Top 20 Movie Masterpieces of the Last 100 Years, Ranked

All things considered, cinema is an incredibly young art form. Even still, you would never guess that considering the sheer myriad of masterpieces that the medium has put out over the course of the last 100 years. From 1926 to the present, there have been too many generation-defining films to count, all of them proof that cinema—when done right—truly can approach perfection.

From modern masterpieces like Mulholland Drive to foreign classics like Metropolis, the biggest movie masterpieces of the last century are the reason why this is such a beloved art form. From the emotional to the hilarious, from the exciting to the slow-burning, from the experimental to the crowd-pleasing, it's all top-form filmmaking. For variety's sake, only one movie per franchise can be considered for this list. Other than that, anything and everything is fair game.

20 'Aftersun' (2022)

The 2020s have seen the release of several great films, but only one truly worthy of being considered among the greatest masterpieces of the last century: Charlotte Wells' Aftersun, a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama that may just be among the most emotional movies of all time. Sure, Aftersun will grab your heart and squeeze it like a soda can, but it's also one of the most beautiful, poetic, and tender films in recent memory.

The simplicity of a plot about a father and daughter vacationing in a Turkish resort is undeniable, but from that simplicity, Wells draws a level of emotional sincerity and an artful rhythm without equal. The way the camera moves in all sorts of unexpected ways, Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio's larger-than-life performances, the gut-wrenching ending; all the elements are there for what will surely prove to be a timeless masterpiece.

19 'Mulholland Drive' (2001)

Saying that the late David Lynch was a master of his craft would be an understatement. The man was such a pillar of cinematic surrealism that whenever a film elicits the same kind of macabre, mundane, and dreamlike tone that his work is built on, it's called "Lynchian." But while the auteur's oeuvre is full of excellent films, like any great director, he too had a magnum opus: Mulholland Drive.

It's no coincidence that this was Lynch's penultimate feature film. It feels like everything the director's career had been building up to for nearly three decades, a scathing critique of the Hollywood dream just as much as it is a thought-provoking study of identity and desire. It's one of the definitive movie masterpieces of the 2000s, a film that entirely reinvents itself halfway through and packs an unparalleled punch by the time the credits roll as a result.

18 'Metropolis' (1927)

Cinema was still in its infancy during the early 20th century, particularly as a storytelling medium and an art form. During its silent days, film was still starting to prove the kinds of things that it could do not as a novelty fairground attraction, but as the Seventh Art. German filmmaker Fritz Lang was one of the most important European figures in those early days of movies, and with Metropolis, the man practically invented what we now understand as feature-form science fiction.

Released on the same year that talkies were born over in the U.S., the silent sci-fi epic Metropolis is one of the best sci-fi masterpieces of the last 100 years, and perhaps even the single most influential sci-fi film in history. Everything from its groundbreaking props and production design, Lang's striking camerawork, powerful performances, and simple but hard-hitting script laid the groundwork for what virtually every future sci-fi filmmaker would do going forward.

17 'Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back' (1980)

George Lucas' Star Wars franchise needs no introduction. It's arguably the biggest and most iconic transmedia franchise in history, comprised of not just several excellent TV shows, video games, books, and comics, but also some of the most entertaining sci-fi movies of all time. When the conversation comes to which Star Wars movie is the best, though, the answer is always clear: The title must go to Irvin Kershner's Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back.

It's one of the best movie masterpieces of the last 50 years, a groundbreaking sequel that builds on everything that Episode IV — A New Hope invented back in 1977 in all sorts of delightful ways. It's good ol' Hero's Journey storytelling at its most perfect, full of engrossing character arcs, timeless themes of good vs. evil, and thrilling action sequences. It has what's probably the most iconic plot twist in movie history, and its dark ending is one of the best in sci-fi film history.

16 'Persona' (1966)

The great Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman was one of the greatest European filmmakers in history, a master of his craft who constantly made some of the most depressing arthouse movies imaginable. He also often made use of some beautiful surrealism, and none of his films are more head-scratchingly surrealistic than his magnum opus, Persona.

