First of all, let me start by acknowledging what anyone who has lived through 2020 will most certainly agree on: this was not by any means a good year for film. Period. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry has been unprecedented. Cinemas all over the world had to be shut for months on end, film releases have been delayed (some of them indefinitely), and even festivals have been postponed or simply canceled while we all struggled to figure out how to keep on living with social distancing measures.
As such, it doesn’t make much sense at this point to list here the best and worst movies released worldwide in 2020 (like I normally do), since this year was anything but typical in terms of that. For the first time, not only have we seen a number of online streaming platforms supplanting the closed theaters, but also film festivals that became available for everyone online, blurring the limits of official releases and making it all look almost the same for anyone with a TV, a computer, a smartphone or a tablet.
Therefore, I’ve decided to list the best and worst movies that became first available to the public in 2020, across cinemas, streaming platforms and online festivals. You should also notice my favorite film of the year is perhaps the least “cinematic” production of the entire list. As I said, there was nothing typical about 2020, so I guess it only stands to reason that an “uncinematic” creature would be a magnificent representative of what this unconventional year had to offer us. Entonces, enjoy.
THE BEST MOVIES OF 2020 (in order of preference):
- Hamilton (USA, 2020)
- The Mole Agent (Chile/USA/Germany/Netherlands/Spain, 2020)
- First Cow (USA, 2019)
- Fanny Lye Deliver’d (UK/Germany, 2019)
- Emicida: AmarElo – It’s All for Yesterday (Brazil, 2020)
- Father (Serbia/France/Germany/Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2020)
- There Is No Evil (Germany/Iran/Czech Republic, 2020)
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things (USA, 2020)
- His House (UK, 2020)
- Mangrove (UK, 2020)
30 OTHER FILMS THAT DESERVE MENTION (in alphabetic order):
The Assistant (USA, 2019)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (China/USA, 2019)
Boys State (USA, 2020)
Da 5 Bloods (USA, 2020)
David Byrne’s American Utopia (USA, 2020)
Dick Johnson Is Dead (USA, 2020)
Feels Good Man (USA, 2020)
The Gentlemen (UK/USA, 2019)
Gretel & Hansel (USA/Canada/Ireland/South Africa, 2020)
A Hidden Life (USA/UK/Germany, 2019)
Host (UK, 2020)
The Hunt (USA/Japan, 2020)
The Invisible Man (Canada/Australia/USA, 2020)
The Lodge (UK/Canada/USA, 2019)
Lovers Rock (UK, 2020)
Malmkrog (Romania/Serbia/Switzerland/Sweden/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Martin Eden (Italy/France/Germany, 2019)
The Metamorphosis of Birds (Portugal, 2020)
The Nest (UK/Canada, 2020)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (USA/UK, 2020)
Onward (USA, 2020)
Red, White and Blue (UK, 2020)
17 Blocks (USA, 2019)
Shine Your Eyes (Brazil/France, 2020)
The Social Dilemma (USA, 2020)
Son of Ox (Brazil, 2019)
Sound of Metal (USA, 2019)
