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I make routine sweeps through the Dynamic Top Ten threads every month in order to discern trends in the groupthink of the forum that can eventually be used against it. The reports I present to some guy who says he works for the government are presented for your amusement below.

The fine print: Only the top ten films have been counted from the lists in the Dynamic Top Ten threads since 2019, and lists of less than ten have not been counted. Though 2019 is not displayed here, I'm continuing to register updates to 2019 lists to the extent that they affect films shown here for 2020. Lists submitted by members for years before they joined the site are not being tallied. Lists not updated since early in the year are only partially counted. (Exception: I count all lists for the current year, even those that don't list ten films yet. Once the year ends, I remove any lists that haven't been filled out to ten.) Each film is assigned to years here consistent with my SNAPSЖOT database, but a mention of the film in the Dynamic Top Ten thread for any year counts toward that film's total. Films are ranked based on how many lists they currently appear on, with ties broken based on the relative placement of films within individual lists. Anything appearing on three or more lists that isn't in the top 25 for a given year is shown (in alphabetical order) as an honorable mention. In addition to showing the number of appearances, I'm also showing the change in position of certain films, either since the last update (for the latest year) or from the end of the last awards season (for all prior years). The only changes in position I'm showing are ones that directly result from people adding that film to their list, taking it off, or moving its position. Finally, the consensus #1 film shown for each year is the film that shows up most often in the #1 position of people's lists.

The key word here, folks, is "dynamic." Any member of the forum is welcome at any time to contribute lists in current and prior years, and everyone is free (and in fact, encouraged) to update their lists not only throughout the year, but well after each year has finished, to reflect new discoveries or reevaluations.

As a final note, I'd just like to say that, while it can be fun to watch some of the heavier hitters duke it out for each year's top spots, my real hope with these lists is that people will take note of the lesser known films that have started to build a small consensus, and that they'll go to the effort of seeking those films out for themselves.

Last Edited Date: May 31, 2026

The Top Films of 2026

Most #1 Votes: The Drama (5), 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (5)

Most Listed
01 The Drama (10)
02 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (7)
03 The Rip (5)
04 Send Help +1
05 Project Hail Mary -1
06 Hokum (4) NEW
07 The Christophers -1
08 Mother Mary (3) NEW
09 The Napa Boys NEW

+/- is change during the month ending on Last Edited Date


The Top Films of 2025

Most #1 Votes: One Battle After Another (7), In die Sonne schauen (4), O Agente Secreto (3), Train Dreams (3), Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (3)

Most Listed
01 One Battle After Another (29)
02 It Was Just an Accident (16)
03 The Phoenician Scheme (15)
04 Marty Supreme (14)
05 Sirāt (12) +1
06 O Agente Secreto (11) +4
07 Train Dreams (10) -2
08 Sentimental Value
09 Bugonia (9)
10 No Other Choice -3
11 Black Bag
12 Weapons
13 Die My Love (8)
14 Resurrection (7) +4
15 Miroirs No. 3 +8
16 Sinners
17 Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (6) +7
18 The Mastermind
19 Eddington
20 Nouvelle Vague -6
21 Wake Up Dead Man -2
22 Presence
23 If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
24 28 Years Later -2
25 In die Sonne schauen (4)

Honorable Mention: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Baby Invasion, The Ballad of Wallis Island, Blue Moon, Bring Her Back, Father Mother Sister Brother, La grazia NEW, Hamnet, Highest 2 Lowest, A House of Dynamite, Magalhães, The Naked Gun, Obsession NEW, Pillion NEW, Sorry Baby, The Testament of Ann Lee, La Tour de glace, Twinless

+/- is change since Mar 15, 2026


The Top Films of 2024

Most #1 Votes: The Brutalist (5)

Most Listed
01 I Saw the TV Glow (17)
02 Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (16)
03 The Brutalist (14)
04 Anora (13)
05 The Seed of the Sacred Fig (10)
06 Challengers (9)
07 Kinds of Kindness (8)
08 Miséricorde
09 Cloud
10 Caught by the Tides (7)
11 All We Imagine as Light
12 The Shrouds
13 Nickel Boys
14 The Substance
15 Hit Man (6)
16 Dune: Part Two
17 Flow
18 Hard Truths
19 Aggro Drift (5)
20 Civil War
21 A Different Man
22 Love Lies Bleeding
23 A Real Pain
24 Grand Tour
25 Friendship

Honorable Mention: The Apprentice, Babygirl, Conclave, Here, Juror #2, Nosferatu, Queer, Rebel Ridge, Ripley, Super Happy Forever, Trap, A Traveler's Needs, Viet and Nam

+/- is change since Mar 15, 2026


The Top Films of 2023

Most #1 Votes: Killers of the Flower Moon (8), The Zone of Interest (7), May December (3)

