Cinema · 2018 Ranked

Best Films of 2018, Ranked by IQ Score

The year international cinema dominated. Ranked.

18 titles · ranked by IQ Score

1. 1
   

   Roma

   Masterclass drama

   Cuarón's semi-autobiographical film about a domestic worker in 1970s Mexico City. Exceptional cognitive demands from the observational storytelling that requires the viewer to construct meaning from carefully composed im…

   175/200
2. 2
   

   BlacKkKlansman

   Masterclass drama, crime, comedy

   2018 Best Picture nominee. Spike Lee's true story of a Black detective who infiltrates the KKK. High cognitive demands from the tonal shifts between comedy and horror. Exceptional educational value — the film connects 19…

   166/200
3. 3
   

   First Reformed

   Masterclass drama, thriller

   A small-town minister's faith is tested by an environmental activist's despair. Paul Schrader's best work in decades. Exceptional craft — the Calvinist austerity of the visual style is a formal choice that deepens throug…

   166/200
4. 4
   

   Hereditary

   Masterclass drama, horror, mystery

   Layers psychological horror with family trauma across generational patterns and hidden supernatural mythology, requiring viewers to parse ambiguous psychological versus supernatural explanations while managing sustained…

   164/200
5. 5
   

   Burning

   Masterclass drama, mystery

   Lee Chang-dong's deliberately paced mystery adapts Murakami's existential short story into a subtle exploration of class resentment and destructive obsession in contemporary South Korea. The film's ambiguity and thematic…

   163/200
6. 6
   

   Sorry to Bother You

   Masterclass comedy, drama, sci-fi

   Boots Riley's 2018 directorial debut anchored by Lakeith Stanfield as an Oakland telemarketer who succeeds by using his 'white voice.' The structural commitment to letting class-and-race-allegory operate inside a satiric…

   163/200
7. 7
   

   Suspiria

   Masterclass horror, dance

   Luca Guadagnino's 2018 remake of Dario Argento's 1977 horror film. Tilda Swinton plays three roles. The structural commitment to letting late-1970s-divided-Berlin political-cognitive material operate alongside the dance-…

   161/200
8. 8
   

   Widows

   Masterclass thriller, drama, heist

   Steve McQueen's 2018 heist-thriller adapted from Lynda La Plante's 1983 ITV series. Viola Davis anchors the cast (Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo) as widows of dead Chicago criminals who must complet…

   160/200
9. 9
   

   Green Book

   Masterclass drama, biography

   Peter Farrelly's 2018 Best Picture-winning film anchored by Mahershala Ali (Best Supporting Actor Oscar — his second after Moonlight) and Viggo Mortensen. The structural commitment to letting 1960s-South road-trip cultur…

   160/200
10. 10
    

    Cold War

    Stimulating romance, drama, history

    A passionate and difficult romance plays out across post-WWII Poland and Western Europe. Pawel Pawlikowski's black-and-white film is among the most visually beautiful of the decade. Educational about the Iron Curtain's e…

    159/200
11. 11
    

    If Beale Street Could Talk

    Stimulating drama, romance

    Barry Jenkins's adaptation of James Baldwin's novel about a young Black couple in Harlem when the man is falsely accused of rape. Exceptional craft — the visual style is lush and the use of color is thematically precise.…

    158/200
12. 12
    

    Vice

    Stimulating biography, drama, political

    2018 Best Picture, Best Actor (Christian Bale), and Best Actress nominee. Adam McKay's portrait of Dick Cheney's accumulation of political power. High cognitive demands from the unconventional narrative techniques and fo…

    157/200
13. 13
    

    The Favourite

    Stimulating drama, comedy, history

    Three women compete for power in 18th-century England. Yorgos Lanthimos's most accessible film — historical comedy that becomes something darker. Exceptional craft — the fisheye lens and the costume design create a compl…

    155/200
14. 14
    

    Black Panther

    Stimulating action, adventure, sci-fi

    A king returns home to reclaim his throne and his nation. Educational about power and legacy. Cognitive engagement from the political depth. Entertainment from the superhero action.

    154/200
15. 15
    

    A Star Is Born

    Stimulating drama, music, romance

    Cooper's directorial debut chronicles the asymmetrical power dynamics between ascending talent and declining stardom through Gaga's authentic performance and Cooper's wounded masculinity. The film's examination of addict…

    153/200
16. 16
    

    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

    Stimulating animation, action, adventure

    Lord, Miller, and Persichetti reinvent animation's visual grammar. The screen-as-comic-page conceit, applied with consistent rules, treats the audience as capable of reading visual information at comic-book density. Mile…

    152/200
17. 17
    

    Won't You Be My Neighbor?

    Stimulating documentary

    The documentary about Fred Rogers and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Educational about Rogers's philosophy of children's education and emotional development. Exceptional craft — the archival footage and the interviews are…

    149/200
18. 18
    

    Mission: Impossible - Fallout

    Competent action, adventure, thriller

    McQuarrie's action thriller escalates practical filmmaking while examining moral compromise through Ethan Hunt's simultaneous protection of nation and agent, with helicopter pursuit justifying the action scale. The explo…

    129/200