IndieWire’s choices range from Nickel Boys at the top to films that take much less conventional paths. This selection brings together 25 films from a 100-title ranking, giving you a manageable way into a decade of changing cinema.
An editorial ranking is an ordered selection based on a publication’s critical judgment rather than a single shared rating. Here, the picks range from widely accessible storytelling to films that take bold, less familiar approaches to form.
Key Takeaways
- IndieWire’s 2025 ranking covers films released from 2020 through 2025.
- The selected titles include dramas, documentaries, comedies, animation, and action films.
- Rank reflects editorial judgment, not a promise about your personal taste.
- You can start with a familiar genre or take a chance on a less conventional film.
- The list offers 25 selections from a larger, 100-title ranking.
That range makes the list useful whether you want a clear story, a strong sense of place, or a film that asks you to work a little harder. A high placement can point toward a choice, but it cannot tell you how a film will feel on a particular night.
Use the order as a discovery guide, then let each film’s style and subject help you decide what to watch.
Which Films Lead the Ranking?
Nickel Boys takes the No. 1 position, followed by The Zone of Interest and Aftersun. The top five also includes Tár and The Boy and the Heron, bringing drama, animation, and distinct filmmaking approaches together.
Nickel Boys leads IndieWire’s 2025 ranking. The table gives each film’s release year and director, so you can find the right version and filmmaker quickly.
| Rank | Film | Release year | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nickel Boys | 2024 | RaMell Ross |
| 2 | The Zone of Interest | 2023 | Jonathan Glazer |
| 3 | Aftersun | 2022 | Charlotte Wells |
| 4 | Tár | 2022 | Todd Field |
| 5 | The Boy and the Heron | 2023 | Hayao Miyazaki |
These five titles make clear that a single critical list can value very different kinds of cinema. Nickel Boys and Aftersun are dramas, while The Boy and the Heron is animated fantasy.
The Zone of Interest and Tár offer their own distinct approaches to story and mood. The result is not a single model for what a great film should look like.
For readers starting with the ranking’s highest placement, Nickel Boys is the clearest first choice. IndieWire placed Nickel Boys at No. 1 in its 2025 ranking.
Use a ranking to find a film, not to predict your own reaction to it.
The No. 1 position gives Nickel Boys a prominent place in this editorial selection, while its unusual perspective makes it a distinctive first watch. Nickel Boys is the clearest starting point for readers who want to begin at the very top.
Which Films Rank Sixth Through Tenth?
Lovers Rock opens this group at No. 6, while Top Gun: Maverick follows at No. 7. The next five continue the ranking’s wide swing between intimate stories, spectacle, and suspense.
Positions six through ten bring five different kinds of film together. The table pairs each title with its release year and director.
| Rank | Film | Release year | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Lovers Rock | 2020 | Steve McQueen |
| 7 | Top Gun: Maverick | 2022 | Joseph Kosinski |
| 8 | Time | 2020 | Garrett Bradley |
| 9 | Drive My Car | 2021 | Ryusuke Hamaguchi |
| 10 | Decision to Leave | 2022 | Park Chan-wook |
Lovers Rock is a musical romance shaped around a gathering and the people in it. Top Gun: Maverick takes a very different route, using a studio action story built for big-screen spectacle.
Time is a documentary, while Drive My Car is a Japanese drama. Decision to Leave brings a Korean thriller into the mix, giving the group a striking change in tone.
One ranking places a musical romance, a studio action film, a documentary, a Japanese drama, and a Korean thriller side by side. That variety makes this stretch useful if you want to change gears without leaving the ranking.
Readers choosing by mood can use this stretch to move between intimacy, spectacle, and suspense.
Which Films Fill Places 11 to 15?
Memoria claims No. 11, with Nope immediately after it at No. 12. The middle of the top 20 moves from speculative storytelling to documentary, western, and experimental drama.
Places 11 through 15 hold five films with sharply different styles. Their years and directors help distinguish titles that may be less familiar at a glance.
| Rank | Film | Release year | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Memoria | 2021 | Apichatpong Weerasethakul |
| 12 | Nope | 2022 | Jordan Peele |
| 13 | No Other Land | 2024 | Abraham, Adra, Ballal, and Szor |
| 14 | The Power of the Dog | 2021 | Jane Campion |
| 15 | The Beast | 2023 | Bertrand Bonello |
Memoria and Nope use speculative ideas in very different ways. One has an experimental approach, while the other builds a genre story around mystery and tension.
No Other Land brings documentary into this group. The Power of the Dog takes up the western, and The Beast adds another formal shift through its experimental drama.
The selections move among speculative storytelling, documentary, western, and experimental drama. You can choose by the style that sounds most inviting rather than treating the numbers as a taste test.
