2016 Recap – Top 100 Films of the Year

by - December 30th, 2016 - Features

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The Top 100 Movies of 2016

Once again, I slowly tracked everything I watched in 2016, compiling a massive master list of my favorite films, placing them in some rough order of preference as I went along. As of the publication of this article, I’d watched 519 features for the very first time, 255 of which were released to domestic U.S. theatres during the calendar year.

With all that in mind, here are the Top 100 films of 2016 as I see them. Please note, unlike on previous pages, documentaries and 2015 releases that saw U.S. distribution this year have not been sorted out. It’s all together in one giant bundle. Enjoy sifting through them all.

1. The Innocents (d: Anne Fontaine)
2. Hell or High Water (d: David Mackenzie)
3. Moonlight (d: Barry Jenkins)
4. Love & Friendship (d: Whit Stillman)
5. 13th (d: Ava DuVernay)

13th (2016)
PHOTO: Netflix

6. Under the Shadow (d: Babak Anvari)
7. Certain Women (d: Kelly Reichardt)
8. Hidden Figures (d: Theodore Melfi)
9. 10 Cloverfield Lane (d: Dan Trachtenberg)
10. Pete’s Dragon (d: David Lowery)

Pete’s Dragon (2016)
PHOTO: Walt Disney Pictures

11. Knight of Cups (d: Terrence Malick)
12. Jackie (d: Pablo Larraín)
13. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (d: Gareth Edwards)
14. La La Land (d: Damien Chazelle)
15. Viva (d: Paddy Breathnach)

Viva (2015)
PHOTO: Magnolia Pictures

16. The Witch (d: Robert Eggers)
17. A Monster Calls (d: J.A. Bayona)
18. Nina Forever (d: Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine)
19. The Edge of Seventeen (d: Kelly Fremon Craig)
20. Loving (d: Jeff Nichols)

Loving (2016)
PHOTO: Focus Features

21. Indignation (d: James Schamus)
22. Manchester by the Sea (d: Kenneth Lonergan)
23. Only Yesterday (d: Isao Takahata)
24. I, Daniel Blake (d: Ken Loach)
25. The Love Witch (d: Anna Biller)

The Love Witch (2016)
PHOTO: Oscilloscope Laboratories

26. Green Room (d: Jeremy Saulnier)
27. Queen of Katwe (d: Mira Nair)
28. Arrival (d: Denis Villeneuve)
29. Paterson (d: Jim Jarmusch)
30. Kubo and the Two Strings (d: Travis Knight)

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
PHOTO: Focus Features

31. The Fits (d: Anna Rose Holmer)
32. Things to Come (d: Mia Hansen-Løve)
33. Fences (d: Denzel Washington)
34. Rules Don’t Apply (d: Warren Beatty)
35. Captain Fantastic (d: Matt Ross)

Captain Fantastic (2016)
PHOTO: Bleecker Street

36. Christine (d: Antonio Campos)
37. Cameraperson (d: Kirsten Johnson)
38. Nocturnal Animals (d: Tom Ford)
39. De Palma (d: Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow)
40. Finding Dory (d: Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane)

Finding Dory (2016)
PHOTO: Pixar

41. Weiner (d: Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg)
42. Sing Street (d: John Carney)
43. Little Men (d: Ira Sachs)
44. Long Way North (d: Rémi Chayé)
45. A Hologram for the King (d: Tom Tykwer)

A Hologram for the King (2016)
PHOTO: Roadside Attractions

46. The Wailing (d: Na Hong-Jin)
47. Gleason (d: J. Clay Tweel)
48. The Wave (d: Roar Uthaug)
49. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (d: André Øvredal)
50. Midnight Special (d: Jeff Nichols)

Midnight Special (2016)
PHOTO: Warner Bros

51. American Honey (d: Andrea Arnold)
52. 20th Century Women (d: Mike Mills)
53. One More Time (d: Robert Edwards)
54. The Lobster (d: Yorgos Lanthimos)
55. Hail, Caesar! (d: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)

Hail, Caesar! (2016)
PHOTO: Universal Pictures

56. The Dressmaker (d: Jocelyn Moorhouse)
57. The Handmaiden (d:  Chan-wook Park)
58. Tag (d: Sion Sono)
59. Swiss Army Man (d: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert)
60. Louder Than Bombs (d: Joachim Trier)

Louder Than Bombs (2016)
PHOTO: The Orchard

61. Demon (d: Marcin Wrona)
62. The Nice Guys (d: Shane Black)
63. The Jungle Book (d: Jon Favreau)
64. A Bigger Splash (d: Luca Guadagnino)
65. The Eagle Huntress (d: Otto Bell)

The Eagle Huntress (2016)
PHOTO: Sony Pictures Classics

66. Zootopia (d: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush)
67. Everybody Want Some!! (d: Richard Linklater)
68. The Ones Below (d: David Farr)
69. Presenting Princess Shaw (d: Ido Haar)
70. Disorder (d: Alice Winocour)

Disorder (2015)
PHOTO: IFC Films

71. Southside with You (d: Richard Tanne)
72. In Order of Disappearance (d: Hans Petter Moland)
73. Julieta (d: Pedro Almodóvar)
74. Miss Sloane (d: John Madden)
75. Sully (d: Clint Eastwood)

Sully (2016)
PHOTO: Warner Bros

76. Ouija: Origin of Evil (d: Mike Flanagan)
77. Star Trek Beyond (d: Justin Lin)
78. The Accountant (d: Gavin O’Connor)
79. Moana (d: Ron Clements, John Musker, Don Hall, Chris Williams)
80. Complete Unknown (d: Joshua Marston)

Complete Unknown (2016)
PHOTO: IFC Films

81. Shelley (d: Ali Abbasi)
82. Sing (d: Gareth Jennings, Christophe Lourdelet)
83. The Last King (d: Nils Gaup)
84. Miles Ahead (d: Don Cheadle)
85. Hello, My Name is Doris (d: Michael Showalter)

Hello, My Name is Doris (2016)
PHOTO: Roadside Attractions

86. Evolution (d: Lucile Hadzihalilovic)
87. Born to Be Blue (d: Robert Budreau)
88. Ghostbusters (d: Paul Feig)
89. The First Monday in May (d: Andrew Rossi)
90. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (d: David Yates)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
PHOTO: Warner Bros

91. The BFG (d: Steven Spielberg)
92. Demolition (d: Jean-Marc Vallée)
93. Don’t Think Twice (d: Mike Birbiglia)
94. Hacksaw Ridge (d: Mel Gibson)
95. Storks (d: Doug Sweetland, Nicholas Stoller)

Storks (2016)
PHOTO: Warner Bros

96. Don’t Breathe (d: Fede Alvarez)
97. Blood Father (d: Jean-François Richet)
98. Morris from America (d: Chad Hartigan)
99. Road Games (d: Abner Pastoll)
100. The Shallows (d: Jaume Collet-Serra)

The Shallows (2016)
PHOTO: Sony

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