Best Films of 2016

I collected over 25 “Best Films of 2016” lists from the Internet and combined them into one meta-list. Here are the results – all the movies on at least two of the original source lists. I have also provided the director’s last name and the country where the film originated.

NOTE: These are not my personal opinions, but if I have seen the movie, I have included my 1-10 rating.

On 24 “Best Films of 2016” Lists
Moonlight (US, Barry Jenkins) (10)

On 23 Lists
Manchester By The Sea (US, Kenneth Lonergan) (9)

20 Lists
La La Land (US, Damien Chazelle) (7)

18 Lists
Elle (France, Paul Verhoven)
Paterson (US, Jim Jarmusch)

17 Lists
Hell or High Water (US, David Mackenzie) (7)
Toni Erdmann (Germany, Maren Ade)

14 Lists
Arrival 
(US, Denis Villeneuve) (8)

13 Lists
Jackie
(US/Chile/France, Pablo Larrain) (8)

12 Lists
The Handmaiden (South Korea, Park Chan-wook)
Love & Friendship (US, Whit Stillman) (8)

11 Lists
American Honey (UK/US, Andrea Arnold) (9/10)
Everybody Wants Some!!
(US, Richard Linklater)
O.J.: Made In America
(US, Ezra Edelman) (10)

10 Lists
Aquarius (Brazil/France, Kleber Mendonça Filho) (8/10)

9 Lists
Hail, Caesar! (US, Joel and Ethan Coen) (8)
I, Daniel Blake
(UK/France/Belgium, Ken Loach) (8)
Loving
(US, Jeff Nichols) (8)
13th
(US, Ava Duvernay) (8)
20th Century Women
(US, Mike Mills) (9/10)

7 Lists
Cameraperson (US, Kirsten Johnson)
Certain Women (US, Kelly Reichardt)
The Fits (US, Anna Rose Holmer)
I Am Not Your Negro (US/France, Raoul Peck)
The Lobster
(Ireland/UK/Greece/France/Netherlands, Yorgos Lanthimos) (8)
Sing Street (Ireland, John Carney) (7)
Things To Come (France/Germany, Mia Hansen-Løve)

6 Lists
Green Room (US, Jeremy Saulnier)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (New Zealand, Taika Waititi)
Krisha (US, Trey Edward Shults)
Silence (US, Martin Scorsese)
Sunset Song (UK/Luxembourg, Terence Davies)
Weiner (US, Josh Kriegman & Elyse Steinberg) (8)
The Witch (US, Robert Eggers) (8)

5 Lists
A Bigger Splash (Italy/France, Luca Guadagnino)
The Edge of Seventeen
(US, Kelly Fremon Craig) (8/10)
Embrace of The Serpent
(Colombia, Ciro Guerra)
Fire At Sea
(Italy, Gianfranco Rosi)
No Home Movie
(Belgium/France, Chantal Akerman)
Right Now, Wrong Then
(South Korea, Hong Sang-Soo)
Sully
(US, Clint Eastwood) (6)

4 Lists
Cemetery of Splendour (Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Fences
(US, Denzel Washington)
Kubo and the Two Strings
(US, Travis Knight)
The Love Witch (US, Anna Biller)
Midnight Special (US/Greece, Jeff Nichols)
Mountains May Depart (China/France/Japan, Jia Zhangke)
Nocturnal Animals (US, Tom Ford)
Zootopia (US, Bryon Howard & Rich Moore)

3 Lists
Happy Hour (Japan, Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
Julieta (Spain, Pedro Almodóvar)
Knight of Cups (US, Terrence Malick)
Little Men (US, Ira Sachs)
My Golden Days (France, Arnaud Desplechin)
The Neon Demon (US, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Neruda (Chile, Pablo Larraín)
Southside with You (US, Richard Tanne)
10 Cloverfield Lane (US, Dan Trachtenberg)
Tower (US, Keith Maitland) (8)
Under the Shadow (Iran/Jordan, Babak Anvari)
Viktoria (Bulgaria/Romania, Maya Vitkova)

2 Lists
The Birth of a Nation (US, Nate Parker)
Captain America: Civil War (US, Anthony & Joe Russo)
Captain Fantastic (US, Matt Ross)
Chronic (Mexico/France, Michel Franco)
Don’t Think Twice (US, Mike Birbiglia) (7/10)
Eye in the Sky (UK/South Africa, Gavin Hood)
Fireworks Wednesday (Iran, Asghar Farhadi)
Hidden Figures (US, Theodore Melfi)
The Illinois Parables (US, Deborah Stratman)
Kate Plays Christine (US, Robert Greene)
The Nice Guys (US, Shane Black)
The Other Side (France/Italy, Roberto Minervini)
Personal Shopper (France/Germany, Olivier Assayas) (7/10)
Pete’s Dragon (US, David Lowery)
Sausage Party (US, Greg Tiernan & Conrad Vernon)
Sieranevada (Romania, Cristi Puiu)
The Treasure (Romania/France, Corneliu Porumboiu)
Wiener-Dog (US, Todd Solondz)