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Film

The Canon

Not another opinion. This is the hundred films that the major critical polls actually agree on, scored from their published ballots by a stated method, with every placing traceable back to the list it came from.

9 lists · 815 films named · 100 ranked · 1924 to 2019

The hundred

Each row names every poll that placed the film and where. The bar is the film’s score as a share of a perfect sweep, which nothing gets near.

  1. 01

    Citizen Kane1941

    Orson Welles · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #3
    • British Film Institute, directors #2
    • American Film Institute #1
    • Cahiers du cinema #1
    • The Village Voice #1
    • IMDb #118
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    78%

    on 7 lists

  2. 02

    The Godfather1972

    Francis Ford Coppola · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #12
    • British Film Institute, directors #3
    • American Film Institute #2
    • Cahiers du cinema #36
    • The Village Voice #12
    • IMDb #2
    • Letterboxd #18
    76%

    on 7 lists

  3. 03

    Seven Samurai1954

    Shichinin no samurai

    Akira Kurosawa · Japan

    • British Film Institute, critics #20
    • British Film Institute, directors #14
    • Cahiers du cinema #50
    • The Village Voice #23
    • BBC Culture #1
    • IMDb #24
    • Letterboxd #6
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    73%

    on 8 lists

  4. 04

    Tokyo Story1953

    Tōkyō monogatari

    Yasujirō Ozu · Japan

    • British Film Institute, critics #4
    • British Film Institute, directors #4
    • Cahiers du cinema #14
    • The Village Voice #36
    • BBC Culture #3
    • IMDb #221
    • Letterboxd #44
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    73%

    on 8 lists

  5. 05

    Vertigo1958

    Alfred Hitchcock · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #2
    • British Film Institute, directors #6
    • American Film Institute #9
    • Cahiers du cinema #8
    • The Village Voice #3
    • IMDb #117
    71%

    on 6 lists

  6. 06

    2001: A Space Odyssey1968

    Stanley Kubrick · United States / United Kingdom

    • British Film Institute, critics #6
    • British Film Institute, directors #1
    • American Film Institute #15
    • Cahiers du cinema #43
    • The Village Voice #11
    • IMDb #106
    65%

    on 6 lists

  7. 07

    La Règle du jeu1939

    Jean Renoir · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #13
    • British Film Institute, directors #38
    • Cahiers du cinema #2
    • The Village Voice #2
    • BBC Culture #5
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    64%

    on 6 lists

  8. 08

    City Lights1931

    Charlie Chaplin · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #36
    • British Film Institute, directors #52
    • American Film Institute #11
    • Cahiers du cinema #16
    • The Village Voice #38
    • IMDb #55
    • Letterboxd #146
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    62%

    on 8 lists

  9. 09

    The Passion of Joan of Arc1928

    La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc

    Carl Theodor Dreyer · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #21
    • British Film Institute, directors #30
    • Cahiers du cinema #58
    • The Village Voice #8
    • BBC Culture #23
    • IMDb #248
    • Letterboxd #50
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    60%

    on 8 lists

  10. 10

    Singin' in the Rain1952

    Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #10
    • British Film Institute, directors #52
    • American Film Institute #5
    • Cahiers du cinema #7
    • The Village Voice #73
    • IMDb #89
    • Letterboxd #112
    60%

    on 7 lists

  11. 11

    Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles1975

    Chantal Akerman · Belgium / France

    • British Film Institute, critics #1
    • British Film Institute, directors #4
    • The Village Voice #19
    • BBC Culture #14
    • Letterboxd #214
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    57%

    on 6 lists

  12. 12

    Apocalypse Now1979

    Francis Ford Coppola · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #19
    • British Film Institute, directors #18
    • American Film Institute #30
    • Cahiers du cinema #65
    • IMDb #57
    • Letterboxd #41
    53%

    on 6 lists

  13. 13

    Bicycle Thieves1948

    Ladri di biciclette

    Vittorio De Sica · Italy

    • British Film Institute, critics #41
    • British Film Institute, directors #20
    • Cahiers du cinema #86
    • The Village Voice #37
    • BBC Culture #2
    • IMDb #134
    • Letterboxd #187
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    53%

