2018 Recap – The Top 100 Films of the Year

THE TOP 100 OF 2018

As in previous years, I slowly tracked everything I watched in 2017, 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 387 features for the very first time, 204 of which were released to domestic U.S. theatres during the calendar year or are scheduled to get a release during the first quarter of 2019.

With that in mind, here are the Top 100 films of 2018 as I see them. Please note, unlike on previous pages documentaries and releases from previous years that saw U.S. distribution over the past 12 months have not been sorted out. It’s all together in one giant bundle. Enjoy sifting through them all.

1. Paddington 2 (D: Paul King)

2. Roma (D: Alfonso Cuarón)

3. Revenge (D: Coralie Fargeat)

4. Blindspotting (D: Carlos López Estrada) [Interview with Carlos López Estrada]

5. The Miseducation of Cameron Post (D: Desiree Akhavan) [Interview with Desiree Akhavan]

6. You Were Never Really Here (D: Lynne Ramsay)

7. Lean on Pete (D: Andrew Haigh) [Interview with Andrew Haigh]

8. The Favourite (D: Yorgos Lanthimos)

9. BlacKkKlansman (D: Spike Lee)

10. What They Had (D: Elizbeth Chomko) [Interview with Elizbeth Chomko]

11. Tully (D: Jason Reitman)

12. The Guilty (D: Gustav Möller)

13. Free Solo (D: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi)

14. Hearts Beat Loud (D: Brett Haley)

15. If Beale Street Could Talk (D: Barry Jenkins)

16. A Simple Favor (D: Paul Fieg)

17. The Hate U Give (D: George Tillman, Jr.)

18. Shoplifters (D: Hirokazu Kore-eda)

19. Leave No Trace (D: Debra Granik)

20. The Rider (D: Chloé Zhao) [Interview with Brady Jandreau]

21. Love, Gilda (D: Lisa D’Apolito) [Interview with Lisa D’Apolito]

22. Eighth Grade (D: Bo Burnham) [Interview with Bo Burnham and Elsie Fisher]

23. Suspiria (D: Luca Guadagnino)

24. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (D: Marielle Heller)

25. Cold War (D: Paweł Pawlikowski)

26. Support the Girls (D: Andrew Bujalski)

27. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (D: Christopher McQuarrie)

28. Widows (D: Steve McQueen)

29. Anna and the Apocalypse (D: John McPhail)

30. Three Identical Strangers (D: Tim Wardle)

31. A Quiet Place (D: John Krasinski)

32. Black Panther (D: Ryan Coogler)

33. Colette (D: Wash Westmoreland) [Interview with Wash Westmoreland]

34. Disobedience (D: Sebastián Lelio) [Interview with Sebastián Lelio]

35. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (D: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman)

36. Game Night (D: John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein)

37. Mary Poppins Returns (D: Rob Marshall)

38. Sorry to Bother You (D: Boots Riley)

39. Hereditary (D: Ari Aster)

40. McQueen (D: Ian Bonhôte)

41. Ralph Breaks the Internet (D: Rich Moore, Phil Johnston) [Interview with Head of Animation Kira Lehtomaki]

42. Wildlife (D: Paul Dano)

43. The Endless (D: Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson)

44. Mandy (D: Panos Cosmatos)

45. Let the Sunshine In (D: Claire Denis)

46. Annihilation (D: Alex Garland)

47. On the Basis of Sex (D: Mimi Leder)

48. Unsane (D: Steven Soderbergh)

49. Double Lover (D: François Ozon)

50. Burning (D: Lee Chang-dong)

51. Upgrade (D: Leigh Whannell)

52. The Sisters Brothers (D: Jacques Audiard)

53. Marrowbone (D: Sergio G. Sánchez)

54. First Man (D: Damien Chazelle)

55. Halloween (D: David Gordon Green)

56. A Star Is Born (D: Bradley Cooper)

57. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (D: Morgan Neville) [Interview with Morgan Neville]

58. Red Sparrow (D: Francis Lawrence)

59. Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (D: Gus Van Sant)

60. Ghost Stories (D: Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman)

61. Wanderland (D: Josh Klausner)

62. First Reformed (D: Paul Schrarder)

63. RBG (D: Julie Cohen, Betsy West) [Interview with Julie Cohen and Betsy West]

64. Braven (D: Lin Oeding) [Interview with Lin Oeding]

65. Assassination Nation (D: Sam Levinson)

66. Creed II (D: Steven Caple Jr.)

67. Borg vs. McEnroe (D: Jamus Metz)

68. Oceans Eight (D: Gary Ross)

69. Bad Times at the El Royale (D: Drew Goddard)

70. Puzzle (D: Marc Turtletaub) [Interview with Marc Turtletaub]

71. Tomb Raider (D: Roar Uthaug)

72. Destroyer (D: Karyn Kusama)

73. Crazy Rich Asians (D: Jon M. Chu) [Interview with Nico Santos]

74. Christopher Robin (D: Marc Forster)

75. What Keeps You Alive (D: Colin Minihan)

76. Searching (D: Aneesh Chaganty)

77. Ben is Back (D: Peter Hedges)

78. The Housemaid (D: Derek Nguyen)

79. Solo: A Star Wars Story (D: Ron Howard)

80. Blockers (D: Kay Cannon)

81. Bumblebee (D: Travis Knight)

82. Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (D: Paul Urkijo Alijo)

83. Love, Simon (D: Greg Berlanti) [Interview with Greg Berlanti, Nick Robinson and Alexandra Shipp]

84. The Night Comes for Us (D: Timo Tjahjanto)

85. The Old Man & the Gun (D: David Lowery)

86. Ant-Man and the Wasp (D: Peyton Reed)

87. Pyewacket (D: Adam MacDonald)

88. Midnighters (D: Julius Ramsay)

89. The House with a Clock in Its Walls (D: Eli Roth)

90. A Wrinkle in Time (D: Ava DuVernay)

91. Freak Show (D: Trudie Styler)

92. Beirut (D: Brad Anderson)

93. Elizabeth Harvest (D: Sebastián Gutiérrez)

94. The Escape (D: Dominic Savage)

95. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (D: Ol Parker)

96. The Spy Who Dumped Me (D: Susanna Fogel)

97. The Quake (D: John Andreas Andersen)

98. Lowlife (D: Ryan Prows)

99. Flower (D: Max Winkler)

100. Aquaman (D: James Wan)

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