by Jordan Ruimy

Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” is the best movie of the year so far, followed closely by Ari Aster’s Hereditary, according to a group of film critics, journalists, bloggers and entertainment reporters.

Unlike last year’s poll when “Get Out” made 100 of 117 top ten lists submitted, this year, the frontrunner wasn’t so clear. Rather, the consensus so far this year seems to be split between a few movies. The top vote getter was Paul Schrader’s late-career comeback, maybe even the pinnacle of his long, distinguished career. “First Reformed” was mentioned in more than 60% of the lists submitted by film critics, a group that includes Stephen Witty, Katie Walsh, Peter Travers, Claudia Puig, Ray Pride, Steve Pond, Amy Nicholson, Joana Langfield, Tomris Laffly, Pete Howell, David Edelstein, David Ansen, and Matt Zoller Seitz.

Votes were spread out among 114 submitted lists, with more than 70 movies mentioned. Most are English language, but 6 of the top 30 were foreign language films. The 2nd and 6th place films were separated by a mere 7 vote difference.

Critics were asked to submit a list of 10 films, unranked, released between January 1st and June 29th, of what they thought were the cinematic highlights of the year thus far. Barely making the cutoff date was Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” which was seen by critics at Sundance in January and has clearly had the staying power to be included on 12 lists despite its release date still 9 days away.

As expected, festival-going critics couldn’t help but mention, in side notes, films that screened at venues like Cannes and Sundance that they predict easily make their year-end list. The most frequently mentioned of these were Lee Chang-Dong’s “Burning” (7 votes), Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War (6 votes), Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade” (5 votes) and Bjorn Runge’s “The Wife (3 votes).

One film that surprised the most when the final tally was made, and it wasn’t even released theatrically: Jennifer Fox’s meta-drama “The Tale,” based on her own experiences with sexual abuse, garnered more than 16 votes from critics and yet only aired on HBO. A similar result to last year when many critics were adamant about including “Twin Peaks: The Return” as part of their list.

Consensus Top 10

“First Reformed’ (Paul Schrader, U.S.) (71 lists) “Hereditary” (Ari Aster, U.S.) (65) “You Were Never Really Here” (Lynne Ramsay, U.S.) (64) “Annihilation” (Alex Garland, U.S.) (61) “Black Panther” (Ryan Coogler, U.S.)( 61) “The Rider” (Chloe Zhao, U.S.) (54) “A Quiet Place” (John Krasinski, U.S.)(49) “Paddington” (Paul King, U.K.) (49) “Isle of Dogs” (Wes Anderson, U.S.) (40) “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” (Morgan Neville, U.S.) (34) “Death of Stalin” (Armando Iannucci, U.K.) (33) “Tully” (Jason Reitman, U.S.) (28) “Lean on Pete” (Andrew Haigh, U.K.) (27) “Zama” (Lucrecia Martel, Argentina) (27) “Let the Sunshine In” (Claire Denis, France) (21) “Incredibles 2” (Brad Bird, U.S.) (18) “The Tale” (Jennifer Fox, U.S.) (16) ‘American Animals” (Bart Layton, U.K.) (16) “24 Frames” (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran) (16) “Game Night” (John Francis Daley/Jonathan Goldstein, U.S.) (15) “Thoroughbreds” (Cory Finley, U.S.) (15) “RBG” (Betsy West/Julie Cohen. U.S.) (14) “Disobedience” (Sebastian Lelio, U.K.) (13) “Foxtrot” (Samuel Maoz, Israel) (13) “Love, Simon” (Greg Berlanti, U.S.) (13) “Leave No Trace” (Debra Granik, U.S.) (12) “Avengers: Infinity War” (Joe and Anthony Russo, U.S.) (12) “Deadpool 2” (David Leitch, U.S.) (11) “Unsane” (Steven Soderbergh, U.S.) (10) “Western” (Valeska Grisebach, Germany) (9) “Loveless” (Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia) (9)

A few of these lists to follow, but you can find everyone’s full lists over at worldofreel.com.

Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

Heeditary

Annihilation

Itzhak

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

You Were Never Really Here

The Endless

Death of Stalin

24 Frames

Lean on Pete

Black Panther

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Black Panther

The Death of Stalin

Disobedience

First Reformed

Hereditary

Isle of Dogs

Incredibles 2

The Rider

A Quiet Place

You Were Never Really Here

Susan Wloszczyna, RogerEbert.com

A Quiet Place

Black Panther

Hereditary

In Between

Incredibles 2

Leave No Trace

Paddington 2

RBG

The Rider

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

David Edelstein, Vulture

First Reformed

Death of Stalin

Black Panther

Blockers

Foxtrot

Isle of Dogs

Love After Love

Loveless

The Final Year

The Rider

Robert Koehler, Film Comment

Zama

Western

Lean on Pete

The Nothing Factory

El Mar La Mar

First Reformed

Jeanette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc

Did you Wonder Who Fired the Gun?

Have a Nice Day

The Day After

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

The Other Side of the Wind

Let the Sunshine In

Foxtrot

First Reformed

Zama

Ready Player One

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Annihilation

Fantastic Woman

The Death of Stalin

David Ansen, Newsweek

Lean On Pete

The Rider

Zama

Black Panther

Disobedience

Isle of Dogs

First Reformed

Paddington 2

Duck Butter

The Death of Stalin

Wont You Be My Neighbor

Stephen Whitty, The Star-Ledger

Black Panther

Annihilation

Unsane

A Quiet Place

First Reformed

Tully

Deadpool 2

Hearts Beat Loud

Hereditary

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times

Hereditary

Black Panther

Duck Butter

Revenge

You Were Never Really Here

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

Paddington 2

A Fantastic Woman

Loveless

Tully

Sara Stewart, NY Post

Tully

The Rider

You Were Never Really Here

Black Panther

Three Identical Strangers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Hereditary

Damsel

Sorry to Bother You

Deadpool 2

Marlow Stern, Newsweek

The Rider

You Were Never Really Here

Paddington 2

Sorry to Bother You

Annihilation

Black Panther

The Death of Stalin

Hereditary

Eighth Grade

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

David Sims, The Atlantic

First Reformed

The Rider

You Were Never Really Here

Let The Sunshine In

Black Panther

The Death of Stalin

Annihilation

Zama

Golden Exits

Hereditary

Nick Schager, Esquire

You Were Never Really Here

Annihilation

You

Love After Love

The Rider

First Reformed

24 Frames

Filmworker The Endless

Paddington 2

Sweet Country

Claudia Puig, USA Today

Black Panther

The Rider

A Quiet Place

Three Identical Strangers

RBG

Tully

Paddington 2

The Tale

Thoroughbreds

Summer 1993

Amy Nicholson, Variety

Sorry to Bother You

First Reformed

Tully

Isle of Dogs

The Tale

Upgrade

Thoroughbreds

The Rider

Blockers

American Animals

You Were Never Really Here

Steve Pond, The Wrap

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

The King

Black Panther

Incredibles 2

The Death of Stalin

You Were Never Really Here

Loveless

First Reformed

24 Frames

Hearts Beat Loud.

Tomris Laffly, Film School Rejects

Let the Sunshine In

Itzhak

Isle of Dogs

Outside In

You Were Never Really Here

Lean on Pete

The Tale

Claire’s Camera

Tully

On Chesil Beach

Hereditary

Where is Kyra?

Garth Franklin, Dark Horizons

American Animals

Annihilation

The Endless

Hereditary

Leave No Trace

A Quiet Place

The Rider

Sweet Country

You Were Never Really Here

Pete Howell, Toronto Star

Annihilation

Black Panther

The Death of Stalin

First Reformed

Hereditary

Paddington 2

A Quiet Place

The Rider

You Were Never Really Here

Zama

Aaron Hillis, programmer, former Village Voice critic

Annihilation

Damsel

The Endless

Game Night

Let the Sunshine In

The Rider

Three Identical Strangers

24 Frames

You Were Never Really Here

Zama

Patrick Heidman, BLZ

Black Panther

The Death of Stalin

Disobedience

Lean on Pete

Leave No Trace

Love, Simon

Paddington 2

The Rider

Tully

You Were Never Really Here

Full list of participants:

