200 Greatest Movies By Female Directors

by runefromnorway | created - 01 Jun 2019 | updated - 2 weeks ago | Public

The following movies were co-directed by men: 10. Persepolis - 15. Shrek - 19. Meshes of the Afternoon - 20. Gimme Shelter - 24. Werckmeister Harmonies 27. Little Miss Sunshine - 39. American Splendor - 42. Salesman - 53. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse - 79. The Little Fugitive - 84. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum - 88. Animal Farm - 89. Microcosmos - 91. The Act of Killing - 93. Trouble the Water - 94. Too Early, Too Late - 99. Born Into Brothels - 102. Grey Gardens - 105. A Tale of the Wind - 132. The Corporation - 136. Gunner Palace - 142. American Dream - 151. Blood and Sand - 165. The Turin Horse - 177. On the Ropes - 186. The Adventures of Prince Achmed - 187. Faces Places - 188. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - 192. The Atomic Cafe - 193. Where Are My Children? - 199. Out 1

For an all-female list, replace with: * Mudbound (2017, Dee Rees), True Love (1989, Nancy Savoca), Across the Universe (2007, Julie Taymor), The Babadook (2014, Jennifer Kent), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019, Marielle Heller)

* Dear Frankie (2004, Shona Auerbach), A Simple Life (2011, Ann Hui), Shoes (1916, Lois Weber), Happy as Lazzaro (2018, Alice Rohrwacher), The Unconquered (1954, Nancy Hamilton)

* Blackboards (2000, Samira Makhmalbaf), Me Without You (2001, Sandra Goldbacher), Late Night (2019, Nisha Ganatra), Don't Tell (2005, Cristina Comencini), Higher Ground (2011, Vera Farmiga)

* Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010, Ricki Stern & Anne Sundberg), Please Give (2010, Nicole Holofcener), Under the Skin (1997, Carine Adler), Polisse (2011, Maïwenn Le Besco), The Taste of Others (2000, Agnès Jaoui)

* Things to Come (2016, Mia Hansen-Løve), On Body and Soul (2017, Ildikó Enyedi), Citizenfour (2014, Laura Poitras), Enough Said (2013, Nicole Holofcener), Portrait of Jason (1967, Shirley Clarke)

* After the Wedding (2006, Susanne Bier), One Child Nation (2019, Zhang Lynn & Nanfu Wang), Olivier Olivier (1992, Agnieszka Holland), Losing Ground (1982, Kathleen Collins), Songcatcher (2000, Maggie Greenwald), Zama (2017, Lucrecia Martel)

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1. The Piano (1993)

R | 121 min | Drama, Music, Romance

89 Metascore

In the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.

Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin

Votes: 95,167 | Gross: $40.16M

2. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

Not Rated | 202 min | Drama

94 Metascore

A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.

Director: Chantal Akerman | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Henri Storck, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze

Votes: 13,905 | Gross: $0.02M

3. The Hurt Locker (2008)

R | 131 min | Drama, Thriller, War

95 Metascore

During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce

Votes: 473,807 | Gross: $17.02M

4. Lost in Translation (2003)

R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama

91 Metascore

A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.

Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris

Votes: 489,131 | Gross: $44.59M

5. Triumph of the Will (1935)

Not Rated | 110 min | Documentary, History

The infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.

Director: Leni Riefenstahl | Stars: Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Max Amann, Martin Bormann

Votes: 18,323

6. Beau Travail (1999)

Unrated | 92 min | Drama, War

91 Metascore

An ex-Foreign Legion officer recalls his once-glorious life of leading troops in Djibouti.

Director: Claire Denis | Stars: Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin, Richard Courcet

Votes: 14,576 | Gross: $0.25M

7. Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations (1938)

Not Rated | 111 min | Documentary, Sport

The document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.

Director: Leni Riefenstahl | Stars: David Albritton, Arvo Askola, Jack Beresford, Erwin Blask

Votes: 5,239

8. Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

87 Metascore

Cleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.

Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, Dorothée Blanck

Votes: 27,298

9. Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty (1938)

Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Sport

The document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin, orchestrated as Nazi propaganda.

Director: Leni Riefenstahl | Stars: Sheigo Arai, Jack Beresford, Ralf Berzsenyi, Ferenc Csík

Votes: 4,325

10. Persepolis (2007)

PG-13 | 96 min | Animation, Biography, Drama

90 Metascore

A precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.

