As Martin Scorsese once said, “Music and cinema fit together naturally. Because there’s a kind of intrinsic musicality to the way moving images work when they’re put together. It’s been said that cinema and music are very close as art forms, and I think that’s true.” Indeed, the right piece of music–whether it’s an original score or a carefully selected song–can do wonders for a sequence, and today we’re looking at the 25 films that best expressed this notion this year.
From seasoned composers to accomplished musicians, as well as a smattering of soundtracks, each musical example perfectly transported us to the world of the film. Check out our rundown of the top 25, which includes streams to each soundtrack in full.
25. Dark Glasses (Arnaud Rebotini)
24. Catch the Fair One (Nathan Halpern)
23. Barbarian (Anna Drubich)
22. Return to Seoul (Various)
21. Babylon (Justin Hurwitz)
20. Mad God (Dan Wool)
19. The Northman (Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough aka Vessel)
18. The Fabelmans (John Williams)
17. Corsage (Camille and Various)
16. The African Desperate (Ben Babbitt, Colin Self, Aunt Sister, and Various)
15. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Alex G)
14. The Batman (Michael Giacchino)
13. The Inspection (Animal Collective)
12. After Yang (Aska Matsumiya)
11. White Noise (Danny Elfman and LCD Soundsystem)
10. Aftersun (Various)
9. Top Gun: Maverick (Hans Zimmer and Lady Gaga)
8. Nope (Michael Abels)
7. Decision to Leave (Cho Young-wuk)
6. Kimi (Cliff Martinez)
5. RRR (M. M. Keeravani)
4. Neptune Frost (Saul Williams)
3. TÁR (Hildur Guðnadóttir, Cate Blanchett, Sophie Kauer, and Various)
2. Stars at Noon (Tindersticks)
1. Crimes of the Future (Howard Shore)