    on 8 lists

  14. 14

    The Searchers1956

    John Ford · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #15
    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • American Film Institute #12
    • Cahiers du cinema #9
    • The Village Voice #4
    53%

    on 5 lists

  15. 15

    M1931

    Fritz Lang · Germany

    • British Film Institute, critics #36
    • Cahiers du cinema #6
    • The Village Voice #22
    • BBC Culture #13
    • IMDb #114
    • Letterboxd #179
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    53%

    on 7 lists

  16. 16

    Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans1927

    F. W. Murnau · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #11
    • British Film Institute, directors #33
    • American Film Institute #82
    • Cahiers du cinema #4
    • The Village Voice #6
    51%

    on 5 lists

  17. 17

    In the Mood for Love2000

    Wong Kar-wai · Hong Kong / France

    • British Film Institute, critics #5
    • British Film Institute, directors #9
    • BBC Culture #9
    • Letterboxd #86
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    51%

    on 5 lists

  18. 18

    Pather Panchali1955

    Satyajit Ray · India

    • British Film Institute, critics #35
    • British Film Institute, directors #22
    • The Village Voice #13
    • BBC Culture #15
    • Letterboxd #140
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    51%

    on 6 lists

  19. 19

    Rashomon1950

    Akira Kurosawa · Japan

    • British Film Institute, critics #41
    • British Film Institute, directors #20
    • The Village Voice #10
    • BBC Culture #4
    • IMDb #182
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    51%

    on 6 lists

  20. 20

    Close-Up1990

    Abbas Kiarostami · Iran

    • British Film Institute, critics #17
    • British Film Institute, directors #9
    • The Village Voice #64
    • BBC Culture #39
    • Letterboxd #62
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    50%

    on 6 lists

  21. 21

    Psycho1960

    Alfred Hitchcock · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #31
    • British Film Institute, directors #46
    • American Film Institute #14
    • The Village Voice #20
    • IMDb #38
    • Letterboxd #150
    50%

    on 6 lists

  22. 22

    Persona1966

    Ingmar Bergman · Sweden

    • British Film Institute, critics #18
    • British Film Institute, directors #9
    • BBC Culture #6
    • Letterboxd #87
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    49%

    on 5 lists

  23. 23

    The Night of the Hunter1955

    Charles Laughton · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #25
    • British Film Institute, directors #41
    • Cahiers du cinema #2
    • The Village Voice #35
    • Letterboxd #220
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    48%

    on 6 lists

  24. 24

    L'Atalante1934

    Jean Vigo · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #34
    • British Film Institute, directors #46
    • Cahiers du cinema #5
    • The Village Voice #7
    • BBC Culture #50
    48%

    on 5 lists

  25. 25

    The 400 Blows1959

    Les Quatre Cents Coups

    François Truffaut · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #50
    • British Film Institute, directors #33
    • Cahiers du cinema #58
    • The Village Voice #47
    • BBC Culture #8
    • Letterboxd #173
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    48%

    on 7 lists

  26. 26

    Barry Lyndon1975

    Stanley Kubrick · United States / United Kingdom

    • British Film Institute, critics #45
    • British Film Institute, directors #12
    • Cahiers du cinema #65
    • The Village Voice #46
    • IMDb #183
    • Letterboxd #54
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    47%

    on 7 lists

  27. 27

    À bout de souffle1960

    Jean-Luc Godard · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #38
    • British Film Institute, directors #14
    • Cahiers du cinema #65
    • BBC Culture #11
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    44%

    on 5 lists

  28. 28

    Some Like It Hot1959

    Billy Wilder · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #38
    • British Film Institute, directors #62
    • American Film Institute #22
    • Cahiers du cinema #50
    • IMDb #142
    • Letterboxd #183
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    44%

    on 7 lists

  29. 29

    Mirror1975

    Zerkalo

    Andrei Tarkovsky · Soviet Union

    • British Film Institute, critics #31
    • British Film Institute, directors #8
    • BBC Culture #20
    • Letterboxd #149
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    44%

