It’s always such a bummer to see the same crop of movies wind up on everyone’s top ten lists, so it pleases me to no end to find this year’s batch of mid-year lists featuring such a wide array of titles. Jordan Peele‘s Us is the one constant throughout, but aside from Steven Soderbergh‘s High Flying Bird (four lists) and Alex Ross Perry‘s Her Smell (three lists), there’s not much more overlap here.
Take a look below for all our picks and be sure to let us know what your favorites of the year are so far in the comments!
Kevin Rakestraw
1. Altiplano (Malena Szalm)
2. Microhabitat (Jeon Go-woon)
3. America (Garrett Bradley)
4. Black Mother (Khalik Allah)
5. Keep an Eye Out (Quentin Dupieux)
6. Us (Jordan Peele)
7. High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh)
8. Rafiki (Wanuri Kahiu)
9. A Million Years (Danech San)
10. Tux and Fanny (Albert Birney)
Blake Crane
1. Bliss (Joe Begos)
2. The Beach Bum (Harmony Korine)
3. Her Smell (Alex Ross Perry)
4. Avengers: Endgame (Joe and Anthony Russo)
5. The Perfection (Richard Shepard)
6. High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh)
7. Booksmart (Olivia Wilde)
8. Under the Silver Lake (David Robert Mitchell)
9. Us (Jordan Peele)
10. Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (Xavier Burgin)
Chris Luciantonio
1. Under the Silver Lake (David Robert Mitchell)
2. Ash is Purest White (Jia Zhangke)
3. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
4. Missing Link (Chris Butler)
5. High Life ( Claire Denis)
6. Her Smell (Alex Ross Perry)
7. Us (Jordan Peele)
8. High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh)
9. Plus One (Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer)
10. Velvet Buzzsaw (Dan Gilroy)
Raul de Leon
1. An Elephant Sitting Still (Hu Bo)
2. Long Day’s Journey into Night (Bi Gan)
3. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Terry Gilliam)
4. Fyre (Chris Smith)
5. Genesis 2.0 (Christian Frei, Maxim Arbugaev)
6. Shadow (Zhang Yimou)
7. Birds Of Passage (Ciro Guerra, Cristina Gallego)
8. Us (Jordan Peele)
9. Carmine Street Guitars (Ron Mann)
10. Toy Story 4 (Josh Cooley)
Ken Bakely
1. Homecoming (Beyoncé)
2. High Life (Claire Denis)
3. Us (Jordan Peele)
4. Wild Nights With Emily (Madeleine Olnek)
5. High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh)
6. Paddleton (Alexandre Lehmann)
7. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Chiwetel Ejiofor)
8. Knock Down the House (Rachel Lears)
9. Rolling Thunder Revue (Martin Scorsese)
10. Escape Room (Adam Robitel)
Adam Patterson
1. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot)
2. Midsommar (Ari Aster)
3. John Wick: Chapter 3 (Chad Stahelski)
4. Us (Jordan Peele)
5. Avengers: Endgame (Joe & Anthony Russo)
6. Booksmart (Olivia Wilde)
7. Dragged Across Concrete (S. Craig Zahler)
8. The Biggest Little Farm (John Chester)
9. Her Smell (Alex Ross Perry)
10. One Cut of the Dead (Shinichiro Ueda)
