The Best Movies of 2019

Parasite is the best-reviewed movie of 2019—probably *

For the third consecutive year, a foreign-language film has landed the highest Metascore. The best-reviewed film released in 2019, Parasite comes from South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer, Okja) and tells an increasingly twisted tale that traces the growing connection between two families from different socioeconomic classes.

The rare foreign-language film to become a major box office hit, Parasite first came to the public's attention when it won the biggest prize at Cannes (the Palme d'Or) in May. Numerous other awards and honors have followed, and the film has been a staple on year-end top 10 lists. Could an Oscar best picture trophy be next? There's still one major obstacle: No foreign-language film has ever won that top Oscar—not even Roma, last year's best-reviewed film.

* Oh, about that asterisk: At the moment, Parasite is just a tiny fraction of a point ahead of the year's #2 film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The latter has screened briefly for awards-qualifying purposes, but won't really reach theaters until February, at which time it will likely receive additional reviews. If those reviews are uniformly excellent, they could elevate Portrait into the #1 position.

Those two films aside, 2019 actually saw a decline in the number of spectacularly reviewed films compared to recent years. After four consecutive years in which the number of films scoring 90 or higher reached double digits, there were just six such films in 2019:

Total number of films scoring at least 90, by year

We tracked 552 films released during 2019 that received at least seven reviews from our panel of top professional critics. A total of 308 of those films scored 61 or higher, indicating that they were positively reviewed. That 55.8% approval rate also marks a decline compared to 2018's film slate, in which 58% of films received positive reviews. There were also fewer films in 2019 receiving a Metascore of 81 or higher (the cutoff we use to indicate "universal acclaim" from reviewers) than in the previous year.

The year's best films

Below are 2019's highest-scoring overall films regardless of genre, followed by separate lists of the year's best movies in a variety of categories.

Highest-Scoring Movies Released in 2019

Movie Score Watch Now 1 Parasite 96    2 Portrait of a Lady on Fire 95    3 The Irishman 94    4 Marriage Story 93    5 The Souvenir 92    6 Little Women 91    7 Uncut Gems 89    8 For Sama 89    9 The Farewell 89    10 Long Day's Journey Into Night 89    11 63 Up 88    12 Pain and Glory 88    13 Apollo 11 88    14 The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open 87    15 Genèse (Genesis) 87    16 Cunningham 87    17 Diane 86    18 An Elephant Sitting Still 86    19 Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese 86    20 One Cut of the Dead 86    21 Black Mother 86    22 The Wild Pear Tree 86    23 American Factory 86    24 Honeyland 86    25 Birds of Passage 85    26 Atlantics 85    27 Varda by Agnès 85    28 Ash Is Purest White 85    29 One Child Nation 85    30 The Ground Beneath My Feet 85    31 End of the Century 84    32 Booksmart 84    33 Synonyms 84    34 Midnight Family 84    35 Toy Story 4 84    36 The Cave 84    37 In My Room 84    38 The Last Black Man in San Francisco 83    39 Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood 83    40 Roll Red Roll 83    41 The Lighthouse 83    42 Rosie 83    43 Carmine Street Guitars 82    44 Wrestle 82    45 Relaxer 82    46 Transit 82    47 Maiden 82    48 Invisible Life 82    49 Knives Out 82    50 Angels Are Made of Light 82

For this and all tables in this article, only movies with seven or more reviews and released in at least one theater (or on a streaming service) in the United States between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 were considered. Re-releases of older films are excluded. The Metascore is a weighted average of scores from top professional critics, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 100 (good). Although scores have been rounded to the nearest whole number, movies are ranked prior to rounding. All scores in this article are from January 5, 2020.

Best 2019 Films in Selected Genres

2019's Best Documentaries 1 For Sama 89    2 63 Up 88    3 Apollo 11 88    4 Cunningham 87    5 Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese 86    6 Black Mother 86    7 American Factory 86    8 Honeyland 86    9 Varda by Agnès 85    10 One Child Nation 85    11 Midnight Family 84    12 The Cave 84    13 Roll Red Roll 83    14 Carmine Street Guitars 82    15 Wrestle 82    16 Maiden 82    17 Angels Are Made of Light 82    18 The Edge of Democracy 81    19 The Proposal 80    20 Western Stars 80    21 Knock Down the House 80    22 Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles 80    23 Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound 80    24 Aquarela 80    25 David Crosby: Remember My Name 80

2019's Best Foreign-Language Films (Live-action narrative films only) 1 Parasite 96    2 Portrait of a Lady on Fire 95    3 The Farewell 89    4 Long Day's Journey Into Night 89    5 Pain and Glory 88    6 Genèse (Genesis) 87    7 An Elephant Sitting Still 86    8 One Cut of the Dead 86    9 The Wild Pear Tree 86    10 Birds of Passage 85    11 Atlantics 85    12 Ash Is Purest White 85    13 The Ground Beneath My Feet 85    14 End of the Century 84    15 Synonyms 84    16 In My Room 84    17 Transit 82    18 Invisible Life 82    19 I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians 81    20 Shadow 81    21 Woman at War 81    22 The Chambermaid 81    23 Too Late to Die Young 80    24 All Is Well 80    25 Working Woman 79

2019's Best Animated Films 1 Toy Story 4 84    2 I Lost My Body 81    3 Funan 79    4 Promare 77    5 Ruben Brandt, Collector 75    6 Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles 75    7 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 71    8 Missing Link 68    9 The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part 65    10 Frozen II 64

2019's Best Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Superhero Films (English-language, live action) 1 Ad Astra 80    2 Avengers: Endgame 78    3 High Life 77    4 See You Yesterday 74    5 Shazam! 71    6 Spider-Man: Far From Home 69    7 The Kid Who Would Be King 66    8 Fast Color 64    9 Captain Marvel 64    10 I Am Mother 64

2019's Best Horror Films and Supernatural Thrillers 1 One Cut of the Dead 86    2 The Lighthouse 83    3 In Fabric 81    4 Us 81    5 Tigers Are Not Afraid 76    6 Midsommar 72    7 Knife + Heart 69    8 The Changeover 69    9 Depraved 69    10 Climax 67

What are your favorites?

What are your selections for the best and worst movies of the past year? Let us know in the comments section below.

If you are looking for even more of 2019's best films, be sure to check out our compilation of nearly 300 film critic top 10 lists as well as our 2019 Film Awards Scorecard. We are also tracking critics' picks for the best movies of the just-completed decade.

And, for the opposite of good, we also have a list of 2019's absolute worst movies.