10 Greatest Movie Masterpieces of the 21st Century, Ranked
All in all, there’s no denying that the 21st century has been a wonderful time to be a cinephile. From 2001 to the present day, the number of exceptional films worthy of being called masterpieces is too large to count. Covering every genre imaginable and hailing from virtually every corner of the planet, these movies are proof that the Seventh Art is here to stay, offering more than enough perfect movies for anyone to enjoy in any given year.
Whether it’s a wild adrenaline fest of an action film, an adrenaline-pumping thriller that loves to keep you guessing, or a profoundly human drama with some fascinating characters, the 21st century’s best movies are undeniable masterpieces that deserve all the praise they get. No matter what they’re about, all of these films should put the concerns of anyone worried about the state of modern cinema at ease.
10
‘Whiplash’ (2014)
Whiplash was actually Damien Chazelle‘s second feature film, but it’s the one that really put him on the map. Intense, incredibly well-acted, and with enough swear words and insults to fill a dictionary, it’s one of the most thoroughly perfect movies of the 2010s. It’s only 106 minutes long, but it’s such a monstrously kinetic experience that it feels much longer—in all the best ways.
After all, one can never get enough of Miles Teller and an Oscar-winning J.K. Simmons both delivering the best performances of their respective careers. But they’re not all that the film has going for it: Full of catchy music, extraordinary cinematography, and some of the best editing of the 21st century, Whiplash is such a character-driven movie that it’s practically a psychological thriller just as much as it is a drama.
9
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)
Generally speaking, the action genre has been going through a sweet phase throughout the entire 21st century. Plenty of thrilling outings are deserving of being called the best of the best, and one of them comes from George Miller, one of the most important Australian filmmakers in history. The director revolutionized action cinema with 1979’s Mad Max, but it took him 30 years to finally revisit the franchise for a fourth installment.
Mad Max: Fury Road has a two-hour runtime, but it goes by in a flash. This visceral, exhilarating, chaotic, and outright unforgettable epic has some of the wildest world-building, most non-stop action, and most adrenaline-pumping storytelling of the 2010s. Fury Road is one of the best sci-fi films of the last 10 years, a thrilling masterpiece that understands everything that makes the action genre work better than most other movies from the modern era.
8
‘One Battle After Another’ (2025)
Who says that epics need to be all serious? Sometimes, they can be surprisingly funny, and such is the case with the best film of 2025 so far: Paul Thomas Anderson‘s One Battle After Another. PTA has been delivering masterpiece after masterpiece since the ’90s, but this one truly does feel like the epitome of his career, an artistic achievement unlike any other he’s made before.
Gleefully anti-fascism and pro-revolution, One Battle After Another wears its politics on its sleeve with pride, but they’re never the sole focus of the narrative. Instead, what it truly cares about is its characters. Whether it’s Leonardo DiCaprio playing one of the funniest figures of his filmography, Benicio del Toro winning over everyone’s hearts with just his charisma and a few small beers, or Chase Infiniti proving that she’s a force of nature to look out for in the future, One Battle After Another is full of fascinating characters and exceptional performers making it an enthralling dramedy packed with exquisite creative choices.
7
‘Dune: Part Two’ (2024)
If there was any novel that used to be believed to be impossible to turn into a fittingly great film adaptation, that was Frank Herbert‘s Dune, one of the greatest and most influential sci-fi novels in history. Denis Villeneuve took that as a challenge and made an adaptation that didn’t just live up to its extraordinary source material: It went so far as to match it in both quality and imagination.
Villeneuve’s first Dune is good enough, but it’s Dune: Part Two that’s probably going to go down in history as this generation’s The Empire Strikes Back. Unbelievably epic in scope and ambitious in its thematic breadth, yet beautifully intimate in its character work and emotional effect, Dune: Part Two is undoubtedly one of the best sci-fi masterpieces of the last decade, a space opera so perfect that it must be seen to be believed.