    on 5 lists

  30. 30

    Taxi Driver1976

    Martin Scorsese · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #29
    • British Film Institute, directors #12
    • American Film Institute #52
    • The Village Voice #34
    • IMDb #143
    44%

    on 5 lists

  31. 31

    Au hasard Balthazar1966

    Robert Bresson · France / Sweden

    • British Film Institute, critics #25
    • British Film Institute, directors #37
    • The Village Voice #9
    • BBC Culture #52
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    44%

    on 5 lists

  32. 32

    8½1963

    Federico Fellini · Italy

    • British Film Institute, critics #31
    • British Film Institute, directors #6
    • BBC Culture #7
    • Letterboxd #219
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    43%

    on 5 lists

  33. 33

    The Godfather Part II1974

    Francis Ford Coppola · United States

    • British Film Institute, directors #26
    • American Film Institute #32
    • The Village Voice #31
    • IMDb #4
    • Letterboxd #8
    43%

    on 5 lists

  34. 34

    The Battle of Algiers1966

    La battaglia di Algeri

    Gillo Pontecorvo · Italy / Algeria

    • British Film Institute, critics #45
    • British Film Institute, directors #22
    • BBC Culture #19
    • IMDb #246
    • Letterboxd #28
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    43%

    on 6 lists

  35. 35

    Le Mépris1963

    Jean-Luc Godard · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #54
    • British Film Institute, directors #46
    • Cahiers du cinema #15
    • The Village Voice #49
    • BBC Culture #60
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    43%

    on 6 lists

  36. 36

    Ordet1955

    Carl Theodor Dreyer · Denmark

    • British Film Institute, critics #48
    • British Film Institute, directors #30
    • The Village Voice #17
    • BBC Culture #65
    • Letterboxd #126
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    42%

    on 6 lists

  37. 37

    Beau Travail1999

    Claire Denis · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #7
    • British Film Institute, directors #14
    • BBC Culture #43
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    42%

    on 4 lists

  38. 38

    Man with a Movie Camera1929

    Dziga Vertov · Soviet Union

    • British Film Institute, critics #9
    • British Film Institute, directors #30
    • The Village Voice #5
    • BBC Culture #73
    41%

    on 4 lists

  39. 39

    Playtime1967

    Jacques Tati · France / Italy

    • British Film Institute, critics #23
    • British Film Institute, directors #41
    • Cahiers du cinema #65
    • BBC Culture #33
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    40%

    on 5 lists

  40. 40

    Stalker1979

    Andrei Tarkovsky · Soviet Union

    • British Film Institute, critics #43
    • British Film Institute, directors #14
    • BBC Culture #49
    • Letterboxd #78
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    40%

    on 5 lists

  41. 41

    Sunset Blvd.1950

    Billy Wilder · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #78
    • British Film Institute, directors #62
    • American Film Institute #16
    • The Village Voice #45
    • IMDb #65
    • Letterboxd #40
    39%

    on 6 lists

  42. 42

    La Dolce Vita1960

    Federico Fellini · Italy / France

    • British Film Institute, critics #60
    • British Film Institute, directors #35
    • Cahiers du cinema #58
    • BBC Culture #10
    • Letterboxd #222
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    39%

    on 6 lists

  43. 43

    Andrei Rublev1966

    Andrei Tarkovsky · Soviet Union

    • British Film Institute, critics #67
    • British Film Institute, directors #26
    • Cahiers du cinema #76
    • BBC Culture #40
    • Letterboxd #39
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    39%

    on 6 lists

  44. 44

    It's a Wonderful Life1946

    Frank Capra · United States

    • American Film Institute #20
    • Cahiers du cinema #58
    • The Village Voice #16
    • IMDb #21
    • Letterboxd #36
    38%

    on 5 lists

  45. 45

    Do the Right Thing1989

    Spike Lee · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #24
    • British Film Institute, directors #29
    • American Film Institute #96
    • Letterboxd #68
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    36%

    on 5 lists

  46. 46

    North by Northwest1959

    Alfred Hitchcock · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #45
    • American Film Institute #55
    • Cahiers du cinema #24
    • The Village Voice #51
    • IMDb #110
    35%

