The 100 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far)

Any attempt to define “the best films of the 21st century so far” is, by definition, provisional—and that is part of the point. Cinema over the past twenty-five years has unfolded in a state of permanent transition: technological, industrial, political, and aesthetic. The collapse of traditional distribution models, the rise of digital filmmaking, the globalization of festivals, and the fragmentation of audiences have not produced a single dominant style or movement, but rather a dense constellation of approaches, traditions and personal obsessions. What this list proposes, then, is not a canon carved in stone, but a snapshot: a way of tracing how cinema has thought about itself, the world, and its own possibilities since 2001.

Looking back, it is striking how often the most influential films of the century have been those that questioned inherited forms rather than perfected them. Narrative certainty gives way to ambiguity; genre is bent, hybridized, or quietly dismantled; time becomes elastic; and realism—once a stable reference point—splinters into multiple, often contradictory modes. From the radical minimalism of filmmakers like Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang, or Pedro Costa, to the grand ambitions of Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino, the period is defined less by consensus than by friction. Cinema expands by arguing with itself.

Another defining feature of these years is the erosion of old geographic hierarchies. While Hollywood remains present—and often self-critical—the center of gravity repeatedly shifts toward Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and hybrid transnational spaces. Films by Jia Zhangke, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Hong Sang-soo, Kleber Mendonça Filho, or Cristian Mungiu are not “alternative cinemas” orbiting a dominant core; they are central works that helped redefine what contemporary cinema looks and sounds like. Documentary, essay film, and fiction increasingly contaminate one another, blurring distinctions that once felt essential.

At the same time, many of these films are haunted by history—personal, national, or collective—even when they appear resolutely present-tense. Trauma, memory, political violence, and social fracture recur across very different contexts, from The Act of Killing to First Reformed, from No Home Movie to The Zone of Interest. Yet this is not a cinema of pure solemnity. Comedy, irony, pop exuberance, and even slapstick coexist with despair, often within the same film. The century’s best cinema has learned how to be playful without being naïve, and serious without claiming moral superiority.

The list that follows is ordered chronologically, not hierarchically. It traces a path rather than a ranking, allowing connections, echoes, and ruptures to emerge over time. Taken together, these films do not define the 21st century. They show it thinking, hesitating, reinventing itself—one film at a time.

• –A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Steven Spielberg (2001)
• –Millennium Mambo, Hou Hsiao-hsien (2001)
• –Mulholland Drive, David Lynch (2001)
• –The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson (2001)
• –Japón, Carlos Reygadas (2002)
• –The Man Without a Past, Aki Kaurismäki (2002)
• –Punch-Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson (2002)
• –Hable con ella, Pedro Almodóvar (2002)
• –Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki (2002)
• –Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks, Wang Bing (2002)

• –On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate, Hong Sang-soo (2002)
• –Le fils / The Son, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (2002)
• –Goodbye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang (2003)
• –Café Lumière, Hou Hsiao-hsien (2003)
• –Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola (2003)
• –Los Angeles Plays Itself, Thom Andersen (2003)
• –Memories of Murder, Bong Joon-ho (2003)
• –Elephant, Gus Van Sant (2003)
• –Kill Bill: Vol. 1-2, Quentin Tarantino (2003 / 2004)
• –Rois et Reine / Kings and Queen, Arnaud Desplechin (2004)

• –The World, Jia Zhangke (2004)
• –Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Adam McKay (2004)
• –Tropical Malady, Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2004)
• –Whisky, Juan Pablo Rebella & Pablo Stoll (2004)
• –Collateral, Michael Mann (2004)
• –Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Michel Gondry (2004)
• –A History of Violence, David Cronenberg (2005)
• –The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Cristi Puiu (2005)
• –Munich, Steven Soielberg (2005)
• –Les amants réguliers / Regular Lovers, Philippe Garrel (2005)

• –Honor de cavalleria, Albert Serra (2006)
• –Juventude em Marcha / Colossal Youth, Pedro Costa (2006)
• –Sehnsucht / Longing, Valeska Grisebach (2006)
• –Inland Empire, David Lynch (2006)
• –Syndromes and a Century, Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2006)
• –Woman on the Beach, Hong Sang-soo (2006)
• –Jogo de Cena, Eduardo Coutinho (2007)
• –Luz silenciosa, Carlos Reygadas (2007)
• –Santiago, João Moreira Salles (2007)
• –There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson (2007)

• –Zodiac, David Fincher (2007)
• –35 Rhums, Claire Denis (2008)
• –Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto, Miguel Gomes (2008)
• –Wendy and Lucy, Kelly Reichardt (2008)
• –Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino (2009)
• –Morrer como um homem, João Pedro Rodrigues (2009)
• –Police, Adjective, Corneliu Porumboiu (2009)
• –Vincere, Marco Bellocchio (2009)
• –Certified Copy / Copie conforme, Abbas Kiarostami (2010)
• –Film Socialisme, Jean-Luc Godard (2010)

• –La bocca del lupo, Pietro Marcello (2010)
• –La vida útil, Federico Veiroj (2010)
• –Le quattro volte, Michelangelo Frammartino (2010)
• –Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2010)
• –Margaret, Kenneth Lonergan (2011)
• –Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan (2011)
• –The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo (2011)
• –Leviathan, Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel (2012)
• –O som ao redor, Kleber Mendonça Filho (2012)
• –The Act of Killing, Joshua Oppenheimer (2012)

• –Holy Motors, Leos Carax (2012)
• –Tabú, Miguel Gomes (2012)
• –The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson (2012)
• –Hard to Be a God, Aleksei German (2013)
• –Stranger by the Lake, Alain Guiraudie (2013)
• –Under the Skin, Jonathan Glazer (2013)
• –Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel & Ethan Coen (2013)
• –The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese (2013)
• –Boyhood, Richard Linklater (2014)
• –Branco Sai, Preto Fica, Adirley Queirós (2014)

• –Phoenix, Christian Petzold (2014)
• –Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller (2015)
• –Mountains May Depart, Jia Zhangke (2015)
• –No Home Movie, Chantal Akerman (2015)
• –Todo comenzó por el fin, Luis Ospina (2015)
• –Paterson, Jim Jarmusch (2016)
• –El viento sabe que vuelvo a casa, José Luis Torres Leiva (2016)
• –A Ghost Story, David Lowery (2017)
• –First Reformed, Paul Schrader (2017)
• –Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino (2017)

• –Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson (2017)
• –An Elephant Sitting Still, Hu Bo (2018)
• –Ash Is Purest White, Jia Zhangke (2018)
• –Happy as Lazzaro, Alice Rohrwacher (2018)
• –Transit, Christian Petzold (2018)
• –Uncut Gems, Josh & Benny Safdie (2019)
• –Synonymes, Nadav Lapid (2019)
• –Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Radu Jude (2021)
• –Drive My Car, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi (2021)
• –What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, Alexandre Koberidze (2021)

• –Pacifiction, Albert Serra (2022)
• –Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, Pham Thien An (2023)
• –Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese (2023)
• –The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer (2023)
• –Tardes de soledad, Albert Serra (2024)
• –Misericordia, Alain Guiraudie (2024)
• –Anora, Sean Baker (2024)
• –One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson (2025)
• –The Secret Agent / O agente secreto, Kleber Mendonça Filho (2025)
• –It Was Just an Accident, Jafar Panahi (2025)

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