This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (Lesotho/South Africa/Italy, 2019)
Valentina (Brazil, 2020)
Welcome to Chechnya (USA, 2020)
THE WORST MOVIES OF 2020 (in order of mediocrity):
- In Pieces (Brazil, 2020)
- The New Mutants (USA, 2020)
- A Fall from Grace (USA, 2020)
- Killing the Dead (Paraguay, 2019)
- The Midnight Sky (USA, 2020)
- Just Another Christmas (Brazil, 2020)
- Siberia (Italy/Germany/Greece/Mexico, 2020)
- Wonder Woman 1984 (USA/UK/Spain, 2020)
- A Yellow Animal (Brazil/Portugal, 2020)
- The Strong Ones (Chile, 2019)
COMPLETE LIST OF FILMS SEEN IN 2020 (in alphabetic order):
- Açúcar (Brazil, 2017) — ****
- Alex Wheatle (UK, 2020) — **
- Alice Júnior (Brazil, 2019) — ****
- All the Dead Ones, or Todos os Mortos (Brazil/France, 2020) — ***
- American Factory (USA, 2019) — ****
- American Murder: The Family Next Door (USA, 2020) — ***
- Ana, or Ana. Sem Título (Brazil, 2020) — ****
- The Assistant (USA, 2019) — ****
- L’Atalante (France, 1934) — ****
- Athlete A (USA, 2020) — ****
- Ato, Atalho e Vento (Brazil, 2014) — *****
- Awakenings (USA, 1990) — *****
- Bacurau (Brazil/France, 2019) — *****
- Bald Mountain, or Serra Pelada (Brazil, 2013) — ***
- Baraka (USA, 1992) — ****
- O Barco e o Rio (Brazil, 2020) — **
- The Beach House (USA, 2019) — ***
- Beanpole, or Dylda (Russia, 2019) — ****
- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (China/USA, 2019) — ****
- Berlin Alexanderplatz (Germany/Netherlands/France/Canada, 2020) — ***
- Beyond the Road, or Por el Camino (Uruguay/Brazil, 2010) — ****
- Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (USA, 2020) — ***
- Blackout (Brazil, 2020) — **
- Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (USA, 2020) — ****
- Blue Blood, or Sangue Azul (Brazil, 2014) — ****
- The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins (USA, 1970) — ****
- Boa Noite (Brazil, 2019) — ****
- The Bodyguard (USA, 1992) — **
- Bombshell (USA/Canada, 2019) — ***
- Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (USA/UK, 2006) — *****
- Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (UK/USA, 2020) — ****
- The Boys in the Band (USA, 2020) — **
- Boys State (USA, 2020) — ****
- Britney: For the Record (USA, 2008) — ****
- Brotherhood (Tunisia/Canada/Qatar/Sweden, 2018) — **
- Burden of Dreams (USA, 1982) — ****
- The Call of the Wild (Canada/USA/Portugal, 2020) — ***
- The Cassandra Crossing (UK/Italy/West Germany/USA, 1976) — ***
- The Cave (Denmark/Germany/France/UK/USA/Qatar, 2019) — ***
- La Cérémonie (France/Germany, 1995) — ****
- Chico: Artista Brasileiro (Brazil, 2015) — *****
- Class Action Park (USA, 2020) — ****
- A Clockwork Orange (UK/USA, 1971) — *****
- Coffee with Cinnamon, or Café com Canela (Brazil, 2017) — **
- Color Out of Space (USA/Malaysia/Portugal, 2019) — ***
- Copa de Elite (Brazil, 2014) — *
- Corpus Christi, or Boże Ciało (Poland, 2019) — ***
- Corumbiara: They Shoot Indians, Don’t They?, or Corumbiara (Brazil, 2009) — ****
- Crip Camp, or Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (USA, 2020) — ****