The range here makes position a useful guide to the ranking, not a measure of how closely a film will match an individual viewer’s taste.
Which Films Round Out the Top 20?
Asteroid City starts the final stretch of the top 20 at No. 16. The last five include comic, historical, and more meditative approaches to storytelling.
Positions 16 through 20 complete the ranking’s top group. The films vary in tone, from Wes Anderson’s stylized comedy to a quiet drama about a young woman facing a difficult decision.
| Rank | Film | Release year | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Asteroid City | 2023 | Wes Anderson |
| 17 | Armageddon Time | 2022 | James Gray |
| 18 | La Chimera | 2023 | Alice Rohrwacher |
| 19 | Pacifiction | 2022 | Albert Serra |
| 20 | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | 2020 | Eliza Hittman |
Asteroid City uses a comic, carefully arranged style. Armageddon Time takes a historical approach, while La Chimera and Pacifiction offer slower, more meditative viewing.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always closes this run with a drama centered on a young woman’s difficult experience. Its restrained style gives the top-20 sequence a quiet finish.
This group offers several ways to change the pace after more familiar genres. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is the last title in the top-20 sequence.
Which Later-Ranked Films Are Worth Adding?
The later selections show how far the ranking’s tastes extend beyond its top 20. These five films include comedy, science fiction, and ambitious personal filmmaking.
A lower placement does not turn a film into a genre or a warning. Each title can appeal for a different reason, so the list works best when you look past rank alone.
- Sentimental Value (2025), a later-listed drama centered on family relationships.
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020), an unsettling film that bends familiar storytelling.
- Jackass Forever (2022), ranked No. 27, brings physical comedy and a deliberately unruly spirit.
- The Matrix Resurrections (2021), ranked No. 49, returns to science fiction through a personal lens.
- Megalopolis (2024), ranked No. 100, makes an ambitious, large-scale choice.
Sentimental Value appears after Never Rarely Sometimes Always in IndieWire’s ordered ranking. I’m Thinking of Ending Things follows Sentimental Value, placing two less conventional dramas in sequence.
Jackass Forever gives comedy a rough, physical edge. The Matrix Resurrections revisits a familiar science-fiction world, while Megalopolis reflects a filmmaker’s expansive personal aims.
These choices show why rank alone cannot tell you what kind of evening a film suits. Keep Megalopolis on the list as a particularly divisive, large-scale choice, not as a promise that every viewer will respond to it the same way.
What Does the IndieWire Best Movies 2020s Ranking Reveal About the Decade?
The ranking’s 2020-to-2025 span covers a period shaped by pandemic disruption and overlapping industry strikes. That unstable stretch affected how films could be made, released, and brought to theaters.
The ranking reflects a decade in motion, not a settled picture of cinema. Its choices include both established forms and films that test what movies can do.
Pandemic and Industry Disruption
The decade began with a global pandemic that disrupted production and delayed releases. Filming schedules changed, and films planned for theaters faced delays or shifts in how audiences could see them.
Overlapping strikes brought another period of disruption. Together, these events made planning harder across the industry, from making a film to choosing when and where it would reach viewers.
That uncertainty also shaped studio decisions. When companies feel less sure about audience demand, they can become more cautious about which projects they support.
Cinema in Search of Its Future
The ranking holds conventional theatrical spectacle beside films that test cinematic form. Top Gun: Maverick offers a direct contrast with Nickel Boys, whose perspective and style make different demands on viewers.
The contrast matters because the decade has not settled on one way to attract an audience. Big-screen stories remain part of cinema, while filmmakers keep testing how images, sound, and point of view can shape a story.
IndieWire’s best movies of the 2020s capture that tension in a selection spanning 2020 through 2025. Read the list as a snapshot of an unsettled moment in cinema, not a final judgment on the decade.
Which Titles Make the Easiest First Watch?
A first watch is easier when you begin with a genre you already enjoy. Four possible starts offer clear entry points, from action to historical drama.
These are suggested entry points, not a revised ranking. Each has a familiar kind of storytelling that can help you decide what to try next.
- Top Gun: Maverick (2022) is a strong choice if you enjoy action spectacle.
- Nope (2022) offers genre storytelling that blends suspense with the unexpected.
- Barbie (2023) pairs a playful tone with social satire.
- Oppenheimer (2023) is a historical drama for viewers drawn to real events.
These films are different enough that you can choose by mood. Top Gun: Maverick moves quickly, while a historical drama invites you to stay with its setting and events.
Nope is a useful pick when you want a genre story with surprises. Barbie suits a lighter start with ideas beneath its playful surface.
A familiar genre can make it easier to try a filmmaker’s style or subject. Choose one film whose premise appeals to you, then use its style to decide how adventurous your next pick should be.