    on 5 lists

  47. 47

    Cléo de 5 à 71962

    Agnès Varda · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #14
    • British Film Institute, directors #52
    • BBC Culture #44
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    34%

    on 4 lists

  48. 48

    L'Avventura1960

    Michelangelo Antonioni · Italy / France

    • British Film Institute, critics #72
    • British Film Institute, directors #38
    • Cahiers du cinema #36
    • BBC Culture #45
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    34%

    on 5 lists

  49. 49

    Late Spring1949

    Yasujirō Ozu · Japan

    • British Film Institute, critics #21
    • British Film Institute, directors #62
    • BBC Culture #53
    • Letterboxd #134
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    34%

    on 5 lists

  50. 50

    Goodfellas1990

    Martin Scorsese · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #63
    • British Film Institute, directors #28
    • American Film Institute #92
    • IMDb #18
    • Letterboxd #30
    33%

    on 5 lists

  51. 51

    Mulholland Drive2001

    David Lynch · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #8
    • British Film Institute, directors #22
    • Cahiers du cinema #86
    • Letterboxd #217
    32%

    on 4 lists

  52. 52

    Raging Bull1980

    Martin Scorsese · United States

    • British Film Institute, directors #22
    • American Film Institute #4
    • IMDb #195
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    31%

    on 4 lists

  53. 53

    Modern Times1936

    Charlie Chaplin · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #78
    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • American Film Institute #78
    • Cahiers du cinema #65
    • The Village Voice #67
    • IMDb #53
    • Letterboxd #238
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    31%

    on 8 lists

  54. 54

    Come and See1985

    Elem Klimov · Soviet Union

    • British Film Institute, directors #41
    • BBC Culture #59
    • IMDb #94
    • Letterboxd #4
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    31%

    on 5 lists

  55. 55

    The General1926

    Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #95
    • American Film Institute #18
    • Cahiers du cinema #16
    • The Village Voice #32
    • IMDb #219
    30%

    on 5 lists

  56. 56

    Ugetsu monogatari1953

    Kenji Mizoguchi · Japan

    • British Film Institute, critics #90
    • Cahiers du cinema #16
    • The Village Voice #29
    • BBC Culture #68
    • Letterboxd #228
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    29%

    on 6 lists

  57. 57

    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb1964

    Stanley Kubrick · United Kingdom / United States

    • British Film Institute, directors #46
    • American Film Institute #39
    • IMDb #86
    • Letterboxd #162
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    29%

    on 5 lists

  58. 58

    La Jetée1962

    Chris Marker · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #67
    • British Film Institute, directors #35
    • Cahiers du cinema #45
    • The Village Voice #66
    • BBC Culture #86
    29%

    on 5 lists

  59. 59

    Rear Window1954

    Alfred Hitchcock · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #38
    • American Film Institute #48
    • IMDb #52
    • Letterboxd #94
    29%

    on 4 lists

  60. 60

    Madame de...1953

    Max Ophüls · France / Italy

    • British Film Institute, critics #90
    • Cahiers du cinema #30
    • The Village Voice #24
    • BBC Culture #58
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    28%

    on 5 lists

  61. 61

    Lawrence of Arabia1962

    David Lean · United Kingdom

    • British Film Institute, directors #62
    • American Film Institute #7
    • IMDb #102
    • Letterboxd #49
    28%

    on 4 lists

  62. 62

    Chinatown1974

    Roman Polanski · United States

    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • American Film Institute #21
    • The Village Voice #21
    • IMDb #172
    • Letterboxd #153
    28%

    on 5 lists

  63. 63

    Battleship Potemkin1925

    Sergei Eisenstein · Soviet Union

    • British Film Institute, critics #54
    • British Film Institute, directors #93
    • Cahiers du cinema #36
    • The Village Voice #79
    • BBC Culture #24
    28%

    on 5 lists

  64. 64

    A Woman Under the Influence1974

    John Cassavetes · United States

    • British Film Institute, directors #18
    • The Village Voice #56
    • Letterboxd #66
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    28%