- The Crucified Lovers, or A Story from Chikamatsu, or Chikamatsu monogatari (Japan, 1954) — ****
- The Crying Game (UK/Japan/USA, 1992) — ****
- Cyrano de Bergerac (France, 1990) — ****
- Da 5 Bloods (USA, 2020) — ****
- A Dama do Lotação (Brazil, 1978) — **
- Dark Waters (USA, 2019) — ***
- DAU. Natasha (Germany/Ukraine/UK/Russia, 2020) — ****
- Daughter, or Dcera (Czech Republic, 2019) — ***
- David Byrne’s American Utopia (USA, 2020) — ****
- Days of Winter, or Dias de Invierno (Mexico, 2020) — **
- The Days with Him, or Os Dias com Ele (Brazil/Portugal, 2012) — ***
- The Daytime Doorman, or O Porteiro do Dia (Brazil, 2016) — ***
- Dear Mr. Watterson (USA, 2013) — ***
- The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (UK/Canada, 2018) — ***
- The Devil Queen, or A Rainha Diaba (Brazil, 1974) — ****
- Diário de uma Busca (France/Brazil, 2010) — *****
- Dick Johnson Is Dead (USA, 2020) — ****
- Divine Love, or Divino Amor (Brazil/Uruguay/Denmark/Norway/Chile/Sweden, 2019) — *****
- Dogs Don’t Wear Pants, or Koirat eivät käytä housuja (Finland/Latvia, 2019) — ****
- Dominique (Brazil/USA, 2019) — ***
- Driveways (USA, 2019) — ***
- The Ear, or Ucho (Czechoslovakia, 1990) — *****
- Earthquake Bird (UK/Japan/USA, 2019) — ****
- The Edge of Theocracy, or Teocracia em Vertigem (Brazil, 2020) — **
- Ema (Chile, 2019) — ****
- Emicida: AmarElo – It’s All for Yesterday (Brazil, 2020) — *****
- Emma. (UK, 2020) — ****
- Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (USA, 2005) — ****
- Estomago: A Gastronomic Story, or Estômago (Brazil/Italy, 2007) — ****
- Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist (USA, 2018) — ***
- Extratos (Brazil, 2019) — **
- A Fall from Grace (USA, 2020) — *
- Fanny Lye Deliver’d, or The Delivered (UK/Germany, 2019) — *****
- Father, or Otac (Serbia/France/Germany/Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2020) — *****
- Father Soldier Son (USA, 2020) — ****
- Feels Good Man (USA, 2020) — *****
- First Cow (USA, 2019) — *****
- Fitzcarraldo (West Germany/Peru, 1982) — *****
- The Five People You Meet in Heaven (USA, 2004) — ***
- Flu, or Gamgi (South Korea, 2013) — **
- For Sama (UK/Syria, 2019) — ****
- Ford v Ferrari (USA/France, 2019) — ****
- 492: A Man Called Death, or O Nome da Morte (Brazil, 2017) — ****
- Fourteen (USA, 2019) — ***
- Frankie (France/Portugal, 2019) — *
- A Frente Fria que a Chuva Traz (Brazil, 2015) — ****
- La Frontera (Colombia, 2019) — ***
- Frozen (USA, 2019) — ***
- Futureworld (USA, 1976) — *
- Gap-Toothed Women (USA, 1987) — ****
- The Gatekeepers (Israel/France, 2012) — *****
- A Gentle Creature, or Krotkaya (France/Germany/Lithuania/Netherlands, 2017) — ****
- The Gentlemen (UK/USA, 2019) — ****
- Golden Years (USA, 1991) — **
- The Good Liar (UK/Germany/USA, 2019) — ***
- Goodnight Mommy, or Ich Seh, Ich Seh (Austria, 2014) — ***
- A Great Trip to a Small Country, or El Gran Viaje al País Pequeño (Uruguay/Lebanon, 2020) — **
- Gretel & Hansel (Canada/USA/Ireland/South Africa, 2020) — ****
- Greyhound (USA/Canada/China, 2020) — ***
- Guns Akimbo (UK/Germany/New Zealand, 2019) — ***