Which Documentaries Stand Out in the Ranking?
Time and No Other Land are two documentary choices represented among the selected films. Four nonfiction picks show how documentaries can approach personal, political, and historical material.
Documentary form does not mean one mood or one kind of story. A film may draw close to a family’s life or take up a wider political subject.
- Time (2020) builds its nonfiction story around intimate personal material.
- No Other Land (2024) takes up political realities through documentary filmmaking.
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) brings personal and historical subjects together.
- Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020) uses a close family relationship as its starting point.
These titles point toward different ways of making a documentary. Some place personal experience at the center, while others connect individual lives to larger political or historical events.
The result can feel tender, tense, reflective, or direct. A nonfiction film can be just as carefully shaped as a fiction feature, even when it draws on real people and events.
Pick the documentary whose subject interests you most, since nonfiction form alone does not predict its mood.
How Does Hollywood Show Up in the Ranking?
Hollywood appears in this selection through both large-scale spectacle and stranger studio-backed projects. Those two paths show that familiar industry ties do not dictate a familiar style.
Hollywood-relevant picks include Top Gun: Maverick, Barbie, The Matrix Resurrections, and Asteroid City. They span mainstream entertainment and more unusual creative choices.
Studio-Scale Spectacle
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) uses a direct action story and the scale of a major theatrical release. Barbie (2023) is also mainstream filmmaking, but its playful tone and social satire give it a different feel.
Both films connect with broad audiences through familiar stars and clear storytelling. They take different routes, so a Hollywood label does not mean they offer the same experience.
Unusual Choices from Familiar Names
The Matrix Resurrections (2021) returns to a known science-fiction world without simply repeating its earlier approach. Asteroid City (2023) draws on Wes Anderson’s recognizable creative world, with a style that is deliberately arranged and offbeat.
These titles help answer what counts as a Hollywood film of the 2020s. They are relevant examples, but their presence does not make them the highest-grossing or most popular films in the ranking.
A Hollywood label can describe an industry context, but it does not tell you whether a film will feel conventional.
Where Does Animation Fit Among the Picks?
Animation is represented near the top of the ranking by The Boy and the Heron. Its fifth-place position makes it a clear choice for viewers seeking a hand-drawn fantasy.
Animated films can speak to adult viewers as well as children. Their subjects and visual styles reach well beyond one age group or a single formula.
A Hand-Drawn Fantasy
Hayao Miyazaki directed The Boy and the Heron, released in 2023. Its high placement gives animation a strong presence among the ranking’s most prominent films.
The film uses fantasy rather than a live-action setting to tell its story. That choice lets the images carry a sense of wonder that can appeal to viewers of different ages.
Animation Beyond Familiar Formulas
Flow, released in 2024, offers another animated option. It helps show that animation can take many forms, rather than following one set path or aiming only at children.
For more choices, consider a related suggestion alongside the ranked picks:
- The Boy and the Heron, a ranked selection and hand-drawn fantasy.
- Flow, a separate animated film released in 2024.
- Fantastic Mr. Fox, a related suggestion, not a ranked pick.
Choose animation by its visual style and subject, not by an assumption about its intended age group.
Which International Films Broaden the List?
Some of the ranking’s most distinctive choices come from filmmakers working outside Hollywood. Four international examples show national cinema as a range of styles, not one genre.
Drive My Car is from Japan, Decision to Leave from South Korea, La Chimera from Italy, and The Secret Agent from Brazil. Each film offers a different tone and subject.
Drive My Car (2021) is a Japanese drama, while Decision to Leave (2022) is a South Korean thriller. Their national origins do not make them alike; each uses its own pace and storytelling style.
La Chimera (2023) comes from Italy, and The Secret Agent (2025) comes from Brazil. These films add further variety in tone, setting, and subject.
Looking beyond Hollywood can introduce you to filmmakers whose work follows different traditions. It can also remind you that international cinema includes comedy, drama, suspense, and many other forms.
Start with the country or filmmaking style that interests you, rather than expecting all international films to share one approach.
How Does This Ranking Compare With Other Best-of Lists?
Compare lists by asking what they measure before comparing where a title appears. An editorial ranking places selected films in an order based on critical judgment.
Rating aggregators and editorial lists are not interchangeable. Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb are separate destinations for film ratings and discovery, each with its own methods.
To compare IndieWire’s best movies of the 2020s with a Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb result, match the same film, date range, and type of score. A critic-led order answers a different question from an aggregate rating.
The ranking contains 100 titles and spans films released from 2020 through 2025. A page that covers another period or uses another scoring method will not line up in a direct way.