    on 4 lists

  65. 65

    Fanny and Alexander1982

    Fanny och Alexander

    Ingmar Bergman · Sweden / France

    • British Film Institute, directors #52
    • Cahiers du cinema #43
    • BBC Culture #28
    • Letterboxd #65
    28%

    on 4 lists

  66. 66

    The Seventh Seal1957

    Det sjunde inseglet

    Ingmar Bergman · Sweden

    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • The Village Voice #33
    • BBC Culture #30
    • IMDb #240
    • Letterboxd #144
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    28%

    on 6 lists

  67. 67

    A Man Escaped1956

    Un condamné à mort s'est échappé

    Robert Bresson · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #95
    • British Film Institute, directors #41
    • The Village Voice #26
    • Letterboxd #114
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    27%

    on 5 lists

  68. 68

    Casablanca1942

    Michael Curtiz · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #63
    • American Film Institute #3
    • IMDb #47
    • Letterboxd #188
    27%

    on 4 lists

  69. 69

    A Brighter Summer Day1991

    Edward Yang · Taiwan

    • British Film Institute, critics #78
    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • BBC Culture #38
    • Letterboxd #24
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    27%

    on 5 lists

  70. 70

    Shoah1985

    Claude Lanzmann · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #27
    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • The Village Voice #72
    • BBC Culture #96
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    26%

    on 5 lists

  71. 71

    Schindler's List1993

    Steven Spielberg · United States

    • American Film Institute #8
    • IMDb #7
    • Letterboxd #12
    26%

    on 3 lists

  72. 72

    Metropolis1927

    Fritz Lang · Germany

    • British Film Institute, critics #67
    • The Village Voice #40
    • BBC Culture #16
    • IMDb #123
    • Letterboxd #246
    26%

    on 5 lists

  73. 73

    Ali: Fear Eats the Soul1974

    Angst essen Seele auf

    Rainer Werner Fassbinder · West Germany

    • British Film Institute, critics #52
    • British Film Institute, directors #52
    • BBC Culture #66
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    25%

    on 4 lists

  74. 74

    Spirited Away2001

    Hayao Miyazaki · Japan

    • British Film Institute, critics #75
    • BBC Culture #37
    • IMDb #32
    • Letterboxd #42
    24%

    on 4 lists

  75. 75

    All About Eve1950

    Joseph L. Mankiewicz · United States

    • American Film Institute #28
    • The Village Voice #77
    • IMDb #147
    • Letterboxd #93
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    24%

    on 5 lists

  76. 76

    Ikiru1952

    Akira Kurosawa · Japan

    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • BBC Culture #72
    • IMDb #96
    • Letterboxd #15
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    24%

    on 5 lists

  77. 77

    Children of Paradise1945

    Les Enfants du Paradis

    Marcel Carné · France

    • Cahiers du cinema #9
    • BBC Culture #46
    • Letterboxd #194
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    24%

    on 4 lists

  78. 78

    The Great Dictator1940

    Charlie Chaplin · United States

    • Cahiers du cinema #24
    • IMDb #70
    • Letterboxd #130
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    24%

    on 4 lists

  79. 79

    The Leopard1963

    Il Gattopardo

    Luchino Visconti · Italy / France

    • British Film Institute, critics #90
    • Cahiers du cinema #24
    • BBC Culture #35
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    23%

    on 4 lists

  80. 80

    Portrait of a Lady on Fire2019

    Portrait de la jeune fille en feu

    Céline Sciamma · France

    • British Film Institute, critics #30
    • Letterboxd #46
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    23%

    on 3 lists

  81. 81

    Yi Yi2000

    Edward Yang · Taiwan

    • British Film Institute, critics #90
    • British Film Institute, directors #93
    • BBC Culture #25
    • Letterboxd #13
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    23%

    on 5 lists

  82. 82

    A Separation2011

    Asghar Farhadi · Iran

    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • BBC Culture #21
    • IMDb #113
    • Letterboxd #67
    23%

    on 4 lists

  83. 83

    Sansho the Bailiff1954

    Sanshō Dayū

    Kenji Mizoguchi · Japan

    • British Film Institute, critics #75
    • Cahiers du cinema #76
    • BBC Culture #61
    • Letterboxd #63
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    22%