- Hair Love (USA, 2019) — ***
- The Half of It (USA, 2020) — ****
- Hamilton (USA, 2020) — *****
- Hard Labor, or Trabalhar Cansa (Brazil, 2011) — ****
- Harriet (USA, 2019) — **
- Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (USA/New Zealand, 1994) — ***
- Here We Are Waiting for You, or Nós Que Aqui Estamos por Vós Esperamos (Brazil, 1999) — *****
- A Hidden Life (USA/UK/Germany, 2019) — ****
- His House (UK, 2020) — *****
- History of the Eagles (USA, 2013) — ****
- Horse Money, or Cavalo Dinheiro (Portugal, 2014) — ***
- Host (UK, 2020) — ****
- The Housemaid, or Hanyo (South Korea, 1960) — ****
- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (USA/Japan, 2019) — ***
- The Hunt (USA, 2020) — ****
- The Hunter’s Silence, or El Silencio del Cazador (Argentina, 2019) — ***
- Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate (USA, 2018) — *
- Hustlers (USA, 2019) — ***
- The Hyperwomen, or As Hiper Mulheres (Brazil, 2012) — ***
- I Am Cuba, or Soy Cuba (Cuba/Soviet Union, 1964) — *****
- I am Cuba, the Siberian Mammoth, or Soy Cuba, O Mamute Siberiano (Brazil, 2004) — ****
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things (USA, 2020) — *****
- Imagens do Estado Novo 1937–45 (Brazil, 2016) — ****
- Images of the Unconscious, or Imagens do Inconsciente (Brazil, 1987) — ****
- In Pieces, or Aos Pedaços (Brazil, 2020) — *
- In the Absence (South Korea/USA, 2018) — ****
- Independence Day: Resurgence (USA, 2016) — *
- Indianara (Brazil, 2019) — *****
- The Invisible Man (Australia/USA/Canada/UK, 2020) — ****
- It’s All True (France/USA, 1993) — ****
- It’s Not All True, or Nem Tudo É Verdade (Brazil, 1986) — ***
- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (USA, 1993) — **
- Jesus of Nazareth (Italy/UK, 1977) — ****
- Joãosinho da Goméa – O Rei do Candomblé (Brazil, 2020) — **
- Jojo Rabbit (Czech Republic/New Zealand/USA, 2019) — ***
- Judy (UK, 2019) — **
- Just Another Christmas, or Tudo Bem No Natal Que Vem (Brazil, 2020) — **
- The Kid Stays in the Picture (USA, 2002) — ****
- Killed the Family and Went to the Movies, or Matou a Família e Foi ao Cinema (Brazil, 1991) — **
- Killing the Dead, or Matar a un Muerto (Paraguay, 2019) — **
- King Kong en Asunción (Brazil/Bolivia/Paraguay, 2020) — **
- Kiss Me Deadly (USA, 1955) — *****
- Kitbull (USA, 2019) — ****
- Klaus (Spain/UK, 2019) — ****
- La La Land (USA/Hong Kong, 2016) — ***
- Lady and the Tramp (USA, 2019) — ***
- The Last Time I Saw Macao, or A Última Vez Que Vi Macau (Portugal/France/Macao, 2012) — ***
- Late Night (USA, 2019) — ***
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) (UK, 2019) — ****
- Let It Burn, or Diz a Ela que me Viu Chorar (Brazil, 2019) — ****
- Let’s Get Lost (USA, 1988) — ***
- The Life of Oharu, or Saikaku ichidai onna (Japan, 1952) — *****
- Life Overtakes Me (Sweden/USA, 2019) — **
- Little Joe (UK/Austria/Germany, 2019) — **
- Little Women (USA, 2019) — ****
- The Lodge (UK/Canada/USA, 2019) — ****
- Love Strange Love, or Amor Estranho Amor (Brazil, 1982) — **
- Lovers Rock (UK, 2020) — ****
- Luiza (Brazil, 2013) — ***
