A Star Is Born

Roma

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

The Favourite

Black Panther

Eighth Grade

Paddington 2

Mandy

Avengers: Infinity War

First Reformed

First Man

Letterboxd is where diverse, clever and funny film lovers gather to share their passion for film. The contemplative, the melodramatic, the cheesy; the genre-exploders, the spectacular failures, the heart-stopping life-changers. You loved ’em all in 2018.

Once again, the Letterboxd community—almost a million of you—has chosen a brilliant selection of films as the year’s best. Your ratings don’t lie, and for the data nerds at Letterboxd HQ, it’s our favorite time: when math and art combine to celebrate cinematic excellence. Thank you for another sublime year. Wakanda forever!

Sweet title illustrations by Anna Hurley.

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#1

Highest Rated Overall

Spider-Man: Into the Spider‑Verse

Directed by Rodney Rothman, Peter Ramsey … Viewings: 2.6M Average weighted rating: 4.4

It’s absolutely astonishing how not only does this not miss a single beat in regards to how much it’s juggling—in terms of ideas, themes, and characters—but how it always comes back to Miles… I’m just amazed this movie exists, and what it does to push the medium forward with such care and passion is truly inspiring. — Account removed

#2

Highest Rated Overall

Roma

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón Viewings: 492K Average weighted rating: 4.1

It’s a quiet and contemplative masterwork—devoid of a soundtrack, choosing instead to let the sounds of the city speak for the film… Cars on a busy street, or a passing marching band, or the hustle and bustle at a city market overrun with shady street merchants—all of these and more come together to tell a story of this country that requires no words, but rather succeeds in its own visual poetry. — Wesley R. Ball

#3

Highest Rated Overall

Shoplifters

Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda Viewings: 243K Average weighted rating: 4.3

Yes this family right here officer! There I was just minding my own business when they came in, caught me COMPLETELY off guard, stole my heart and left without even paying! I don’t think I can ever recover from this … the pain is just too great. — ˗ˏˋ Liam ˊˎ˗

Highest Rated Overall — Next Ten

Here are the next ten highest rated films by our members in 2018. See the full list.

Highest Rated Action

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie Viewings: 601K Average weighted rating: 4.0

A breathless riptide of raw spectacle. Not since Fury Road have such viscerally practical effects been put to better use by such deliriously impractical people. — davidehrlich

Highest Rated Animation

Spider-Man: Into the Spider‑Verse

Directed by Rodney Rothman, Peter Ramsey … Viewings: 2.6M Average weighted rating: 4.4

Bursts through with tremendous exuberance, utilising the medium like no other superhero film I’ve seen—a bolstering desire to invigorate audiences through its psychedelic and orgasmic visuals. — Account removed

Highest Rated Drama

Roma

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón Viewings: 492K Average weighted rating: 4.1

Roma is a love letter to women, to their resilience, to their love and to their strength… As a lover of black and white photography, this was a constant gift to my eyes. — Asun

Highest Rated Horror

Hereditary

Directed by Ari Aster Viewings: 1.6M Average weighted rating: 4.0

Hereditary doesn’t let the genre define what it can be. Hereditary takes your head and slams it into the goddamn wall, and will not apologize… let it ruin your life. — #1 gizmo fan

Highest Rated Sci-Fi

Black Panther

Directed by Ryan Coogler Viewings: 2.3M Average weighted rating: 3.6

The sheer amount of character and life communicated through the use of colors and body language ALONE in this film are enough to send me over the edge. The industry NEEDED this. — Adam

Highest Rated Documentary

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Directed by Morgan Neville Viewings: 110K Average weighted rating: 4.2

The legendary humanitarian and his revolutionary little show deserved a proper film and Morgan Neville’s filmmaking style fits this subject perfectly. — Jakey 🫠🎞

Highest Rated Non-English Language

Roma

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón Viewings: 492K Average weighted rating: 4.1

All the trademark Cuarón… sex/sexual moments-that-aren’t-actually-about-sex, political background, art history references, even a beach… but he knows what works and he utilizes it well. — Ana Maria

Most Popular Overall

Black Panther

Directed by Ryan Coogler Viewings: 2.3M Average weighted rating: 3.6

Packed with non-stop action, emotional drama, hilarious moments of levity, outstanding acting and brilliant directing. A culturally important movie that everyone of all ages, races and homelands should see. — Keith Adams Jr.