Directors: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi | Stars: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands, Danielle Darrieux

Votes: 100,190 | Gross: $4.45M

11. Nomadland (2020)

R | 107 min | Drama

87 Metascore

A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

Director: Chloé Zhao | Stars: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Gay DeForest

Votes: 183,441

12. Wanda (1970)

GP | 102 min | Crime, Drama

Wanda, a lonely housewife, drifts through mining country until she meets a petty thief who takes her in.

Director: Barbara Loden | Stars: Barbara Loden, Michael Higgins, Dorothy Shupenes, Peter Shupenes

Votes: 5,703 | Gross: $0.05M

13. Vagabond (1985)

Not Rated | 105 min | Drama

A young woman's body is found frozen in a ditch. Through flashbacks and interviews, we see the events that led to her inevitable death.

Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Sandrine Bonnaire, Macha Méril, Stéphane Freiss, Setti Ramdane

Votes: 13,664

14. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

R | 157 min | Drama, History, Thriller

95 Metascore

A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong

Votes: 318,949 | Gross: $95.72M

15. Shrek (2001)

PG | 90 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

84 Metascore

A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back.

Directors: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson | Stars: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow

Votes: 734,284 | Gross: $267.67M

16. Salaam Bombay! (1988)

Not Rated | 113 min | Crime, Drama

78 Metascore

Young Krishna struggles to survive among the drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes in the back alleys and gutters of India.

Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Shafiq Syed, Anjaan, Amrit Patel, Murari Sharma

Votes: 10,093 | Gross: $2.08M

17. Europa Europa (1990)

R | 112 min | Drama, History, War

75 Metascore

A boy in Nazi Germany, trying to conceal that he is Jewish, joins the Hitler Youth.

Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Solomon Perel, Marco Hofschneider, René Hofschneider, André Wilms

Votes: 17,479 | Gross: $5.58M

18. Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

R | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

86 Metascore

A woman is suspected of murder after her husband's death; their half-blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness.

Director: Justine Triet | Stars: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner, Antoine Reinartz

Votes: 120,893

19. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

Not Rated | 14 min | Short, Fantasy, Mystery

A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.

Directors: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid | Stars: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid

Votes: 15,208

20. Gimme Shelter (1970)

GP | 91 min | Documentary, Music, Thriller

85 Metascore

When three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hells Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment was immortalized on this film.

Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts

Votes: 12,890 | Gross: $0.25M

21. My Brilliant Career (1979)

G | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

77 Metascore

A proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.

Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Wendy Hughes, Robert Grubb

Votes: 4,803

22. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

R | 122 min | Drama, Romance

95 Metascore

On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

Director: Céline Sciamma | Stars: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami, Valeria Golino

Votes: 109,632 | Gross: $3.76M

23. Toni Erdmann (2016)

R | 162 min | Comedy, Drama

93 Metascore

A practical joking father tries to reconnect with his hard working daughter by creating an outrageous alter ego and posing as her CEO's life coach.

Director: Maren Ade | Stars: Sandra Hüller, Peter Simonischek, Michael Wittenborn, Thomas Loibl

Votes: 52,054 | Gross: $1.48M

24. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)

Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, Mystery

92 Metascore

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

Directors: Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky | Stars: Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, Hanna Schygulla, János Derzsi

Votes: 15,943 | Gross: $0.03M

25. The Power of the Dog (2021)

R | 126 min | Drama, Western

89 Metascore

Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.

Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Votes: 193,839

26. Daisies (1966)

Not Rated | 75 min | Comedy

After realizing that all world is spoiled, Marie and Marie are committed to be spoiled themselves. They rip off older men, feast in lavish meals and do all kinds of mischief. But what is all this leading to?

Director: Vera Chytilová | Stars: Ivana Karbanová, Jitka Cerhová, Marie Cesková, Jirina Myskova

Votes: 15,405

27. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama

80 Metascore

A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.

Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris | Stars: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Abigail Breslin

Votes: 518,149 | Gross: $59.89M

28. The Gleaners & I (2000)

Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary

86 Metascore

Varda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.

Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: François Wertheimer, Agnès Varda, Jean La Planche, Bodan Litnanski

Votes: 8,800 | Gross: $0.15M

29. Monsoon Wedding (2001)

R | 114 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

77 Metascore

A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.

Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah, Vijay Raaz

Votes: 26,686 | Gross: $13.88M

30. Boys Don't Cry (1999)

R | 118 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

86 Metascore

A young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.