Most Listed
01 Killers of the Flower Moon (23)
02 May December
03 Oppenheimer (19)
04 The Zone of Interest (18)
05 Poor Things (15)
06 Anatomie d'une chute
07 Asteroid City (13)
08 Evil Does Not Exist
09 The Holdovers (12) +1
10 Past Lives (11)
11 The Boy and the Heron (10)
12 Roter Himmel
13 All of Us Strangers (9)
14 Beau Is Afraid
15 La chimera (8)
16 La Bête +2
17 Fallen Leaves +4
18 Barbie
19 Perfect Days (7)
20 The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
21 American Fiction
22 Monster (6)
23 Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
24 Les Chambres rouges
25 The Sweet East

Honorable Mention: About Dry Grasses, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Copenhagen Cowboy, Ferrari, Godzilla Minus One, Infinity Pool, The Iron Claw, John Wick: Chapter 4, The Killer, Knock at the Cabin, Maestro, Passages, Saltburn, Talk to Me, A Thousand and One, You Hurt My Feelings

+/- is change since Mar 15, 2026


The Top Films of 2022

Most #1 Votes: Tár (4), The Banshees of Inisherin (4), Aftersun (3)

Most Listed
01 Tár (23)
02 The Banshees of Inisherin (18)
03 Crimes of the Future (16)
04 Showing Up (14)
05 Everything Everywhere All at Once (13)
06 Nope
07 Triangle of Sadness (12)
08 Aftersun (11)
09 Decision to Leave
10 Glass Onion
11 The Northman (10)
12 The Fabelmans (9)
13 Pacifiction (8)
14 Babylon
15 Godland (7)
16 Blonde
17 Armageddon Time
18 Women Talking
19 Bones and All
20 Trenque Lauquen
21 Avatar: The Way of Water
22 Top Gun: Maverick (6)
23 Elvis
24 Eo
25 The Batman

Honorable Mention: Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood, Avec amour et acharnement, Barbarian, Bardo, falsa crónica de unas cuantas verdades, Coma, De humani corporis fabrica, The Eternal Daughter, Flux Gourmet, Holy Spider, Im Westen nichts Neues, Kimi, Living, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Master Gardener, The Menu, No Bears, The Novelist's Film, Le otto montagne, Pearl, The Rehearsal, R.M.N., Saint Omer, Speak No Evil, Stars at Noon, Terrifier 2, Turning Red, White Noise, X

+/- is change since Mar 15, 2026


The Top Films of 2021

Most #1 Votes: Licorice Pizza (5), Memoria (5), Petite maman (4), Drive My Car (3), The Worst Person in the World (3), The Card Counter (3)

Most Listed
01 Licorice Pizza (27)
02 Drive My Car (23)
03 The Worst Person in the World (22)
04 The Card Counter (20)
05 Memoria (14)
06 The Power of the Dog
07 The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (13)
08 Petite maman (12)
09 Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
10 Dune: Part One
11 Annette (11)
12 Benediction
13 Titane (10)
14 Spencer
15 C'mon C'mon (8)
16 The Tragedy of Macbeth
17 The Green Knight (7)
18 Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
19 Red Rocket
20 The Velvet Underground (6)
21 Madres paralelas
22 The Souvenir: Part II (5)
23 Nightmare Alley
24 Benedetta
25 We're All Going to the World's Fair

Honorable Mention: After Yang, Azor, Can't Get You Out of My Head, Censor, Diários de Otsoga, È stata la mano di Dio, Flee, Hit the Road, The Humans, Inside, The Last Duel, The Lost Daughter, Mad God, Malignant, No Sudden Move, No Time to Die, Old, Passing, Pig, The Suicide Squad, Summer of Soul, West Side Story, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?

+/- is change since Mar 15, 2026


The Top Films of 2020

Most #1 Votes: First Cow (6), I'm Thinking of Ending Things (6)

Most Listed
01 First Cow (21)
02 I'm Thinking of Ending Things (17)
03 Tenet (12)
04 Palm Springs (11)
05 The Invisible Man
06 Mank (10)
07 Da 5 Bloods (7)
08 Minari
09 Days (6)
10 The Trial of the Chicago 7
11 Never Rarely Sometimes Always
12 Promising Young Woman (5)
13 The Assistant
14 Small Axe: Lovers Rock
15 Nomadland
16 Les Choses qu'on dit, les choses qu'on fait (4)
17 On the Rocks
18 Quo Vadis, Aida?
19 Wolfwalkers
20 Emma
21 The Father
22 World of Tomorrow Episode III: The Absent Destinations of David Prime
23 She Dies Tomorrow
24 Another Round
25 Undine

Honorable Mention: @zola, Bad Education, Freaky, News of the World, Possessor, Riders of Justice, Sin señas particulares, Soul, Underwater

+/- is change since Mar 15, 2026

First post updated, with The Father new to 2020

First post updated, with Days new to 2020

First post updated, with The Nest, Saint Maud, and Soul new to 2020

First post updated, with Another Round, She Dies Tomorrow, and Swallow new to 2020

First post updated, with Days moved back to 2020 and Freaky also new to that year

Freaky is some good news.

First post updated. Quo vadis, Aida? has moved to 2020.

