If 10 different people were asked to name the three greatest films since the turn of the millennium, there would also certainly be very little in the way of consensus. You can only imagine, then, the debate The New York Timesâ list of the 100 best films of the 21st century has caused among film enthusiasts.
If you were to create your own list, how would you go about it? Would it be down to awards and accolades, box-office earnings, star power, or just a gut feeling?
In creating their list, the New York Times enlisted the help of 500 of the worldâs most influential directors, actors, and critics, who were each asked to name the 10 best movies released since the start of 2000, according to whichever criteria they deemed most suitable.
From the 5,000 movies that were put forward, the top 100 were compiled based on the frequency and position of selections.
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The best film of the 21st century made history at the Academy Awards
To the surprise of many, the expertsâ combined top choice was âParasite,â a South Korean black comedy thriller directed by Bong Joon Ho, which was released in 2019. The movie tells the story of the newly-formed relationship between a poor family and a rich family in the context of greed and social discrimination.
The film made history by becoming the first non-English language film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, one of four prizes it collected at the 92nd Academy Awards in February 2020. It was also the first Korean film to win the Palme dâOr at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019.
The 100 best films of the 21st century
According to The New York Times, these are the best movies since 2000.
- Parasite (Bong Joon Ho)
- Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)
- There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
- In the Mood For Love (Wong Kar Wai)
- Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
- No Country For Old Men (Joel & Ethan Coen)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
- Get Out (Jordan Peele)
- Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki)
- The Social Network (David Fincher)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
- The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
- Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron)
- Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
- City of God (Fernando Meirelles)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee)
- Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
- Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron)
- Zodiac (David Fincher)
- The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)
- The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson)
- The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson)
- Boyhood (Richard Linklater)
- Her (Spike Jonze)
- Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson)
- Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
- Adaptation (Spike Jonze)
- The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
- Arrival (Denis Villeneuve)
- Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)
- The Departed (Martin Scorsese)
- Bridesmaids (Paul Feig)
- A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
- WALL-E Andrew Stanton)
- A Prophet (Jacques Audiard)
- A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen)
- Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino)
- Portrait of A Lady on Fire (Celine Sciamma)
- Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig)
- Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
- Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
- The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson)
- Oldboy (Park Chan-wook)
- Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
- Moneyball (Bennett Miller)
- ROMA (Alfonso Cuaron)
- Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe)
- The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck)
- Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
- Up! (Pete Docter)
- 12 Years A Slave (Steve McQueen)
- The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)
- Borat (Larry Charles)
- Panâs Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro)
- Inception (Christopher Nolan)
- Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)
- Best in Show (Christopher Guest)
- Uncut Gems (Josh and Benny Safdie)
- Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
- Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)
- Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino)
- Memento (Christopher Nolan)
- Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton & Faris)
- Gone Girl (David Fincher)
- Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
- Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)
- TAR (Todd Field)
- The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
- Under The Skin (Jonathan Glazer)
- Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)
- Oceanâs Eleven (Steven Soderbergh)
- Carol (Todd Haynes)
- Ratatouille (Brad Bird)
- The Florida Project (Sean Baker)
- Amour (Michael Haneke)
- O Brother, Where Art Thou (Joel & Ethan Coen)
- Everything Everywhere All At Once (The Daniels)
- Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
- Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
- Volver (Pedro Almodovar)
- Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)
- The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer)
- Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen)
- Melancholia (Lars Von Trier)
- Anchorman (Adam McKay)
- Past Lives (Celine Song)
- The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson)
- The Gleaners and I (Agnes Varda)
- Interstellar (Christopher Nolan)
- Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach)
- Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold)
- Gladiator (Ridley Scott)
- Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy)
- Minority Report (Steven Spielberg)
- The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier)
- Black Panther (Ryan Coogler)
- Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron)
- Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog)
- Memories of A Murder (Bong Joon-ho)
- Superbad (Greg Motolla)
Oscars and box office leaders miss the top 100
âThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,â which has won a record-tying 11 Academy Awards, didnât make the top 100. Nor did âAvatar,â the highest-grossing movie in history.
Did your own personal favorite from the last 25 years make the cut? Even if it did, the likelihood is itâs not in the position you think it should be in.
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