As promised, this popular answer has been thoroughly revised and expanded. Listed films have gone from 52 to 64, and others mentioned from 12 to 37.
Here are 33 very widely-seen films that are at present consensus masterpieces according to both critics / film scholars, and audiences, as ranked by the former at They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? [1] The list has a bias for films from earlier in the century, which is appropriate, since a “masterpiece” is a film that has stood the test of time. Nevertheless, I’ve extended it with three films from 2017 to 2019 that seem certain to achieve that status (one is ranked 34th, and the other two are the only films among the next 22 in the rankings that were released after 2014).
The top seven films remain the same in this revision. After that, I’ve noted how films have changed in the rankings from the earlier version, excluding new entries.
When two years are given, the second is the year of U.S. release. I’ve included how the films fared at the Oscars, listing wins for major awards, plus the number and sometimes the identity of of tech awards; films without wins get the same treatment for nominations (I don’t list the many losing noms for films that won a category). Finally, I’ve noted how each film fared at the U.S. box office, in inflation-adjusted (2016) dollars.
I’ve marked with *** three films I think should rank (even) higher, because they especially reward repeat viewing— something critics don’t have time for.
I’m not quite as smitten with #2, #3 and #7 on this list as others are, but I think the others in the top nine are just astoundingly great.
1. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000/2001). Submitted by Hong Kong but not nominated for Best Foreign Film. $3.7M.
2. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001). Director nomination. $9.8M.
3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007). Lost to #17; won Actor and Cinematography. $46.8M.
4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001/2002). Not submitted by Japan (submitted Go instead); won 2002 Animated. $13.5M.
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004). Won Screenplay. $44.0M.
6. The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001–2003). *** Won, plus Director, Screenplay, and every technical category, plus the SAG Award for best ensemble cast. $494.5M ($1,377.5M for all three installments).
7. City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002/2003). Brazil; not nominated. $9.9M.
8. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller), 2015. Named as a likely future entry in the previous version of this answer. Lost to Spotlight; won 6 technical. $155.9M
9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011). *** Up 7. Iran; won Foreign. $7.6M.
10. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003). Up 9. Lost to #6; won Screenplay. $58.5M.
11. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005). Down 2. Lost to Crash; won Director, Screenplay, and Score. $102.6M.
12. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008). Down 2. Won Animated. $250.9M.
13. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003/2004). Down 2. No nominations. $2.0M.
14. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodovar, 2002). Down 1. Spain; not submitted (Mondays in the Sun); won Screenplay. $12.2M.
15. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000). Down 3. Taiwan; lost to Gladiator for Picture; won Foreign plus three technical. $179.5M.
16. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014). Named as a likely future entry. Lost to Birdman; won Supporting Actress. $25.6M.
17. No Country for Old Men (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2007). Up 1. Won, plus Director, Screenplay, and Supporting Actor. $86.5M.
18. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012). Up 10. Austria; lost Picture to Argo; won Foreign. $7.1M.
19. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010). Named as a likely future entry. Lost to The King’s Speech; won Screenplay and 2 technical. $106.7M
20. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006). Up 2. Mexico; lost to #22; won 3 technical. $45.1M.
21. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003/2005). Down 4. South Korea; not submitted (Tae Guk Gi). $0.9M.
22. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006/2007). Down 6. Germany; won Foreign. $13.1M.
23. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007). Up 3. No nominations. $38.5M.
24. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001). Promoted from supplementary list. Screenplay nomination. $71.3M.
25. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016). New. Won, plus Screenplay and Actor. $27.7M
26. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006). Up 11 (from runners-up). Screenplay, Editing, and Cinematography noms. $42.4M.
27. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004). No change. Screenplay nom. $7.4M.
28. Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001/2002). Up 2. Mexico; not submitted (Violet Perfume: No One is Listening); Screenplay nom. $18.6M.
29. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Down 4. France; lost to No Man’s Land; Screenplay and 2 technical noms. $45.2M.
30. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000/2001). *** Down 7. Screenplay and Editing noms. $34.8M.
31. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008). Up 7 (from runners-up). Sweden; not submitted (Everlasting Moments). $2.4M.
32. The Hurt Locker (Kaythryn Bigelow, 2008). Promoted from supplementary list. Won, plus Director, Screenplay, and 3 technical. $19.0M
33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008). Down 1. Won Supporting Actor and Sound. $597.9M.
34. Parasite (Bong Joon-Ho, 2019). New. South Korea; won Picture and International, plus Director and Screenplay. $49.9M.
35. Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017). New. Lost to The Shape of Water; won Screenplay. $173.9M
36. Roma (Alfonso Cuaron, 2018). New. Mexico. Lost Picture to Green Book; won Foreign, Director, and Cinematography. Box office not available.
