Film Comment 2018
Intro
The following films appeared in the Film Comment best of 2018 poll. The poll is divided between films that received US theatrical distribution in 2018 and those that did not (including self-distributed films).
Sources: Best Films of 2018, Best Undistributed Films of 2018
Films
1. Zama
Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Mexico, Portugal, USA
Lucrecia Martel
Lists: Cinema Scope (3, 2017) | New York Times (4 - Dargis, 2018) | Sight & Sound (4, 2017 / 9, 2018)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Rotterdam (A History of Shadows, 2018) | Toronto (Masters, 2017) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2017)
2. Burning
Beoning
South Korea
Lee Chang-dong
Lists: Cinema Scope (8, 2018) | New York Times (2 - Dargis, 2018) | Sight & Sound (3, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2018)
3. First Reformed
USA
Paul Schrader
Lists: Cinema Scope (9, 2017) | New York Times (7 - Dargis / 3 - Scott, 2018) | Sight & Sound (5, 2018)
Festivals: New York (Special Events, 2017) | Rotterdam (Voices, 2018) | Telluride (2017) | Toronto (Masters, 2017) | Venice (In Competition, 2017)
4. Roma
Mexico
Alfonso Cuarón
Lists: New York Times (1 - Dargis / 5 - Scott, 2018) | Sight & Sound (1, 2018)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate - Centerpiece, 2018) | Telluride (2018) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2018) | Venice (In Competition, 2018)
5. Western
Germany, Bulgaria
Valeska Grisebach
Lists: Cinema Scope (2, 2017) | Sight & Sound (5, 2017 / 18, 2018)
Festivals: Berlin (LOLA at Berlinale, 2018) | Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Rotterdam (Voices, 2018) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2017)
6. Shoplifters
Manbiki kazoku
Japan
Hirokazu Kore-eda
Lists: New York Times (3 - Dargis, 2018) | Sight & Sound (14, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Telluride (2018) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2018)
7. Let the Sunshine In
Un beau soleil intérieur
France
Claire Denis
Lists: New York Times (6 - Scott, 2018) | Sight & Sound (19, 2017)
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017)
8. The Other Side of the Wind
USA
Orson Welles
Lists: Cinema Scope (9, 2018) | Sight & Sound (14, 2018)
Festivals: New York (Special Events, 2018) | Telluride (2018) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2018)
9. Happy as Lazzaro
Lazzaro felice
Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany
Alice Rohrwacher
Lists: Cinema Scope (7, 2018) | New York Times (5 - Dargis / 2 - Scott, 2018) | Sight & Sound (9, 2018 / 18, 2019)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018)
10. Hale County This Morning, This Evening
USA
RaMell Ross
Lists: New York Times (1 - Scott, 2018)
Festivals: Sundance (US Documentary Competition, 2018)
11. Sorry to Bother You
USA
Boots Riley
Lists: Sight & Sound (17, 2018)
Festivals: Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2018)
12. If Beale Street Could Talk
USA
Barry Jenkins
Lists: Sight & Sound (12, 2018)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2018)
13. The Rider
USA
Chloé Zhao
Lists: Sight & Sound (18, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Rotterdam (Voices, 2018) | Sundance (Spotlight, 2018) | Telluride (2018) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2017)
14. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
USA
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Venice (In Competition, 2018)
15. Support the Girls
USA
Andrew Bujalski
16. You Were Never Really Here
UK, USA, France
Lynne Ramsay
Lists: Sight & Sound (12, 2017 / 7, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2017) | Sundance (Spotlight, 2018)
17. Monrovia, Indiana
USA
Frederick Wiseman
Lists: New York Times (9 - Dargis / 1 - Scott, 2018)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Toronto (TIFF Docs, 2018) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2018)
18. Personal Problems [1980]
USA
Bill Gunn
19. The Favourite
Ireland, UK, USA
Yorgos Lanthimos
Lists: New York Times (10 - Scott, 2018) | Sight & Sound (7, 2018)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate - Opening Night, 2018) | Telluride (2018) | Venice (In Competition, 2018)
20. BlacKkKlansman
USA
Spike Lee
Lists: New York Times (6 - Dargis / 8 - Scott, 2018) | Sight & Sound (13, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2018) | Locarno (Piazza Grande, 2018)
Undistributed
1. What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire?
Italy, USA, France
Roberto Minervini
Lists: Cinema Scope (5, 2018)
Festivals: New York (Spotlight on Documentary, 2018) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2018) | Venice (In Competition, 2018)
2. La flor
Argentina
Mariano Llinás
Lists: Cinema Scope (3, 2018)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2018)
3. Black Mother
USA
Khalik Allah
Festivals: Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2019)
4. A Family Tour
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia
Ying Liang
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018)
5. Feast of the Epiphany
USA
Michael Koresky, Jeff Reichert, Farihah Zaman
6. América
USA
Erick Stoll, Chase Whiteside
7. Donbass
Germany, Ukraine, France, Netherlands, Romania
Sergei Loznitsa
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard - Opening Film, 2018) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2018)
8. The Grand Bizarre
USA
Jodie Mack
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2018)
Festivals: Locarno (Signs of Life, 2018) | New York (Projections, 2018) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2018)
9. Your Face
Ni de lian
Taiwan
Tsai Ming-liang
Festivals: New York (Projections, 2018) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2018)
10. Casanova Gene
Casanovagen
Germany
Luise Donschen
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2018)
11. Shakedown
USA
Leilah Weinraub
Festivals: Berlin (Panorama, 2018)
12. The Task
USA
Leigh Ledare
13. Sophia Antipolis
France
Virgil Vernier
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2018) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2019)
14. Second Time Around
Segunda vez
Belgium, Norway
Dora García
Festivals: New York (Projections, 2018)
15. Manta Ray
Kraben rahu
Thailand, France, China
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
Festivals: Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2019) | Toronto (Discovery, 2018) | Venice (Horizons, 2018)
16. Flight of a Bullet
Russia, Latvia
Beata Bubenets
17. Our Time
Nuestro tiempo
Mexico, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden
Carlos Reygadas
Festivals: Toronto (Masters, 2018) | Venice (In Competition, 2018)
18. Reason
Vivek
India
Anand Patwardhan
19. Season of the Devil
Ang panahon ng halimaw
Philippines
Lav Diaz
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2018)
20. A Wild Stream
Una corriente salvaje
Mexico
Nuria Ibáñez Castañeda