    on 5 lists

  84. 84

    The Piano1993

    Jane Campion · New Zealand / Australia

    • British Film Institute, critics #50
    • British Film Institute, directors #52
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    22%

    on 3 lists

  85. 85

    Parasite2019

    Bong Joon-ho · South Korea

    • British Film Institute, critics #90
    • British Film Institute, directors #93
    • IMDb #35
    • Letterboxd #14
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    22%

    on 5 lists

  86. 86

    The Apartment1960

    Billy Wilder · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #54
    • American Film Institute #80
    • IMDb #101
    • Letterboxd #45
    22%

    on 4 lists

  87. 87

    12 Angry Men1957

    Sidney Lumet · United States

    • American Film Institute #87
    • IMDb #6
    • Letterboxd #3
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    22%

    on 4 lists

  88. 88

    Meshes of the Afternoon1943

    Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #16
    • British Film Institute, directors #62
    21%

    on 2 lists

  89. 89

    Cinema Paradiso1988

    Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

    Giuseppe Tornatore · Italy / France

    • BBC Culture #26
    • IMDb #46
    • Letterboxd #16
    21%

    on 3 lists

  90. 90

    Once Upon a Time in the West1968

    C'era una volta il West

    Sergio Leone · Italy / United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #95
    • British Film Institute, directors #46
    • IMDb #54
    • Letterboxd #74
    21%

    on 4 lists

  91. 91

    The Red Shoes1948

    Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger · United Kingdom

    • British Film Institute, critics #67
    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • Letterboxd #57
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    21%

    on 4 lists

  92. 92

    The Wizard of Oz1939

    Victor Fleming · United States

    • American Film Institute #10
    • The Village Voice #15
    • IMDb #245
    21%

    on 3 lists

  93. 93

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest1975

    Miloš Forman · United States

    • American Film Institute #33
    • IMDb #19
    • Letterboxd #88
    21%

    on 3 lists

  94. 94

    King Kong1933

    Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack · United States

    • American Film Institute #41
    • Cahiers du cinema #50
    • The Village Voice #39
    20%

    on 3 lists

  95. 95

    City of God2002

    Cidade de Deus

    Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund · Brazil

    • BBC Culture #42
    • IMDb #26
    • Letterboxd #10
    20%

    on 3 lists

  96. 96

    The Spirit of the Beehive1973

    El espíritu de la colmena

    Víctor Erice · Spain

    • British Film Institute, critics #85
    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • BBC Culture #27
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    20%

    on 4 lists

  97. 97

    Sherlock Jr.1924

    Buster Keaton · United States

    • British Film Institute, critics #54
    • The Village Voice #42
    • IMDb #211
    • Letterboxd #102
    20%

    on 4 lists

  98. 98

    Pickpocket1959

    Robert Bresson · France

    • British Film Institute, directors #93
    • Cahiers du cinema #24
    • The Village Voice #61
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    20%

    on 4 lists

  99. 99

    The Third Man1949

    Carol Reed · United Kingdom

    • British Film Institute, critics #63
    • The Village Voice #30
    • IMDb #231
    • Letterboxd #249
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    20%

    on 5 lists

  100. 100

    Touki Bouki1973

    Djibril Diop Mambéty · Senegal

    • British Film Institute, critics #66
    • British Film Institute, directors #72
    • BBC Culture #62
    • The Criterion Collection listed
    20%

    on 4 lists

The method

How it is scored

A film scores on each list it appears on. On a ranked list the placing is normalised against that list’s own length, so first place is worth a full point whether the list holds a hundred films or two hundred and fifty. Finishing first is finishing first, and the length of the queue behind you does not change it. An unranked list, an archive or a collection, cannot say more than “in”, so it pays a flat 0.55. Each list’s points are then multiplied by its weight, and the film’s total is the sum.

The sum matters more than it looks. Averaging would reward a film that one jury put first and nobody else mentioned, which is the exact profile of a national favourite or a critic’s hobby horse. Summing rewards a film that many independent juries reached for, which is what canonical means. Breadth is not a tiebreak bolted on afterwards. It is the measurement.

