The Best Films of 2024, According to 900+ Critics [Update]

Editor’s Note: Well over 800 lists now tabulated

Despite conducting multiple critics polls on a year basis, I tend to stay away from doing a year-end one since there are so many out there already (IndieWire, Film Comment, Screen Slate, Sight & Sound). But what if we combined all of them, and then added every other list that’s been published? Would the results differ? The answer to that question is a resounding YES.

Some of the more high-brow curated polls mentioned can only push a film so far, especially as more mainstream publications come into the equation. The result is that Sight & Sound and Film Comment favorites such as “Last Summer,” “Dahomey” and “Janet Planet” don’t even figure in the below top 30.

In late November, World of Reel correspondent Theo LaVelle came up with a project pitch; how about we tabulate all of the year-end critics top 10 lists and turn it into a de facto, and ultimate, poll of polls. Not a bad idea.

Ever since late November, Theo has amassed 415 lists on his spreadsheet, whether published online or in print, and come up with the final results. Of course, lists are still being published, and will continue on until January, but this is as good an estimation as any as to what have been the most acclaimed films of the year.

1) “Anora” (Sean Baker) — 308 lists
2) “The Substance” (Coralie Fargeat) — 236
3) “Dune: Part Two” (Denis Villeneuve) — 202
4) “Challengers” (Luca Guadagnino) — 200
5) “The Brutalist” (Brady Corbet) — 177
6) “Conclave” (Edward Berger) — 158
7) “Nickel Boys” (RaMell Ross) — 138
8) “I Saw the TV Glow” (Jane Schoenbrun) — 133
9) “Sing Sing” (Greh Kwedar) — 108
10) “Furiosa” (George Miller) — 104

11) “Wicked” (John M. Chu) — 99
12) “A Real Pain” (Jesse Eisenberg) — 98
13) “All We Imagine As Light” (Payala Kapadia) — 91
14) “Nosferatu” (Robert Eggers) — 90
15) “The Wild Robot” (Chris Sanders) —- 88
16) “Love Lies Bleeding” (Rose Glass) — 85
17) “Civil War” (Alex Garland) — 81
18) “Hard Truths” (Mike Leigh) — 77
19) “A Complete Unknown” (James Mangold) — 66
20) “Evil Does Not Exist” (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) —65

21) “The Beast” (Bertrand Bonello) — 62
22) “Do Not Expect the End of the World” (Radu Jude) — 60
23) “A Different Man” (Aaron Schimberg) — 58
24) “Flow” (Gints Zilbalodis) 57
25) “Emilia Perez” (Jacques Audiard) — 55
26) “Juror #2 (Clint Eastwood) — 53
27) “Seed of the Sacred Fig” (M. Rasoulof) — 50
28) “Hit Man” (Richard Linklater) — 49
29) “No Other Land” (Adra/Ballal/Avraham) — 45
30) “Longlegs” (Osgood Perkins) — 44

Looking at the above results; how in agreement are you with critics this year? Are they out of touch with your current tastes? Don’t forget to post your own top 10 (here) for our annual Readers’ Poll — with results to be published on January 6.