30 Movies from the Past 10 Years Everyone Should Watch at Least Once

By Caroline Rogers
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If you’re looking for great movies, look no further. I’ve compiled a list of fantastic films from the past ten years—critical favorites, award winners, and overlooked marvels from across the genres. These films are on their way to becoming must-sees for the next generation. If you’re looking for a list of already-recognized classics, check out my list of 50 Classic Movies Everyone Should Watch in Their Lifetime. It’s also full of cinematic treasures. With all of these recommendations, you should be able to fill up your queue for the foreseeable future.

These films will transport you. They’re conversation starters, tour-de-forces, and genre-benders. They’ll surprise, delight, and challenge. Watch these movies, and you’ll wonder—how’d the director do it? There are films from the minds of Paul Thomas Anderson, Greta Gerwig, Barry Jenkins, Richard Ayode, Ava DuVernay, and the Coen brothers. They star Alicia Vikander, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Viola Davis—I could go on and on. These are movies everyone should see at least once, but they’re so good, so thought provoking, so stirring, you’ll want to re-watch them immediately. Better clear your weekend schedule and pop a bowl of popcorn. You have some viewing to do.  

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1 of 31

The Last Station (2009)

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To buy: $12.99, amazon.com

Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren star in this biopic of the last days of Leo Tolstoy, which is based on the 1990 novel The Last Station by Jay Parini.

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2 of 31

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

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To buy: $13.99, amazon.com

Directed by Behn Zeitlin and co-written by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar, Beasts of the Southern Wild follows six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), before and during the aftermath of a storm that threatens the Bathtub, the Lousiana bayou community in which they live. 

3 of 31

Frances Ha (2012)

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To buy: $19.98, amazon.com

A young woman named Frances navigates life after her relationship with her best friend, Sophie, begins to fade in this black-and-white marvel directed by Noah Baumbach, starring Greta Gerwig, and written by them both.

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4 of 31

The Master (2012)

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To buy: $7.99, amazon.com

Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2012 film showcases two stunning star performances by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix accompanied by an unforgettable turn by Amy Adams.

5 of 31

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

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To buy: $12.99, amazon.com

Kathryn Bigelow directs this taut, based-on-a-true-account thriller that follows the efforts of a CIA analyst (Jessica Chastain) to locate hidden al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the years after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

6 of 31

12 Years a Slave (2013)

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To buy: $8.99, amazon.com

Based on the 1853 book of the same name by Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave is directed by Steve McQueen and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a free man who is abducted in Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery in the years before the Civil War.

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7 of 31

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

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To buy: $12.99, amazon.com

Oscar Isaac stars as Llewyn Davis, a musician moving through the folk music scene in 1960s Greenwich Village, in this atmospheric and music-laced film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.

8 of 31

The Double (2013)

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To buy: $12.22, amazon.com

Richard Ayode directs this stylish, funny, and rather haunting take on a novella of the same name by Dostoyevsky.

9 of 31

The Great Beauty (2013)

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To buy: $24.95, amazon.com

Set in Rome and directed by Paolo Sorrentino, The Great Beauty is a meditation on beauty, time, and Rome itself.

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10 of 31

A Most Violent Year (2014)

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To buy: $12.99, amazon.com

Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain star in this J.C. Chandor-directed film about corruption in New York in 1981, reportedly the most violent year in the city’s history.

11 of 31

August: Osage County (2014)

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To buy: $9.99, amazon.com

Based on the play by Tracy Letts, August: Osage County stars Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in a tale of an Oklahoma family shaken by loss and haunted by secrets.

12 of 31

Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

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To buy: $12.99, amazon.com

Olivier Assayas directs this moving, poetic meditation on the passage of time. It stars Juliette Binoche as an actress returning to a play she acted in decades before, and Kristin Stewart appears as her assistant.

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13 of 31

Force Majeure (2014)

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To buy: $12.99, amazon.com

Directed by Ruben Östlund, this dark comedy follows the aftermath of an avalanche—and a father’s reaction to it, which has repercussions for his family long after the snow has settled.   

14 of 31

Selma (2014)

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To buy: $9.99, amazon.com

David Oyelowo embodies Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Selma, the story of the march from Selma to Montgomery—a pivotal point of the Civil Rights Movement—brought to life by director Ava DuVernay.