It's one of the best foreign arthouse movies ever made, a thought-provoking drama about duality and identity bolstered by Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann at their absolute best. Bergman's mastery over tone, atmosphere, pacing, and theme is at its strongest here, and though the movie's definitely a bit too strange for people who have never seen the director's work to start there, those more versed in the world of arthouse ought to check it out at least once in their lives.

15 'Goodfellas' (1990)

Many would make the claim that Martin Scorsese is the greatest living filmmaker, and it wouldn't be an easy task to argue against that kind of praise. The director has made masterpiece after masterpiece over the course of his incredibly prolific career, but never has he been better than when he made what's aged as his most iconic work, Goodfellas.

Scorsese was a master of the gangster movie genre, and Goodfellas displays every reason why. It's one of the most perfect gangster films ever, an essential classic full of great and quotable dialogue, compelling characters, and extraordinary performances. It's surprisingly fast-paced for a two-and-a-half-hour epic, but it's also full of the kind of smaller, more focused (though not necessarily quiet) character moments that make Scorsese's work so strong every time.

14 'Casablanca' (1942)

Casablanca may very well be the most romantic film ever made, but this World War II drama (made right in the midst of the conflict) is also a timely tale about sacrifice and political commitment made at a time when both themes seemed to be on everyone's minds. Directed by Michael Curtiz, this is one of the most perfect WWII movies ever made.

Anchored by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman's image-defining performances, Casablanca is as beautiful and emotional as it is mature and world-weary. Upon release, it wasn't exactly an instant hit; but with time, the film pretty much birthed the cult cinema phenomenon, and it's nowadays praised as one of the greatest war films and romantic dramas ever made—for good reason.

13 'Citizen Kane' (1941)

There are those who say that Orson Welles' debut, Citizen Kane, is the greatest film of all time. Though it's not all that complicated to make a case against that statement, denying that this is one of the greatest, most groundbreaking, and most influential films ever made would simply be silly. It's one of the biggest drama movie masterpieces of all time, a stunning debut that put Welles on the map and changed Hollywood filmmaking forever.

From the non-linear structure of the script to Welles' many revolutionary ways of handling the camera and his actors, Citizen Kane established a new gold standard for American filmmakers going forward. 85 years later, it's still just as great as it's always been. The acting is impeccable, the pacing is superb, the story's fascinating, and the character of Charles Foster Kane is one of the most nuanced and intriguing of Hollywood's Golden Age filmography.

12 'Chinatown' (1974)

Bolstered by Robert Towne's airtight screenplay, easily one of the greatest ever written for a feature film, Chinatown is likewise one of the greatest movies of all time. This neo-noir thriller is as bleak as they come, so it's definitely not for the faint of heart; but people with the stomach for a crime film without mercy are in for a hell of an unforgettable ride.

It's one of the best slow-burn thrillers of all time, a uniquely structured crime drama where, instead of tackling a large mystery and narrowing down his answers, the leading man (played by a top-form Jack Nicholson) approaches what at first seems like a simple enough mystery, but soon turns into something far denser than any one detective can handle. Technically masterful, packed with extraordinary performances, and concluding with one of the bleakest yet greatest endings in movie history, it's a masterpiece from beginning to end.

11 'Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters' (1985)

The biopic genre can get a little trite when filmmakers decide to just bring a Wikipedia article to life, but when they take an approach as unique as the one Paul Schrader took when he made Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, they can have an all-timer on their hands. An all-timer is definitely what Mishima is, a visually striking gem that takes elements from writer, actor, and martial artist Yukio Mishima's work to dive deep into what made him tick.

By the time the credits roll, you feel like you've gotten to know Mishima with far more detail than if Schrader had simply explored his life from birth to death. That's what makes this one of the greatest arthouse biopics of all time, a technically flawless and beautifully written masterpiece that's unlike any other biopic drama ever made.