There are 20 English-language non-animated films on this list. Eight of the eleven films in the top 20 were nominated for Best Picture; 2 won and 2 lost to other films on the list, and three of the remaining four nominees were favorites who suffered upsets by unranked films. The final nominated film had no chance of winning as an action / sci-fi flick and hence not “important,” but as noted it dominated the technical awards.
The three non-Foreign films in the top 20 that were not nominated for Best Picture were a surrealist film that garnered a Best Director nom, a sci-fi film that won for Best Original Screenplay, and an experimental film that presents a dispiriting view of human nature, ironically now ranked 13th.
Only three of the nine films ranked lower were nominated; two won. The sole animated film won its category.
Of the 15 foreign-language films, five won that category and a sixth lost to one of those winners. The winners include one that won Best Picture and two that were nominated, but lost to films not ranked here. Only one film that was nominated lost the category, and only two were submitted by their countries but not nominated (although those are the two top-ranked films). Fully five were not submitted (including one that won Original Screenplay, and another that won Animated the next year); those five films have averaged 8.1 on 324,490 votes at IMDB (median 7.9, 207,135) while the five submitted in their stead have averaged 7.6 on 12,127 (median 5,402). Trusting nations to submit their best films seems a dubious idea.
The runners-up happen to divide into two tiers. The first group consists of nine films, including three from the old list and two that were runners-up [2]: Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000; down 12 and off the list), A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009; down 1), Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, 2004; down 8, off the list), Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000; down 17, off list), Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013), Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001), Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009, down 10), Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-ho, 2003), and Avatar (James Cameron, 2009).
The second tier has 11 films, including five former runners-up: Amores perros (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2000, down 3), The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013), Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004), Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010), Her (Spike Jonze, 2013), The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004, down 13), The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014), Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010), Up (Pete Docter, 2009, down 10), Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001, down 11), and Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino, 2003, down 7).
The last two films on the original list have disappeared completely: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring (which I think is unfortunate; it also lost its place in the IMDB Top 250) and Finding Nemo.
The supplementary list of 28 films (plus 13 runners-up) has been entirely rethought. It includes all films that were either not very widely seen, or that do not have classic-level ratings at IMDB. In fact, nine of them fail on both counts.
With both criteria, we can divide the films that fall short into two groups. Films may have been somewhat widely seen, or barely seen at all. And films can have a solid but unspectacular rating at IMDB, or a below-average one, indicating the film was quite divisive.
(Note that the less a film has been viewed and hence rated, the more potentially divisive it may secretly be. The Turin Horse, #6 on this list, has a classic-level IMDB rating of 7.8, but on only 16K votes. Most of those people knew what they were getting in advance: a film that, for instance, devotes a significant portion of its run time to repeated sequences of two people sharing a single boiled potato (and not finishing it). Had it been seen by another 9K randomly selected film buffs, in order to qualify as somewhat widely seen, it would likely have plummeted to a below-average rating. Even within the world of cinephiles, there are self-selected films.)
So:
Films that have been very widely seen are in bold.
Films that have barely seen [are in brackets.]
(Films that have been somewhat widely seen have neither.)
Films that have classic-level IMDB ratings ARE IN ALL CAPS.
Film that have below-average IMDB ratings are in italics.
(Films with merely solid ratings have neither.)
Don’t fret: I will list the members of each of the eight possible groups (e.g., the very widely seen but divisive films) separately at the end. But combining all the groups shows the overall ranking of these films with less broad appeal.
Each film is followed by where it would have ranked on the main list, e.g, 5.5 is between #5 and #6.
All domestic films had no Oscar nominations except where noted.
I’ll be adding both extra screenshots of my favorites and capsule user-guide descriptions to all of these films (below, #3).
- [YI YI] (Edward Yang, 2000) 2.3. Taiwan. Not eligible (unreleased). $1.6M.
2. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) 2.7. Lost to The Artist. $14.2M.
3. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005). 5.5. France. Not submitted (Avenue Montaigne). $4.5M.
4. [Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives] (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010). 6.3. Thailand. Not shortlisted. $0.19M.
5. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012). 6.7. France. Not submitted (The Intouchables). $0.67M.
6. [THE TURIN HORSE] (Béla Tarr, 2011 / 2012). 9.25. Not shortlisted. $.06M.
7. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016). 9.5. Germany. Lost to The Salesman. $1.5M.
8. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011). 9.75. $3.2M.
9. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013). 14.5. $2.6M.
10. THE WHITE RIBBON (Michael Haneke, 2009). 16.25. Germany. Lost to The Secret in Their Eyes. $2.5M
11. [WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES] (Béla Tarr, 2000 / 2001). 16.5. Not submitted (Glamour). $.04M.
