The last decade has been absolutely incredible for movies of all kinds, from major popcorn blockbusters to independent dramas and everything in between. There have been so many masterpieces to come from the world of cinema in the last ten years, but these films each stand out as the best from their respective year.
Even though each year since 2016 has had plenty of inarguable masterpieces, there’s no doubt that each year had its own definitive entry for best of the year. Whether they were small-scale character-focused dramas, animated comic book adaptations, or major musical blockbusters, these ten movies were the best from every year of the last decade.
2016’s Best Movie Is La La Land
2016 had several absolutely incredible film releases, including Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi opus Arrival, Shane Black’s cult classic The Nice Guys, and Barry Jenkins’ inspiring Oscar-winning Moonlight, but arguably no film of the year was able to top the sheer cinematic magic of Damien Chazelle’s La La Land.
Following the enchanting romance between a man and a woman, each trying to simultaneously follow their respective career dreams, La La Land is a love letter to movie musicals of old, while still feeling effortlessly modern. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are absolutely magnetic together, and the music is unforgettable, making Chazelle’s sophomore outing his very best work.
2017’s Best Movie Is Phantom Thread
Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the single greatest directors working in the film industry today, and though his all-time greatest work might have come ten years previously with 2007’s There Will Be Blood, his 2017 masterpiece, Phantom Thread, remains one of his most woefully underrated films.
Featuring a show-stopping central performance from Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread follows the blossoming romance and deeply flawed creative relationship between a narcissistic dressmaker and his latest muse. Stunning cinematography, a splendid score, and some of the greatest performances of the 21st century make Phantom Thread unbeatable, and it’s the best film of 2017 by a wide margin.
2018’s Best Movie Is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2018 was a bit of an odd year for major cinematic outings. The Oscar-nominated films that year were particularly mediocre, including the utterly dreadful Bohemian Rhapsody and the generic-yet-well-meaning Green Book. There weren’t nearly as many standouts in the realm of live-action in 2018, but an animated film utterly stole the show.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the single most influential and impactful animated achievements of the last twenty-five years, and it has become the gold standard for comic book adaptations on the big screen. It’s a dazzling piece of pop action, and it’s the very best adaptation of Spider-Man ever put to the screen.
2019’s Best Movie Is Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino has (rightfully) received a lot of flak in recent months because of his garishly aggressive comments about certain actors and films in the contemporary Hollywood landscape, but it’s hard to deny just how talented he is as a filmmaker. Masterpieces like Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds alone could’ve cemented his legacy, but every one of his other films is nearly just as good.
One of his most underrated, and easily the best film of 2019, is Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood. A love letter to the 1960s and 70s, and one of the greatest “hangout” flicks of the 21st century, Tarantino brings his signature style of snappy dialogue, depthful characterization, and hilariously unpredictable alternate history storytelling in ways that his prior works had only scratched the surface. It’s quietly one of his best works, and a standout film from a bumper year for cinema.
2020’s Best Movie Is Tenet
2020 was a difficult year for the world, and that was reflected in the cinematic output. With the COVID-19 pandemic closing movie theaters around the world and delaying some of the biggest planned releases, the year’s lineup of films wasn’t nearly as impressive as those that had come before.
However, a standout in a sea of straight-to-streaming mediocrity came forth: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. Perhaps his most misunderstood and underrated film, Nolan’s Tenet is an action-packed sci-fi thrill ride that carries quiet depth and nuance. Boasting spectacular action, wonderful performances, and some of the best sci-fi world-building in ages, Tenet is one of Nolan’s best and the highlight in a troubling cinematic year.
2021’s Best Movie Is The French Dispatch
There are quite a few people who have seemingly soured on director Wes Anderson’s signature cinematic style in the last few years, and one of the catalysts for that seems to have been 2021’s The French Dispatch. The film was regarded as one of his weaker outings. But, in reality, The French Dispatch might just be Anderson’s secret masterpiece.
A three-part anthology chronicling the final issue of a small magazine publication, The French Dispatch is as funny, heartbreaking, and genuinely beautiful as any of Anderson’s previous films. It deserves so much more love, and even in a year as stacked to the brim with excellent entries as 2021, it’s the clear stand-out.
2022’s Best Movie Is The Batman
There have been a lot of adaptations of DC Comics’ iconic Batman over the years, and almost every single live-action interpretation has been valid in some way or another. Tim Burton brought gothic hysteria to his adaptation, Joel Schumacher injected camp and excess, Christopher Nolan grounded the Dark Knight, Zack Snyder upped the violence, and finally, Matt Reeves did something none of the others had: focused on the detective angle.
The Batman is a miraculous achievement in comic book adaptation, boasting the best on-screen portrayal of the Dark Knight in the form of Robert Pattinson, some of the most intense and psychological drama in any Bat-flick, and incredible supporting performances from top-to-bottom. The Batman might just be the best Batman movie of all time, and it blew every other 2022 film out of the water.
2023’s Best Movie Is Killers of the Flower Moon
2023 might have been the year that Barbie and Oppenheimer stole the show in theaters, but even though both of those films are excellent, a legendary filmmaker made one of his most personal, most moving films in 2023 and took the world by storm. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is a masterpiece in every sense of the word, and further proof that the iconic director has not lost his creative edge in over five decades of work.
Based on the true story of a series of brutal murders in 1920s Oklahoma, Killers of the Flower Moon tackles the position of Native Americans in American society, the greed and gluttony that lead men to commit evil, and reckons with the role of a storyteller in such events. Scorsese’s latest opus is as reflective, contemplative, and soul-crushing as anything he’s ever done, and it’s 2023’s best film.
2024’s Best Movie Is Dune: Part Two
Denis Villeneuve has quickly made a name for himself as one of the most important directors of the 21st century, especially when it comes to large-scale blockbuster filmmaking. While his past resume is stacked with masterpieces like Blade Runner: 2049, Arrival, Prisoners, and more, perhaps his finest achievement has come in the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic Dune novel.
Splitting the first book into two films, Villeneuve and company crafted one of the most staggering on-screen sci-fi worlds of the modern age. While the first Dune film from 2021 remains a masterpiece, Dune: Part Two ups the ante in almost every way, giving audiences a bigger, more robust tale of moral decay, unchecked imperialism, and religious fanaticism. It’s this era’s Star Wars, and it’s an unadulterated masterpiece.
2025’s Best Movie Is One Battle After Another
With 2025’s cinematic calendar finally wrapped up, there are a few films that stand out as potential choices for the year’s best. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is one of the finest vampire films of the last forty years, and its use of vampirism as a metaphor for cultural assimilation is genuinely breathtaking. However, in a year as politically and societally volatile as 2025, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another stands as the defining work of the year.
A bold, moving film about societal unrest, paving the way for future generations, and the pros and cons of radical violence, One Battle After Another is utterly astonishing. One of the most emotional movies of the year, PTA’s latest masterpiece is also one of the most timely, prescient films in years. It is required viewing for the modern day, and it will go down in history as one of the 2020s’ single greatest films.