TSPDT's 50 most critically acclaimed films of 2020
by patrik-hallberg | created - 13 Sep 2022 | updated - 17 Sep 2022 | PublicBased only on 2020 end of year ballots
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1. First Cow (2019)
PG-13 | 122 min | Drama, Western
A skilled cook has traveled west and joined a group of fur trappers in Oregon, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune. Soon the two collaborate on a successful business.
Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Alia Shawkat, John Magaro, Dylan Smith, Ryan Findley
Votes: 21,976
2.
Small Axe (2020)
Episode:
Lovers Rock
(2020)
TV-MA | 70 min | Drama, History
A single evening at a house party in 1980s West London sets the scene, developing intertwined relationships against a background of violence, romance and music.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Dennis Bovell, Saffron Coomber, Frankie Fox, Daniel Francis-Swaby
Votes: 5,299
3. Nomadland (2020)
R | 107 min | Drama
A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
Director: Chloé Zhao | Stars: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Gay DeForest
Votes: 183,496
4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama
A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy.
Director: Eliza Hittman | Stars: Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Eliazar Jimenez
Votes: 31,165
5. I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
R | 134 min | Drama, Thriller
Full of misgivings, a young woman travels with her new boyfriend to his parents' secluded farm. Upon arriving, she comes to question everything she thought she knew about him, and herself.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, David Thewlis
Votes: 100,092
6. Da 5 Bloods (2020)
R | 154 min | Adventure, Drama, War
Four African-American vets battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis
Votes: 55,151
7. Time (I) (2020)
PG-13 | 81 min | Documentary, Biography
Fox Rich fights for the release of her husband, Rob, who is serving a 60-year sentence in prison.
Director: Garrett Bradley | Stars: Sibil Fox Richardson, Robert G. Richardson, Mahlik Richardson, Remington B. Richardson
Votes: 6,300
8. David Byrne's American Utopia (2020)
TV-14 | 105 min | Documentary, Music, Musical
Spike Lee documents the former Talking Heads frontman's brilliant, timely 2019 Broadway show, based on his recent album and tour of the same name.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: David Byrne, Jacqueline Acevedo, Gustavo Di Dalva, Daniel Freedman
Votes: 5,256
9. The Assistant (III) (2019)
R | 87 min | Drama
A searing look at a day in the life of an assistant to a powerful executive. As Jane follows her daily routine, she grows increasingly aware of the insidious abuse that threatens every aspect of her position.
Director: Kitty Green | Stars: Julia Garner, Owen Holland, Jon Orsini, Rory Kulz
Votes: 26,189
10. Bacurau (2019)
Not Rated | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After the death of her grandmother, Teresa comes home to her matriarchal village in a near-future Brazil to find a succession of sinister events that mobilizes all of its residents.
Directors: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho | Stars: Bárbara Colen, Thomas Aquino, Silvero Pereira, Thardelly Lima
Votes: 30,701
11. Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)
PG-13 | 89 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
A daughter helps her father prepare for the end of his life.
Director: Kirsten Johnson | Stars: Michael Hilow, Ana Hoffman, Dick Johnson, Kirsten Johnson
Votes: 7,237
12. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (2020)
98 min | Documentary, Drama
A look at the final moments of a Las Vegas dive bar called 'The Roaring 20s'.
Directors: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross | Stars: Peter Elwell, Michael Martin, Shay Walker
Votes: 1,601
13. Collective (2019)
Not Rated | 109 min | Documentary, Crime
Director Alexander Nanau follows a crack team of investigators at the Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor as they try to uncover a vast health-care fraud that enriched moguls and politicians and led to the deaths of innocent citizens.
Director: Alexander Nanau | Stars: Dan Alexandru Condrea, Liviu Iolu, Razvan Lutac, Mirela Neag
Votes: 13,441
14. Minari (2020)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama
A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Director: Lee Isaac Chung | Stars: Steven Yeun, Han Yeri, Alan Kim, Noel Cho
Votes: 97,093
15. Mank (2020)
R | 131 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
1930s Hollywood is re-evaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane (1941).
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tom Pelphrey
Votes: 82,764
16. Wolfwalkers (2020)
PG | 103 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A young apprentice hunter and her father journey to Ireland to help wipe out the last wolf pack. But everything changes when she befriends a free-spirited girl from a mysterious tribe rumored to transform into wolves by night.
