The best of 2018 so far ...

I'll probably conduct my annual critics poll of the best movies of the mid-year sometime at the end of June, but, for the time being, I can't help but think that we haven't really reached a peak in cinema by any stretch these first 5 months of the year. 

 If you go by the films released between January 1st to May 3rd, 2018 then you'll see there were definite breakouts that merit your full-attention [IndieWire tried to reaffirm that point here]. 

The Rider (Chloe Zhao)
A Quiet Place (John Krasinski)
Tully (Jason Reitman)
Lean on Pete (Andrew Haigh)
You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)
Paddington 2 (Paul King)
Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson)
Game Night (John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein)
Love, Simon (Greg Berlanti)
Ready Player One (Steven Spielberg)
The Death of Stalin (Armando Vianucci)

I'll be going to Cannes next week, so I'm sure the below list will change. These are the upcoming summer releases, almost all above-average to great, which I've already seen at various film festivals:

 The Tale (Jennifer Fox)
Custody (Xavier Legrand)
The Wife (Bjorn Runge)
Hereditary (Ari Aster) 
Leave No Trace (Debra Granik)
Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
Three Identical Strangers (Tim Wardle)
Search (Aneesh Chaganty)

Sorry To Bother You (Boots Riley)
Puzzle (Marc Turtletaub)
The Guilty (Gustav Moller)
Shotgun (Hannah Marks and Joey Power)
On Her Shoulders (Alexandria Bombach)
Mandy (Panos Cosmatos
The Kindergarten Teacher (Sara Colangelo)

Actual 2018 top ten

1) The Tale (Jennifer Fox)
2) Custody (Xavier Legrand)
3) The Wife (Bjorn Runge)
4) The Rider (Chloe Zhao)
5) A Quiet Place (John Krasinski)
5) Hereditary (Ari Aster) 
6) Leave No Trace (Debra Granik)

7) Three Identical Strangers (Tim Wardle)
8) Tully (Jason Reitman)
9) Search (Aneesh Chaganty)
10) Sorry To Bother You (Boots Riley)