The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (2025)

Best of 2020

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (1)

By Jeremy Urquhart

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The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (2)

The 2020s so far, as a decade, could be defined in any number of ways, arguably few of them positive. Still, at least the years from 2020 onwards have provided the world with a good many iconic films that will one day be considered classics, even if one of the decade's defining events so far - the COVID-19 pandemic - impacted the film industry considerably. Productions were halted, films were delayed, and it wasn't until 2022 that things started to feel a little more normal in the world of cinema.

And then came two wide-scale strikes in America during 2023, both from the Writers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild, disrupting things further (the ramifications will likely affect releases in 2024 and possibly even longer). But to focus on what's already happened, rather than what's to come, 2022 and 2023 were both ultimately fruitful years, and there were still some gems that got released during 2020 and 2021, while the pandemic was at its most disruptive. What may look like recency bias isn't; it's really just that more great films came out in '22 and '23 because there were more high-profile releases in general. The decade as a whole might not even be half over yet, but it's still worth exploring just what it's had to offer film lovers so far. Some of the most noteworthy titles from the 2020s are ranked below, from great to greatest.

35 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One' (2023)

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (3)

The seventh movie in a long-running and generally strong series, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One effectively finds ways to raise the stakes and allow Tom Cruise to pull off wilder stunts than ever before. As expected, the narrative here involves a threat to the entire world, with Ethan Hunt being potentially the only person who can save everything and everyone.

The villain here is novel, though, being an AI program pulling strings and getting people to do its dirty work. As of 2024, there is a sense of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One feeling unfinished, what with the “Part One” of it all, but it’s nonetheless an epic-length and immensely satisfying action movie, with one of the best final acts for a movie of its genre in recent memory.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (4)
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Crime

Release Date
July 12, 2023
Director
Christopher McQuarrie
Cast
Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Haley Atwell, Shea Whigham, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Rob Delaney, Henry Czerny, Cary Elwes

Runtime
164 minutes

Watch on Amazon Prime

34 'The Wild Robot' (2024)

Directed by Chris Sanders

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (5)

The Wild Robot draws from some familiar sources as far as animated family movies go, but it does enough – and is inspired by enough things – to nonetheless feel distinct. Much of that comes from the visuals, as the animation is often stunning to look at, and similarly grand is the score by Kris Bowers, which is oftentimes moving and grand.

The narrative involves a stranded robot on an island filled with animals, and the way said robot begins to care for a similarly isolated baby goose. From there, The Wild Robot finds plenty of ways to be heartwarming and largely entertaining, all the while building an interesting world that is set to be explored further by a sequel at some point. As it stands, though, The Wild Robot works incredibly well as a standalone film, and is one of the best animated titles of the decade so far without a doubt.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (6)
The Wild Robot

PG

Animation

Drama

Sci-Fi

Release Date
September 27, 2024

Director
Chris Sanders
Cast
Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames

Runtime
101 Minutes

Rent on Apple TV

33 'Monster' (2023)

Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (7)

There aren’t any literal monsters in Monster, and though it is potentially classifiable as a thriller, it is ultimately a drama at its core, and an effectively hard-hitting one. Hirokazu Kore-eda excels at making movies that connect emotionally, with Monster setting itself apart from some of his other ones thanks to its structure and the fact that it does move a good deal faster than his more purely character-focused films.

In Monster, there is a single narrative concerning students, teachers, and parents, but that whole story doesn’t come together until you see parts of it from several different points of view. New pieces of information are revealed about past events, and things get progressively heavier, not to mention simultaneously more comprehensible and more complex, somehow both at once. It’s a movie that’s involving and fantastically well-acted. Ultimately, it’s best not to say anything more beyond that.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (8)
Monster

PG-13

Drama

Thriller

Release Date
June 2, 2023

Director
Kore-eda Hirokazu

Cast
Sakura Andō, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiiragi, Mitsuki Takahata, Akhiro Kakuta, Shido Nakamura, Yûko Tanaka

Runtime
127 Minutes

Watch on Mubi

32 'Flee' (2021)

Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (9)

An animated documentary that touches upon war, identity, sexuality, and the struggles of growing up, Flee is uniquely presented and both thematically and narratively ambitious. It covers about two decades in the life of a man named Amin, focusing especially on how he struggled to keep certain truths about himself secret while living in Afghanistan and later while being a refugee.