Directors: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart | Stars: Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker, Sean Bean, Simon McBurney
Votes: 38,681
17. City Hall (2020)
272 min | Documentary
A look at Boston's city government, covering racial justice, housing, climate action, and more.
Director: Frederick Wiseman | Star: Marty Walsh
Votes: 722
18.
Small Axe (2020)
Episode:
Mangrove
(2020)
TV-MA | 127 min | Drama, History
Mangrove tells this true story of The Mangrove Nine, who clashed with London police in 1970. The trial that followed was the first judicial acknowledgment of behavior motivated by racial hatred within the Metropolitan Police.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Gary Beadle, Darren Braithwaite, Richie Campbell, Ben Caplan
Votes: 5,893
19. Sound of Metal (2019)
R | 120 min | Drama, Music
A heavy metal drummer's life is turned upside down when he begins to lose his hearing and he must confront a future filled with silence.
Director: Darius Marder | Stars: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff
Votes: 150,426
20. Beanpole (2019)
Unrated | 130 min | Drama, War
1945, Leningrad. WWII has devastated the city, demolishing its buildings and leaving its citizens in tatters, physically and mentally. Two young women search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins.
Director: Kantemir Balagov | Stars: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Andrey Bykov, Igor Shirokov
Votes: 12,258
21. Shirley (2020)
R | 107 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Director: Josephine Decker | Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Odessa Young, Michael Stuhlbarg, Logan Lerman
Votes: 13,335
22. Promising Young Woman (2020)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Nothing in Cassie's life is what it appears to be - she's wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she's living a secret double life. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs from the past.
Director: Emerald Fennell | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown
Votes: 211,783
23. Vitalina Varela (2019)
124 min | Drama
A Cape Verdean woman navigates her way through Lisbon, following the scanty physical traces her deceased husband left behind and discovering his secret, illicit life.
Director: Pedro Costa | Stars: Vitalina Varela, Ventura, Manuel Tavares Almeida, Francisco Brito
Votes: 2,471
24. Saint Maud (2019)
R | 84 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A pious nurse becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.
Director: Rose Glass | Stars: Morfydd Clark, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Jennifer Ehle, Marcus Hutton
Votes: 47,053
25. The Invisible Man (I) (2020)
R | 124 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Director: Leigh Whannell | Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge
Votes: 255,581 | Gross: $70.41M
26. Martin Eden (2019)
TV-PG | 129 min | Drama, Romance
Martin Eden struggles to rise above his destitute, proletarian circumstances through an intense and passionate pursuit of self-education, hoping to achieve a place among the literary elite.
Director: Pietro Marcello | Stars: Luca Marinelli, Jessica Cressy, Vincenzo Nemolato, Marco Leonardi
Votes: 7,662
27. Palm Springs (2020)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery
Stuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again.
Director: Max Barbakow | Stars: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons, Peter Gallagher
Votes: 182,801
28. Soul (2020)
PG | 100 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Joe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn't quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.
Directors: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House
Votes: 379,949
29. The Vast of Night (2019)
PG-13 | 91 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
One night in New Mexico, in the late 1950s, a switchboard operator and radio DJ discover a strange audio frequency which could change the future forever.
Director: Andrew Patterson | Stars: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer, Bruce Davis
Votes: 44,935
30. Possessor (2020)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An agent works for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies - ultimately driving them to commit assassinations for high-paying clients.
Director: Brandon Cronenberg | Stars: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rossif Sutherland
Votes: 45,831
31. Days (2020)
Unrated | 127 min | Drama
Kang lives alone in a big house, Non in a small apartment in town. They meet, and then part, their days flowing on as before.
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Anong Houngheuangsy
Votes: 1,910
32. Rocks (2019)
TV-MA | 93 min | Drama
A young teenage girl finds herself struggling to take care of herself and her younger brother after being abandoned by their single mother with no choice but to live out on the streets.
