The IndieWire Critics Poll is an annual poll by American film industry and film criticism website IndieWire that recognizes the best in American and international films in a ranking of ten or five films across different categories.
The winners are chosen by the votes of the critics from IndieWire and other invited critics from around the world. The poll began in 2006.
Categories As of 2024, rankings for nine categories were presented:
Current Best Film Best Director Best Performance Best Screenplay Best Cinematography Best International Film Best Documentary Best First Feature Best Film Opening Next Year
Discontinued Best Lead Performance (Best Actor and Best Actress) Best Supporting Performance (Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress) Best Undistributed Film Best Original Score/Soundtrack Best Editing Best Overlooked Film Most Anticipated Film Best Editing Best Animated Film Best Ensemble
Editions
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Winners and nominees Best Film Year 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 4th Place 5th Place 6th Place 7th Place 8th Place 9th Place 10th Place 2006 The Death of Mr. Lazarescu L'Enfant The Departed Inland Empire Army of Shadows Three Times Old Joy United 93 Children of Men Half Nelson 2007 There Will Be Blood Zodiac No Country for Old Men Syndromes and a Century 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days I'm Not There The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Colossal Youth Killer of Sheep Offside 2008 Flight of the Red Balloon A Christmas Tale WALL-E Wendy and Lucy Happy-Go-Lucky Paranoid Park Still Life Silent Light Synecdoche, New York Waltz with Bashir 2009 Summer Hours The Hurt LockerA Serious Man Inglourious Basterds Fantastic Mr. Fox 35 Shots of Rum The Headless Woman Two Lovers Up Police, Adjective In the Loop 2010 The Social Network Carlos Winter's Bone Black Swan Everyone Else Dogtooth The Ghost Writer Mother I Am Love Another YearWild Grass 2011 The Tree of Life Melancholia A Separation Drive Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Certified Copy Mysteries of Lisbon Hugo Margaret Meek's Cutoff 2012 Holy Motors Zero Dark Thirty The Master Amour This Is Not a Film Moonrise Kingdom Beasts of the Southern Wild Once Upon a Time in Anatolia The Turin Horse Lincoln 2013 12 Years a Slave Inside Llewyn Davis Before Midnight Her Gravity The Act of Killing Leviathan Blue Is the Warmest Colour Upstream Color Frances Ha 2014 Boyhood Under the Skin The Grand Budapest Hotel Birdman Inherent Vice Goodbye to Language Ida Whiplash Only Lovers Left Alive Selma 2015 Mad Max: Fury Road Carol Spotlight Inside Out Phoenix Brooklyn Anomalisa The Assassin The Look of Silence Son of Saul 2016 Moonlight Manchester by the Sea La La Land Toni Erdmann O.J.: Made in America Paterson The Handmaiden Arrival Hell or High Water Jackie 2017 Get Out Lady Bird Dunkirk Phantom Thread The Florida Project The Shape of Water Call Me by Your Name Personal Shopper Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri The Post 2018 Roma First Reformed Burning The Favourite Cold War Shoplifters BlacKkKlansman Zama You Were Never Really Here If Beale Street Could Talk 2019 Parasite The Irishman Marriage Story Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood Portrait of a Lady on Fire Pain and Glory Uncut Gems The Souvenir Joker Little Women 2020 Nomadland Never Rarely Sometimes Always First Cow Lovers Rock I'm Thinking of Ending Things Beanpole Time Da 5 Bloods Martin Eden Bacurau 2021 The Power of the Dog Drive My Car Licorice Pizza The Worst Person in the World Memoria The French Dispatch Flee Petite Maman Passing C'mon C'mon 2022 Tár Aftersun The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans Decision to Leave Nope RRR Top Gun: Maverick All the Beauty and the Bloodshed 2023 Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Poor Things Past Lives May December The Zone of Interest Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Asteroid City 2024 Anora The Brutalist Nickel Boys All We Imagine as Light Challengers I Saw the TV Glow The Substance Dune: Part Two Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World Hard Truths