- Luz del Fuego (Brazil, 1982) — **
- Machuca (Chile/Spain/UK/France, 2004) — ****
- Malasartes e o Duelo com a Morte (Brazil, 2017) — **
- Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (USA/UK, 2019) — **
- Malmkrog, or Manor House (Romania/Serbia/Switzerland/Sweden/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Republic of North Macedonia, 2020) — ****
- Man on Fire (USA/UK/Mexico/Switzerland, 2004) — ***
- The Man Who Copied, or O Homem Que Copiava (Brazil, 2003) — *****
- Mangrove (UK, 2020) — *****
- Manila in the Claws of Light, or Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Philippines, 1975) — *****
- Mank (USA, 2020) — **
- Mar de Dentro (Brazil, 2020) — ****
- Marielle: O Documentário (Brazil, 2020) — ****
- Marriage Story (UK/USA, 2019) — ****
- Martin Eden (Italy/France/Germany, 2019) — ****
- Martírio (Brazil, 2016) — ****
- Martyrs (France/Canada, 2008) — ***
- Matthias & Maxime, or Matthias et Maxime (Canada, 2019) — ***
- Me Chama Que Eu Vou (Brazil, 2020) — ***
- Memorable, or Mémorable (France, 2019) — *****
- Metamorphosis, or Prevrashchenie (Russia, 2002) — ***
- The Metamorphosis of Birds, or A Metamorfose dos Pássaros (Portugal, 2020) — ****
- The Midnight Sky (USA, 2020) — **
- Milton Nascimento: A Sede do Peixe (Brazil, 1997) — ****
- Minha Vida em Marte (Brazil, 2018) — **
- Les Misérables (France, 2019) — ****
- Misery (USA, 1990) — ****
- Miss Oyu, or Oyû-sama (Japan, 1951) — ****
- Missing Link (USA, 2019) — ***
- Mr. Sganzerla – Os Signos da Luz (Brazil, 2011) — ****
- The Mole Agent (Chile/USA/Germany/Netherlands/Spain, 2020) — *****
- Moulin Rouge (UK, 1952) — ***
- Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (USA, 2020) — ***
- Nanook of the North (USA/France, 1922) — *****
- Não Nasci para Deixar meus Olhos Perderem Tempo (Brazil, 2019) — *
- Nefta Football Club (France/Tunisia/Algeria, 2018) — ***
- The Neighbors’ Window (USA, 2019) — ***
- Nem Gravata, Nem Honra (Brazil, 2001) — ****
- The Nest (UK/Canada, 2020) — ****
- Never Rarely Sometimes Always (USA/UK, 2020) — ****
- The New Mutants (USA, 2020) — *
- Nina (Brazil, 2004) — *****
- 1917 (USA/UK, 2019) — ***
- The Nightshifter, or Morto Não Fala (Brazil, 2018) — ***
- November (Estonia, 2017) — ****
- O saisons, ô châteaux (France, 1958) — ***
- Obrigado a Matar (Brazil, 2004) — 0 stars
- The Occupant, or Hogar (Spain, 2020) — **
- Oh Mercy!, or Roubaix, une Lumière (France, 2019) — **
- The Old Mill (USA, 1937) — ****
- Oldboy, or Oldeuboi (South Korea, 2003) — *****
- On the Rocks (USA, 2020) — ***
- Once There Was Brazilia, or Era uma Vez Brasília (Brazil, 2017) — *
- 1,99 – Um Supermercado Que Vende Palavras (Brazil, 2003) — ****
- Onward (USA, 2020) — ****
- Open Grave (USA/Hungary, 2013) — ***
- Ordinary People (USA, 1980) — ****
- Orestes (Brazil, 2015) — ****
- Ôrí (Brazil, 1989) — ****
- Outros (Doces) Bárbaros (Brazil, 2002) — ****
- Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis (USA, 2018) — ****
- Paradise Lost, or Paraíso Perdido (Brazil, 2018) — **
- The Parallax View (USA, 1974) — ***
- Parasite, or Gisaengchung (South Korea, 2019) — *****
