Fri. May 3rd, 2024


Rotten Tomatoes critics, including our own Chris Bumbray, have picked the best movies of the last 25 years.

Rotten Tomatoes, Best Movies

Some might say it’s impossible to craft a best movie list that everyone agrees with, but that doesn’t stop us from reading them and letting everyone know how wrong they are. In celebration of their 25th anniversary, Rotten Tomatoes has created a list of the best movies of the last 25 years. Approved Tomatometer critics (including our own Chris Bumbray) were asked to choose their top five movies in no particular order. The votes were then tallied and narrowed down to the 25 most popular selections.

You can check out the Rotten Tomatoes list of the best movies of the last 25 years below:

  1. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
  2. Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)
  3. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
  4. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
  5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma)
  6. In the Mood for Love (Kar-Wai Wong)
  7. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki)
  8. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro)
  9. The Matrix (The Wachowskis)
  10. The Social Network (David Fincher)
  11. No Country for Old Men (Joel & Ethan Coen)
  12. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
  13. Get Out (Jordan Peele)
  14. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
  15. Everything Everywhere All Once (The Daniels)
  16. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)
  17. Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)
  18. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen)
  19. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson)
  20. Zodiac (David Fincher)
  21. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
  22. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
  23. Paddington 2 (Paul King)
  24. Black Panther (Ryan Coogler)
  25. Arrival (Denis Villeneuve)

All in all, it’s an excellent selection of films from some very talented filmmakers. In addition to casting his vote for the best movies of the last 25 years, Chris Bumbray and the rest of the polled critics also picked their top five favourite TV shows of the last 25 years. As you might expect, Breaking Bad topped the list but shows such as The Wire, Game of Thrones, The Office, The Leftovers, BoJack Horseman, and more made up the rest. You can check out the complete TV list right here.

Which movies released in the last 25 years were snubbed from the Rotten Tomatoes list? While we’re at it, please give us your list of the best movies of the last 25 years in the comments below!

By Dave Jenks

Dave Jenks is an American novelist and Veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Between those careers, he’s worked as a deckhand, commercial fisherman, divemaster, taxi driver, construction manager, and over the road truck driver, among many other things. He now lives on a sea island, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, with his wife and youngest daughter. They also have three grown children, five grand children, three dogs and a whole flock of parakeets. Stinnett grew up in Melbourne, Florida and has also lived in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Cozumel, Mexico. His next dream is to one day visit and dive Cuba.