Best Director Year 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 4th Place 5th Place 6th Place 7th Place 8th Place 9th Place 10th Place 2006 Martin Scorsese David Lynch Cristi Puiu Alfonso Cuarón Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne colspan="5" 2007 Paul Thomas Anderson David Fincher Joel and Ethan Coen Todd Haynes Cristian Mungiu colspan="5" 2008 Hou Hsiao-hsien Mike Leigh Arnaud Desplechin José Luis Guerin Carlos Reygadas colspan="5" 2009 Kathryn Bigelow Lucrecia Martel Olivier Assayas Claire Denis James Gray Joel and Ethan Coen Michael Haneke colspan="5" 2010 David Fincher Olivier Assayas Darren Aronofsky Roman Polanski Gaspar Noé colspan="5" 2011 Terrence Malick Martin Scorsese Lars von Trier Nicolas Winding Refn Raúl Ruiz Kelly Reichardt colspan="5" 2012 Kathryn Bigelow Paul Thomas Anderson Leos Carax Michael Haneke Miguel Gomes colspan="5" 2013 Steve McQueen Alfonso Cuarón Joel and Ethan Coen Spike Jonze Shane Carruth David O. Russell Paolo Sorrentino Martin Scorsese Richard Linklater Harmony Korine 2014 Richard Linklater Wes Anderson Alejandro G. Iñárritu Jonathan Glazer Jean-Luc Godard Ava DuVernay Paul Thomas Anderson David Fincher Damien Chazelle Paweł Pawlikowski 2015 George Miller Todd Haynes Hou Hsiao-hsien László Nemes Tom McCarthy Alejandro G. Iñárritu Christian Petzold Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson John Crowley Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson 2016 Barry Jenkins Damien Chazelle Maren Ade Kenneth Lonergan Park Chan-wook Pablo Larraín Kelly Reichardt Denis Villeneuve Paul Verhoeven Martin Scorsese 2017 Paul Thomas Anderson Luca Guadagnino Greta Gerwig Sean Baker Jordan Peele colspan="5" 2018 Alfonso Cuarón Lee Chang-Dong Lynne Ramsay Yorgos Lanthimos Paul Schrader colspan="5" 2019 Bong Joon-ho Martin Scorsese Quentin Tarantino Céline Sciamma Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie Noah Baumbach Pedro Almodóvar Greta Gerwig Joanna Hogg Todd Phillips 2020 Chloe Zhao Steve McQueen Eliza Hittman Kelly Reichardt David Fincher Spike Lee Charlie Kaufman Pietro Marcello Kantemir Balagov Lee Isaac Chung 2021 Jane Campion Ryusuke Hamaguchi Apichatpong Weerasethakul Denis Villeneuve Paul Thomas Anderson Wes Anderson David Lowery Steven Spielberg Pablo Larraín Celine Sciamma 2022 Todd Field Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert S. S. Rajamouli Steven Spielberg Charlotte Wells Park Chan-wook Martin McDonagh Jerzy Skolimowski Jordan Peele Alice Diop 2023 Martin Scorsese Christopher Nolan Jonathan Glazer Yorgos Lanthimos Todd Haynes Greta Gerwig Celine Song Wes Anderson Justine Triet Albert Serra 2024 Brady Corbet RaMell Ross Sean Baker Payal Kapadia Luca Guadagnino Jane Schoenbrun Coralie Fargeat Jacques Audiard Bertrand Bonello Edward Berger