Percentages are against the theoretical maximum of 5.63, which is first place on every list at once. Nothing comes close, and the bars are scaled that way rather than to the leader so you can see it.

What went in, and what it is blind to

9 lists. The weight is the only editorial decision in the whole exercise, so it is stated here with its reason rather than buried in code.

  • Sight and Sound: The Greatest Films of All Time (Critics)

    ×1

    British Film Institute · 2022 · 100 ranked · 1,639 voters

    The reference poll of the field. It has run every ten years since 1952, it is the list every other list is written against, and the 2022 edition polled 1,639 critics, programmers, curators, archivists and academics, by far the largest and most varied electorate it has ever had. Nothing else in this set has that combination of longevity and reach, so it carries full weight.

    Blind toIt is still the canon-forming Western critical establishment counting itself, and it still rewards films old enough to have been argued about for a decade or two. Recent cinema and popular cinema both place thin, and the ballot format of ten titles pushes voters toward safe consensus picks.

    The published list

  • Sight and Sound: The Greatest Films of All Time (Directors)

    ×0.9

    British Film Institute · 2022 · 100 ranked · 480 voters

    Run alongside the critics poll every decade since 1992, and answered in 2022 by 480 working directors. It is a genuinely separate electorate rather than a slice of the critics, which is the reason to count it at all, but it is a third of the size and its result is noisier, so it sits just under the critics list.

    Blind toFilmmakers vote for the films that taught them to make films, which favours craft over argument and canonises influence rather than achievement. The electorate is invited rather than open, so its shape is an editorial choice by the BFI, and at 480 ballots a handful of votes decides most of the lower half.

    The published list

  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies, 10th Anniversary Edition

    ×0.7

    American Film Institute · 2007 · 100 ranked · 1,500 voters

    Below Sight and Sound because the jury may only consider American films, by charter. It is the best reading there is of one national canon, but it cannot rank world cinema at all, so it can only ever confirm half of an argument.

    Blind toAmerican films only, by charter, and a jury drawn largely from the US industry: studio narrative features over documentary, animation and the avant garde, and a visible pull toward films that were also commercial events.

    The published list

  • 100 Films for an Ideal Cinematheque (Cahiers du cinema Top 100)

    ×0.7

    Cahiers du cinema · 2008 · 100 ranked · 78 voters

    Below Sight and Sound because the electorate is one national critical constituency, 78 voters almost all of them French, assembled by a single magazine and published under its imprint. It is an argument from one tradition, not a survey of the field.

    Blind toStrongly French and auteurist. French production takes roughly a third of the hundred, Hollywood enters mostly through the directors the auteur theory adopted, and Asian, African and Latin American cinema barely register.

    The published list

  • 100 Best Films of the 20th Century

    ×0.6

    The Village Voice · 1999 · 100 ranked

    Below Sight and Sound because it was taken once, at the close of the century, and never reissued. Nothing in it has been retested against a later consensus, and a poll that is never rerun cannot show whether a reputation held.

    Blind toStops at 1999, so nothing from this century can appear. It also leans hard into the New York avant garde and underground, which is why it carries films no other list here counts at all.

    The published list

  • The 100 Greatest Foreign-Language Films

    ×0.6

    BBC Culture · 2018 · 100 ranked · 209 voters

    Below Sight and Sound because it is a corrective rather than a survey: no English language film is eligible, so it cannot rank cinema against itself and its ordering is only meaningful inside its own exclusion.

    Blind toExcludes English language film entirely, by design. That exclusion is the reason it is counted here: it is the counterweight to the anglophone tilt of the other three, not a general ranking of the medium.

    The published list

  • IMDb Top 250, captured 7 September 2026

    ×0.45

    IMDb · 2026 · 250 ranked

    The largest sample of any source counted here, and the least considered. It is a running average of user star ratings, weighted to resist ballot stuffing, which measures how many people enjoyed a film and were moved to say so. That is enthusiasm, not durability, and it is gathered from whoever happened to be online rather than from anyone asked to defend a choice. It is worth less than half a critics' poll for that reason, and it is worth counting at all because a film the public keeps returning to for thirty years has demonstrated something a jury cannot.

