What makes a film unforgettable? Is it the meticulous direction, the emotional weight of the performances, or its cultural impact that reverberates long after the credits roll?

For The New York Times, all these elements—and more—factored into its much-anticipated list of the 100 Best Films of the 21st Century. And now, with the top 30 titles unveiled, cinephiles are celebrating a cinematic canon that not only honors storytelling excellence but also reflects the evolving voice of global filmmaking.

At the summit of the list? Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019), the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars—and, according to NYT, the most defining cinematic work of this century.

Here’s a closer look at the top 30 films that shaped the modern age of cinema, alongside the auteurs who made it happen.

TOP 30 FILMS OF THE 21st CENTURY

(According to The New York Times)

30. Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola’s dreamy Tokyo-set meditation on alienation and connection.

29. Arrival – Denis Villeneuve’s quiet, philosophical sci-fi epic.

28. The Dark Knight – Christopher Nolan redefines the superhero genre with gravitas and grit.

27. Adaptation – Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman’s wild, meta-literary ride.

26. Anatomy of a Fall – A gripping courtroom drama meets psychological thriller.

25. Phantom Thread – Paul Thomas Anderson’s elegant, toxic love story.

24. Her – A lonely man falls for an AI—Jonze’s haunting take on intimacy in a digital age.

23. Boyhood – Richard Linklater’s 12-year labor of love, chronicling one boy’s real-time growth.

22. The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson’s pastel-tinged ode to storytelling and nostalgia.

21. The Royal Tenenbaums – Anderson again, with a family portrait full of whimsy and melancholy.

20. The Wolf of Wall Street – Martin Scorsese’s cocaine-fueled capitalist fever dream.

19. Zodiac – David Fincher’s haunting, slow-burn thriller about obsession.

18. Y tu mamá también – Alfonso Cuarón’s coming-of-age road trip with unexpected depth.

17. Brokeback Mountain – Ang Lee’s tender, tragic romance that broke Hollywood barriers.

16. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Lee again, with a wuxia masterpiece that soared globally.

15. City of God – Brazilian cinema’s gripping tale of violence and youth in Rio’s favelas.

14. Inglourious Basterds – Tarantino’s blood-soaked, revisionist WWII revenge fantasy.

13. Children of Men – Cuarón’s dystopian masterwork with visuals that still stun.

12. The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer’s chilling, cerebral Holocaust drama.

11. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller’s feral, feminist, fire-powered road movie.

10. The Social Network – Fincher’s and Sorkin’s tech origin story told like Shakespearean tragedy.

9. Spirited Away – Hayao Miyazaki’s spellbinding anime tour de force.

8. Get Out – Jordan Peele’s genre-redefining, satirical horror on race and society.

7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – A breakup movie unlike any other, from Gondry and Kaufman.

6. No Country for Old Men – The Coen Brothers’ bleak, violent meditation on fate.

5. Moonlight – Barry Jenkins’ tender, aching triptych on Black masculinity and love.

4. In the Mood for Love – Wong Kar-wai’s hypnotic story of restrained romance.

3. There Will Be Blood – P.T. Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis in a fiery duel of ambition and greed.

2. Mulholland Drive – David Lynch’s puzzle-box noir of identity, desire, and dreams.

1. Parasite – A razor-sharp social satire that shattered global expectations.

DIRECTORS WHO DOMINATED THE LIST

The list doesn’t just celebrate individual films—it shines a light on directors who repeatedly pushed cinematic boundaries.

• Alfonso Cuarón leads the pack with four entries: Children of Men(13), Y tu mamá también (18), Roma (46), and Gravity (97).

• The Coen Brothers also appear four times, from No Country for Old Men (6) to the folk musical Inside Llewyn Davis (83).

• David Fincher and Quentin Tarantino land three each, cementing their status as stylists with staying power.

• Not far behind, Bong Joon-ho, Ang Lee, Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze, and Richard Linklater all earn two top-tier mentions, signaling both consistency and innovation.

The NYT list isn’t just a celebration—it’s a challenge to how we think about modern cinema. Foreign films (Parasite, Spirited Away, In the Mood for Love), genre works (Get Out, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight), and emotionally daring indies (Moonlight, Boyhood, Her) are no longer fringe—they are the main event.

If the top 30 films share one theme, it’s transformation—whether in form, perspective, or culture. These are films that reshaped how we experience storytelling, and in doing so, they shaped the world around them.

📽️ The full Top 100 list is available on The New York Times website.