The 250 Best Films of All Time
The greatest films of all time, from the early days of silent cinema to 21st century masterpieces.
Decades
The Best Films of the 2020s Decade (so far)
The greatest films of the 2020s so far, from the growth of auteur television to boundary-pushing metamodernism.
The Best Films of the 2010s Decade
The greatest films of the 2010s, from the heights of New Mexican cinema to the proliferation of comic book movies.
The Best Films of the 2000s Decade
The greatest films of the 2000s, from the Korean New Wave to the resurgence of the fantasy genre.
The Best Films of the 1990s Decade
The greatest films of the 1990s, from America’s independent cinema to the start of the digital age.
The Best Films of the 1980s Decade
The greatest films of the 1980s, from the end of New Hollywood to the rise of the modern blockbuster.
The Best Films of the 1970s Decade
The greatest films of the 1970s, from the American New Wave to Europe’s bleak surrealism.
The Best Films of the 1960s Decade
The greatest films of the 1960s, from the French New Wave to the subversive Spaghetti Westerns.
The Best Films of the 1950s Decade
The greatest films of the 1950s, from the classic Hollywood musicals to Japan’s Golden Age of cinema.
The Best Films of the 1940s Decade
The greatest films of the 1940s, from Italian neorealism to the birth of film noirs.
The Best Films of the 1930s Decade
The greatest films of the 1930s, from France’s poetic realism to the rise of Technicolor and talkies.
The Best Films of the 1910s & 1920s Decades
The greatest films of cinema’s early years, from German Expressionism to Hollywood’s silent comedies.
2020s
The Best Films of 2023
Yorgos Lanthimos’ absurdist odyssey ventures into the surreal heart of womanhood, Chad Stahelski lifts the John Wick franchise to transcendent new heights, and Barbenheimer draws crowds to the cinema for a double feature of conflicting blockbusters.
The Best Films of 2022
The Daniels ponder the maximalist absurdity of all existence, Alejandro Iñárritu composes a surreal interrogation of artistic ego, and Cate Blanchett leads an exacting character study of elitism and exploitation.
The Best Films of 2021
Wes Anderson dedicates an enchanting piece of nostalgia to old-fashioned print journalists, Denis Villeneuve films an unfilmable science-fiction classic, and Jane Campion conducts a sensitive study of masculinity through the western genre.
The Best Films of 2020
Charlie Kaufman confounds viewers with his eerie study of depression, Steve McQueen unites several stories of Black empowerment in twentieth century London, and Emerald Fennell delivers a thrilling, feminist tale of vengeance.
2010s
The Best Films of 2019
Pedro Costa’s meditative camera lingers in the decaying home of a recent widow, Bong Joon-ho takes a scalpel to South Korea’s class system, and Martin Scorsese’s epic gangster film wrestles with his long-time fascinations of sin and guilt.
The Best Films of 2018
Alfonso Cuarón cements his status as an all-time great director with a black-and-white memory piece, Ari Aster takes the horror genre to a new level with fresh artistic sensibilities, and a hyper-kinetic animation deconstructs decades of superhero stories.
The Best Films of 2017
Christopher Nolan shakes up the war genre with his tremendous editing, Denis Villeneuve astoundingly builds on a decades-old classic with a phenomenal sequel, and Paul Schrader’s theological character study features Ethan Hawke in a self-destructive spiral.
The Best Films of 2016
Damien Chazelle’s ode to Hollywood musicals becomes one of the genre’s best, Jim Jarmusch’s impressively formal work celebrates the beauty of routine, and Denis Villeneuve finds a new linguistic spin on the alien science-fiction film.
The Best Films of 2015
Leonardo DiCaprio transforms into a spirit animal in Alejandro Iñárritu’s awe-inspiring revisionist western, George Miller makes a high-octane career comeback, and Adam McKay turns the Global Financial Crisis into an audacious piece of cinema.
The Best Films of 2014
Alejandro Iñárritu’s studies celebrity and ego in his one-take wonder, Wes Anderson throws back to mid-century Budapest with his immaculate pastel artistry, and Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age epic breaks new ground in realist cinema.
The Best Films of 2013
Paweł Pawlikowski delivers a haunting meditation on the long-lasting trauma of the Holocaust, Richard Linklater ties off his decades-spanning Before trilogy, and Nicolas Winding Refn’s neon-tinted violence heavily polarises audiences.
The Best Films of 2012
Paul Thomas Anderson creates an ambitiously enigmatic work studying symbiotic opposites, Christopher Nolan ends his Dark Knight trilogy with kinetic style, and Sam Mendes delivers the most inspired James Bond film to date.
The Best Films of 2011
Terrence Malick delivers a landmark of transcendental cinema, while Béla Tarr and Lars von Trier both impress with heavy, philosophical films contemplating two different apocalypses.
The Best Films of 2010
Aaron Sorkin pens the greatest screenplay of his career with David Fincher, Christopher Nolan blows minds with his most visually inventive film to date, and Darren Aronofsky crafts a horrifying character study of ambition and obsession.
An Inexhaustive Catalogue of Auteur Trilogies
There is a formal poetry to film trilogies which, when in the hands of an auteur, can reveal new dimensions to cinematic, narrative, and thematic interests not fully contained within their individual works. Not all of the trilogies listed here are consistently made up of great films, but they are worth documenting nonetheless.
Scene by Green 