Even 2020, with all its weirdness and pain, has played home to a thrilling assortment of films worth championing, the kind of films that would top any best-of list in any year. Such is the case with this year’s crop of “the best films,” as recognized by IndieWire’s own staff, who spend our literal lives consuming content (or, in more elegant terms, watching movies and TV shows).
Below, IndieWire’s staff unpacks some of our favorite films of the year. From awards darlings like “Nomadland” and “Minari” to festival favorites like “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” and “Time,” plus underseen gems like “Beanpole” and “Bacurau,” we’ve watched (and loved) a lot of movies this year. We hope you did, too. Related IndieWire’s Chief Film Critic Eric Kohn Picks the Best Movies of 2020 — Year in Review 2020 Critics Poll: The Best Films and Performances According to Over 200 Critics from Around the World Related Oscars 2023: ‘Everything Everywhere,’ ‘Nope’ Among Early Favorites New Movies: Release Calendar for December 23, Plus Where to Watch the Latest FilmsAnd, if you’re in need of still more superlative lists about the best the year had to offer, be sure to check out Executive Editor and Chief Critic Eric Kohn’s best-of list, our annual critics poll with over 200 participants sounding off on a wide variety of films, or a look back at some of the small screen’s best series.
Anne Thompson, Editor-at-Large
Ann Donahue, Executive Editor, TV
Focus Features The 10 Movies* I Saw in Quarantine** While Living with a Six-Year-Old*** *Really, truly, I only saw 10 movies this year, so this is more of a default list instead of a list of favorites. There was a lot of competition for screen time around here, OK? Be glad this isn’t a list of “10 Best Episodes of ‘Octonauts’ I Watched to Prevent My Child’s Brain from Rotting and Possibly Teach Him Some Social Skills About the Value of Teamwork Via Cute Animated Animals Because He Hasn’t Seen Another Child in Seven Months” because I could have done that, too. **That being said, I have seen all of “The Crown” and “Bridgerton” at least twice, and liked both of those series more than I like any of these movies, so please hit me up if you want to talk about them. ***No, the six-year-old didn’t watch “Borat.”
Christian Blauvelt, Managing Editor
Kino Lorber
Kate Erbland, Deputy Editor, Film
Bleecker Typically, I approach my annual top ten with academic rigor: ten films (only films!), listed in order of my preference, no fuss, no muss, done. But this year has only been about fuss and muss, and when I thought about organizing my usual list in the usual way, it didn’t make much sense. Everything else about 2020 has been unusual, so why not opt to be (just a touch) more unusual with my end-of-the-year round-up? For now, this is what I’ve landed on, a list of 15 films (15, wow! but still all films!) that proved to be good enough to hold my attention during this hell year and inspire fresh ruminations many months after first viewings. Of these 15 films, only three of them (“Emma,” “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” and “Promising Young Woman”) were first seen in a theater, a horrible statistic I hope to never, ever revisit. But even the features confined to home viewing and all its attendant distractions emerged as hearty contenders, bright spots in a period of time without many of them. (Home viewing, of course, is not a bad thing, and I confess to having watched “The Invisible Man” at least five times since it hit HBO earlier the year, my love for it only growing with each re-watch.) Presenting: The 15 Best Films of 2020 That Held My Attention, Interest, and Affection During This Very, Very Bad Year, Organized Alphabetically
“The Assistant” “Emma” “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” “The Invisible Man” “Lovers Rock” “Minari” “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” “Nomadland” “One Night in Miami” “Palm Springs” “Promising Young Woman” “Saint Frances” “Time” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” “Wolfwalkers”
Ben Travers, Deputy Editor, TV
Courtesy of IFC Films
Chris O’Falt, Deputy Editor, Film & TV Craft
Leonardo Adrian Garcia, Creative Producer
My 11 Favorite Films of 2020 Which Denis Villeneuve Likely Doesn’t Consider Cinema (as they’re not of “Dune’s” scope and scale) and listed alphabetically “All In: The Fight for Democracy” “The Assistant” “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” “David Byrne’s American Utopia” “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” “Kajillionaire” “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” “Palm Springs” “Sound of Metal” “What The Constitution Means To Me” “Wolfwalkers”
Zack Sharf, News Editor
The Best Film of 2020: “Sound of Metal” A Very Close Second: “Lovers Rock” Other Film and TV Highlights: “The Assistant” “The Nest” “I May Destroy You” “The Great” “Time” “Dick Johnson Is Dead” “News of the World” “The Invisible Man”
Ryan Lattanzio, Weekend Editor
Peter Andrews “The Nest” “Let Them All Talk” “And Then We Danced” “Shirley” “Monsoon” “Lovers Rock” “Welcome to Chechnya” “Luxor” “Possessor” “Beanpole”
David Ehrlich, Senior Film Critic
Kristen Lopez, TV Editor
Focus Features
Bill Desowitz, Crafts & Animation Editor
Disney/Pixar
Tom Brueggemann, Box Office Editor
“The Assistant” (Kitty Green) “Dear Comrades!” (Andrey Konchalovskiy) “First Cow” (Kelly Reichardt) “The Forty-Year-Old Version” (Radha Blank) “A Sun” (Chung Mong Hong) “Time” (Garrett Bradley) “To the Ends of the Earth” (Kurosawa Kiyoshi) “Vitalina Varela’ (Pedro Costa) “The Wild Goose Lake” (Diao Yinan) “Wolfwalkers” (Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart)
Jude Dry, Associate Editor
Chris Lindahl, Film Business Reporter
Angal Field “Time” “Nomadland” “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” “Kajillionaire” “Bad Education” “Dick Johnson is Dead” “Swallow” “Blow the Man Down” “Promising Young Woman” “The Social Dilemma”
Tambay Obenson, Staff Writer
David Lee/Netflix “Da 5 Bloods” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” “Bacurau” (“Nighthawk”) “The Forty-Year-Old Version” “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” “Farewell Amor” “One Night in Miami” “Zombi Child” “On the Record”
Leah Lu, Social Media Coordinator
“Minari” “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” “Sound of Metal” “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” “Lovers Rock” “The Assistant” “Palm Springs” “Soul” “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” “Dick Johnson Is Dead” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