Simon Abrams, RogerEbert.com

Carlos Aguilar, Movie Maker

Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com

Ethan Alter, Yahoo

Erik Anderson, Awards Watch

David Ansen, Newsweek

Edwin Arnaudin, The Citizen-Times

Daniel Barnes, Sacramento News Review

Juan Barquin, Miami New Times

John Beasdale, CineVue

Nicholas Bell, Ion Cinema

Eliza Berman, Time

Alex Biese, Asbury Park Press

William Bibbiani

Charles Bramesco, The Guardian

Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine

Liz Braun, Toronto Sun

Joshua Brunsting, CriterionCast

Christopher Bumbray, Joblo

Ollie Charles, Freelance

Erik Childress, WGN Radio

Daryl Chin, Documents on Art & Cinema

Nick Clement, Variety

Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

Adam Cook, Hot Docs

Max Covill, Freelance

Corey A. Craft, artsBHAM

Jason Cronk,

Mike Dangelo, The Man Who Viewed Too Much

Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle

Tony Dayoub, Cinema Viewfinder

Matt Donato, We Got This Covered

Edward Douglas/The Weekend Warrior @EDouglasWW

Peter Debruge, Variety

David Edelstein, Vulture

Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist @TheGregoryE

Alex Enguist, Freelance

Steven Erickson, Gay City News

Chris Evangelista, Slash Film

Sarah Foulkes, The Film School Rejects

Garth Franklin, Dark Horizons

Jon Frosch, The Hollywood Reporter

Kenji Fujishima, Freelance

Jason Guerrasio, Business Insider

Bill Goodykoontz, AZ Central

Patrick Heidman, BLZ

Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

Aaron Hillis, programmer, former Village Voice critic

Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

Pete Howell, Toronto Star

Andrew Hunt, Freelance

Wendy Ide, Screen International

Dan Jackson, Thrillist

Jake Jacobson, Westwood One Radio/ HeatSt.com

MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher

Mark Johnson, Awards Circuit

Don Kaye, Den of Geek

John Keefer, Freelance

Adam Kempenaar, Filmspotting

Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter

Harry Knowles, Aint It Cool News

Robert Koehler, Film Comment

Gary Kramer, Freelancer

Peter Labuza, Village Voice

Tomris Laffly, Film School Rejects

Kevin Laforest, Extra Beuure

Joanna Langfield, The Movie Minute

Andrew Lapin, NPR

Eric Lavallee, IONCINEMA.com

Will Leitch, Paste Magazine

Joey Magidson, Awards Circuit

Wade Major, KPCC’s weekly FilmWeek

Patrick McGavin, PZM Auteur

Ryan McNeil, The Matinee

Sean Means, The Salt Lake Tribune

Scott Mendelson, Forbes

Scott Menzel, We Live Entertainment

Micah Mertes, Omaha World-Herald

Alec Kubas Meyer, The Daily Beast

Jared Mobarek, The Film Stage

Roger Moore, Movie Nation

Kenneth Morefield, Christianity Today

Hans Morgenstern, Indie Ethos

Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

Noel Murray, The AV Club

Kimber Myers, The Playlist

Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture

Joe Neumaier, 710AM-WOR

Amy Nicholson, Variety

Michael Nordine, IndieWire

Bradford Oman, Slash Film

Pat Padua, The Washington Post/Freelance

Steve Pond, The Wrap

Ray Pride, Newcity

Matt Prigge, Freelancer

Claudia Puig, USA Today

Jordan Raup, The Film Stage

Mara Reinstein, US Weekly

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Nick Rudow, Montana Kaimin

Jordan Ruimy, The Playlist/World of Reel

Nick Schager, Esquire

Dan Schindel, Hyperallergic

Jason Shawhan, Nashville Scene

Allison Shoemaker, Consequence of Sound

David Sims, The Atlantic

Dan Stalitt

Herb Startford, KVOA

Marlow Stern, Newsweek

Sara Stewart, NY Post

Cédric Succivalli, ICS President

Robert Sweeney, Freelance

Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Daniel Tucker, Next Projection

Kent Turner, Film Forward

Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times

Jeffrey Wells, Hollywood Elsewhere

Stephen Whitty, The Star-Ledger

Matthew Wilder, Screenwriter (“The Case Regarding Joan of Arc”)

Alissa Wilkinson, VOX

Amber Wilkinson, Eye For Film

Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly

Susan Wloszczyna, RogerEbert.com

Robin Write, Write Out Of L.A.

Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

For all of the lists, head on over to World of Reel.