IndieWire 2024 Critics Poll Topped by ‘Anora'

I was one of the 177 “critics” and “journalists” who participated in the annual IndieWire critics poll naming the best films of 2024. The results aren’t half-bad. As it stands, half of the titles in the top 10 might make my own list, which will be published next week.

Sean Baker’s “Anora” placed first on our Best Film list. Baker’s film appeared on 89 of the 177 critics’ ballots received this year (50% of all entries), including 18 first-place votes. By comparison, “The Brutalist,” which placed second, appeared on 73 ballots, while also managing 18 first-place votes.

RESULTS:

Best Film

1. “Anora”
2. “The Brutalist”
3. “Nickel Boys”
4. “All We Imagine as Light”
5. “Challengers”
6. “I Saw the TV Glow”
7. “The Substance”
8. “Dune: Part Two”
9. “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World”
10. “Hard Truths”

Best Director

1. Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”
2. RaMell Ross, “Nickel Boys”
3. Sean Baker, “Anora”
4. Payal Kapadia, “All We Imagine as Light”
5. Luca Guadagnino, “Challengers”
6. Jane Schoenbrun, “I Saw the TV Glow”
7. Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”
8. Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Perez”
9. Bertrand Bonello, “The Beast”
10. Edward Berger, “Conclave”

Best Performance

1. Marianne Jean-Baptiste, “Hard Truths”
2. Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
3. Mikey Madison, “Anora”
4. Demi Moore, “The Substance”
5. Ilinca Manolache, “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World”
6. Nicole Kidman, “Babygirl”
7. Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”
8. Daniel Craig, “Queer”
9. Lea Seydoux, “The Beast”
10. TIE: Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”/Josh Hartnett, “Trap”

Best Documentary

1. “No Other Land”
2. “Dahomey”
3. “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
4. “Pictures of Ghosts”
5. “Will & Harper”
6. “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin”
7. “Black Box Diaries”
8. “Sugarcane”
9. “Look Into My Eyes”
10. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story”

Best Cinematography

1. “Nickel Boys”
2. “The Brutalist”
3. “Nosferatu”
4. “All We Imagine as Light”
5. “Challengers”
6. “Dune: Part Two”
7. “I Saw the TV Glow”
8. “The Girl with the Needle”
9. “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”
10. “Conclave”

Best Screenplay

1. “Anora”
2. “A Real Pain”
3. “The Brutalist”
4. “Challengers”
5. “Conclave”
6. “The Substance”
7. “All We Imagine as Light”
8. “Janet Planet”
9. “Nickel Boys”
10. “I Saw the TV Glow”

Best International Film

1. “All We Imagine as Light”
2. “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World”
3. “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
4. “Evil Does Not Exist”
5. “The Beast”
6. “Close Your Eyes”
7. “Flow”
8. “No Other Land”
9. “Emilia Perez”
10. TIE: “Kneecap”/”Red Rooms”

Best First Feature

1. “Janet Planet”
2. “Good One”
3. “The People’s Joker”
4. TIE: “Didi”/”Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”
5. “Blink Twice”

Best Films Opening in 2025

1. “Caught by the Tides”
2. “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”
3. TIE: “Presence”/“April”/“Misericordia”
4. “The Shrouds”
5. “Eephus”