6
‘Parasite’ (2019)
Bong Joon Ho‘s Parasite met such tremendous acclaim upon its release that it went on to become the first-ever international movie to win the Best Picture Oscar. Needless to say, it’s one of the best movies of the last 40 years, a South Korean masterpiece so great that, to quote Bong himself, it’s the only proof you need that “once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”
Parasite‘s social allegories and critiques may not be particularly subtle, but they certainly do pack a punch. Incredibly stylish, surprisingly funny, and undeniably dark, it’s an absolute blast from start to finish. It juggles genres and styles like it’s nobody’s business, and with one of the most game-changing twists of any 21st-century movie right in the middle of its narrative, it’s the kind of film that hijacks your attention and doesn’t let it go until the credits roll.
5
‘Oppenheimer’ (2023)
After a career of proving time and time again that he was the modern king of genre filmmaking in Hollywood, Christopher Nolan wanted to try something different. So, he had a stab at making an epic biopic about one of the most significant historical figures in human history: Winner of seven Oscars, Oppenheimer is the epitome of Nolan’s style and career.
Oppenheimer‘s character work is as complex as any history fan would expect, and the storytelling is full of Nolan’s idiosyncratic love for non-linear storytelling.
Oppenheimer is one of the best historical dramas of the last five years, an unbelievably ambitious artistic achievement that somehow achieves its every goal with inimitable style. The character work is as complex as any history fan would expect, the storytelling is full of Nolan’s idiosyncratic love for non-linear storytelling, and the performances—chiefly Cillian Murphy‘s Oscar-winning tour-de-force turn as the titular character—are jaw-dropping. Oppenheimer is a truly flawless gem, and the best movie of the 2020s so far.
4
‘Before Sunset’ (2004)
In 1995’s Before Sunrise, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy made one of the most magical romance films ever made, a tender tale about two young, idealistic people who fall hopelessly in love. Life is often much more complicated than that, though, as is romance. So, nine years later came Before Sunset, a film all about the aftermath of regrets and missed opportunities.
Never has a romance drama better captured the fleetingness of time with such beautiful yet poignant naturalism and accuracy. Before Sunset truly is one of the most satisfying and cathartic movie sequels ever, yet also one of the saddest, with Hawke and Delpy delivering a pair of the most marvelous performances of the 2000s. Before Sunrise is a short and almost purely dialogue-driven film, but its effect lasts for a lifetime.
3
‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)
The late David Lynch was perhaps the most important auteur that modern cinematic surrealism has ever been blessed with, and though his oeuvre is certainly bizarre, it’s also full of masterful peaks. One such peak is perhaps his best movie ever: Mulholland Drive, one of the most perfectly-directed movies of the 21st century, and the film that earned him his only Oscar nod of the 21st century.
Mulholland Drive is pure Lynch on overdrive. Thematically profound, it leverages Lynch’s mastery of dream logic to deliver a hard-hitting tale about the destructiveness of Hollywood ambitions and the deceitful nature of the American Dream. It may be one of the weirdest masterpieces of the 21st century, but it’s also one of the best. Full of excellent performances and memorable head-scratching moments, Mulholland Drive is a must-see for anyone who loves thought-provoking movies.
2
‘City of God’ (2002)
The greatest non-genre film of the 21st century is Brazilian. Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, City of God is one of the best international movies of the last 30 years, a hopelessly bleak and disturbing coming-of-age whose look at life in the slums of Rio is nothing if not uncompromising. But gut-wrenching though it may be, the movie is also an unsettling amount of fun.
Whether it’s due to how full of personality Meirelles and Lund’s direction is, how excellent the performances and character writing are, or simply how inherently energetic the narrative is, City of God never sacrifices humor and exhilaration in the name of social critique. It’s deep, aesthetically provocative, and stylistically dazzling, proof that the 21st century has provided some of the greatest international films of all time.
1
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)
It’s the finale of the greatest fantasy trilogy in movie history, the most recent film to have won a record-breaking eleven Academy Awards, and the film that proved that genre film had never received so much respect as it has during the 21st century. It’s Sir Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, arguably the greatest triumph of fantasy in cinema.
There isn’t a single detail about Return of the King that doesn’t represent filmmaking at its peak. It’s not just the fact that the passion that was poured into this project is almost palpable in every frame: It’s how vast and thrilling Jackson made J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Middle-earth seem on screen; how wonderfully every character arc and story beat comes to a satisfying close; how exciting the film’s big battles and smaller character moments both are. It’s a cinematic masterpiece in every sense of the word, the biggest of the 21st century so far.
