Metacritic Users Pick the Best of 2020

The results of our 11th annual user poll are in ...

For the 11th straight year, we invited Metacritic users to list their favorite movies, TV shows, albums, and videogames of the past calendar year. Over 2,800 of you participated in this year's survey, and the results are tabulated below.

Participants were asked to rank their five favorite titles of 2020 in each category, and we assigned a value of 5 points to each first-place vote, 4 points for second place, and so on down to 1 point for each fifth-place vote.

Movies

It should come as no surprise in a year when heading to a movie theater was not an option for many Americans that the bulk of our users' favorite 2020 films were widely available on various streaming services. One notable exception: our users' #1 choice, Christopher Nolan's would-be blockbuster Tenet. That film is one of seven titles in our users' overall top 15 choices that is not found in our composite list of movie critic top 10 lists. Curiously, the critics' top choice, Nomadland, did manage to place #8 with users despite the fact that it won't receive a widespread public release until February. (That film, also Metacritic's official #1 film of 2020, had a limited virtual run in December to qualify for awards.) Our users' #2 pick, Pixar's Soul, placed 19th with critics, while the critics' #3 pick, Steve McQueen's Small Axe entry Lovers Rock, is one of several notable omissions in our user list (despite being widely available on Prime Video).

Best Movie of 2020 as Voted by Metacritic Users

Movie			Points
1	▣ Tenet	1,113
2	▣ Soul	636
3	▣ I'm Thinking of Ending Things	580
4	▣ Mank	501
5	▣ Palm Springs	441
6	▣ The Trial of the Chicago 7	367
7	▣ Sound of Metal	344
8	▣ Nomadland	311
9	▣ First Cow	304
10	▣ Da 5 Bloods	291
11	▣ Never Rarely Sometimes Always	289
12	▣ The Invisible Man	278
13	▣ Hamilton	253
14	▣ Borat Subsequent Moviefilm	244
15	▣ Onward	175

TV shows

While there was a wide discrepancy between critics and our users in film—driven in part by the lack of access to many of the films favored by critics—the two groups were much more in sync when it came to television. Thirteen of the top 15 selections by users can also be found ranked in the top 15 in our composite list of TV critic lists, albeit in a different order. (Users favored Netflix hit The Queen’s Gambit, which placed second with critics; the latter group selected HBO's I May Destroy You at #1 while users placed it at #7.) Which two user picks didn't make the critics' top 15? One is Hulu's second-year comedy PEN15, which just missed the cut with critics, placing at #18. The other is the final season of Netflix sci-fi thriller Dark, often described as a German take on Stranger Things, which landed on only a handful of critic top 10 lists (though was well-reviewed at the time of its release).

Best TV Show of 2020 as Voted by Metacritic Users

Show			Points
1	▣ The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)	1,085
2	▣ Better Call Saul (AMC)	1,079
3	▣ The Mandalorian (Disney+)	932
4	▣ The Boys (Prime Video)	575
5	▣ BoJack Horseman (Netflix)	423
6	▣ The Crown (Netflix)	403
7	▣ I May Destroy You (HBO)	358
8	▣ Normal People (Hulu)	296
9	▣ The Last Dance (ESPN)	292
10	▣ What We Do in the Shadows (FX)	236
11	▣ Dark (Netflix)	203
12	▣ Schitt’s Creek (Pop)	200
13	▣ Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)	181
14	▣ PEN15 (Hulu)	143
15	▣ Mrs. America (FX on Hulu)	141

Music

Ten of the 15 titles from our user list, below, can also be found in the top 15 in our composite list of music critic top 10s. Users failed to include critic favorites like Bob Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways, Waxahatchee's Saint Cloud, Chloe x Halle's Ungodly Hour, and two albums by Sault. Instead, users favored releases by Lady Gaga, The Strokes, Miley Cyrus, and Fleet Foxes, plus Taylor Swift's second album of 2020. Speaking of Swift: She was the overwhelming #1 choice of our users, while that album—Folklore—placed third with critics. The latter group chose Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters at #1 (and it was also Metacritic's highest-scoring album of 2020), while users placed it at #4.

Best Album of 2020 as Voted by Metacritic Users

Album/Artist			Points
1	▣ Folklore by Taylor Swift	2,029
2	▣ Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa	1,073
3	▣ Evermore by Taylor Swift	920
4	▣ Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple	860
5	▣ Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers	682
6	▣ Chromatica by Lady Gaga	570
7	▣ Sawayama by Rina Sawayama	491
8	▣ After Hours by The Weeknd	486
9	▣ RTJ4 by Run the Jewels	405
10	▣ Women in Music, Pt. III by Haim	275
11	▣ What's Your Pleasure? by Jessie Ware	242
12	▣ The New Abnormal by The Strokes	216
13	▣ Plastic Hearts by Miley Cyrus	202
14	▣ Set My Heart on Fire ... by Perfume Genius	186
15	▣ Shore by Fleet Foxes	178

Games

It wasn't even close: PS4 exclusive The Last of Us Part II was the favorite 2020 game of Metacritic users by a landslide. We don't compile game critic top 10 lists, but TLOS2 was the #2-ranked game of 2020 by Metascore. Our highest-scoring game of the year, Persona 5 Royal, placed just 13th with our users. And, yes, you'll notice that Cyberpunk 2077 managed to rank third in our user voting. We'll assume that all of those votes were for the PC edition.

Best Video Game of 2020 as Voted by Metacritic Users

Game			Points
1	The Last of Us Part II PS4:▣	10,194
2	Ghost of Tsushima PS4:▣	2,079
3	Cyberpunk 2077 PC:▣ PS4:▣ XB1:▣	1,691
4	Hades PC:▣ NS:▣	1,510
5	Doom Eternal PC:▣ PS4:▣ XB1:▣ NS:▣	1,062
6	Final Fantasy VII Remake PS4:▣	1,044
7	Demon’s Souls PS5:▣	818
8	Animal Crossing: New Horizons NS:▣	701
9	Ori and the Will of the Wisps PC:▣ XBX:▣ XB1:▣ NS:▣	694
10	Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales PS5:▣ PS4:▣	615
11	Assassin's Creed Valhalla PC:▣ PS5:▣ PS4:▣ XBX:▣ XB1:▣	596
12	Half-Life: Alyx PC:▣	584
13	Persona 5 Royal PS4:▣	487
14	Resident Evil 3 PC:▣ PS4:▣ XB1:▣	463
15	Nioh 2 PS4:▣	354

How did you do?

What do you think of the picks made by your fellow users? Let us know in the comments section below, and don't forget to visit our Best of 2020 and sections for complete coverage of the year's best releases.