Director: Sarah Gavron | Stars: Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali, D'angelou Osei Kissiedu, Shaneigha-Monik Greyson
Votes: 5,551
33. Tenet (2020)
PG-13 | 150 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Armed with only the word "Tenet," and fighting for the survival of the entire world, CIA operative, The Protagonist, journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a global mission that unfolds beyond real time.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Juhan Ulfsak
Votes: 592,946 | Gross: $58.46M
34. She Dies Tomorrow (2020)
R | 86 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A woman becomes strangely convinced she will die the next day. Her friend initially disbelieves her before becoming paranoid herself that she too will die the next day.
Director: Amy Seimetz | Stars: Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, Katie Aselton
Votes: 7,173
35. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
R | 95 min | Comedy
Borat returns to America from Kazakhstan to America, this time to reveal more about the American culture, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the political elections.
Director: Jason Woliner | Stars: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova, Tom Hanks, Dani Popescu
Votes: 153,783
36. Kajillionaire (2020)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A woman's life is turned upside down when her criminal parents invite an outsider to join them on a major heist they're planning.
Director: Miranda July | Stars: Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Belcher
Votes: 22,107
37. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
R | 129 min | Drama, History, Thriller
The story of 7 people on trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
Director: Aaron Sorkin | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Alex Sharp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong
Votes: 193,409
38. The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama
Radha is a down-on-her-luck NY playwright, who is desperate for a breakthrough before 40. Reinventing herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime, she vacillates between the worlds of Hip Hop and theater in order to find her true voice.
Director: Radha Blank | Stars: Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Oswin Benjamin, Imani Lewis
Votes: 5,520
39. Another Round (2020)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama
Four high-school teachers consume alcohol on a daily basis to see how it affects their social and professional lives.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, Lars Ranthe
Votes: 195,113
40. The Nest (I) (2020)
R | 107 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Life for an entrepreneur and his American family begins to take a twisted turn after moving into an English country manor.
Director: Sean Durkin | Stars: Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Oona Roche, Charlie Shotwell
Votes: 18,463
41. Relic (2020)
R | 89 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family's home.
Director: Natalie Erika James | Stars: Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Steve Rodgers
Votes: 30,243
42. His House (2020)
TV-14 | 93 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in an English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface.
Director: Remi Weekes | Stars: Sope Dirisu, Wunmi Mosaku, Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba, Matt Smith
Votes: 48,483
43. The Woman Who Ran (2020)
77 min | Drama
While her husband is on a business trip, Gamhee meets three of her friends on the outskirts of Seoul. They make friendly conversation but there are different currents flowing independently of each other, both above and below the surface.
Director: Hong Sang-soo | Stars: Kim Min-hee, Kwon Hae-hyo, Lee Eun-mi, Song Seon-mi
Votes: 3,603
44. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
R | 94 min | Drama, Music
Tensions rise when trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gather at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927.
Director: George C. Wolfe | Stars: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo
Votes: 57,948
45. One Night in Miami... (2020)
R | 114 min | Drama
A fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s.
Director: Regina King | Stars: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.
Votes: 34,288
46. On the Rocks (2020)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young mother reconnects with her larger-than-life playboy father on an adventure through New York.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Bill Murray, Rashida Jones, Marlon Wayans, Jessica Henwick
Votes: 36,463
47. The Painter and the Thief (2020)
106 min | Documentary
An artist befriends the thief who stole her paintings. She becomes his closest ally when he is severely hurt in a car crash and needs full time care, even if her paintings are not found. But then the tables turn.
Director: Benjamin Ree | Stars: Karl Bertil-Nordland, Barbora Kysilkova, Øystein Stene
Votes: 4,314
48. The Disciple (2020)
TV-MA | 129 min | Drama, Music
Self-doubt, sacrifice and struggle converge into an existential crisis for a devoted classical vocalist as the mastery he strives for remains elusive.
Director: Chaitanya Tamhane | Stars: Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid, Sumitra Bhave, Deepika Bhide Bhagwat
Votes: 3,063
49. The Year of the Discovery (2020)
200 min | Documentary
In 1992, when the Olympics and the Expo at last presented Spain as an emerging new democracy, the de-industrialisation policies were met with riots in the southern town of Cartagena. The locals remember those days.
Director: Luis López Carrasco
Votes: 516
50. The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
PG | 119 min | Comedy, Drama
A modern take on Charles Dickens's classic tale of a young orphan who is able to triumph over many obstacles.
Director: Armando Iannucci | Stars: Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, Peter Capaldi
Votes: 22,422
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