Most Popular in January

The Shape of Water

Directed by Guillermo del Toro Viewings: 994K Average weighted rating: 3.7

Guillermo knows what the world needs right now: it needs to regain its hope in love, tenderness, and kindness… I was so glad about all the moments in this that allude to the utter boundlessness of love in all its forms, and the humanization of not only the creature, but Elisa herself… There is no humanity that does not include us all. — voidember

Most Popular in February

Black Panther

Directed by Ryan Coogler Viewings: 2.3M Average weighted rating: 3.6

Jesus, fuck, yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes, this is what we should be—what we must be—striving for. This level of productive filmmaking, even if it operates within a system of blockbuster beats and tropes. This is the only kind of complicity we can afford anymore: the kind that uses the language of its overbearing oppressors to reclaim its own condition. — Tay

Most Popular in March

Annihilation

Directed by Alex Garland Viewings: 792K Average weighted rating: 3.6

Death isn’t really tragic so much as it is necessary. When our existence ends, we give birth to something new. Why do we think the universe belongs to us alone? There was something here before us, and there will be something after us. We are a single step in a universal cycle. Our insignificance is terrifying, but it’s also beautiful. Anyways I liked this movie a lot. — kai

Most Popular in April

A Quiet Place

Directed by John Krasinski Viewings: 1.5M Average weighted rating: 3.7

A gorgeously captured family dynamic seeps through the screen with this one… It harkens back to Spielberg’s dinner-table naturalism in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial or Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the documentary-like realism of a family living together under great threat, desperately trying to make it work… This is a film which ultimately spirals into non-stop carnage, proving that when things have been quiet for long enough the slightest noise resonates twice as loud. — Evan T

Most Popular in May

Avengers: Infinity War

Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Viewings: 2.5M Average weighted rating: 3.9

10 years have been leading to this. Leading to sadness, to anger, to confusion. Leading to the gutsiest blockbuster of all time. It doesn’t give you room to breathe, not even for a second, and the sheer amount of excitement it brings to the table is off the Richter scale… One thing’s for sure, Thanos lives up to the hype. Brolin is absolutely fantastic in the role. — Jack

Most Popular in June

Hereditary

Directed by Ari Aster Viewings: 1.6M Average weighted rating: 4.0

Hereditary doesn’t try hard. And that is its saving grace. It also doesn’t try to be scary. And that makes it absolutely terrifying… It’s not one thing that makes Hereditary so unnerving. It is the amalgamation of visuals, music, sounds, performances and pacing that turns this into a slow, deliberate, nightmarish stalker. One that does not let go. One that is intent on making you feel as uncomfortable as possible. Without mercy. — DirkH

Most Popular in July

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Directed by Peyton Reed Viewings: 1.1M Average weighted rating: 2.9

An unapologetically fun ride and a film that knows when to have fun and let things hang loose, Ant-Man and the Wasp might feel like filler of sorts after the massive scope of Infinity War, but its humble, downscaled focus and happy-go-lucky charm serves as a perfect little dessert to finish off the MCU’s 2018 slate, and help refresh us in time for whatever 2019 has in store with Captain Marvel and Avengers 4. — Ben Reyes

Most Popular in August

Mission: Impossible — Fallout

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie Viewings: 601K Average weighted rating: 4.0

This is the first film I’ve given five stars to in 2018. It’s a deserved rating for a film that answers the one question posed at the end of Rogue Nation, shuffles the deck in terms of the kind of film we get, […] delivers some of the most exceptional action set pieces I’ve been fortunate enough to witness, and poses two or three questions ahead of the next film. But, most importantly of all, Benji gets to wear a mask. Good things come to those who wait. — 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸

Most Popular in September

Searching

Directed by Aneesh Chaganty Viewings: 291K Average weighted rating: 3.7

John Cho is instantly sympathetic as the father, proactively searching every nook and cranny to find his daughter. Films like this usually fall into two categories; painfully simple to figure out or too convoluted to care, but Searching is neither. This film is engaging and makes you feel clever by giving you the space to puzzle things out in the more quiet moments, while simultaneously pulling the rug from under you in a satisfying way. — Matthew Flint