Flee is a film about some heavy topics, but it navigates such waters with care and empathy for its central subject, and anyone else who might've grappled with similar things in their own pasts. For all its heaviness, it thankfully isn't completely despairing, either, as there are moments of hope to be found here, and proves to inevitably be something of a celebration for the perseverance of the individual at the story’s center.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (10)

Flee

Animation

Documentary

Where to Watch

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Release Date
December 3, 2021

Director
Jonas Poher Rasmussen

Cast
Belal Faiz, Sadia Faiz, Milad Eskandari, Zahra Mehrwarz, Fardin Mijdzadeh, Elaha Faiz, Daniel Karimyar

Runtime
90 minutes

31 'Quo Vadis, Aida?' (2020)

Directed by Jasmila Žbanić

In contrast to Flee, Quo Vadis, Aida? is a film about a heavy true life story that appropriately doesn’t have much hope, as the event it’s about is ultimately too distressing for any other approach to feel accurate. It takes place in the middle of a humanitarian crisis from the mid-1990s involving thousands of citizens seeking refuge, with the titular Aida having family involved while also being a translator for the UN, giving her personal and professional stakes in the whole situation.

It's a great film, but a difficult one, with a sense of dread effectively building throughout, all leading to a very bleak final act. Quo Vadis, Aida? is the sort of movie that would be nearly impossible to willingly rewatch, but everyone owes it to themselves to see it at least once, as it’s an important film and an exceptionally well-crafted one, too.

Watch on Tubi

30 'Babylon' (2022)

Directed by Damien Chazelle

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (12)

Damien Chazelle was on fire throughout the 2010s, with Whiplash and La La Land both being acclaimed and performing pretty well financially, too. Then came First Man, which wasn’t as big a hit, but did still connect with critics, generally speaking. Chazelle then went for broke with 2022’s Babylon, a much more divisive movie that has many of the qualities that made his other films great, but all presented in a way that some people were understandably unsure about.

It's another movie of his about passion, a desire for greatness, and the ups and downs of pursuing one’s dreams, only this time the scope is epic, with such an approach taken to investigating Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s, instead of just one or two people, like his smaller/more personal movies. Babylon is dazzling from a technical perspective and has some of the best music composed for a movie in recent memory. It challenges, provokes, celebrates, and condemns all at once. It’s overwhelming and messy, but history will likely be kind to it.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (13)
Babylon

r

Drama

Comedy

History

Where to Watch

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Release Date
December 23, 2022

Director
Damien Chazelle
Cast
Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Tobey Maguire, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Li Jun Li, Jovan Adepo, Jean Smart, Diego Calva

Runtime
189minutes

29 'Robot Dreams' (2023)

Directed by Pablo Berger

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (19)

A film so effective and emotional it’ll change the way you , Robot Dreams has a simple story that’s told without the need for any dialogue. It centers on a lonely dog living in an alternate version of New York City, and how his life is changed for the better when he purchases a robot companion, their subsequent bond being interpretable as friendship or perhaps something deeper; it’s left up to the viewer, really.

It's a film that can be charming, colorful, and funny at times, all before pivoting to something more soul-crushing in its darker moments. Still, Robot Dreams achieves balance throughout, making for a bittersweet movie that doesn’t sugarcoat certain things, but neither is it ever overly upsetting. The story is so straightforward that it’s best to describe as little about the narrative as possible, but anyone considering watching the film can take comfort in knowing that it's sure to make them feel something.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (20)
Robot Dreams

Not Rated

Animation

Drama

Family

Release Date
December 6, 2024

Director
Pablo Berger

Runtime
102 Minutes

Watch in Theaters

28 'Challengers' (2024)

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (21)

Challengers is the sports movie to beat, for any other release in the 2020s that wants to tackle such a genre. Of course, it’s much more than “just” a sports movie, as while the tennis scenes are impressive and captured in visually creative ways, the story is generally centered on a strange love triangle that plays out over many years between two best friends and a young woman they both have their sights on.

The film’s structured in an interesting way, going backward and forwards in time repeatedly, all building to an inevitably tense final game of tennis that has to be seen to be believed. Challengers feels like something of a modern classic, and potentially the kind of film that will get better with age and rewatches. There’s a good deal going on in the film, enough so that just one viewing can be a little overwhelming (not in a bad way, though).

