Inside The New York Times’ picks for the best films of the 21st century

The New York Times has unveiled the 100 best films of the 21st century, according to directors, actors, and critics. The list has been slowly revealed to the public since June 23, 2025. It started with the movies that ranked 100 to 81, with promises to release more top-ranking films in the following days.

On Friday, June 27, 2025, the publication dropped the list of the top 20 best films of the 21st century. Here's how the media outlet described the criteria behind the movie selection in its Instagram post caption:

"Today, we're revealing the top 20—along with which film captured the top spot—as voted on by hundreds of influential directors, actors, and other notable names in Hollywood around the world."

The New York Times compiled the list by polling over 500 people in the film industry. The respondents were all asked to list their choices of the ten best movies released since January 1, 2000. They unanimously voted Bong Joon-ho's Parasite as the best movie of the 21st century.

The pitch-dark satire premiered in 2019 at the Cannes Film Festival and received much acclaim from critics and viewers. During the 2020 Academy Awards, the director took home four Oscars for Parasite, including Best Picture and Best Director. Several years later, since the movie came out, it still holds a 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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More about The New York Times' latest compilation of the best films of the 21st century

After Parasite, directors, actors, and film critics voted the 2001 thriller mystery Mulholland Drive from the late David Lynch as the second-best movie in the past 25 years. The surrealist film topped the 2016 BBC Culture compilation of the best films of the 21st century. It came from the votes of 177 film critics from 36 countries.

Meanwhile, There Will Be Blood (2007), In the Mood for Love (2016), and Moonlight (2016) took the third, fourth, and fifth spot respectively on the list. The 2007 Western thriller, No Country for Old Men, ranked sixth. Featuring Javier Bardem and Woody Harrelson, this film was directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. It still holds a 93% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Two movies from Ang Lee, namely Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Brokeback Mountain, occupied 16th and 17th position, respectively. Moreover, David Fincher's The Social Network secured 10th spot and his other film Zodiac ranked 19th on the list.

Here's the rest of the best films included in the top 20, as revealed by The New York Times:

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Rank 7
• Get Out - Rank 8
• Spirited Away - Rank 9
• The Social Network - Rank 10
• Mad Max: Fury Road - Rank 11
• The Zone of Interest - Rank 12
• Children of Men - Rank 13
• Inglourious Basterds - Rank 14
• City of God - Rank 15
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Rank 16
• Brokeback Mountain - Rank 17
• Y Tu Mama Tambien - Rank 18
• Zodiac - Rank 19
• The Wolf of Wall Street - Rank 20

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The aforementioned list of the best films in the 21st century is interactive. It gives readers an option to choose what movies they have already seen and what they want to see.