The 50 top films of 2017 in the US: the full list
1Call Me By Your Name
Beautiful, sundrenched romance directed by A Bigger Splash’s Luca Guadagnino, chronicling the affair a teenager (Timothée Chalamet) and a visiting American grad student (Armie Hammer) in 1980s Italy. Read the full review
2
The Florida Project
Follow-up to Tangerine by director Sean Baker, here offering a kids’-eye-view of unconventional family life in a motel on the outskirts Walt Disney World. Read the full review
3
Get Out
Politically inflected horror film featuring Daniel Kaluuya as the African American boyfriend whose trip to meet his Caucasian girlfriend’s family becomes a gruesome nightmare. Read the full review.
4
Phantom Thread
Magisterial (and possibly final) turn from Daniel Day Lewis as a postwar British fashion designer, directed with customary grandeur by Paul Thomas Anderson. Read the full review.
5
Lady Bird
Much-admired directorial debut by Frances Ha’s Greta Gerwig, starring Saoirse Ronan as a high-schooler looking to escape dreary California for the Big Apple. Read the full review
Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. Photograph: Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock
6
The Post
Spielberg’s heavyweight discussion of media ethics and whistleblowing, with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep as Washington Post bigwigs agonising over the publication of the celebrated Pentagon papers. Read the full review
7
The Shape of Water
Surreal fantasy from Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro, in which lowly lab worker Sally Hawkins befriends and falls for a strange amphibious being kept captive at a military installation. Read the full review
8
Blade Runner 2049
Hugely ambitious, wildly atmospheric sequel to Ridley Scott’s influential 1982 sci-fi noir, with Ryan Gosling the cop charged with hunting down rogue replicants. Read the full review
Blade Runner 2049. Photograph: Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock
9
A Ghost Story
Bizarrely and brilliantly conceived “post-horror” film in which car accident victim Casey Affleck haunts his old house (occupied by wife Rooney Mara) wearing a crude white sheet with eyeholes. Read the full review
10
Lady Macbeth
Superbly realised reimagining of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, with Florence Pugh outstanding as the 19th-century wife who falls for a lowly, mixed-race estate worker. Read the full review
11
Mother!
Extraordinary fever dream of horror and dismay, starring Jennifer Lawrence and directed by Darren Aronofsky, that practically defines the term “critically divisive”. Read the full review
12
Dunkirk
Christopher Nolan’s massive-scale take on the Dunkirk evacuation of the “little boats”, filmed with panache and heartfelt national pride. Read the full review
Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard and Fionn Whitehead in Dunkirk. Photograph: AP
13
God’s Own Country
Raw, unsentimental gay romance set in the Yorkshire dales, in which an unhappy farmer’s son begins a relationship with a Romanian seasonal worker. Read the full review
14
The Meyerowitz Stories
Enjoyable pseudo-literary comedy drama from Noah Baumbach, with Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler attempting to shore up their ageing artist dad’s fragile ego. Read the full review
15
Raw
Gruesome arthouse horror from French first-timer Julia Ducournau, in which a vet student is subjected to hazing rituals which repel then fascinate her with flesh. Read the full review
Garance Marillier in Raw Photograph: Allstar/UIP
16
Good Time
Robert Pattinson shows off his indie chops as a New York street hustler in this thrillride of a 70s-referencing crime yarn from the Safdie brothers. Read the full review
17
Heal the Living
Mysterious, beautifully-shot film from French director Katell Quillévéré, about a mosaic of lives connected and affected by an organ transplant operation. Read the full review
18
Personal Shopper
Kristen Stewart is outstanding in her second collaboration with French director Olivier Assayas, playing a fashion industry gofer who thinks she is being haunted. Read the full review
19
I Am Not Your Negro
Eye-opening, Oscar-nominated documentary from director Raoul Peck, focusing on writer James Baldwin’s role in the 1960s civil rights struggle. Read the full review
James Baldwin, centre, from I Am Not Your Negro
20
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman star in the latest bizarre fable from Yorgos (The Lobster) Lanthimos, about a heart surgeon who becomes obsessed with a teenage boy. Read the full review
21
Graduation
Keenly observed, brilliantly performed account of back-scratching and petty corruption in Romania by 4 Months director Cristian Mungiu. Read the full review
22
The Lost City of Z
Interestingly paced account of real-life explorer Percy Fawcett’s obsession with the Amazon jungle, and his quest for the fabled city during the imperial shenanigans of the period. Read the full review
The Lost City of Z Photograph: Allstar/Studiocanal
23
BPM
Angry and euphoric account of French activist group ACT UP, campaigning to increase awareness of Aids in a complacent and homophobic 1980s. Read the full review
24
Mudbound
Bleak, heartfelt account by director Dee Rees of racial division and segregation in the immediate postwar years, snapped up by Netflix. Read the full review
Heartfelt … Rob Morgan and Jason Mitchell in Mudbound. Photograph: Allstar/Netflix
25
I, Daniel Blake
Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winning fable of the benefits labyrinth afflicting the UK’s poorest people, with a superbly authentic performance from Dave Johns at its centre. Read the full review
26
War for the Planet of Apes
