Annual Top Films Lists

Through the Looking-Glass…Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2016: Picks 100 to 6

Published on January 16, 2015

While DC and Marvel might already have a lock on several future release dates past the 2015 campaign with the Coen Bros. circling February on their calendars, for the most part, when it comes to American independent and foreign film flavored items, 2016 is still cloudy with a chance of…. 2015 just broke (we already have plenty to look forward to (Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films / Top 25 Most Anticipated Studio Films / Top 100 Most Anticipated American Independent Films – soon!) but we’re already excited about what is in store for several of our favorite auteurs. Here are picks 100 to 6, with our Nicholas Bell providing further analysis on current top five for 2016. Pictured above is Peter Strickland, who sits in our number six spot.

100. Untitled Edward Munch Project – Erik Poppe
99. Bastille Day – James Watkins
98. Live By Night – Ben Affleck
97. Imagine – Benoit Graffin
96. Pete’s Dragon – David Lowery
95. Bella Luna – Ivan Fila
94. Bat, Butterfly, Moth – Sergio Caballero
93. The BFG – Steven Spielberg
92. Cooking With Fernet Branca – Bruce Beresford
91. Foreign Affairs – Ziad Doueiri
90. Little House on the Prairie – Sean Durkin
89. The Fox – Matthias Luthardt
88. I’m Down – Lynn Shelton
87. The Island of Dolls – Pascal Sid
86. Spring Again – Gael Morel
85. The Side Effect – Ti West
84. Two Eyes Staring – Scott Derrickson
83. Project Lazarus – Mateo Gil
82. Wedding Dress – Alexandre Aja
81. Untitled Hilary Clinton Project – James Ponsoldt
80. Vita & Virginia – Sacha Polak
79. Untitled Emir Kusturica Belarus Project
78. Indignation – James Schamus
77. Tarda Primavera – Michelangelo Frammartino
76. Storm in the Stars – A Haifa Al-Mansour
75. Blonde – Andrew Dominik
74. Soeurs – Malgorzata Szumowska
73. The Bloom of Yesterday – Chris Kraus
72. Alias Grace – Sarah Polley
71. Downsizing – Alexander Payne
70. Pyromaniac – Erik Skjoldbjærg
69. The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea – Syllas Tzoumerkas
68. Machina – Fede Alvarez
67. Scarred Hearts – Radu Jude
66. Out of Nowhere – Fatih Akin
65. Freezing People Is Easy – Errol Morris
64. Des jours redoutables – Jacques Doillon
63. The Flamethrowers – Jane Campion
62. The Ferryman – Wong Kar Wai
61. Children of the Gun – Fabrice Du Welz
60. The Beauty of Sharks – Karim Ainouz
59. Boyfriend – Ashim Ahluwalia
58. Deepwater Horizon – J.C. Chandor
57. Coward – Kim Jee-woon
56. Cascade – Baltasar Kormakur
55. The Thirtieth Love – Angelina Nikonova
54. I Saw the Devil – Adam Wingard
53. Fingersmith – Park Chan-wook
52. Hail Cesar – Coen Bros
51. Porno – Danny Boyle
50. Sweet Dreams – Marco Bellocchio
49. White Shadows – Fabio Mollo
48. Untitled Pablo Neruda Project – Pablo Larrain
47. The True American – Kathryn Bigelow
46. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote – Terry Gilliam
45. White Knuckles – Pia Marais
44. Stain on the Snow – David Mackenzie
43. American Express – Nash Edgerton
42. Transit – Christian Petzold
41. Micro Robert – Nadav Lapid
40. Fairyland – Sofia Coppola
39. The Snowman – Tomas Alfredson
38. Second Born – Park Chan-Wook
37. Alice in Changes – Joshua Marston
36. Cook, F*ck, Kill – Mira Fornay
35. Untitled Paul Robeson Biopic – Steven McQueen
34. Manchester-by-the-Sea – Kenneth Lonergan
33. Evil Stones – Nicole Garcia
32. Free Fire – Ben Wheatley
31. In the Forest – Gilles Marchand
30. How to Talk to Girls at Parties – John Cameron Mitchell
29. The Eisentsein Handshakes – Peter Greenaway
28. Iguazu – Sebastian Lelio
27. Fela – Andrew Dosunmu
26. Midnight Swim – Benoit Jacquot
25. The Past – Kiyoshi Kurosawa
24. Story of Your Life – Denis Villeneuve
23. The Neon Demon – Nicolas Winding Refn
22. Vernon God Little – Werner Herzog
21. RMN – Cristian Mungiu
20. Ma Loute – Bruno Dumont
19. The Luxembourg – Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
18. Ana, Mon Amour – Calin Peter Netzer
17. Untitled Alexandros Avranos Thriller
16. Untitled Alain Guiraudie Film
15. The Embrace – Ludovic Bergery
14. D – Roman Polanski
13. Ending Eddy Bellegueule – Andre Techine
12. The Bad Batch – Ana Lili Amirpour
11. Silencio – Pedro Almodovar
10. Paris Is Happening – Bertrand Bonello
9. Momma – Antonio Campos
8. The Body Artist – Benoit Jacquot
7. Bacurau – Kleber Mendonca Filho
6. The Beginning of Spring – Peter Strickland