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (22)
Challengers

R

Comedy

Drama

Romance

Sports

Where to Watch

*Availability in US

Release Date
April 26, 2024
Director
Luca Guadagnino

Cast
Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O'Connor, Darnell Appling, Bryan Doo, Shane T Harris, Nada Despotovich, Joan Mcshane, Chris Fowler, Mary Joe Fernández, A.J. Lister, Connor Aulson, Doria Bramante, Christine Dye, James Sylva, Kenneth A. Osherow, Kevin Collins, Burgess Byrd, Jason Tong, Hudson Rivera, Noah Eisenberg, Emma Davis, Naheem Garcia, Alex Bancila, Jake Jensen, Konrad Ryba, Hailey Gates, Andrew Rogers, Beverly Kristenson Helton, Brad Gilbert, Sam Xu, Caleb Schneider

Runtime
131 Minutes

27 'Dune: Part Two' (2024)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (39)

Between Challengers and Dune: Part Two, it’s safe to say that Zendaya has had a very good 2024, given both films emerged as highlights of the first half of the year in question. She had a role in 2021’s Dune, too, but got a great deal more to work with in Dune: Part Two, as did the film’s star, Timothée Chalamet, who impressed in Dune as Paul Atreides, but gets to show off more by way of acting chops in this second film, given where Paul goes as a character.

Dune: Part Two gets to hit the ground running, thanks to everything being well-introduced and established in the first film, and now, watching both movies back to back, they make for an amazing (and epic) duology. Dune: Part Two is ultimately the stronger film, with bolder visuals, a more thematically engaging story, and even greater action, but you do need that first movie to appreciate Part Two properly (so consider Dune worthy of an honorable mention of sorts).

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (40)
Dune: Part Two

PG-13

Science Fiction

Adventure

Where to Watch

*Availability in US

Release Date
February 27, 2024

Director
Denis Villeneuve
Cast
Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Lea Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Souheila Yacoub, Roger Yuan, Babs Olusanmokun, Giusi Merli, Kait Tenison, Tara Breathnach, Akiko Hitomi, Imola Gáspár, Elbooz Omar Ahmed Fathie, Abdelkarim Hussein Seli Mohamed Hassanin, Joseph Beddelem, Xavier Alba Royo, Rachid Abbad

Runtime
167 minutes

26 'The Boy and the Heron' (2023)

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (55)

A new Hayao Miyazaki movie is always something worthy of celebration, especially when it comes out a decade after his most recent feature. This was the case for 2023's The Boy and the Heron, his first since 2013's The Wind Rises. The latter was once thought of as Miyazaki's final film, but The Boy and the Heron showed he still had a drive in him to continue his filmmaking career. Whether this ends up being his final artistic statement remains to be seen.

Still, if The Boy and the Heron is the last film the world gets from Miyazaki, it'll represent him going out on a high. It's a breathtaking, strange, beautiful, and thematically rich viewing experience, containing tons of imaginative fantastical elements and a great deal of subtext, given that parts of it can be read as Miyazaki looking back on his legacy. It's an odd and ambitious movie that rewards repeat viewings and analysis, and stands as another classic from the great Japanese filmmaker.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (56)
The Boy and the Heron

Not Rated

Drama

Fantasy

Release Date
July 14, 2023
Director
Hayao Miyazaki

Cast
Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon, Shōhei Hino, Kô Shibasaki, Takuya Kimura, Yoshino Kimura

Runtime
124 Minutes

Rent on Apple TV

25 'Top Gun: Maverick' (2022)

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (57)

An action movie has to be very good to be considered a classic of its genre just a year or so after its initial release, but Top Gun: Maverick is undeniably a very good action movie, to say the least. Released 36 years after the original Top Gun, it brings back Tom Cruise as the titular Maverick, older and a little wiser, but still a rebel at heart. The premise is simple: he's given a group of young recruits to train, and the movie follows them preparing for a daring and action-packed climactic mission.

For as iconic and charming as the original could be, it is a flawed movie in some areas, and it feels like Top Gun: Maverick fixes many of its shortcomings, most notably when it comes to having a well-paced, concrete story alongside more meaningful character development. That it can exceed the original in terms of quality while also treating its legacy with respect is admirable. Plus, the action in Top Gun: Maverick is out of this world, and has to be seen to be believed.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (58)
Top Gun: Maverick

PG-13

Action

Drama

War

Where to Watch

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Release Date
May 27, 2022
Director
Joseph Kosinski
Cast
Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, Jay Ellis, Jon Hamm, Bashir Salahuddin, Charles Parnell, Lewis Pullman, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Ed Harris

Runtime
130 Minutes

24 'Barbie' (2023)

Directed by Greta Gerwig

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (61)

One half of an iconic 2023 double feature (more on the second half later), Barbie was always going to be a big movie, but it was surprising how huge it actually ended up being. It was the biggest earner at the box office for 2023, and while box office earnings don't always line up perfectly with quality, in the case of Barbie, it does just so happen to be a great movie that also earned a great deal of money worldwide (well over $1 billion).

