The Best Movies of the 2000s, Ranked
The 2000s were defined by a paradox. It was the decade when blockbusters became enormous — franchises, sequels, and effects-driven spectacle dominated the box office — and it was also the decade when some of the best films were the most intimate. The films on this list are the ones that used scale for a purpose, or that found something genuinely new in a small space. It is a shorter list than the 1990s, partly because our collection is curated rather than comprehensive, and partly because the decade's best work was more concentrated.
How we ranked these: Ranked by formal achievement, durability, and influence. We favour films that use their budget or their constraints deliberately rather than films that were merely popular. Only films with a full review in our collection are eligible.
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1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The best romance of the decade and one of the few films to use a science fiction premise for genuinely emotional purposes. Its reverse-chronological structure is emotionally meaningful rather than merely clever.
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2. The Departed
Scorsese's most purely entertaining film of the decade and one of the best remakes ever made. The mirror structure is rigorous, the dialogue is genuinely funny, and the ending remains shocking.
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3. The Dark Knight
A rare blockbuster that uses its scale to ask a question rather than avoid one. Ledger's Joker is a fully realised thesis, and the film's willingness to end on a lie gives it moral complexity most films at this budget never attempt.
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4. Spirited Away
Miyazaki's most complete film and a coming-of-age story about labour, identity, and environmental damage. Its refusal to explain its own mythology is a strength rather than a gap.
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5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The rare adaptation that understands the difference between fidelity and translation. Sincere without being embarrassing, spectacular without losing its characters.
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6. Gladiator
The film that proved the historical epic could still work. Crowe is controlled, Phoenix's Commodus is a real creation, and the arena sequences are superbly staged.
Frequently asked questions
Was the 2000s a weak decade for film?
No, but it was a decade of extremes. The mainstream became more franchise-driven while independent cinema became more commercially viable, and the middle ground thinned out considerably.
Which 2000s film had the biggest influence?
The Dark Knight, which changed what a superhero film could be and prompted a decade of studios attempting to replicate its seriousness. Eternal Sunshine's influence on romance is subtler but substantial.
Why is Gladiator on this list?
Because it revived a genre that had been commercially dead for decades and remains the best sword-and-sandals film since Spartacus. Its historical carelessness is real and its craft is excellent.
Which 2000s film holds up best?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Departed. Both have aged without losing anything, largely because their strengths are structural rather than technological.
Keep reading
Our ranked lists are deliberately opinionated. Each one places films against each other inside a defined frame and explains the ordering, which means they disagree with each other and with us on different days. That is the point.