12. [Russian Ark] (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002). 16.75. Russia. Not submitted (The Return). $4.1M.
13. [THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU] (Cristi Puiu, 2005 / 2006) 18.25. Romania. Not nominated. $0.10M.
14. Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003). 18.5. $1.7M.
15. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012). 18.75. Actor and Supporting Actor and Actress noms. $17.0M.
16. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002). 19.25. $23.7M.
17. THE ACT OF KILLING (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012). 19.5. Lost Documentary to 20 Feet From Stardom. $0.50M.
18. GRIZZLY MAN (Werner Herzog, 2005). 19.75. $3.9M. Not nominated for Documentary. $3.9M.
19. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001). 20.5. Two technical noms. $106.3M.
20. 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (Cristian Mungiu, 2007 / 2008). 21.5. Romania. Not shortlisted. $1.4M.
21. ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011). 23.3. Turkey. Not shortlisted. $0.16M.
22. Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006). 23.7. $1.0M.
23. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005). 24.5. Screenplay and Supporting Actor noms. $38.1M.
24. [Songs From the Second Floor] (Roy Andersson, 2000 /2002). 29.5. Sweden. Not nominated. $0.11M.
25. Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017) 31.5. Lost to The Shape of Water; won Costumes. $20.7M.
26. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2013). 32.5. Two technical noms. $13.7M.
27. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008). 33.5. $3.4M.
28. Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004). 34.5. Lost to Million Dollar Baby; won Screenplay. $90.1M.
Thirteen runners up:
[The Son] (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2002), [Distant] (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2002), [Certified Copy] (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010), Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015), The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005), The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001), The Host (Bong Joon-ho, 2006), HUNGER (Steve McQueen, 2008), Irréversible (Gaspar Noé, 2002), [Stranger by the Lake] (Alain Guiraudie, 2013), [The Assassin] (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015), 2046 (Wong Kar-wai, 2004), [Margaret] (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011).
Only one film that was mentioned in the original version has fallen off the radar: Oasis.
The Eight Groups!
Very widely seen with solid ratings (8): Melancholia (8), The Master (15), Punch-Drunk Love (16), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (19), A History of Violence (23), Phantom Thread (25), Inside Llewyn Davis (26), Sideways (28); plus Carol, The Host, Irréversible.
Somewhat widely seen with classic ratings (5): The White Ribbon (10), The Act of Killing (17), Grizzly Man (18), 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (20), Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (21); plus Hunger.
Barely seen but with classic ratings (4): Ti Yi (1), The Turin Horse (6), Werckmeister Harmonies (11), The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (13).
Somewhat widely seen with solid ratings (4): Caché (3), Toni Erdmann (7), Elephant (14), Synechdoche, NY (27); plus The Piano Teacher, 2046.
Very widely seen but divisive (2): The Tree of Life (2), Under the Skin (9).
Somewhat widely seen but divisive (2): Holy Motors (5), Inland Empire (22); plus The New World.
Barely seen with solid ratings (2): Russian Ark (12), Songs From the Second Floor (24); plus The Son, Distant.
Barely seen and divisive (1): Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives (4); plus Certified Copy, Stranger by the Lake, The Assassin, Margaret.
(What does it say about me that I’ve seen three of the four runners-up in the last, most dubious category, but only four of the other nine?)
Three notes.
1. There’s another popular question here asking about the best movies of the 21st century, rather than which movies are considered masterpieces. If I were answering that, I would have factored in IMDB ratings in the ranking, boosting movies that audiences adored above those that they merely loved. The above ranking is that of film scholars and critics, because it’s they who determine which films are considered masterpieces.
2. If you don’t like a film on this list, that doesn’t say anything about the film. That’s a comment about you. Films are considered to be great, or masterpieces, based on a consensus.
3. On the other hand, a film can be incredibly good and be slow to acquire a reputation as a masterpiece, especially if it needs to be seen multiple times to be fully appreciated. I think that five of the greatest films of all time are omitted from the above, and since I’ve seen them an average of eight times each and am very confident about my assessment of them, I’ll name them. I have more to say about all of these films in many answers.
Five of the best films (of all time, in fact) that are not yet recognized as masterpieces.
The titles follow the formatting of the supplementary list; the last three films qualify for the main list. My number of viewings is in brackets at the end.
1. THE GREAT BEAUTY (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013) [4]
2. Upstream Color (Shane Carruth, 2013) [9]
3. THE PRESTIGE (Christopher Nolan, 2006) [9]
4. DONNIE DARKO (Richard Kelly, 2001; next to last of the 20 main list runners-up) [c. 12]
5. THE FALL (Tarsem Singh, 2006 / 2008) [6]