The results of Film Comment’s annual end-of-year survey were revealed at a special live event last night at Film at Lincoln Center, with Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light, Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World, and Mati Diop’s Dahomey named as the top three films released in the U.S. this year. Of the films that have not yet announced U.S. distribution, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor’s No Other Land; Albert Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude; and Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau’s DIRECT ACTION claimed top rankings. 

The poll was voted on by 116 Film Comment contributors and colleagues from around the globe, including Jamsheed Akrami (scholar and filmmaker), Florence Almozini (Film at Lincoln Center), Dessane Lopez Cassell (critic), Erika Balsom (scholar and critic), Richard Brody (The New Yorker), Edo Choi (The Museum of the Moving Image), Monica Castillo (Jacob Burns Film Center), Jean-Michel Frodon (critic), Lovia Gyarkye (The Hollywood Reporter), Molly Haskell (critic), J. Hoberman (critic), Radu Jude (filmmaker), Michael Koresky (Reverse Shot), Beatrice Loayza (critic), Kevin B. Lee (Locarno Film Festival), Dennis Lim (Film at Lincoln Center), Chloe Lizotte (MUBI Notebook), Guy Lodge (Variety, Observer), Matías Piñeiro (filmmaker), Adam Piron (Sundance Institute), Inney Prakash (Asia Society), Jonathan Romney (FC contributing editor), Adam Shatz (The London Review of Books), Dash Shaw (cartoonist and animator), Gavin Smith (critic), Imogen Sara Smith (critic), Amy Taubin (FC contributing editor), Manu Yáñez Murillo (Otros Cines Europa), Genevieve Yue (scholar and critic), and more.

From left: Clinton Krute, Molly Haskell, Michael Koresky, Devika Girish (Photo by Arin Sang-urai)

The top 20 films of 2024 were unveiled with film critics Molly Haskell and Michael Koresky joining Film Comment editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute to count down the results of the year-end critics’ poll. Filmmakers Kapadia, Jude, Bonello, and the co-directors of No Other Land sent in video statements expressing their delight at their films’ rankings, which were played for the audience. The discussion is now available on the Film Comment Podcast, and the complete lists of released and undistributed films are included below.

“This year’s list is a reflection of the strength and continuing salience of global cinema, with the top eight films hailing from outside the United States. In terms of form and subject matter, the list  contains multitudes—from Radu Jude’s scathingly funny Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World to Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s brooding Evil Does Not Exist to Annie Baker’s coming-of-age comedy Janet Planet, the poll is packed with thoughtful, challenging, and groundbreaking films,” said Krute.

“As always, the list doesn’t just represent the most important films of the year; it reinforces the importance of cinema itself,” said Girish. “That the titles at the top of both the released and undistributed films lists, be it All We Imagine as Light, No Other Land, Dahomey, DIRECT ACTION, or Pepe, are startling portraits of our present—a present ravaged by state violence, colonialism, the climate crisis—is a testament to Serge Daney’s philosophy, which we hold close at Film Comment: ‘Cinephilia is not only a particular relationship to cinema, it is a relationship to the world through cinema.’”

Film Comment’s Top 20 Films Released in 2024

1. All We Imagine as Light, Payal Kapadia, India/France/Netherlands/Luxembourg
2. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World, Radu Jude, Romania
3. Dahomey, Mati Diop, France/Senegal/Benin
4. No Other Land, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor; Palestine/Norway
5. The Beast, Bertrand Bonello, France
6. Evil Does Not Exist, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Japan
7. La Chimera, Alice Rohrwacher, Italy
8. Last Summer, Catherine Breillat, France
9. Janet Planet, Annie Baker, U.S.
10. Anora, Sean Baker, U.S.
11. Hard Truths, Mike Leigh, U.K./Spain
12. A Traveler’s Needs, Hong Sangsoo, South Korea
13. Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross, U.S.
14. The Human Surge 3, Eduardo Williams, Argentina/Portugal/Netherlands/Taiwan/Brazil/Hong Kong/Sri Lanka/Peru
15. Close Your Eyes, Víctor Erice, Spain
16. A Different Man, Aaron Schimberg, U.S.
17. I Saw the TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun, U.S.
18. Juror #2, Clint Eastwood, U.S.
19. Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, Johan Grimonprez, U.S.
20. Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola, U.S.

Film Comment’s Top 10 Undistributed Films of 2024

1. No Other Land, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor; Palestine/Norway
2. Afternoons of Solitude, Albert Serra, Spain/France/Portugal
3. DIRECT ACTION, Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau, France/Germany
4. Pepe, Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic/Namibia/Germany/France
5. Scénarios + Exposé Du Film Annonce Du Film “Scénario,” Jean-Luc Godard, France/Japan
6. exergue – on documenta 14, Dimitris Athiridis, Greece
7. Cloud, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan
8. bluish, Lilith Kraxner and Milena Czernovsky, Austria
9. My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow, Julia Loktev, U.S.
10. Lázaro at Night, Nicolás Pereda, Canada/Mexico

The complete list of films and participants can be found on FilmComment.com.