It took a well-recognized property and did something fresh and subversive with it, managing to celebrate, modernize, and occasionally satirize the titular doll, all at once. From the perfect casting to the creative production design to the hilarious and heartfelt screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie lived up to the hype created by its outstanding marketing campaign and deservedly became a true cinematic juggernaut for 2023.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (62)
Barbie

PG-13

Comedy

Adventure

Fantasy

Where to Watch

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Release Date
July 21, 2023
Director
Greta Gerwig
Cast
Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Ariana Greenblatt, Helen Mirren, Nicola Coughlan, John Cena, Will Ferrell, Ritu Arya, Michael Cera, America Ferrera, Alexandra Shipp, Kate McKinnon

Runtime
114 Minutes

23 'Godzilla Minus One' (2023)

Directed by Takashi Yamazaki

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (66)

There are close to 40 Godzilla movies in total, released over the past seven decades. Even if you just look at Godzilla movies released in the 21st century alone, there are still almost a dozen of them. Naturally, this gives any high-profile Godzilla movie big shoes to fill, and thankfully, Godzilla Minus One was up to the task (even if this iteration of Godzilla is smaller than many before him, and so probably would wear smaller shoes... if Godzilla wore shoes).

Godzilla Minus One goes back to the late 1940s, being set even earlier than the first film in the series, which came out in 1954. Japan and its citizens are still recovering from the aftermath of World War II, and so the emergence of a new threat in the form of Godzilla proves especially devastating. Minus One re-energizes the series while also paying homage to many of the Godzilla films that came before it, in the process being an exciting, tense, emotional, and hugely entertaining ride.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (67)
Godzilla Minus One

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Horror

Sci-Fi

Release Date
December 1, 2023

Director
Takashi Yamazaki

Cast
Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yûki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Andō, Kuranosuke Sasaki

Runtime
125 Minutes

Watch on Netflix

22 'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On' (2021)

Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (68)

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is adorable, heartwarming, and very funny, being one of the best and most moving animated movies in recent years. The titular Marcel is brought to life using stop-motion animation, and he interacts with a mostly live-action world that appears gigantic to him, considering he stands at only one inch tall.

His large world feels tragically empty, as he's been separated from most of his fellow shell friends and family members, with much of the film revolving around his attempts to find them once more. Along the way, he becomes friends with a documentary filmmaker who himself is dealing with a recent break-up, leading to the pair striking up an undeniably sweet bond. It's a simple yet great film, with Marcel providing a unique and sometimes eye-opening look at things in life that may seem mundane to folks of a more ordinary height.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (69)

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

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Release Date
September 3, 2021

Director
Dean Fleischer-Camp
Cast
Isabella Rossellini, Jenny Slate

Runtime
1h 30m

21 'The Worst Person in the World' (2021)

Directed by Joachim Trier

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (72)

Coming-of-age movies often deal with children or teenagers navigating the world, while dramas about adults trying to get by will often look at the struggles of going through a midlife crisis. The Worst Person in the World feels like it sits directly between these two realms, as it follows a young woman named Julie who starts the film in her late 20s and ends it in her early 30s. Neither a "young" adult nor a middle-aged one, she feels stuck in life, both professionally and romantically, and the film's a direct exploration of how she tries to get by.

The Worst Person in the World came out at a perfect time because, in 2021, people were still reeling from various aspects of life being put on hold, owing to that aforementioned pesky pandemic. It's a movie about being stuck and finding oneself unable to move in any meaningful way, with The Worst Person in the World finding both humor and heartbreak in such a premise. For anyone feeling the same things Julie does, this film could well hit dangerously close to home.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (73)

The Worst Person in the World

Not Yet Rated

Comedy

Drama

Release Date
October 13, 2021

Director
Joachim Trier

Cast
Vidar Sandem, Anders Danielson Lie, Helene Bjoreby, Renate Reinsve, Hans Olav Brenner, Herbert Nordrum

Runtime
127 minutes

Watch on Hulu

20 'The Fabelmans' (2022)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (74)

Steven Spielberg seems unwilling to slow down with age, as in the renowned director's 70s, he's shown himself to still be capable of making great films. For evidence of this, one need not look any further than 2022's The Fabelmans, a film that was heavily inspired by Spielberg's own life as a young boy and teenager. It begins in the early 1950s and ends in the 1960s, showing how a young man named Sammy finds himself developing a passion for filmmaking.