15 of 31

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

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To buy: $9.99, amazon.com

A masterpiece from the mind of Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel follows the exploits of Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), a concierge at the titular hotel, and lobby boy Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), both of whom encounter great adventures and dangers during their tenure.

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16 of 31

Two Days, One Night (2014)

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To buy: $27.99, amazon.com

Marion Cotillard stars in this story—written and directed by the Dardenne brothers—of a factory worker who, in an attempt to keep her job, must visit each of her colleagues over the course of a weekend and convince them to turn down a substantial bonus.

17 of 31

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

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To stream: netflix.com

Written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation is set in Africa in the midst of a civil war. It tells the story of a warlord, played by Idris Elba, and a child soldier, played by Abraham Attah, who is caught in the conflict.

18 of 31

Brooklyn (2015)

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To buy: $14.98, amazon.com

Saoirse Ronan stars as Eilis Lace, an Irish immigrant navigating homesickness and love in 1950s Brooklyn, in this painterly adaptation of Colm Tóibín's novel of the same name.

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19 of 31

Ex Machina (2015)

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To buy: $14.99, amazon.com

At turns chilling and mesmerizing, Ex Machina follows a programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) who is invited to the secluded home of a brilliant CEO (Oscar Isaac) to participate in an experiment in which he comes face to face with a mysterious A.I. (Alicia Vikander).

20 of 31

Inside Out (2015)

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To buy: $29.99, amazon.com

From the team at Pixar comes this animated tale about what happens inside the head of an 11-year-old girl when her family moves from the Midwest to San Francisco.

21 of 31

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

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To buy: $19.98, amazon.com

The most recent installment of George Miller's Mad Max franchise has been the most cinematically arresting. It’s a thrilling chase on the Fury Road with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), those they’re helping to escape, and those who’ll stop at nothing to catch them.

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22 of 31

A Bigger Splash (2016)

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To buy: $9.49, amazon.com

The lives of a rock star (Tilda Swinton), her boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts), her ex (Ralph Fiennes), and his daughter (Dakota Johnson) collide on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria—to disastrous effect—in this film from director Luca Guadagnino.

23 of 31

Certain Women (2016)

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To buy: $22.99, amazon.com

Kelly Reichardt directs this spare, moving adaptation composed of three short stories by Maile Meloy. It was filmed in Montana and stars Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Lily Gladstone, and Kristen Stewart.

24 of 31

Fences (2016)

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To buy: $21.99, amazon.com

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis star in this vital film about family, struggle, and disappointment set in 1950s Pittsburg, which is written by August Wilson and based on Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences. 

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25 of 31

Maggie’s Plan (2016)

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To buy: $19.99, amazon.com

Rebecca Miller directs this spirited screwball comedy about the limits of planning, which stars Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, and Julianne Moore as people falling into and out of love.

26 of 31

Moonlight (2016)

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To buy: $24.99, amazon.com

Directed and penned by Barry Jenkins, Moonlight follows three periods in the life of a young man named Chiron (Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, and Alex Hibbert) as he grows up in Miami and encounters both struggle and support in relationships along the way.

27 of 31

Get Out (2017)

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To buy: $19.98, amazon.com

Writer-director Jordan Peele’s 2017 tour de force takes its inspiration from countless horror classics while creating something utterly new, a social thriller about racism in America starring Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams.  

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28 of 31

Lady Bird (2017)

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To buy: $14.99, amazon.com

Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird tells the story of one Sacramento teen’s senior year, her complex relationship with her mother, and her journey to college on the East Coast.

29 of 31

Mudbound (2017)

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To stream: netflix.com

Directed by Dee Rees and written by Rees and Virgil Williams, Mudbound is set in the Mississippi Delta in 1946 and examines poverty, racism, and PTSD in the lives of two veterans at the close of World War II.

30 of 31

Call Me By Your Name (2018)

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To buy: $14.99, amazon.com

Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer star in this Luca Guadagnino-directed adaptation of an André Aciman novel of the same name, which follows a burgeoning relationship between a young man and the researcher who is visiting his family’s Italian villa for the summer.

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