Director: Kimberly Peirce | Stars: Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III

Votes: 103,297 | Gross: $11.53M

31. Promising Young Woman (2020)

R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

72 Metascore

Nothing in Cassie's life is what it appears to be - she's wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she's living a secret double life. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs from the past.

Director: Emerald Fennell | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown

Votes: 211,740

32. Seven Beauties (1975)

R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, War

The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.

Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler, Elena Fiore

Votes: 6,487 | Gross: $0.01M

33. Swept Away (1974)

R | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

A trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.

Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Riccardo Salvino, Isa Danieli

Votes: 6,782

34. Past Lives (2023)

PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, Romance

94 Metascore

Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.

Director: Celine Song | Stars: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Moon Seung-ah

Votes: 114,933

35. Lady Bird (2017)

R | 94 min | Comedy, Drama

93 Metascore

In 2002, an artistically inclined 17-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.

Director: Greta Gerwig | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges

Votes: 328,996 | Gross: $48.96M

36. Winter's Bone (2010)

R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

90 Metascore

An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.

Director: Debra Granik | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garret Dillahunt, Isaiah Stone

Votes: 150,560 | Gross: $6.53M

37. Children of a Lesser God (1986)

R | 119 min | Drama, Romance

80 Metascore

A new speech teacher at a school for the deaf falls in love with the janitor, a deaf woman speechless by choice.

Director: Randa Haines | Stars: William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, Philip Bosco

Votes: 18,680 | Gross: $31.85M

38. Clueless (1995)

PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance

71 Metascore

Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.

Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd

Votes: 245,901 | Gross: $56.63M

39. American Splendor (2003)

R | 101 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

90 Metascore

An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.

Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ambrose

Votes: 52,364 | Gross: $6.00M

40. Fish Tank (2009)

Not Rated | 123 min | Drama

81 Metascore

Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.

Director: Andrea Arnold | Stars: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, Rebecca Griffiths

Votes: 65,046 | Gross: $0.37M

41. An Education (2009)

PG-13 | 100 min | Drama

85 Metascore

A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.

Director: Lone Scherfig | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams

Votes: 138,161 | Gross: $12.57M

42. Salesman (1969)

G | 91 min | Documentary, Drama

80 Metascore

Four dogged door-to-door Bible salesmen travel from Boston to Florida on a seemingly futile quest to sell luxury editions of the Good Book to working-class Catholics.

Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Paul Brennan, Charles McDevitt, James Baker, Raymond Martos

Votes: 5,708

43. The House Is Black (1963)

20 min | Documentary, Short

Set in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.

Director: Forugh Farrokhzad | Stars: Forugh Farrokhzad, Ebrahim Golestan, Hossein Mansouri

Votes: 5,565

44. Big (1988)

PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

73 Metascore

After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.

Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard

Votes: 239,997 | Gross: $114.97M

45. Entre Nous (1983)

PG | 110 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

A Jewish refugee marries a soldier to escape deportation to Germany. Meanwhile a wealthy art student loses her first husband to a stray Resistance bullet; at the Liberation she meets an actor, gets pregnant, and marries him.

Director: Diane Kurys | Stars: Miou-Miou, Isabelle Huppert, Guy Marchand, Jean-Pierre Bacri

Votes: 2,260

46. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama

71 Metascore

A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself.

Director: Susan Seidelman | Stars: Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, Mark Blum

Votes: 26,074 | Gross: $27.40M

47. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)

PG | 103 min | Documentary

80 Metascore

A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.

Director: Barbara Kopple | Stars: John L. Lewis, Carl Horn, Norman Yarborough, Logan Patterson

Votes: 6,632

48. Little Women (2019)

PG | 135 min | Drama, Romance

91 Metascore

Jo March reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms.

Director: Greta Gerwig | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen

Votes: 245,896 | Gross: $108.10M

49. The Kids Are All Right (2010)

R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

86 Metascore

Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.

Director: Lisa Cholodenko | Stars: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska

Votes: 134,443 | Gross: $20.81M

50. Antonia's Line (1995)

R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama

A Dutch matron establishes and, for several generations, oversees a close-knit, matriarchal community where feminism and liberalism thrive.

Director: Marleen Gorris | Stars: Willeke van Ammelrooy, Jan Decleir, Veerle van Overloop, Els Dottermans

Votes: 9,475 | Gross: $4.82M

51. An Angel at My Table (1990)

R | 158 min | Biography, Drama

79 Metascore

Janet Frame was a brilliant child who, as a teen, was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. Explore Janet's discovery of the world and her life in Europe as her books are published to acclaim.

Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, Iris Churn

Votes: 8,686 | Gross: $1.05M

52. Nowhere in Africa (2001)

R | 141 min | Biography, Drama, History

72 Metascore

Due to Hitler's threat, Walter Redlich, a Jewish lawyer, immigrates to Kenya with his wife Jettel and daughter Regina. Things take a turn when the family is ordered to move by the British officers.

Director: Caroline Link | Stars: Juliane Köhler, Merab Ninidze, Matthias Habich, Sidede Onyulo

Votes: 13,965 | Gross: $6.17M

53. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

R | 96 min | Documentary

Documentary that chronicles how Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) was plagued by extraordinary script, shooting, budget, and casting problems--nearly destroying the life and career of the celebrated director.

Directors: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor Coppola | Stars: Dennis Hopper, Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, George Lucas

Votes: 23,230 | Gross: $1.32M

54. The Heartbreak Kid (1972)

PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

74 Metascore

A newlywed man on his honeymoon has second thoughts about his marriage and falls for a different woman.

Director: Elaine May | Stars: Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin, Audra Lindley

Votes: 5,650 | Gross: $12.21M

55. The Asthenic Syndrome (1989)

153 min | Drama

In the old days it was called hypochrondria, or black melancholia. Now, apparently, it's termed the Asthenic Syndrome. Whatever it is, Nikolai, a teacher has got it, and it's not much fun.

Director: Kira Muratova | Stars: Sergei Popov, Olga Antonova, Galina Zakhurdaeva, Natalya Buzko

Votes: 1,404

56. Barbie (I) (2023)

PG-13 | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

80 Metascore

Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

Director: Greta Gerwig | Stars: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon

Votes: 536,157 | Gross: $636.24M

57. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama

61 Metascore

A group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs and rock n' roll.

Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Robert Romanus

Votes: 115,773 | Gross: $27.09M

58. Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)

Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

When a troupe of danseuses becomes unemployed, one of them takes up burlesque dancing while another dreams of performing ballet.

Directors: Dorothy Arzner, Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, Virginia Field

Votes: 3,080

59. Yentl (1983)

PG | 133 min | Drama, Musical, Romance

68 Metascore

A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.

Director: Barbra Streisand | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Amy Irving, Mandy Patinkin, Nehemiah Persoff

Votes: 15,863 | Gross: $40.22M

60. Capernaum (2018)

R | 126 min | Drama

75 Metascore

While serving a five-year sentence for a violent crime, a 12-year-old boy sues his parents for neglect.

Director: Nadine Labaki | Stars: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawsar Al Haddad

Votes: 105,413 | Gross: $1.66M

61. Whale Rider (2002)

PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, Family

80 Metascore

A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.

Director: Niki Caro | Stars: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis

Votes: 44,037 | Gross: $20.78M

62. Mädchen in Uniform (1931)

Passed | 87 min | Drama, Romance

At an all-girls boarding school, Manuela falls in love with a teacher, to terrific consequences.

Directors: Leontine Sagan, Carl Froelich | Stars: Dorothea Wieck, Hertha Thiele, Emilia Unda, Hedy Krilla

Votes: 3,738

63. Testament (1983)

PG | 90 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

71 Metascore

The life of a suburban American family is scarred after a nuclear attack.

Director: Lynne Littman | Stars: Jane Alexander, William Devane, Rossie Harris, Roxana Zal

Votes: 7,218 | Gross: $2.04M

64. White Material (2009)

Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, War

81 Metascore

Amidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.

Director: Claire Denis | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Lambert, Isaach De Bankolé, Nicolas Duvauchelle

Votes: 8,426 | Gross: $0.30M

65. A New Leaf (1971)

G | 102 min | Comedy, Romance

Henry Graham lives the life of a playboy. When his lawyer tells him one day that his lifestyle has consumed all his funds, he needs an idea to avoid climbing down the social ladder. So he intends to marry a rich woman and - murder her.

Director: Elaine May | Stars: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose

Votes: 7,641

66. India Song (1975)

Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Anne-Marie Stretter, wife of a French diplomat, lives in 1930s India. She takes many lovers as systems of oppression decay around her.

Director: Marguerite Duras | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Michael Lonsdale, Mathieu Carrière, Claude Mann

Votes: 2,581

67. Awakenings (1990)

PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama

74 Metascore

The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.

Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson

Votes: 158,780 | Gross: $52.10M

68. Morvern Callar (2002)

R | 97 min | Drama

78 Metascore

After her beloved boyfriend's suicide, a mourning supermarket worker and her best friend hit the road in Scotland, but find that grief is something that you can't run away from forever.

Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire, Paul Popplewell

Votes: 11,046 | Gross: $0.27M

69. Women Talking (2022)

PG-13 | 104 min | Drama

77 Metascore

Do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling a brutal reality with their faith.

Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand

Votes: 41,979

70. The Ascent (1977)

111 min | Drama, War

Two Soviet partisans on a mission to gather food contend with the winter cold, the occupying Germans, and their own psyches.

Director: Larisa Shepitko | Stars: Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergey Yakovlev, Lyudmila Polyakova

Votes: 10,111

71. Mustang (2015)

PG-13 | 97 min | Drama

83 Metascore

When five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.

Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven | Stars: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan

Votes: 40,904 | Gross: $0.85M

72. Stories We Tell (2012)

PG-13 | 108 min | Documentary

91 Metascore

A film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.

Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Michael Polley, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley

Votes: 14,116 | Gross: $1.60M

73. Petite Maman (2021)

PG | 73 min | Drama, Fantasy

93 Metascore

Nelly has just lost her grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother's childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods. One day she meets a girl her age building a tree-house.

Director: Céline Sciamma | Stars: Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina Meurisse, Stéphane Varupenne

Votes: 17,701

74. One Night in Miami... (2020)

R | 114 min | Drama

83 Metascore

A fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s.

Director: Regina King | Stars: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.

Votes: 34,283

75. CODA (2021)

PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

72 Metascore

As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her passion at Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.

Director: Sian Heder | Stars: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant

Votes: 164,978

76. Mikey and Nicky (1976)

R | 106 min | Crime, Drama

81 Metascore

Nicky is on the run from the mob, and he turns to old pal Mikey for help.

Director: Elaine May | Stars: Rose Arrick, Carol Grace, William Hickey, Sanford Meisner

Votes: 7,191

77. Girlfriends (1978)

PG | 88 min | Comedy, Drama

A photographer and her girlfriend are roommates. She is stuck with small-change shooting jobs and dreams of success. When her roommate decides to get married and leave, she feels hurt and has to learn how to deal with living alone.

Director: Claudia Weill | Stars: Melanie Mayron, Eli Wallach, Adam Cohen, Anita Skinner

Votes: 3,086

78. Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)

101 min | Drama, History, War

97 Metascore

Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp.

Director: Jasmila Zbanic | Stars: Jasna Djuricic, Izudin Bajrovic, Boris Ler, Dino Bajrovic

Votes: 38,203

79. Little Fugitive (1953)

Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Family

91 Metascore

A young boy fears that he shot his older brother, who is only faking. He then runs away to Coney Island, a crowded beach area, and gets money by returning soda bottles for their deposits.

Directors: Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin | Stars: Richard Brewster, Winifred Cushing, Jay Williams, Will Lee

Votes: 3,034 | Gross: $0.03M

80. Paris Is Burning (1990)

R | 78 min | Documentary

82 Metascore

A chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.

Director: Jennie Livingston | Stars: Brooke Xtravaganza, André Christian, Dorian Corey, Paris Duprée

Votes: 17,611 | Gross: $3.78M

81. First Cow (2019)

PG-13 | 122 min | Drama, Western

90 Metascore

A skilled cook has traveled west and joined a group of fur trappers in Oregon, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune. Soon the two collaborate on a successful business.

Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Alia Shawkat, John Magaro, Dylan Smith, Ryan Findley

Votes: 21,970

82. The Farewell (I) (2019)

PG | 100 min | Comedy, Drama

89 Metascore

A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.

Director: Lulu Wang | Stars: Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo, Hong Lu

Votes: 71,151 | Gross: $16.88M

83. Little Women (1994)

PG | 115 min | Drama, Family, Romance

87 Metascore

The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America.

Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes

Votes: 63,596 | Gross: $50.08M

84. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975)

R | 106 min | Crime, Drama

A young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist.

Directors: Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta | Stars: Angela Winkler, Mario Adorf, Dieter Laser, Jürgen Prochnow

Votes: 4,890

85. Selma (2014)

PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History

79 Metascore

A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.

Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson

Votes: 95,475 | Gross: $52.08M

86. Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)

R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama

76 Metascore

A lonely shoe salesman and an eccentric performance artist struggle to connect in this unique take on contemporary life.