    Blind toHeavily anglophone, heavily recent, and drawn from a rating population that skews young and male. It rewards films that were widely released with English audio or subtitles and are easy to stream now, so availability reads as quality. Genre cinema with a devoted following outperforms quiet or difficult work, and anything before sound is close to invisible.

    The published list

  • Letterboxd Top 250 Narrative Feature Films, captured 7 September 2026 as the top 250 of Letterboxd's Top 500 Films

    ×0.4

    Letterboxd · 2026 · 250 ranked

    A weighted average rating from a self-selected film-enthusiast population, which is a better-informed crowd than IMDb and a smaller and more fashion-driven one. It still measures how much a film was liked by whoever chose to log it rather than whether it holds up under argument, and the site has changed its rating algorithm more than once, moving hundreds of films without a single new opinion being formed. It sits a notch below IMDb because the sample is smaller and the list is more volatile.

    Blind toA young, online, festival-literate audience that skews modern: a film from the last five years can enter near the top on release-week enthusiasm. It over-rewards the arthouse titles that circulate on the platform and under-rewards the studio classics its users treat as already settled. Access again decides the field, since a film has to be findable on a subscription service before enough members can rate it.

    The published list

  • The Criterion Collection, spine catalogue read 7 September 2026

    ×0.5

    The Criterion Collection · 2026 · unranked

    Not a vote and not a ranking: a licensing and restoration decision made one film at a time over forty years, by an editorial house whose entire business is deciding what deserves preserving. That makes admission a real and independent signal, and a slower-moving one than any poll, because a spine number is expensive to award and never revoked. It is held below a critics' poll because it is one organisation making it, and because what Criterion can release is limited by who will sell them the rights.

    Blind toA commercial archive with the taste of a specific American arthouse tradition: European postwar cinema, the Japanese studio era, and the New Hollywood generation are all covered far more densely than Indian, African, or Chinese-language cinema. Rights availability decides much of the rest, so major studio properties are largely absent no matter how canonical, and inclusion says nothing about order.

    The published list

What was deliberately left out

This is the half of the method that decides whether the result means anything, so it is not an appendix.

  • They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They 1,000 Greatest Films

    It is itself an aggregate of the polls counted here. Including it would count Sight and Sound twice, once directly and once through a meta-list, and hand it the heaviest weight in the system while looking like added breadth.

  • Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

    Both measure the percentage of reviewers who were positive on release, which is a different question from whether a film lasted. A film every critic mildly liked in 1998 outscores one half of them hated and the other half called a masterpiece.

  • Box office and awards

    Neither is a claim about quality. Best Picture has gone to films nobody defends and passed over most of the entries below.

Who actually decides this list

Counting by list flatters the method, so here it is counted by institution. The two Sight and Sound polls are separate ballots with genuinely different electorates, and neither one dominates on its own. They are also the same organisation asking its question its way in the same year, and together they are much the largest influence on the result.

  • 41.1%British Film Institute
  • 9.9%The Village Voice
  • 9.8%BBC Culture
  • 9.1%Cahiers du cinema
  • 8.2%The Criterion Collection
  • 7.8%Letterboxd
  • 7.6%American Film Institute
  • 6.3%IMDb

A gate fails the build if any one institution passes 55 percent, and flags it above 35. It is flagged. Read the ranking knowing that.

What this cannot fix

Averaging biased lists does not produce an unbiased one. Every poll here was voted on mostly by Western critics and mostly by men, most of them treat the feature film as the unit of art, and all of them favour films that have had time to be argued about. A composite inherits all of that and then launders it behind arithmetic, which is more dangerous than a single list with a byline, because it looks like a measurement.

The one correction applied here is deliberate: a list restricted to films not in English is included at full weight for its size, precisely because the others tilt the other way. It is a thumb on the scale and it is named as one. Read this as the best available summary of what a particular tradition has decided to keep arguing about, which is a real and useful thing, and not as a measurement of what is good.

The other hundred

This page has no taste of its own, which is its whole value and its whole limitation. The list with a byline and an argument is 100 Films That Actually Matter, and where the two disagree, the disagreement is the interesting part.