Best Performance Year 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 4th Place 5th Place 6th Place 7th Place 8th Place 9th Place 10th Place Best Lead Performance 2006 Helen Mirren Ryan Gosling Laura Dern Sacha Baron Cohen Forest Whitaker Will Oldham Meryl Streep Ioan Fiscuteanu Penélope Cruz Sandra Hüller 2007 Daniel Day-Lewis Anamaria Marinca Julie Christie Carice van Houten Viggo Mortensen Marion Cotillard George Clooney Mathieu Amalric Michael Shannon Elliot Page 2008 Mickey Rourke Sally Hawkins Michelle Williams Sean Penn Juliette Binoche Asia Argento Melissa Leo Anne Hathaway Guillaume Depardieu Philip Seymour Hoffman 2009 Tilda Swinton Charlotte Gainsbourg Jeremy Renner María Onetto Joaquin Phoenix Tom Hardy Matt Damon Colin Firth Michael Stuhlbarg Jeff Bridges Nicolas Cage Meryl Streep Arta Dobroshi Carey Mulligan Gabourey Sidibe Catalina Saavedra 2010 Edgar Ramírez Jesse Eisenberg Natalie Portman Jennifer Lawrence Kim Hye-ja Tilda Swinton Jeon Do-yeon Isabelle Huppert Lesley Manville Ryan Gosling 2011 Michael Fassbender Michael Shannon Anna Paquin Juliette Binoche Yoon Jeong-hee Kirsten Dunst Elizabeth Olsen Tilda Swinton Jean Dujardin Charlize Theron George Clooney 2012 Denis Lavant Joaquin Phoenix Daniel Day-Lewis Jessica Chastain Emmanuelle Riva Jean-Louis Trintignant Rachel Weisz Quvenzhané Wallis Nina Hoss Jennifer Lawrence 2013 Chiwetel Ejiofor Adèle Exarchopoulos Cate Blanchett Oscar Isaac Greta Gerwig Brie Larson Robert Redford Joaquin Phoenix Matthew McConaughey Sandra Bullock 2014 Best Lead Actor Ralph Fiennes Jake Gyllenhaal Michael Keaton Timothy Spall Joaquin Phoenix David Oyelowo Eddie Redmayne Tom Hardy Jack O'Connell Benedict Cumberbatch Best Lead Actress Marion Cotillard Scarlett Johansson Rosamund Pike Essie Davis Marion Cotillard Julianne Moore Reese Witherspoon Tilda Swinton Jenny Slate Anne Dorval 2015 Best Lead Actor Michael Fassbender Géza Röhrig Michael B. Jordan Christopher Abbott Tom Courtenay Leonardo DiCaprio Ben Mendelsohn Jason Segel Paul Dano Josh Lucas Best Lead Actress Charlotte Rampling Saoirse Ronan Brie Larson Nina Hoss Cate Blanchett Rooney Mara Charlize Theron Bel Powley Juliette Binoche Elisabeth Moss 2016 Best Lead Actor Casey Affleck Adam Driver Colin Farrell Peter Simonischek Denzel Washington Joel Edgerton Ryan Gosling Viggo Mortensen Vincent Lindon Ethan Hawke Best Lead Actress Isabelle Huppert Natalie Portman Sandra Hüller Sônia Braga Emma Stone Amy Adams Rebecca Hall Ruth Negga Annette Bening Isabelle Huppert 2017 Best Actor Timothée Chalamet Daniel Day-Lewis Robert Pattinson James Franco Daniel Kaluuya Gary Oldman colspan="5" Best Actress Saoirse Ronan Frances McDormand Cynthia Nixon Sally Hawkins Kristen Stewart colspan="5" 2018 Best Actor Ethan Hawke Joaquin Phoenix Willem Dafoe Rami Malek Viggo Mortensen colspan="5" Best Actress Olivia Colman Yalitza Aparicio Toni Collette Joanna Kulig Melissa McCarthy colspan="5" 2019 Best Actor Adam Driver Antonio Banderas Adam Sandler Joaquin Phoenix Robert De Niro Leonardo DiCaprio Eddie Murphy Taron Egerton Song Kang-ho Brad Pitt Best Actress Lupita Nyong'o Scarlett Johansson Elisabeth Moss Renée Zellweger Awkwafina Florence Pugh Mary Kay Place Zhao Tao Saoirse Ronan Adèle Haenel Best Performance 2020 Riz Ahmed Frances McDormand Chadwick Boseman Delroy Lindo Maria Bakalova Jessie Buckley Luca Marinelli Gary Oldman Carrie Coon Mads Mikkelsen 2021 Benedict Cumberbatch Kristen Stewart Renate Reinsve Nicolas Cage Alana Haim Olivia Colman Tessa Thompson Peter Dinklage Hidetoshi Nishijima Will Smith 2022 Cate Blanchett Colin Farrell Michelle Yeoh Danielle Deadwyler Park Ji-min Brendan Fraser Tilda Swinton Paul Mescal Mia Goth Guslagie Malanda Austin Butler Léa Seydoux 2023 Emma Stone Lily Gladstone Sandra Hüller Cillian Murphy Charles Melton Paul Giamatti Ryan Gosling Andrew Scott Greta Lee Jeffrey Wright Glenn Howerton Benoît Magimel Koji Yakusho Franz Rogowski 2024 Marianne Jean-Baptiste Adrien Brody Mikey Madison Demi Moore Ilinca Manolache Nicole Kidman Colman Domingo Daniel Craig Lea Seydoux Fernanda Torres Josh Hartnett 2025 Rose Byrne Ethan Hawke Wagner Moura Jessie Buckley Timothée Chalamet Michael B. Jordan TIE: Benicio Del Toro Sean Penn Amanda Seyfried Renate Reinsve
Best Screenplay