Most Popular in October

A Star Is Born

Directed by Bradley Cooper Viewings: 912K Average weighted rating: 3.6

Over a double straight-up on the rocks [Jackson] watches Ally, a luminous and theatrical Lady Gaga… He is awestricken. We are too. In a vivid shot-reverse shot in closeup the two share a wordless exchange so intensely romantic and extravagant one could almost burst into hysterical tears. The whole film is like this. It is maudlin, earnest and unfashionably melodramatic. It is too long. It is self-serious. And it is really, truly great. — Calum Marsh

Most Popular in November

Bohemian Rhapsody

Directed by Bryan Singer Viewings: 1.4M Average weighted rating: 3.4

How do you encapsulate music that permeates your inner intimate spirit and yet connects you with millions of people across the world, in a film? My bias is loud and front and center … this film spoke to me … specifically 10-year-old me who was singing and clapping along with the Live Aid crowd from my bedroom in LA. This film was a beautiful reminder of the importance of centering queer superheroes that exist in our popular culture. — Erica Acevedo-Ontiveros

Most Popular in December

Spider-Man: Into the Spider‑Verse

Directed by Rodney Rothman, Peter Ramsey … Viewings: 2.6M Average weighted rating: 4.4

Spider-Verse whisks you along its inter-dimensional epic at breakneck pace, and has no problem slowing it down to let your mind catch up and your eyes get watery. There’s a living, beating heart to this thing—something I haven’t felt from an MCU entry for a while now. There’s nothing like an occasional outlier to reaffirm your faith in a particular genre. — Account removed

The Year in Numbers

86.02m

Films Marked Watched

48.98m

Ratings

15.93m

Diary Entries

4.67m

Reviews

986k

Comments

699k

Lists

Popular favorable reviews

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

By davidehrlich

Tragic news for anyone who’s sick of superhero movies: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse completely reinvigorates the genre, reaffirms why it’s resonating with a diverse modern audience that’s desperate to fight the power, and reiterates to us how these hyper-popular spandex myths are able to reinvent themselves on the fly whenever things get stale.

Love, Simon

By Lucy

This movie is a snapshot, a moment in history. Being gay, being a lesbian, being trans, being bi, etc., these are normal things. These are things that make people who they are. This movie isn’t the most adventurous kind of take on the LGBT community, and not everyone in the community will care for it. … But I’m really glad it had this effect on me. It was joyous and fun, heartbreaking and sincere. Corny and clichéd, maybe. … But it works. And we deserve this. The world deserves this. And it’s about fucking time.

Eighth Grade

By #1 gizmo fan

The car scene broke me into a trillion pieces. It tore me down, ripped me of my skin and then let me bleed. But after the movie was over, it bandaged me and let me breathe. … Thank you Bo Burnham, for bringing me to my freedom. Thank you for letting me breathe again.

Roma

By BRÁT

Women sacrifice so much and are treated like absolute dog shit not necessarily just by men, but by richer, whiter women, by their own bodies, and even by the merciless, mercurial environment. Cuarón has proven time and time again that he is more than capable of crafting women characters teeming with empathy and strength, even when he puts them through hell. I’m not-so-patiently waiting for more male directors to catch up with him!

Roma

By k(arst)en

It’s been awhile since a film has left me completely speechless. Like, the kind of speechless where I was so overwhelmed that it wasn’t until my walk home that I started breaking down. It’s been awhile since I got lost in a film completely and forgot about literally everything in the most beautiful way possible. It’s been awhile since I watched something special and one of a kind, something that makes me depressed to think I’ll never see it for the first time again. … Believe the hype. It’s a fucking masterpiece.

Popular unfavorable reviews

Climax

By matt lynch

Dear Gaspar Noé, I think you should just make porn. It seems like you want to make porn but feel the need to couch your desire to appear transgressive in something considered more respectable. Just make the porn please. Porn is great, it is still art, and you'd probably be really terrific at it.