Director: Miranda July | Stars: John Hawkes, Miranda July, Miles Thompson, Brandon Ratcliff

Votes: 37,430 | Gross: $3.89M

87. Aftersun (II) (2022)

R | 102 min | Drama

95 Metascore

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't...

Director: Charlotte Wells | Stars: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Sally Messham

Votes: 93,716

88. Animal Farm (1954)

Approved | 72 min | Animation, Drama

A successful farmyard revolution by the resident animals vs. the farmer goes horribly wrong when the victors create a new tyranny among themselves.

Directors: Joy Batchelor, John Halas | Stars: Gordon Heath, Maurice Denham

Votes: 18,999

89. Microcosmos (1996)

Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary

87 Metascore

A documentary on insect life in meadows and ponds.

Directors: Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou | Stars: Kristin Scott Thomas, Jacques Perrin

Votes: 11,651 | Gross: $1.57M

90. Saint Omer (2022)

PG-13 | 122 min | Drama

91 Metascore

Follows Rama, a novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the Saint-Omer Criminal Court to use her story to write a modern-day adaptation of the ancient myth of Medea, but things don't go as expected.

Director: Alice Diop | Stars: Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit

Votes: 5,061

91. The Act of Killing (2012)

Not Rated | 117 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime

92 Metascore

A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

Directors: Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, Christine Cynn | Stars: Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Syamsul Arifin, Ibrahim Sinik

Votes: 40,810 | Gross: $0.49M

92. Daughters of the Dust (1991)

TV-PG | 113 min | Drama, History, Romance

81 Metascore

A languid, impressionistic story of three generations of Gullah women living on the South Carolina Sea Islands in 1902.

Director: Julie Dash | Stars: Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers, Barbarao, Trula Hoosier

Votes: 3,290 | Gross: $1.64M

93. Trouble the Water (2008)

Unrated | 93 min | Documentary

83 Metascore

A redemptive tale of an aspiring rap artist surviving failed levees and her own troubled past and seizing a chance for a new beginning.

Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin | Stars: Michael Brown, George W. Bush, Julie Chen Moonves, Ray Nagin

Votes: 2,071 | Gross: $0.52M

94. Too Early/Too Late (1981)

G | 100 min | Documentary

A sequence of shots of rural landscapes accompanied by readings of texts about the struggles of poor farmers.

Directors: Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub | Stars: Danièle Huillet, Bahgat Elnadi, Gérard Samaan, Gamal Abdel Nasser

Votes: 667

95. Brothers (2004)

R | 117 min | Drama, War

76 Metascore

Two brothers must negotiate changing roles and shifting family dynamics when one is sent to war in Afghanistan.

Director: Susanne Bier | Stars: Ulrich Thomsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Connie Nielsen, Sarah Juel Werner

Votes: 11,814 | Gross: $0.38M

96. In a Better World (2010)

R | 118 min | Drama, Romance

65 Metascore

The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.

Director: Susanne Bier | Stars: Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Markus Rygaard, Wil Johnson

Votes: 41,690 | Gross: $1.01M

97. The Cool World (1963)

105 min | Crime, Drama

A look at the horrors of Harlem ghetto slum life filled with drugs, violence, human misery, and a sense of despair due to the racial prejudices of American society.

Director: Shirley Clarke | Stars: Rony Clanton, Carl Lee, Yolanda Rodríguez, Clarence Williams III

Votes: 661

98. Jacquot of Nantes (1991)

PG | 118 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

A boy growing up in Nantes during World War II around his father's auto shop has a love for puppet shows and cinema and develops it into his own art. Jacques Demy, the artist at the end of his life, reflects on his childhood influences.

Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Philippe Maron, Edouard Joubeaud, Laurent Monnier, Brigitte De Villepoix

Votes: 1,998 | Gross: $0.15M

99. Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004)

R | 85 min | Documentary, Biography, News

78 Metascore

Two documentary filmmakers chronicle their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta and the relationships they developed with children of prostitutes who work the city's notorious red light district.

Directors: Zana Briski, Ross Kauffman | Stars: Kochi, Avijit Halder, Shanti Das, Manik

Votes: 18,006 | Gross: $3.41M

100. 35 Shots of Rum (2008)

Unrated | 100 min | Drama

92 Metascore

The relationship between a father and daughter is complicated by the arrival of a handsome young man.

Director: Claire Denis | Stars: Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Nicole Dogué, Grégoire Colin

Votes: 5,277 | Gross: $0.18M



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