Thorne)
- The Ice Tower (Lucile Hadzihalilovic)
- Predator: Badlands (Dan Trachtenberg)
- Real Faces (Leni Huyghe)
- Reflection in a Dead Diamond (Hélène Cattet/Bruno Forzani)
- 28 Years Later (Danny Boyle)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in alphabetical order):
- The Ballad of Wallis Island (James Griffiths)
- Billy Idol Should Be Dead (Jonas Åkerlund)
- Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (Embeth Davidtz)
- Franz (Agnieszka Holland)
- Honey Bunch (Dusty Mancinelli/Madeleine Sims-Fewer)
- In Your Dreams (Erik Benson/Alexander Woo)
- It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi)
- Little Trouble Girls (Urska Djukic)
- OBEX (Albert Birney)
- Oh, Hi (Sophie Brooks)
- One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
- One of Them Days (Lawrence Lamont)
- The Penguin Lessons (Peter Cattaneo)
- A Private Life (Rebecca Zlotowski)
- Scarlet (Mamoru Hosoda)
- The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
- Song Sung Blue (Craig Brewer)
- Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Rian Johnson)
- Weapons (Zach Cregger)
- Who by Fire (Philippe Lesage)
Happy New Year!
chrisreedfilm 