Unexpectedly impressive third instalment in the Apes reboot series, with Andy Serkis’s Caesar facing off against human warmonger Woody Harrelson. Read the full review
Unexpectedly impressive … Andy Serkis’s Caesar in War for Planet of the Apes. Photograph: Allstar/20th Century Fox
27
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Frances McDormand gives a towering performance as a mother frustrated by local cops’ inaction over her daughter’s murder. Read the full review
28
Detroit
Much anticipated Kathryn Bigelow account of the 1967 riots and the gruesome Algiers motel incident that very much chimed with #BlackLivesMatter. Read the full review
29
T2 Trainspotting
Long-awaited Danny Boyle-directed sequel to the hit British film, with Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle and co mired in male middle age and disillusion. Read the full review
Mired in middle age … Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller in T2 Trainspotting. Photograph: Graeme Hunter Pictures
30
Faces, Places (AKA Visages, Villages)
Veteran documentarist Agnès Varda goes on the road with artist/prankster JR, and produces a humane, endearing portrait of French small-town life. Read the full review
31
The Beguiled
Sofia Coppola-directed remake of civil war-set yarn, in which injured soldier Colin Farrell finds himself holed up in a girls’ school. Read the full review
32
The Square
Swedish director Ruben Ostlund won the Palme d’Or for this coruscating satire on the art world, complete with an already-notorious set piece in which a performance artist pretends to be an ape. Read the full review
The Square. Photograph: MIFF
33
Logan
Furrowed-brow finale to the X-Men spinoff series, with Hugh Jackman Wolverine-ing it up for what we assume is the final time. Read the full review
34
Girls Trip
Crowd-pleasing surprise hit comedy following a group of African-American women on a raucously fun weekend trip to New Orleans. Read the full review
35
Logan Lucky
Steven Soderbergh’s return to the big screen, a starry heist comedy in which Adam Driver and Channing Tatum bust Daniel Craig out of jail to help them rob a race track. Read the full review
Adam Driver, Daniel Craig and Channing Tatum in Logan Lucky. Photograph: Allstar/Trans-Radial Pictures
36
Baby Driver
Much-liked Edgar Wright pedal-to-the-metal crime caper, in which music-addicted getaway driver Baby (Ansel Elgort) falls for waitress Lily James. Read the full review.
37
Strong Island
Moving, angry documentary from trans film-maker Yance Ford, about the injustice surrounding the death of his brother who was shot in 1992. Read the full review
38
Colossal
A genuinely cult item that definitely divided the critics. Anne Hathaway plays a messed-up alcoholic who conjures up visions of monsters attacking South Korea. Read the full review
Jason Sudeikis and Anne Hathaway in Colossal. Photograph: Allstar/Voltage Pictures
39
The Big Sick
Popular, fun romcom about a cross-ethnic romance that turns to more serious matters when the woman succumbs to a serious illness. Read the full review
40
The Disaster Artist
Entertaining film-about-the-worst-film-ever-made, with brothers James and Dave Franco playing the notorious duo who made the appalling 2006 cult clunker The Room. Read the full review
Dave Franco, left, and James Franco in The Disaster Artist. Photograph: Justina Mintz/AP
41
Beatriz at Dinner
Smart, Trump-anticipating satire with Salma Hayek as a Mexican-born healer who confronts real-estate mogul John Lithgow at a dinner party. Read the full review
42
The Work
Extraordinary, gut-wrenching documentary about a group of outsiders who choose to take part in traumatic group therapy sessions with hardened convicts in Folsom prison. Read the full review
43
A Quiet Passion
Terence Davies’s exquisitely designed biopic of American poet Emily Dickinson, whose sedate home life belied her enormous literary talent. Read the full review
Behind the lines … Cynthia Nixon, left, as Emily Dickinson and Jennifer Ehle as her sister Vinnie in A Quiet Passion. Photograph: Johan Voets/AP
44
My Cousin Rachel
Commanding Daphne du Maurier adaptation with Rachel Weisz on top form as a mysterious and manipulative widow with designs on a country estate. Read the full review
45
Menashe
Humane, sympathetic study set in Brooklyn’s orthodox Jewish community, following a father’s attempts to regain custody of his son after his wife’s death. Read the full review
A father’s moving quest … Menashe Lustig and Yoel Falkowitz in Menashe. Photograph: Photograp/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock
46
The Salesman
A potent drama of marital discord from Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, echoing Arthur Miller’s American classic Death of a Salesman. Read the full review
47
Ingrid Goes West
Aubrey Plaza plays the social media stalker of Instagram celeb Elizabeth Olsen in a subtle and surprisingly humane investigation of dysfunctional online adulation. Read the full review
48
Marjorie Prime
Thought-provoking, melancholy sci-fi based on Jordan Harrison’s play, in which Lois Smith’s Marjorie acquires a hologram of her late husband at a much younger age. Read the full review
49
Stronger
Jake Gyllenhaal pulls out all the stops for a moving drama directed by David Gordon Green, based around the aftermath of the 2013 Boston marathon bombing. Read the full review
Poker princess … Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba in Molly’s Game. Photograph: TIFF
50
Molly’s Game
The West Wing’s Aaron Sorkin turns director for this character study of “poker princess” Molly Bloom, played by Jessica Chastain, with Idris Elba alongside as her lawyer. Read the full review
This article contains affiliate links to products. Our journalism is independent and is never written to promote these products although we may earn a small commission if a reader makes a purchase.