Sheila Benson is an American journalist and film critic. In 1985, she was a member of the jury at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.
Benson began writing film reviews at the Pacific Sun, a local free newspaper, in Mill Valley, California. From 1981 to 1991, she was the principal reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. Affiliated with the National Society of Film Critics, she was given the Vesta Award for Journalism in 1987 for her contribution to the arts in Southern California, and taught Critical Writing at UCLA.