Roma

By SilentDawn

If this is to be a film regarding memory, and the visceral presence of memories, why is Cuarón so adamant about not applying a specificity to the images, and letting it all play out without ownership? At so many moments, Roma is entirely aimless, with little to no context applied to its emotional weight or construction of its compositions and sequencing. This could’ve been about any family. Any maid. The setting is strong, but nothing reinforces why the film exists as it stands. All show.

Bohemian Rhapsody

By antonio

The film has no interest in interrogating who Freddie was as a person. Instead, we get shots of adoring heterosexual crowds, cheering his name, readily devouring him. The same kind of people who, in their personal lives, would spit at men like Freddie. There is no acknowledgement that what people worshipped, his artistry and his attitude, his sense of style; all that was and remains tied to his sexuality. … If I wanted that condescension, I’d have had dinner with my grandparents.

Intermission

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Countdown

David Ehrlich’s 25 Best

IndieWire’s David Ehrlich counts down his picks for the best films of 2018.

Trends

You’ve got red on you

This year’s trend in film poster art: reds and oranges. There are more.

Trends

Nic Cage still gainfully employed

Nicolas Cage had a very productive year with—by our count—eight films that opened in the US during 2018. A couple of them were superb, and some … were decidedly not.

Trends

Letitia Wright rules the box office

$1.55 billion. That’s the combined 2018 box office take for Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ready Player One and The Commuter. The common denominator in those films? Letitia “What are those?” Wright. Fandango has named her 2018’s highest box office earner—ahead of her co-stars, and other high earners Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Pratt. Now, show her the money.

Women Directors

The highest rated and most popular films by women directors.

Eleven women directors feature in our 50 highest rated films, up from just three last year: Chloé Zhao, Jennifer Fox, Alice Rohrwacher, Nadine Labaki, Debra Granik, Lynne Ramsay, Tamara Jenkins, Carla Simón, Marielle Heller, René Liu and Crystal Moselle. Our documentaries list is also full of talented female filmmakers.

Highest Rated — Women Directors

Free Solo

Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin Viewings: 193K Average weighted rating: 4.0

I love how the film crew become characters in the film, and the dilemma they face about potentially filming their friend die—or worse, inadvertently causing his death—is discussed in some depth. But the film is all Honnold’s; his sense of drive to achieve the unthinkable, his bluntness regarding the stakes, and his remarkable preparation and sustained focus in the moment are nothing less than superhuman. — Matthew Buchanan

Most Popular — Women Directors

You Were Never Really Here

Directed by Lynne Ramsay Viewings: 284K Average weighted rating: 3.7

While Ramsay gives us stark, brutal reminders, often in close-up, of the solidity of Joe’s body, a body that has suffered or is suffering, Joe is, still, a faltering being, a kind of traveler who can’t find a home. His very image flickers in front of us as vehicles rush past in the foreground of the frame and we strain to see him in the background, beyond the rush of street traffic. — Melissa Tamminga

In Memoriam

Stan Lee

Stan Lee had been at Marvel for years and became frustrated with the Comics Code. He planned to quit his job but his wife convinced him to write one more comic book, but this time write it the way he wanted. And in November 1961, that comic book became The Fantastic Four #1. It was a big hit and paved the way for Stan and other writers at Marvel such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko to come together and create new and exciting characters. And thus, the Marvel Universe was born. If it weren’t for Stan Lee, Marvel most likely wouldn’t have become what it is today. You gave us a whole world. —MovieBuFF1138

Associated Press

In Memoriam

Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall was a rarity: a successful female filmmaker in Hollywood. Her delightful comedy Big, starring Tom Hanks, became the first film by a female director to gross more than $100m. Though it was the fifth body-swap movie to emerge in the space of a year, its success was richly deserved. The plot, about a boy whose wish to be a grown-up comes true, could have been tasteless in other hands. There is, after all, a tentative romance between this child in an adult’s body (Hanks) and his colleague (Elizabeth Perkins) at the toy company where his natural naivety has landed him a job—though when she stays the night and he announces “I get to be on top!”, he is referring only to the bunk-bed arrangements. … Marshall’s light touch, and the appealingly puppyish performance she coaxed from Hanks, ensured the charm rarely waned. —Ryan Gilbey

Associated Press

Most Watched Actor

Samuel L. Jackson

Fourth year running!