Next month will be the year-end update, at which time I will be doing the following:

1. No longer counting 2021 lists of less than 10, and only partially counting lists of 10 that haven't been updated recently. If you haven't edited your list since at least the last Friday of October and you want it to count as is, then you will need to add a note to your post that indicates this. Lists that I stop counting at year-end can be counted again later if they're subsequently edited to constitute a qualifying top 10.

2. "Freezing" the results for years 2021 and prior (i.e. any changes during 2022 will be shown as changes from that point in time)

First post updated, with the following new to older years:

È stata la mano di Dio
France
Riders of Justice

First post updated, with Friends and Strangers new to 2021.

Also, I've made a change to year assignments to be consistent with how we're now doing them for the lists project. Namely, I'm now making a ruling on each film myself, as documented in the first post of this thread (though I welcome suggested corrections if anyone has them). You are still welcome to assign films to years in the Dynamic Top 10 threads however you prefer. I will find each film and recognize your vote no matter where you list it. The advantage of using my year assignments though is that you wouldn't have to shift anything around when we eventually do the lists project for these more recent years. This change moved the following films to older years:

2021

Das Mädchen und die Spinne (Ramon Zürcher)
Tromperie (Arnaud Desplechin)

2020

Les Choses qu'on dit, les choses qu'on fait (Emmanuel Mouret)
Sin señas particulares (Fernanda Valadez)
Undine (Christian Petzold)

2019 and Prior (i.e. kicked off the results for this decade)

About Endlessness (Roy Andersson)
Bacurau (Kleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano Dornelles)
Beanpole (Kantemir Balagov)
Chambre 212 (Christophe Honoré)
Le Daim (Quentin Dupieux)
Ema (Pablo Larraín)
La gomera (Corneliu Porumboiu)
Martin Eden (Pietro Marcello)
Perdrix (Erwan Le Duc)
Tout le monde a raison (Emmanuel Mouret)
Vitalina Varela (Pedro Costa)

Swo, I've noticed that several people, including yourself, have The Rehearsal down as a film when it's been renewed for season two. I believe in the past your ruling has been that films are only isolated miniseries by same director, etc. So I'm wondering if this'll be counted as a film down the line, even if a season two comes out? I ask because I think Euphoria's second series functions as an insulated sequel quite separate from 1 and likely 3, and would gladly put it at the top of my own list if it has a chance at being voted for in future projects, but I don't wanna waste a ranked spot if that isn't the case.

My approach with these threads is that I try not to impose any rules and just capture what people have decided on their own. You are welcome to list a season of a show if you think it makes sense to include in a film list (and you wouldn't be the first to list a season of Euphoria here). That being said, for lists project purposes, we'll see what treatment makes the most sense when we get to the relevant decade

Yeah I was just curious, I’m trying to stick to consistent rules to make things easier for myself, but since you had it listed I was wondering if the rules had changed and what the rationale was. Thanks for the response

swo, will you be counting Master Gardener as a 2022 or 2023 film? It had multiple festival premieres in '22, but will release in '23. I want to know just so that I can adjust my 2022 list accordingly

You can define it however you want for your own list, but I'll be tracking it here as a 2022 film

First post updated. Diários de Otsoga is new to 2021.

Next update will be after Oscar night on March 12. This will be the year-end update, at which time I will be doing the following:

1. No longer counting 2022 lists of less than 10, and only partially counting lists of 10 that haven't been updated recently. If you haven't edited your list since at least the last Friday of October and you want it to count as is, then you will need to add a note to your post that indicates this. Lists that I stop counting at year-end can be counted again later if they're subsequently edited to constitute a qualifying top 10.

2. Deleting empty place-holder posts in the 2020-2022 threads that were never updated. These people are free to contribute a list at some point in the future, but they will lose their spot earlier on in the thread.

3. "Freezing" the results for years 2022 and prior (i.e. any changes during 2023 will be shown as changes from that point in time)

First post updated. Showing Up and The Novelist's Film are new to 2022

First post updated. Master Gardener and How to Blow Up a Pipeline are new to 2022

First post updated. M3GAN is new to 2022

First post updated. New to 2022:

Enys Men
R.M.N.
Un couple

First post updated. Barbenheimer is real. No Bears is new to 2022

First post updated. As bestas is new to 2022

First post updated.

Next update will be after Oscar night on March 10. This will be the year-end update, at which time I will be doing the following:

1. No longer counting 2023 lists of less than 10, and only partially counting lists of 10 that haven't been updated recently. If you haven't edited your list since at least the last Friday of October and you want it to count as is, then you will need to add a note to your post that indicates this. Lists that I stop counting at year-end can be counted again later if they're subsequently edited to constitute a qualifying top 10.

2. Deleting empty place-holder posts in the 2023 thread that were never updated. These people are free to contribute a list at some point in the future, but they will lose their spot earlier on in the thread.

3. "Freezing" the results for years 2023 and prior (i.e. any changes during 2024 will be shown as changes from that point in time)

First post updated, with Ferrari new to 2023