Metacritic's Best Films of 2019
Metacritic gives movies an aggregate score, from zero to one hundred, based on the weighted average of the most respected critics' reviews. A score of at least 61 is favorable and a score of 81 or higher is considered to be a "must see." Below are the 2019 movies rated highest by critics, according to their Metacritic scores. All of the films below have a score of at least an 85. Which of these do you think is the best?
Discuss here (and, if interested, also see the exclusion criteria there).
Note: The films are listed in alphabetical order, except for the first five, which are chosen to represent the variety of movies on the list. None are listed in order of Metacritic score. To see them in order of metascore, go here.
Vote in these related polls: Metacritic's Best Films of 2018 and
Metacritic's Best Films of 2017
Discuss here (and, if interested, also see the exclusion criteria there).
Note: The films are listed in alphabetical order, except for the first five, which are chosen to represent the variety of movies on the list. None are listed in order of Metacritic score. To see them in order of metascore, go here.
Vote in these related polls: Metacritic's Best Films of 2018 and
Metacritic's Best Films of 2017
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- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoLee Sun-kyunCho Yeo-jeongGreed and class discrimination threaten the newly-formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroAl PacinoJoe PesciAn illustration of Frank Sheeran's life, from W.W.II veteran to hit-man for the Bufalino crime family and his alleged assassination of his close friend Jimmy Hoffa.
- DirectorMati DiopStarsMame Bineta SaneAmadou MbowTraoreIn a popular suburb of Dakar, workers on the construction site of a futuristic tower, without pay for months, decide to leave the country by the ocean for a better future. Among them is Souleiman, the lover of Ada, promised to another.
- DirectorGreta GerwigStarsSaoirse RonanEmma WatsonFlorence PughJo March reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms.
- DirectorAlla KovganStarsCarolyn BrownJohn CageAshley ChenThe iconic Merce Cunningham and the last generation of his dance company is stunningly profiled in Alla Kovgan's 3D documentary, through recreations of his landmark works and archival footage of Cunningham, John Cage, and Robert Rauschenberg.
- StarsLynn JohnsonJacqueline BassettJohn BrisbyDirector Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a seven-year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
- DirectorSteven BognarJulia ReichertStarsJunming 'Jimmy' WangRobert AllenSherrod BrownIn post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.
- DirectorBo HuStarsYu ZhangYuchang PengUvin WangFour people in a Chinese city live through a complicated day as their lives intersect.
- DirectorTodd Douglas MillerStarsNeil ArmstrongMike CollinsBuzz AldrinA look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsTao ZhaoFan LiaoZheng XuA story of violent love within a time frame spanning from 2001 to 2017.
- DirectorCristina GallegoCiro GuerraStarsCarmiña MartínezJosé AcostaNatalia ReyesDuring the marijuana bonanza, a violent decade that saw the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, Rapayet and his indigenous family get involved in a war to control the business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture.
- DirectorKhalik AllahFrom red light districts to lush rain-forests, 'Black Mother' is a loving and lyrical ode to Jamaica and its people, a visual poem that is at once deeply felt love letter and ecstatic street-corner prayer.
- DirectorKathleen HepburnElle-Máijá TailfeathersStarsViolet NelsonElle-Máijá TailfeathersCharlie HannahAfter a chance encounter on the street, a woman tries to encourage a pregnant domestic abuse victim to seek help.
- DirectorKent JonesStarsMary Kay PlaceJake LacyEstelle ParsonsDiane fills her days helping others and desperately attempting to bond with her drug-addicted son. As these pieces of her existence begin to fade, she finds herself confronting memories she'd sooner forget than face.
- DirectorLulu WangStarsShuzhen ZhaoAwkwafinaX MayoA Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
- DirectorWaad Al-KateabEdward WattsStarsWaad Al-KateabSama Al-KhateabHamza Al-KhateabFOR SAMA is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war.
- DirectorPhilippe LesageStarsNoée AbitaThéodore PellerinPier-Luc FunkThree teenagers are shaken up by their first loves in the turmoil of their youth. At a time when others are conforming, they stand their ground and assert their right to love and be free.
- DirectorMarie KreutzerStarsValerie PachnerPia HierzeggerMavie HörbigerA high-powered business consultant struggles to keep her professional and personal lives from colliding after her schizophrenic sister attempts suicide.
- DirectorTamara KotevskaLjubomir StefanovStarsHatidze MuratovaNazife MuratovaHussein SamThe last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.
- DirectorBi GanStarsTang WeiJue HuangSylvia ChangA man went back to Guizhou, found the tracks of a mysterious woman. He recalls the summer he spent with her twenty years ago.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsAdam DriverScarlett JohanssonJulia GreerNoah Baumbach's incisive and compassionate look at a marriage breaking up and a family staying together.
- DirectorNanfu WangJialing ZhangStarsNanfu WangZaodi WangZhimei WangAfter becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China's one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.
- DirectorShin'ichirô UedaStarsTakayuki HamatsuYuzuki AkiyamaHarumi ShuhamaThings go badly for a hack director and film crew shooting a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility, when they are attacked by real zombies.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsAntonio BanderasAsier EtxeandiaLeonardo SbaragliaA film director reflects on the choices he's made in life as the past and present come crashing down around him.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsNoémie MerlantAdèle HaenelLuàna BajramiOn an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsBob DylanAllen GinsbergPatti SmithIn an alchemic mix of fact and fantasy, Martin Scorsese looks back at Bob Dylan's 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour and a country ripe for reinvention.
- DirectorJoanna HoggStarsNeil YoungTosin ColeJack McMullenA young film student in the early '80s becomes romantically involved with a complicated and untrustworthy man.
- DirectorBenny SafdieJosh SafdieStarsAdam SandlerJulia FoxIdina MenzelWith his debts mounting and angry collectors closing in, a fast-talking New York City jeweler risks everything in hope of staying afloat and alive.
- StarsAgnès VardaSandrine BonnaireHervé ChandèsAgnès Varda, photographer, installation artist and pioneer of the Nouvelle Vague, is an institution of French cinema. Taking a seat on a theatre stage, she uses photos and film excerpts to provide an insight into her unorthodox oeuvre.
- DirectorNuri Bilge CeylanStarsDogu DemirkolMurat CemcirBennu YildirimlarAn unpublished writer returns to his hometown after graduating, where he seeks sponsors to publish his book while dealing with his father's deteriorating indulgence into gambling.