- Party Over, or Fim de Festa (Brazil, 2019) — ****
- Perdida (Argentina/Spain, 2018) — **
- Pinocchio (Italy/France/UK, 2019) — ****
- The Platform, or El Hoyo (Spain, 2019) — ****
- A Poem Is a Naked Person (USA, 1974) — ***
- Por Que Você Não Chora? (Brazil, 2020) — ****
- Posfácio (Imagens do Inconsciente) (Brazil, 2014) — ****
- Possessor, or Possessor: Uncut (UK/Canada, 2020) — ***
- Predestination (Australia/USA, 2014) — ****
- Project Almanac (USA, 2015) — **
- 4 Bilhões de Infinitos (Brazil, 2020) — **
- A Quiet Place (USA, 2018) — ****
- Rambo: Last Blood (USA/Spain/Bulgaria, 2019) — *
- Razor in the Flesh, or A Navalha na Carne (Brazil, 1969) — ****
- Razor in the Flesh, or Navalha na Carne (Brazil, 1997) — **
- Ready or Not (USA/Canada, 2019) — ***
- Receita de Caranguejo (Brazil, 2020) — **
- Red, White and Blue (UK, 2020) — ****
- Relic (Australia/USA, 2020) — ****
- Remoinho (Brazil, 2020) — ***
- Revenge (France/Belgium, 2017) — ****
- Rewind (USA, 2019) — ****
- Richard Jewell (USA, 2019) — **
- The Ring (USA, 2002) — ****
- The Ring Two (USA, 2005) — **
- Rings (USA, 2017) — **
- Rio Babilônia (Brazil, 1982) — *
- Rio do Medo (Brazil, 2018) — ***
- Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury, or Uma História de Amor e Fúria (Brazil/USA, 2013) — ****
- Rocketman (UK/USA/Canada, 2019) — ***
- Rust, or Ferrugem (Brazil, 2018) — **
- Safety Last! (USA, 1923) — *****
- St. Louis Superman (USA, 2019) — ***
- Salesman (USA, 1966) — ****
- O Samba é Primo do Jazz (Brazil, 2020) — ***
- Sandy & Junior: A História (Brazil, 2020) — ***
- Sansho the Bailiff, or Sanshô dayû (Japan, 1954) — *****
- Santa Sangre (Mexico, 1989) — *****
- São Paulo, a Metropolitan Symphony, or São Paulo, Sinfonia da Metrópole (Brazil, 1929) — ***
- Saria (USA, 2019) — **
- Satan, or Sheitan (France, 2006) — ***
- Sea Fever (Ireland/USA/UK/Sweden/Belgium, 2019) — ***
- The Seven Kittens, or Os Sete Gatinhos (Brazil, 1980) — **
- Seven Years in May, or Sete Anos em Maio (Brazil, 2019) — *****
- 17 Blocks (USA, 2019) — ****
- Shine Your Eyes, or Cidade Pássaro (Brazil/France, 2020) — ****
- Shirley (USA, 2020) — ***
- Siberia (Italy/Germany/Greece/Mexico, 2020) — **
- The Silence of the Lambs (USA, 1991) — *****
- The Silence of the Sky, or O Silêncio do Céu (Brazil, 2016) — ****
- Sin Nombre (Mexico/USA, 2009) — ****
- Sister (China/USA, 2018) — ****
- A Sister, or Une Sœur (Belgium, 2018) — ***
- So Hard to Forget, or Como Esquecer (Brazil, 2010) — **
- The Social Dilemma (USA, 2020) — ****
- Son of Ox, or Filho de Boi (Brazil, 2019) — ****
- Song to Song (USA, 2017) — **
- Sorry We Missed You (UK/France/Belgium, 2019) — ****
- Soul (USA, 2020) — ***
- Sound of Metal (USA, 2019) — ****
- Spend It All (USA, 1972) — ****
- A Star Is Born (USA, 2018) — ****
- The Story of Artigas, or La Redota – Una Historia de Artigas (Uruguay, 2011) — ****
- Street Kings (USA, 2008) — ***
- The Strong Ones, or Los Fuertes (Chile, 2019) — **
- Stunned, I Remain Alert, or Atordoado, Eu Permaneço Atento (Brazil, 2020) — *****
- Subsolo (Brazil, 2020) — ***
