Top Movies of the 2000s

The 2000s brought a wide range of films: puzzle thrillers, Oscar-winning dramas, animated classics and a superhero film that changed the genre. This is a shortlist of ten well-known titles from the decade, in release order, so you can see how the decade's films developed. Each title links to its page on this site.

If you want a different slice of the decade, see our 2000s horror movies guide, 2000s romance movies and 2000s comedy movies pages.

Ten standout movies from the 2000s

  1. Memento (2000)

    Christopher Nolan's puzzle thriller about a man with no short-term memory searching for the person who attacked his wife. Its scenes run in reverse order, which makes the story hard to forget.

  2. Mulholland Drive (2001)

    David Lynch's Hollywood noir follows an aspiring actress and an amnesiac woman through a dreamlike Los Angeles. It is one of the most discussed films of the decade.

  3. Spirited Away (2001)

    Hayao Miyazaki's animated fantasy about a girl trapped in a spirit world. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

  4. Mystic River (2003)

    Clint Eastwood directs three childhood friends whose lives are changed by a single crime in Boston. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins both won Oscars for their performances.

  5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

    A couple have their memories of each other erased and then try to keep their relationship alive inside their own minds. Michel Gondry directs from a Charlie Kaufman script, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

  6. Children of Men (2006)

    Alfonso Cuarón's near-future thriller, set in a world where no children have been born for eighteen years. It is known for its long, unbroken action sequences.

  7. The Departed (2006)

    Martin Scorsese's crime drama about an undercover police officer and a mole inside the police, both in Boston's criminal underworld. It won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director.

  8. No Country for Old Men (2007)

    The Coen brothers adapt Cormac McCarthy's novel about a hunter who finds money at a drug deal gone wrong and a relentless killer on his trail. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

  9. There Will Be Blood (2007)

    Paul Thomas Anderson's study of ambition follows an oil prospector whose greed reshapes a small California town. Daniel Day-Lewis's performance is one of the decade's most praised.

  10. The Dark Knight (2008)

    Christopher Nolan's Batman film pits Batman against the Joker, played by Heath Ledger. It is one of the highest-grossing films of the decade and changed how superhero movies were made.

More 2000s movie guides

Top drama movies, psychological thriller movies and the best thriller movies of all time cover other ways to pick a film.