From a long-awaited Pixar sequel to a new horror classic, an indie drama about a boy and his horse to a French rom-com starring Juliette Binoche, here are THR film critics’ favorites from the first half of the year (in alphabetical order).

• Annihilation

  

  Alex Garland's follow-up to Ex Machina is a scary, beautiful, female-centric update of monster classics like The Thing and Alien, with a strong Natalie Portman as a scientist investigating the cause of mysterious deaths in a Florida forest. — Todd McCarthy 

   

• Beast

  First-feature director Michael Pearce takes tired tropes and fashions something fresh, fierce and striking in this atmospheric British thriller about a young woman drawn to an enigmatic outsider (fabulous newcomers Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn). — Leslie Felperin 

• Black Panther

  With intensity and invention, freshness and brio, Ryan Coogler delivers a fine superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character, starring Chadwick Boseman and boosted by a spirited supporting ensemble including Lupita Nyong'o, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya and Danai Gurira. - T.M.
• En El Septimo Dia

  Our Song director Jim McKay's first feature in a dozen years is a Brooklyn-set comedy about a group of Mexican immigrants, their jobs and, not least, their soccer team. It's a neorealist marvel and proof that McKay's gifts are as vital as ever. — Sheri Linden 

• Hereditary

  A superb Toni Collette plays a mother left grappling with a terrifying legacy following the family matriarch's death in writer-director Ari Aster's breathless and riveting horror debut, the most effective domestic chiller since The Conjuring and The Babadook. — David Rooney 

• Incredibles 2

  Boosted by central characters that remain vastly engaging and a deep supply of wit, Brad Bird’s sequel to his 2004 Pixar hit certainly proves worth the wait, offering plenty of crackling entertainment value for viewers from 5 to 95. — T.M.
• Lean on Pete

  Charlie Plummer gives a breakout performance as an at-risk Oregon teen whose yearning for family and devotion to a horse propel him on a frontier odyssey in 45 Years director Andrew Haigh’s lovely, compassionate, naturalistically observed tale. — D.R.

• Leave No Trace

  Directed by Debra Granik (Winter's Bone), this drama about the widening rift between a woods-dwelling vet and his teen daughter (a beautifully matched Ben Foster and Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) is a model of unshowy intelligence and emotion. — Jon Frosch

• Let the Sunshine In

  Starring a moody, moving Juliette Binoche as a 50-something artist who has a hard time getting what she wants romantically, French filmmaker Claire Denis’ latest is funny, light on its feet and perceptive about complicated lives and relationships. — Jordan Mintzer 
• The Rider

  A small, acutely observed portrait of lives on the windswept badlands in South Dakota, Chloe Zhao’s beautiful gem of a drama focuses on a young cowboy (Brady Jandreau) whose future as a rodeo rider is jeopardized by a head injury. — T.M.