- The Stand (USA, 1994) — ***
- Stand by Me (USA, 1986) — *****
- Statues Also Die, or Les statues meurent aussi (France, 1953) — *****
- Still Orangutans, or Ainda Orangotangos (Brazil, 2007) — ****
- Stockholm (Canada/USA, 2018) — ***
- Stop Making Sense (USA, 1984) — *****
- The Source Family (USA, 2012) — ***
- Take Your Pills (USA, 2018) — ***
- The Ten Commandments: The Movie, or Moses and the Ten Commandments: The Movie, or Os Dez Mandamentos: O Filme (Brazil, 2016) — **
- Tenet (UK/USA, 2020) — ***
- Terra Deu, Terra Come (Brazil, 2010) — ***
- There Is No Evil, or Sheytan vojud nadarad (Germany/Iran/Czech Republic, 2020) — *****
- 33 (Brazil, 2002) — ***
- This Is My Desire, or Eyimofe (Nigeria/USA, 2020) — ****
- This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (Lesotho/South Africa/Italy, 2019) — ****
- A Thread of Deceit: The Hart Family Tragedy (USA, 2020) — ***
- Through the Shadow, or Através da Sombra (Brazil, 2015) — ****
- Timeline (USA, 2003) — **
- To My Beloved, or Para Minha Amada Morta (Brazil, 2015) — ****
- Tokyo Sonata (Japan/Netherlands/Hong Kong, 2008) — ***
- The Traitor, or Il Traditore (Italy/France/Germany/Brazil, 2019) — ****
- The Translators, or Les Traducteurs (France/Belgium, 2019) — ***
- Trincheira (Brazil, 2020) — ***
- The Truth, or La Vérité (France/Japan/Switzerland, 2019) — ***
- Tudo É Brasil (Brazil, 1997) — ***
- Turma da Mônica: Laços (Brazil, 2019) — ***
- Two Irenes, or As Duas Irenes (Brazil, 2017) — ****
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (UK/USA, 1968) — *****
- Ugetsu, or Ugetsu Monogatari (Japan, 1953) — *****
- Underwater (USA, 2020) — ***
- The Unknown (USA, 1927) — *****
- Unliveable, or Inabitável (Brazil, 2020) — ***
- Unorthodox (Germany, 2020) — ****
- Unremember, or Deslembro (Brazil, 2018) — ****
- Valentina (Brazil, 2020) — ****
- The Vast of Night (USA, 2019) — ****
- Vazante (Brazil/Portugal, 2017) — ***
- Verónica (Spain, 2017) — ***
- Vinicius (Spain/Brazil, 2005) — *****
- Você Tem Olhos Tristes (Brazil, 2020) — ***
- Walk Run Cha-Cha (USA, 2019) — ****
- Wander Vi (Brazil, 2020) — ****
- The War Room (USA, 1993) — ****
- The Warriors (USA, 1979) — ****
- Watch Out, Madame, or Cuidado, Madame (Brazil, 1970) — ***
- We Were One Man, or Nous Étions un Seul Homme (France, 1979) — ***
- Welcome to Chechnya (USA, 2020) — ****
- A Well Spent Life (USA, 1971) — ****
- Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (USA, 1980) — ****
- What Did Jack Do? (USA, 2017) — ***
- What Happened to Monday (UK/France/Belgium, 2017) — ***
- The Whistlers, or La Gomera (Romania/France/Germany/Sweden, 2019) — ****
- The Wild Goose Lake, or Nánfāng Chēzhàn de Jùhuì (China/France, 2019) — ***
- A Window to Rosália, or Pela Janela (Brazil, 2017) — ****
- The Wolf of Snow Hollow (USA, 2020) — ***
- Wonder Woman 1984 (USA/UK/Spain, 2020) — **
- Xena: Warrior Princess – A Friend in Need (The Director’s Cut) (USA/New Zealand, 2002) — *****
- A Yellow Animal, or Um Animal Amarelo (Brazil/Portugal, 2020) — **
Previous years: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010