Ranked List

Top 100

These are the films I would most readily return to or recommend to someone who asks where to start. I have weighed the lasting impression each one made on me as much as its reputation, so this is a personal ranking rather than a tally of awards or review scores. Use it as a route into old favourites and a few discoveries you might have missed.

#42 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly poster

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Release 2007 Genres Drama, History IMDb 8.0 Runtime 112 min Language French
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Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French fashion bible Elle magazine, has a devastating stroke at age 43. The damage to his brain stem results in locked-in syndrome, with which he is almost completely paralyzed and only able to communicate by blinking an eye. Bauby painstakingly dictates his memoir via the only means of expression left to him.
#43 American History X poster

American History X

Release 1998 Genres Drama IMDb 8.5 Runtime 119 min Language English
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Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.
#47 The Bourne Supremacy poster

The Bourne Supremacy

Release 2004 Genres Action, Drama, Thriller IMDb 7.7 Runtime 108 min Language English
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A CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.
#48 Knives Out poster

Knives Out

Release 2019 Genres Comedy, Crime, Mystery IMDb 7.9 Runtime 131 min Language English
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When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.