We’re close to halfway through the 2020s. I decided to poll over 100 critics on the best films of the decade, so far. The results were quite interesting.
The 2020s have been marred by a pandemic, productions being shut down, endless movie delays and big studios fearing creative risk more than ever. It didn’t help that the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes also occurred, and the vicious cycle happened all over again, further interfering in the production process.
Another major shapeshifting event in the 2020s has been the rising popularity of streaming, which has hurt theatrical exhibition and slashed down the number of adult-oriented dramas greenlit by studios. It’s only going to get worse by decade’s end. Certainly not better. It should be noted that only one streaming title ended up in the top 20 in our results (“The Power of the Dog”).
With that said, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” was the winner, appearing in close to 1/5 of the lists submitted — Nolan’s film beat out Todd Field’s “TÁR” (#2) by two votes and The Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (#3) by four votes.
Side note, Sean Baker’s “Anora” was released just last month, and it still managed to finish in the top 13, racking up 8 votes. It was, by far, the most voted 2024 film in the poll, ahead of “Dune: Part II” (5 votes), “The Substance” (4 votes), “Close Your Eyes” (4 votes), “I Saw the TV Glow” (4 votes), “The Beast” (4 votes), and “The Brutalist” (3 votes).
RESULTS
1) Oppenheimer — 23 votes
2) TÁR — 21
3) Everything Everywhere All at Once — 19
4) The Zone of Interest — 16
5) Drive My Car — 14
6) Anatomy of A Fall — 11
7) Poor Things — 11
8) The Power of the Dog — 10
9) Past Lives — 10
10) Licorice Pizza — 9
11) The Banshees of Inisherin — 9
12) Promising Young Woman — 9
13) Aftersun— 9
14) Anora — 8
15) The Fabelmans — 8
16) All Of Us Strangers — 8
17) The Worst Person in the World — 8
18) RRR — 8
19) Killers of the Flower Moon — 7
20) Top Gun: Maverick — 7
21) Barbie — 7
FULL LIST OF CRITICS THAT PARTICIPATED
Earlier in the year, I polled our readers to name their best films of the 2020s, and with almost 300 ballots having been counted, “TÁR” topped the poll, followed closely by “Oppenheimer.” Meanwhile, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” failed to crack the top ten (#14).