Metacritic’s Top Films, Shows, Games Of 2019
With all the films opening in 2019 now out or opening tomorrow, Metacritic.com has unveiled what films, games and TV shows were the best of the year based on the aggregate scores of the top critics.
I’ve divided the lists into three sections – films, TV shows and major video games. Each section lists the titles nabbing the best critical scores, and those which were the most discussed titles in each section in 2019.
If there’s one trend this year it’s that scores overall are down with fewer titles than usual making it above the 90/100 mark – especially in the realm of gaming. Here’s the full breakdown:
Best Films
This list does NOT include old film re-releases bar one notable exception with it being a new cut. Films also have to have over ten reviews to be considered, which is why some high scoring works are not included.
1. “Parasite” – 96/100
2. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” – 95/100
3. “The Irishman” – 94/100
4. “Marriage Story” – 93/100
5. “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut,” “The Souvenir” – 92/100
6. “Little Women,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” – 90/100
7. “The Farewell,” “For Sama,” “Uncut Gems” – 89/100
8. “63 Up,” “Apollo 11,” “Pain and Glory” – 88/100
9. “American Factory,” “Black Mother,” “Diane,” “An Elephant Sitting Still,” “Honeyland,” “Rolling Thunder Revue,” “The Wild Pear Tree” – 86/100
10. “Atlantics,” “Ash is Purest White, “Birds of Passage,” “Once Child Nation,” “One Cut of the Dead,” “Varda by Agnes” – 85/100
There’s also a list of the films most frequently discussed this year. On that front the most talked about movies were: “Joker,” “Captain Marvel,” “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” “The Lion King,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” “IT: Chapter Two,” “Shazam,” “Ad Astra,” “Us,” “Terminator: Dark Fate” and “Aladdin”
Best TV Series
The reviews for shows on the site are often for the first few episodes of a season, and so aren’t as reliable overall as the film scores:
1. “Fleabag: S2” – 96/100
2. “Better Things: S3” – 94/100
3. “Bojack Horseman: S6” – 92/100
4. “The Expanse: S4,” “Catastrophe: S4” – 91/100
5. “Black Lady Sketch Show: S1,” “Green Eggs and Ham: S1” – 89/100
6. “Russian Doll: S1,” “Succession: S2,” “Undone: S1,” “Back to Life: S1” – 88/100
7. “Deadwood: The Movie,” “When They See Us,” “Barry: S2,” “Killing Eve: S2,” “Billions: S4,” “Our Planet,” “Primal: S1,” “Veep S7,” “Ramy S1” – 87/100
8. “John Mulaney & Sack Bunch Lunch,” “You’re The Worst: S5” – 86/100
9. “Watchmen: S1, “Leaving Nevrland,” “The Crown: S3,” “Baskets: S4″” – 85/100
10. “A Very English Scandal,” “Big Mouth: S3,” “Rick & Morty: S4,” “Jenny Slate: Stage Fright” – 84/100
There’s also a list of the shows most frequently discussed this year. On that front the most talked about shows were: “The Witcher,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Mandalorian,” “Watchmen,” “Stranger Things,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Leaving Neverland,” “The OA,” “The Umbrella Academy,” “Batwoman,” “Russian Doll,” “Love Death and Robots,” Another Life” and “Chernobyl”.
Best Video Games
Scoring for games on the site is something of a mess as episodic releases, DLC add-on packs and iOS games are often given their own scores. To keep the list reasonable, I’m sticking to full game releases or major DLC only:
1. “Red Dead Redemption 2: PC Edition” – 93/100
2. “Resident Evil 2,” “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice,” “Disco Elysium,” “Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers” – 91/100
3. “Tetris Effect” – 90/100
4. “Devil May Cry 5,” “Slay the Spire,” “Fire Emblem: Three Houses,” “Unity of Command II” – 89/100
5. “Apex Legends,” “Asgard’s Wrath,” “Super Mario Maker 2” – 88/100
6. “Baba is You,” “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening,” “F1 2019,” “Civilization VI” – 87/100
7. “Mortal Kombat 11,” “Sunless Skies,” “Luigi’s Mansion 3,” “MLB The Show 19,” “Steins;Gate Elite,” “Ni No Kuni: Remastered,” “Star Wars: Pinball,” “Dragon Quest Builders 2” – 86/100
8. “Control,” “The Outer Worlds,” “Outer Wilds,” “Total War: Three Kingdoms,” “Amid Evil,” “Devotion” – 85/100
There’s also a list of the games most frequently discussed this year. On that front the most talked about games were: “Death Stranding,” “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,” “Pokemon Switch,” “Days Gone,” “Astral Chain,” “Gears 5,” “Anthem,” “Red Dead Redemption 2,” “Fifa 20,” “Borderlands 3,” “Metro Exodus,” “Mortal Kombat 11,” “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order,” “Fire Emblem: Three Houses,” “The Outer Worlds,” “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice,” “Resident Evil 2,” and “Kingdom Hearts III”.
Source: www.darkhorizons.com