despair". Brody argued that Hu's "vision conveys a mighty, universal human despair." Matthew Thrift of Little White Lies praised the film as "without question one of the strongest debuts in recent memory", arguing that "the remarkable surety of Hu's direction provides a restless momentum. It's a film constantly in motion, tracking cat and mouse alike through the city streets. [...] Conflict is borne out of character and circumstance, rather than narrative contrivance or traditional dramatic structure." Best lists An Elephant Sitting Still has been ranked by numerous critics and publications as one of the best films of 2018/2019. 1st – Cinema Scope 2nd – Lawrence Garcia, The A.V. Club 3rd – K. Austin Collins, Vanity Fair 6th – Philip Concannon, Gay City News 6th – Jordan Cronk 9th – Nick Linden, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – David Hudson 9th – Hyperallergic Top 9 (unranked)– The Quietus 10th – Dennis Dermody, Paper Top 10 (unranked)– Sheila O'Mailey, RogerEbert.com 12th – Justin Chang, The Los Angeles Times 12th – Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion 13th – Slant 13th – Film Comment 13th – Charles Bramesco, The A.V. Club 14th – Nick Schager, Esquire Top 20 (outside top 10, 11-20 unranked)– Ed Gonzalez, Slant 24th – Michael Glover Smith, White City Cinema 25th – Slant Top 26 (outside top 10, 11-26 unranked)– A.O. Scott, The New York Times 32nd – Film Stage Top 46 (unranked)– Richard Brody, The New Yorker. Brody also ranked it as one of the 27 best movies of the 2010s. They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? determines An Elephant Sitting Still as the 518th most critically acclaimed film of the 21st century. Awards and nominations References External links Official website - United States 2018 films 2018 drama films Chinese drama films Films set in Hebei Films based on Chinese novels