The Fabelmans works as a coming-of-age story, a love letter to cinema, and an emotionally intense family drama, as a good deal of time is spent on Sammy's parents (played by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano) and their separation, as well as the impact this has on Sammy. It's heartbreaking at times, but also life-affirming at other points, being emotionally complex as well as incredibly well-made and well-acted throughout, as one would expect from a drama film with Spielberg's name attached to it.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (75)
The Fabelmans

PG-13

Drama

Where to Watch

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Release Date
November 23, 2022
Director
Steven Spielberg
Cast
Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, Nicolas Cantu, Michelle Williams, Gabriel Bateman, Sam Rechner, Oakes Fegley, Julia Butters

19 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' (2020)

Directed by Eliza Hittman

At the very start of the 2020s, numerous films got delayed, with the aforementioned Top Gun: Maverick, for example, being largely filmed in 2018, but ultimately delayed numerous times until eventually coming out in 2022. This meant that many of the earliest great movies of the 2020s were smaller films that weren't delayed, either because they were planned for release on streaming or because they were unlikely to ever be blockbusters. As such, 2020 in particular was a year when very small-scale and challenging films like Never Rarely Sometimes Always got a genuine opportunity to shine.

It's an incredibly moving and character-focused drama, following the struggles two teenage girls go through when one of them decides she wants to terminate an unplanned pregnancy. Never Rarely Sometimes Always, therefore, is a movie about abortion, and such an emotionally intense (and still divisive) premise might well turn people off. But it's the execution that makes this remarkable, because it's undoubtedly empathetic, extremely authentic-feeling, and immensely well-acted. Small-scale dramas don't get a whole lot more powerful than this, in all honesty.

Watch on Amazon Prime

18 'TÁR' (2022)

Directed by Todd Field

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (77)

TÁR might feel like a biographical film about a divisive figure within the world of music known as Lydia Tár, especially given how real Cate Blanchett, in the lead role, makes the titular character feel. Yet this film about the rise and fall of a provocative and outspoken conductor is entirely fictional, though it does unpack real-world issues and topics of discourse that have been pervasive in culture over the past few years, including things like cancel culture and professional misconduct allegations.

The film takes an unusual and challenging approach to these topics, and for better or worse, TÁR is a movie that can be - and has been - interpreted in many different ways. It's a movie about, in part, passionate online discourse and debate that has itself inspired plenty of passionate discourse and debate, especially online. That feels more like a feature of the film, rather than a bug, and given that's likely what filmmaker Todd Field was going for, it's easy to call the execution of this ambitious psychological drama a job well done.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (78)

TÁR

Psychological

Drama

Release Date
October 7, 2022
Director
Todd Field
Cast
Cate Blanchett, Noemie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover

Runtime
2 hr 38 min

Watch on Starz

17 'Minari' (2020)

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (79)

Like Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Minari was a small-scale drama released in 2020 that ended up being a highlight from the decade's first year. It's a quiet and moving film about a South Korean immigrant family trying to make it in America during the 1980s, with the plot seeing them move from California to Arkansas, hoping to start a farm that will grow and sell Korean produce.

Minari does have a relatively slow pace throughout, but patient viewers will find the experience engrossing, and it's one of the best "slice-of-life" types of movies in recent years. It unpacks the cultural differences between South Korea and the U.S. in an honest and emotional way, managing to be simultaneously heartwarming and bittersweet throughout in equal measure. It might not sound like anything remarkable on paper, but the way it's all pulled off makes Minari something of a modern classic.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (80)
Minari

PG-13

Where to Watch

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Release Date
December 11, 2020
Director
Lee Isaac Chung
Cast
Will Patton, Steven Yeun, Noel Kate Cho, Scott Haze, Alan Kim, Yeri Han, Yuh-Jung Youn

Runtime
115 minutes

16 'RRR' (2022)

Directed by S. S. Rajamouli

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (82)

Modern-day action movies don't get much more epic and explosive than RRR, an Indian film that managed to achieve worldwide success and recognition in 2022, including a historic Oscar win for Best Original Song. It's a film with a historical setting, though it takes some knowing liberties with historical fact, given the main premise revolves around two Indian revolutionaries who didn't meet each other in real life - Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem - meeting, becoming friends, and battling British colonial forces together.

It does still take the issues tied to this premise seriously, and when it's not focused on action or music numbers, it can also work as a hard-hitting drama about a grim period in India's history. The fact RRR can take a heavy story and make it explosive and inspiring through fictionalizing and reinterpreting history (perhaps similar to what Quentin Tarantino did in Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) is impressive, with the film being an overall blast to watch.

The 35 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far), Ranked (83)

RRR

Not Rated

Action

Drama

History

Release Date
March 24, 2022

Director
S.S. Rajamouli
Cast
S.S. Rajamouli, Ram Charan, N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Ray Stevenson

Runtime
185 Minutes

Watch on Netflix

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