Related Topics:A Haifa Al-Mansour, Adam Wingard, Alain Guiraudie, Alexander Payne, Alexandre Aja, Alexandros Avranos, Alias Grace, Alice in Changes, American Express, Ana Lili Amirpour, Ana Mon Amour, André Téchiné, Andrew Dominik, Andrew Dosunmu, Angelina Nikonova, Antonio Campos, Ashim Ahluwalia, Bacurau, Baltasar Kormakur, Bastille Day, Bat Butterfly Moth, Beauty of Sharks, Bella Luna, Ben Affleck, Ben Wheatley, Benoit Graffin, Benoit Jacquot, Bertrand Bonello, Blonde, Boyfriend, Bruce Beresford, Bruno Dumont, Calin Peter Netzer, Cascade, Children of the Gun, Chris Kraus, Christian Petzold, Cook F*ck Kill, Cooking With Fernet Branca, Coward, Cristian Mungiu, D, Danny Boyle, David Lowery, David Mackenzie, Deepwater Horizon, Denis Villeneuve, Des jours redoutables, Downsizing, Emir Kusturica, Ending Eddy Bellegueule, Erik Poppe, Erik Skjoldbjærg, Errol Morris, Evil Stones, Fabio Mollo, Fabrice du Welz, Fairyland, Fatih Akin, Fede Alvarez, Fela, Fingersmith, Foreign Affairs, Free Fire, Freezing People is Easy, Gael Morel, Gilles Marchand, Hail Cesar, How to Talk to Girls at Parties, I Saw the Devil, I'm Down, Iguazu, Imagine, In the Forest, Indignation, Ivan Fila, J.C. Chandor, Jacques Doillon, James Ponsoldt, James Schamus, James Watkins, Jane Campion, John Cameron Mitchell, Joshua Marston, Karim Ainouz, Kathryn Bigelow, Kenneth Lonergan, Kim Jee-woon, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Kleber Mendonca Filho, Little House on the Prairie, Live By Night, Ludovic Bergery, Lynn Shelton, Ma Loute, Machina, Malgorzata Szumowska, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marco Bellocchi, Mateo Gil, Matthias Luthardt, Michelangelo Frammartino, Micro Robert, Midnight Swim, Mira Fornay, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, Momma, Nadav Lapid, Nash Edgerton, Nicolas Winding Refn, Nicole Garcia, Out of Nowhere, Pablo Larrain, Paris Is Happening, Park-Chan Wook, Pascal Sid, Pedro Almodovar, Pete's Dragon, Peter Greenaway, Peter Strickland, Pia Marais, Porno, Project Lazarus, Pyromaniac, Radu Jude, RMN, Roman Polanski, Sacha Polak, Sarah Polley, Scarred Hearts, Scott Derrickson, Sean Durkin, Sebastián Lelio, Second Born, Sergio Caballero, Silencio, Soeurs, Sofia Coppola, Spring Again, Stain on the Snow, Steven McQueen, Steven Spielberg, Storm in the Stars, STORY OF YOUR LIFE, Sweet Dreams, Syllas Tzoumerkas, Tarda Primavera, Terry Gilliam, The Bad Batch, The Beginning of Spring, The BFG, The Bloom of Yesterday, The Body Artist, The Eisentsein Handshakes, The Embrace, The Ferryman, The Flamethrowers, The Fox, The Island of Dolls, The Luxembourg, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea, The Neon Demon, The Past, The Side Effect, The Snowman, The Thirtieth Love, The True American, Through the Looking-Glass...Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2016, Ti West, Tomas Alfredson, top-stories, Transit, Two Eyes Staring, Vernon God Little, Vita & Virginia, Wedding Dress, Werner Herzog, White Knuckles, White Shadows, Wong Kar Wai, Ziad Doueiri

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).