Playhouse Post

The Best Movies of the 21st Century

...at least according to one person.

June 27, 2025|Written by Eric Kohn, Artistic Director

A few months ago, I received an invitation alongside over 500 others in the international film community to vote in the New York Times’ survey of the 100 best movies of all times, the results of which began to go online this week (The Times will unveil 20 new ballots a day over the course of the week.) This is a daunting task for several reasons. For one thing, lists are always limited and hard choices must happen that lead to inevitable regrets later on. Also, moviegoing is a deeply subjective process, and no amount of consensus on certain titles will ever convey that.

For many of us, though, this challenge is a familiar one. During my days as a film critic for IndieWire, I would start compiling a private list of my favorite movies throughout the year so I wasn’t struggling to remember which ones left the greatest impression on me by December. Looking back on that experience, I realized that there were certain movies that had a profound impact on me because they inspired me to rethink the potential of the art form or exposed me to aspects of the world that I would otherwise know little about.

I like a lot of 21st century movies – especially big-budget Hollywood ones – that didn’t make the cut. These are the ones that I return to time and again, as I occasionally conjure up a memorable clip on YouTube or recall them in the context of different experiences throughout my life. They all made various top 10 lists that I wrote in the years they came out. And collectively they reflect how much I have grown to appreciate original approaches to storytelling as I have grown up watching, debating, and writing about cinema over the course of two decades.

I’m sharing my list below and encourage anyone unfamiliar with these titles to seek them out, but I want to add that this is certainly not intended to be a definitive statement. My choices reflect an obvious predilection for world cinema and wild, sometimes experimental attempts to explore the history and culture of modern society. If your thing is romantic comedies or swashbucklers from the 1930s, your list will look a lot different than mine.

The Times feature includes an option for readers to submit their own ballots. This is a worthy exercise that I invite readers to try out here. Once you’ve done it, if you’re up for sharing, email me with your choices and let me know if you’d like me to share them in an upcoming edition of the Playhouse Post. One list is never enough.

With that, my top 10 choices below. The Times feature doesn’t ask for a ranking, but I’ve ranked mine anyway, because…well, it’s just more fun that way. Enjoy.

10. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)