The best movies of the 2010s belong to a different decade. That list cannot be combined with a 2020-to-2025 selection as though both covered the same stretch of film history.
Check the date range and whether a page is an editorial ranking or a rating aggregate before drawing conclusions.
Are the Most Popular Movies Also the Highest-Ranked?
A film’s cultural visibility and its place in an editorial ranking measure different things. Popularity can mean audience awareness, ticket sales, or a strong place in public conversation.
A critic-led ranking answers a different question from popularity. It reflects editorial judgment about films, rather than one shared measure of how many people know or watch them.
Top Gun: Maverick, Barbie, and Oppenheimer are recognizable examples from the decade. They help explain what a familiar crowd-pleaser might look like, without assigning them a popularity rank here.
Past Lives offers a quieter kind of appeal. Its presence points to the way an editorial list can include films that reach viewers through intimate stories rather than broad cultural visibility.
“Popular” can mean different things depending on whether you mean ticket sales, audience awareness, or public discussion. A critical ranking does not settle those questions by itself.
Decide whether you want a familiar crowd-pleaser or a less familiar discovery before choosing your next title.
What Can Film Budgets Tell You About Ambition?
Megalopolis had a $120 million budget, while Babylon had an $80 million budget. Those large sums point to two expansive filmmaking projects.
A budget can show a project’s scale, but it cannot measure its quality. The money behind a film does not set its audience response or position in a critical ranking.
Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis was made with a $120 million budget. Damien Chazelle’s Babylon had an $80 million budget.
Both films are associated with broad filmmaking ambitions and a large production scale. That scale can shape what a director can put on screen, but money alone says little about how well those choices work.
A modest budget and a large one can lead to different creative conditions. Neither number tells you whether viewers will connect with the finished film or how critics will rank it.
Treat production scale as context for a film’s choices, not as a shortcut for judging its success.
How Should You Build a Watchlist From the Ranking?
Build a watchlist around the kind of viewing experience you want, not just the rank beside a title. Four simple routes can help you choose by subject, tone, setting, or relationships.
You can skip around instead of following the ranking in order. Pick one title that suits your mood, then leave room for a choice outside your usual habits.
- Choose by subject with Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), a drama about a young woman facing a difficult experience.
- Choose by tone with On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024), a film with a distinctive, darkly comic mood.
- Choose by period or setting with The Taste of Things (2023), a story shaped by its time and place.
- Choose by relationship drama with Love Life (2022), a film centered on personal ties.
When a title’s name or image is all you remember, a screenshot search guide can help you find likely matches. Check a candidate against details such as the plot, cast, dialogue, or setting.
Use your own taste as a filter, not a rule that locks you into one kind of film. A watchlist can hold both something familiar and something you would not usually choose.
Add one film that fits your current mood and one that pushes beyond it.
Keep that pairing flexible as your plans change. A strong watchlist gives you a good choice for tonight and a different one for another day.
Conclusion
IndieWire’s ranking offers a starting point for exploring a decade shaped by disruption and artistic variety. The selected films give you more than one path through the 2020s, from high placements to later choices with their own appeal.
Use the ranking as a discovery tool, not a rulebook. The order can introduce you to a film, while its style and subject help you decide whether it fits your taste.
Pick a title that sounds right for your mood, then leave space for a surprise. Choose one title that matches your taste today, then add a second that surprises you.
FAQ
Should I watch the films in rank order?
No, you can watch the films in any order that suits you. Use the ranking to discover titles, then choose by genre, subject, or mood. Starting with a film you already want to see can make it easier to try a different style afterward. A rank shows editorial judgment, not a required viewing path.
Does IndieWire’s ranking include films released in 2025?
Yes, IndieWire’s ranking includes films released in 2025. Sentimental Value and Sirāt are among the 2025 releases in the ordered selection. The ranking covers films from 2020 through 2025, so its title refers to the decade so far rather than only films released through 2024.
Are movies from the 2010s included in this ranking?
No, the ranking covers films released from 2020 through 2025. Movies from the 2010s belong to a different decade and do not fit this date range. If you compare decade lists, check their start and end years first, since the same film can appear in a different kind of list for different reasons.
Is IndieWire’s ranking the same as a Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb score?
No, IndieWire’s ranking is an editorial order, while Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb offer separate rating or discovery systems. Compare the same film, date range, and type of score before drawing a conclusion. A critic’s ordered selection and an aggregate rating measure different things, so their numbers do not mean the same thing.
Can a film near the bottom of a ranking still be worth watching?
Yes, a film near the bottom can still be worth watching if its subject or style interests you. Position reflects the publication’s editorial judgment, not a rule about what every viewer will enjoy. A comedy, a science-fiction film, and a quiet drama may appeal to different people, regardless of their place in one ranking.
