The Searchlight-distributed and Chloe Zhao-directed “Nomadland” has been named the best movie of 2020, at least according to a group of film critics, journalists, bloggers, and entertainment reporters. Zhao’s heartland road trip of a movie, which was featured in nearly 60% of the lists sent, towered over its closest competition, Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” and Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow.” That’s right, the top 3 most critically-acclaimed movies of the year were all delivered by female filmmakers. Almost 100 critics submitted their picks for the poll. Participants included leading critics from IndieWire, Variety, USA Today, The A.V. Club, Forbes, and Rolling Stone. Critics were asked to submit a list of up to 5-10 films, unranked, with a release date set between January 1st and December 30th, 2020. With a lack of theatrical films, many opted for high-quality TV movies including “Bad Education,” which was picked up last September at the Toronto International Film Festival and aired on HBO in late April, the BBC’s Steve McQueen-directed “Lover’s Rock,” and HBO’s “American Utopia.” Despite not having a U.S. release date, nor a distributor to its name, Roman Polanski’s Venice-winning “An Officer and a Spy” was mentioned on 4 lists.
Of note, when polled, most of the critics who participated had already seen upcoming December releases, which include Pixar’s “Soul”, David Fincher’s “Mank”, George C. Wolfe’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Regina King’s “One Night in Miami,” and Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman.”

  1. Nomadland (49 votes)2) First Cow (41) 3) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (40) 4) Da 5 Bloods (35) 5) Minari (34)6) I’m Thinking About Ending Things (32)7) Lovers Rock (29)8) The Invisible Man (26)9) Trial of the Chicago 7 (25) 10) Mank (21) 11) Bacurau (21)12) David Byrne’s American Utopia (21) 13) Palm Springs (20) 14) Tenet (19)15) Dick Johnson Is Dead (19) 16) Bad Education (18) 17) Promising Young Woman (18)18) The Assistant (17) 19) Vitalina Varela (16)20) Pixar’s Soul (15)
  2. Time (14)22) The Father (14)23) The Nest (14) 24) City Hall (14)25) Collective (13)26) Kajillionaire (13) 27) Mangrove (12)28) She Dies Tomorrow (12)29) The Climb (11)30) Bloody Nose Empty Pockets (11)
  3. Sound of Metal (11)32) Martin Eden (9) 33) Boys State (9)34) One Night in Miami (10)35) Shirley (9)36) The Vast of Night (8) 37) The Outpost38) Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (8)39) Beanpole (8) 40) Pieces of a Woman (7) Thelma Adams, AARPCarlos Aguilar, RogerEbertFernando AndresEthan Alter, Yahoo NewsNicholas Bell, IONCINEMA.COMJames Berardinelli, ReelViewsAlex Biese, Asbury Park PressAlex Billington, First ShowingChuck Bowen, Slant MagazinePeter Bradshaw, The GuardianRichard Brody, The New YorkerSean Burns, WUBRAmy Campbell, GQErik Childress, WGN RadioSara Clements, Next Best PictureLaura Clifford, Reeling ReviewsJordan Cronk, Film CommentFreja Dam, Sound VenueA.A. Dowd, The AV ClubMark Dujsik, RogerEbertAlonso Duralde, The WrapKate Erbland, IndieWireChris Evangelista, Slash FilmDavid Fear, Rolling StoneIsaac Feldberg, ArtsFuseMarshall Fine, NYFCCCandace Frederick, Harper’s BazaarRoger Friedman, Showbiz 411Jon Frosch, The Hollywood ReporterKeni Fujishima, FreelanceJean-Jacky Goldberg, Les InrockuptiblesBill Goodykoontz, ArizonaKaren Gordon, CBC RadioLeah Greenblatt, Entertainment WeeklyGlenn Heath Jr. Odie Henderson, RogerEbertBarry Hertz, The Globe and MailMatt Hoffman, Film School RejectsJake Horowitz, Producer/DirectorPeter Howell, Toronto StarAndrea Hudson, FreelanceWendy Ide, The GuardianRichard T. Jameson, Film CommentNate Jones, New York MagazineDave Karger, TCMDon Kaye, Den of GeekRobert Koehler, Film CommentEric Kohn, IndieWireHarry Knowles, Aint It Cool NewsJoanna Langfield, The Movie MinutePascal LeDuff, Critique Film FRBenjamin Lee, The GuardianWillow Catelyn Maclay, PatreonJoey Magidson, Awards CircuitSteven Mears, Film CommentScott Menzel, We Live EntertainmentTodd McCarthy, DeadlineJared Mobarak, The Film StageRoger Moore, Movie NationJack Moulton, LetterboxdNoel Murray, The AV ClubMatt Neglia, Next Best PictureJohnny Olekisnki, New York PostVan Papadopoulos, Cannes ClassicClaudia Puig, USA TodayJordan Raup, The Film StageMara Reinstein, US WeeklyNathaniel Rogers, The Film ExperienceDavid Rooney, The Hollywood ReporterJonathan Rosenbaum, Film CommentJoshua Rothkopf, Time Out New YorkJordan Ruimy, World of ReelDan Sallitt, DirectorDan Schindel, HyperallergicMichael Sicinsky, FreelanceZack Sharf, IndieWireRadheyan Simonpillai, Now TorontoDavid Sims, The AtlanticJeff Sneider, ColliderDanielle Solzman, Solzy at the MoviesCollin Souter, RogerEbertMarlow Stern, The Daily BeastSasha Stone, AwardsDailyBob Strauss, San Francisco ChronicleCedric Succivalli, Venice DaysAmy Taubin, Film CommentBrian Tallerico, RogerEbertAndrea Thompson, FreelanceBrian Truitt, USA TodayBoyd Van Hoeij, The Hollywood ReporterJeffrey Welles, Hollywood ElsewhereSusan Wloszczyna, Gold DerbyEmily Zemler, ShondalandStephanie Zacharek, Time MagazineAlex Zalben, Decider Contribute Hire me

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