Film4's 100 Must-See Films of the 21st Century
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Drawn from 29 countries around the world, the most recent release on our list is Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, which stormed into the chart at number 5. Other recent releases in the top 20 include Steve McQueen’s landmark 12 Years A Slave and Jonathan Glazer’s mesmeric Under The Skin. Glazer is one of just a handful of directors with two films on the list – the others are the afore-mentioned Linklater, indie essentials the Coen brothers, US powerhouse David Fincher and of course Austrian auteur Michael Haneke.
Something else we’re really proud of is the mixture of different types of film this list represents – there’s everything from modern teen classics like the Tina Fey-scripted Mean Girls, to massive animated blockbusters like Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s Frozen, to Oscar winners like Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, to austere art-house triumphs such as Kelly Reichart’s Old Joy, to the acutely humane social realism found in The Selfish Giant by Clio Barnard. And much, much more.
The difficulty with these lists is always what gets left off (we're saving documentaries for another list entirely). Our long-list ran to an unwieldy 300+ which we had originally intended to cut down to a top 50 before realising that the 21st century has already generated too much brilliant cinema to represent in any meaningful way with 50 films. So with apologies to the many wonderful filmmakers whose work we were unable to include, we present our list of 100 must-see films of the century so far...
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1 new
Mulholland Dr.
2001 — a.k.a. Mulholland Drive, in 26 top lists Check -
2 new
Yi yi
2000 — a.k.a. Yi Yi: A One and a Two..., in 19 top lists Check -
3 new
There Will Be Blood
2007, in 20 top lists Check -
5 new
Boyhood
2014, in 16 top lists Check -
6 new
Fa yeung nin wah
2000 — a.k.a. In the Mood for Love, in 30 top lists Check -
7 new
Werckmeister harmóniák
2000 — a.k.a. Werckmeister Harmonies, in 12 top lists Check -
8 new
Le fils
2002 — a.k.a. The Son, in 5 top lists Check -
9 new
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004, in 28 top lists Check -
10 new
Zodiac
2007, in 14 top lists Check -
11 new
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
2001 — a.k.a. Spirited Away, in 39 top lists Check -
12 new
Far from Heaven
2002, in 10 top lists Check -
13 new
Margaret
2011, in 7 top lists Check -
14 new
Caché
2005, in 15 top lists Check -
15 new
Hable con ella
2002 — a.k.a. Talk to Her, in 12 top lists Check -
16 new
Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte
2009 — a.k.a. The White Ribbon, in 10 top lists Check -
17 new
Before Sunset
2004, in 18 top lists Check -
18 new
Kynodontas
2009 — a.k.a. Dogtooth, in 8 top lists Check -
19 new
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin
2011 — a.k.a. A Separation, in 15 top lists Check -
20 new
12 Years a Slave
2013, in 22 top lists Check -
21 new
El laberinto del fauno
2006 — a.k.a. Pan's Labyrinth, in 33 top lists Check -
22 new
4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile
2007 — a.k.a. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, in 13 top lists Check -
23 new
Brokeback Mountain
2005, in 21 top lists Check -
24 new
Salinui chueok
2003 — a.k.a. Memories of Murder, in 17 top lists Check -
25 new
No Country for Old Men
2007, in 23 top lists Check -
26 new
Låt den rätte komma in
2008 — a.k.a. Let the Right One In, in 14 top lists Check -
27 new
Sud pralad
2004 — a.k.a. Tropical Malady, in 10 top lists Check -
28 new
À ma soeur!
2001 — a.k.a. Fat Girl, in 4 top lists Check -
29 new
Vozvrashchenie
2003 — a.k.a. The Return, in 11 top lists Check -
30 new
The Social Network
2010, in 13 top lists Check -
31 new
La vie d'Adèle
2013 — a.k.a. Blue Is the Warmest Colour, in 13 top lists Check -
32 new
The Royal Tenenbaums
2001, in 8 top lists Check -
34 new
White Material
2009, in 6 top lists Check -
35 new
Tillsammans
2000 — a.k.a. Together, in 9 top lists Check -
37 new
Moolaadé
2003, in 6 top lists Check -
38 new
A History of Violence
2005, in 11 top lists Check -
40 new
Ghost World
2001, in 8 top lists Check -
41 new
Sexy Beast
2000, in 8 top lists Check -
42 new
Gravity
2013, in 12 top lists Check -
44 new
Un prophète
2009 — a.k.a. A Prophet, in 10 top lists Check -
45 new
Punch-Drunk Love
2002, in 12 top lists Check -
47 new
Das Leben der Anderen
2006 — a.k.a. The Lives of Others, in 20 top lists Check -
49 new
Dare mo shiranai
2004 — a.k.a. Nobody Knows, in 8 top lists Check -
50 new
Happy-Go-Lucky
2008, in 1 top list Check -
51 new
Cidade de Deus
2002 — a.k.a. City of God, in 22 top lists Check -
53 new
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2001, in 31 top lists Check -
54 new
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2002, in 26 top lists Check -
55 new
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2003, in 29 top lists Check -
57 new
The Descent
2005, in 4 top lists Check -
58 new
Ginger Snaps
2000, in 6 top lists Check -
59 new
Elephant
2003, in 10 top lists Check
Last updated on Aug 5, 2014; source