Most Obsessively Rewatched

Avengers: Infinity War

Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Viewings: 2.5M Average weighted rating: 3.9

Do you know the feeling after having met a random, but really cute girl/guy at a party and you end up sleeping together, and you just can’t get her/him out of your head, the day after? … Well, I guess it’s kind of obvious where I’m going with this, but I’m gonna say it anyway. That’s the best comparison I can make, with how I feel about Avengers: Infinity War at the current moment. — Kenned Lehmann

Most Loved to Hate

Gotti

Directed by Kevin Connolly Viewings: 19K Average weighted rating: 1.7

Gotti is one of the funniest goddamn movies of the decade… Every actor looks like they’ve spent the last eight hours pounding anisette and GHB… John Travolta, under the hilariously mistaken impression that this is his Oscar role, summons all available gravitas to spend an hour and forty-five minutes reading fortune cookies out loud and occasionally get riled up enough to call someone a ‘muddafucka’. — bybowes

Most Divisive

Life Itself

Directed by Dan Fogelman Viewings: 29K Average weighted rating: 2.8

I’d sort-of recommend seeing it. I’m not saying it is good. To be clear it is in places—a lot of places—excruciating. But it is an experience. Totally unlike anything I’ve ever seen. — Friend 2 Pudding

Lowest Rated Overall

Slender Man

Directed by Sylvain White Viewings: 86K Average weighted rating: 1.2

Slender Man could never rise above its juvenile source material. The only part I enjoyed was seeing Javier Botet in a non-prosthetic role and I hope he will appear on screen without FX more in the future. — Eithne

Most Anticipated in 2019

Captain Marvel

Directed by Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden

See the full list for 2019 and beyond…

Crew Picks for 2019

Us

Directed by Jordan Peele

Ones to Watch

Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu

Directed by Tatsuya Oishi Viewings: 15K Average weighted rating: 4.2

I laughed, I cried, I felt embarrassed and turned on… All I could ever truly ask for. — BartyRenatrice

Gucci!

And that’s it for our biggest year yet. Thanks to every single person who contributed—you make it all worthwhile. ♥

See the full lists for each category, read the news post and please share this page to Twitter, Facebook, infinity and beyond!

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The Categories

Highest Rated

#1

Highest Rated Overall

#2

Highest Rated Overall

#3

Highest Rated Overall

Highest Rated Overall — Next Ten

Highest Rated Action

Highest Rated Animation

Highest Rated Drama

Highest Rated Horror

Highest Rated Sci-Fi

Highest Rated Documentary

Highest Rated Non-English Language

Most Popular

Most Popular Overall

Most Popular in January

Most Popular in February

Most Popular in March

Most Popular in April

Most Popular in May

Most Popular in June

Most Popular in July

Most Popular in August

Most Popular in September

Most Popular in October

Most Popular in November

Most Popular in December

The Year in Numbers

Films Marked Watched

Ratings

Diary Entries

Reviews

Comments

Lists

More Numbers

Popular favorable reviews

Popular unfavorable reviews

Letterboxd Crew’s Favorite Reviews

Intermission

Countdown

David Ehrlich’s 25 Best

Countdown

Hiram Calymayor’s 25 Best

Countdown

Jonas Callegari’s 25 Best

Countdown

Loose Canons’ 25 Best

Trends

You’ve got red on you

Trends

Nic Cage still gainfully employed

Trends

Letitia Wright rules the box office

Trends

Tom Cruise hates motion smoothing

Women Directors

Highest Rated — Women Directors

Most Popular — Women Directors

In Memoriam

Stan Lee

In Memoriam

Penny Marshall

In Memoriam

Burt Reynolds

The Mosts

Most Watched Actor

Most Watched Actress

Most Watched Director

Most Obsessively Rewatched

Most Loved to Hate

Most Divisive

Lowest Rated Overall

Most Anticipated in 2019

Crew Picks for 2019

Ones to Watch

“Sorry,” I say to the way-out-of-my-league girl who shyly asked if I want to hang out some time, “I’ve got to do some work on my Letterboxd.”

Gucci!