What Movies Did the New York Times Readers Rank As the Best of the 21st Century?

The NY Times Readers’ 100 Top Movies of the 21st Century

1. Parasite
2. Mulholland Drive
3. No Country for Old Men
4. There Will Be Blood
5. Interstellar
6. The Dark Knight
7. Mad Max: Fury Road
8. Spirited Away
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
10. The Social Network
11. Inglourious Basterds
12. In the Mood for Love
13. Everything Everywhere All at Once
14. The LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring
15. The LotR: The Return of the King
16. La La Land
17. Get Out
18. Moonlight
19. Whiplash
20. Arrival
21. Children of Men
22. The Grand Budapest Hotel
23. Oppenheimer
24. Inception
25. The Departed
26. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
27. Dune: Part Two
28. The Royal Tenenbaums
29. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
30. Brokeback Mountain
31. Before Sunset
32. Lost in Translation
33. Gladiator
34. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
35. Aftersun
36. Lady Bird
37. City of God
38. Call Me by Your Name
39. Pan’s Labyrinth
40. Oldboy
41. Zodiac
42. Little Miss Sunshine
43. The LotR: The Two Towers
44. WALL·E
45. Phantom Thread
46. Amélie
47. Past Lives
48. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
49. Memories of Murder
50. Pride & Prejudice
51. Almost Famous
52. Sinners
53. Superbad
54. The Wolf of Wall Street
55. Y tu mamá también
56. The Zone of Interest
57. Ocean’s Eleven
58. Ratatouille
59. Django Unchained
60. Little Women
61. Memento
62. Hereditary
63. Blade Runner 2049
64. Her
65. Fantastic Mr. Fox
66. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
67. The Handmaiden
68. Tár
69. Yi Yi
70. The Florida Project
71. The Tree of Life
72. Uncut Gems
73. Spotlight
74. Black Swan
75. Boyhood
76. The Worst Person in the World
77. The Prestige
78. Michael Clayton
79. Gone Girl
80. Anatomy of a Fall
81. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
82. Mean Girls
83. Perfect Days
84. Barbie
85. Up
86. Dune: Part One
87. The Master
88. Top Gun: Maverick
89. Drive My Car
90. Bridesmaids
91. Knives Out
92. The Incredibles
93. Killers of the Flower Moon
94. Moneyball
95. Inside Llewyn Davis
96. Howl’s Moving Castle
97. The Lighthouse
98. The Holdovers
99. Midsommar
100. Avengers: Endgame

What Was on the Readers' List and Not The Critics?

One of the more interesting things about lists like these is what they do and don't have in common with what the critics, actors, directors, and writers picked.

These are the movies that NYT readers picked that were not on the original NYT list.

Check them out below.

• The LotR: The Return of the King
• La La Land
• Dune: Part Two
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• The LotR: The Two Towers
• Pride & Prejudice
• Sinners
• Django Unchained
• Little Women
• Hereditary
• Blade Runner 2049
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Handmaiden
• The Prestige
• Mean Girls
• Perfect Days
• Barbie
• Dune: Part One
• Top Gun: Maverick
• Drive My Car
• Knives Out
• The Incredibles
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Howl’s Moving Castle
• The Lighthouse
• The Holdovers
• Midsommar
• Avengers: Endgame

I do think there's a lot of recency bias on this list, given that a lot of the titles on here are from the last five or six years. But it is fun to see what people think are our new classics.

Summing It All Up 

Lists like these are so fun to pull apart and analyze. It's also cool that the NYT let us actually make our own list and vote, because there are so many surprising titles in this order, and so many I actually have not watched in a while, so it's a pleasant reminder.