100 best dramas of all time, according to critics

Charles K. Feldman Group This compilation of the 100 best movie dramas of all time shows the deep richness of films made since the beginning of the last century, from countries across the globe. Stacker compiled data on all feature-length dramas with at least seven critic reviews through Metacritic and ranked them according to Metascore, with ties broken internally by Metacritic, where the data goes further than what’s presented online. Data is from November 2022. The top picks come from the United States, Europe, and Asia, and run the gamut from silent Soviet movies to animated features such as “Dumbo.” The collection continues with crime-heavy films ranging from “Reversal of Fortune,” covering the murder trial of Claus von Bülow, to dramas tackling war, such as “The Hurt Locker.” Charlie Chaplin’s genius shines through without dialogue even as talkies were beginning to make their appearance in such releases as “City Lights” and “Modern Times,” which considered the social and economic effects of the then-new assembly lines. Among the more current films, 2020’s “Nomadland” takes an updated look at some of those same issues–in this case, the uncertainty of today’s economy, which leaves older Americans scrambling for work. The character played by Frances McDormand is left rudderless after the gypsum plant in her hometown closes. A group of Chinese and Japanese releases made the list, some by the noted director Akira Kurosawa. He described his “Rashomon” as a reflection of life, where meanings are sometimes unclear. His “Seven Samurai” merged the characteristics of American Westerns with Japanese traditions such as the swordplay drama. Westerns made in the United States looked at some fundamental questions of the country, including the meaning of law and democracy and the still-open question of the place of guns in our society. Other movies on the list focus on love, greed, and fear–emotions that know no boundaries and are common to all of our lives. Read on to find out which of the films you’ve seen and whether you agree with critics. You may also like: 100 best Western films of all time #100. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) Mercury Productions – Director: Orson Welles – Metascore: 93 – Runtime: 88 minutes In this movie about the dwindling fortune of a wealthy Midwestern family, a woman is kept from the man she loves by her heir. RKO executives decided they needed to cut the film and redo the ending, and chopped 43 minutes while director Orson Welles was in Brazil. Welles later lamented, “They destroyed ‘Ambersons’ and they destroyed me.” The search is still on for the missing footage, as fans have long clamored for a look at the original print, with Welles’ more downbeat ending. #99. Reversal of Fortune (1990) Greenwich Film Productions – Director: Luis Buñuel – Metascore: 93 – Runtime: 102 minutes “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” can be described as a plotless series of dreams of six middle-class people trying to have a meal together. It includes a few of what director Luis Buñuel said were his recurring dreams, such as preparing to take the stage to act in a role he doesn’t know, and following his dead cousin into a house full of cobwebs after meeting him on the street. You may also like: Incredible filming locations from popular movies #95. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Toho Company – Director: Yasujir Ozu – Metascore: 94 – Runtime: 125 minutes Japanese director Yasujir Ozu began making movies in the 1920s, dabbling in genres from comedy to drama. But it was after World War II that his films began to share similar concepts, grappling with post-war Japan and loss, multi-generational relationships, and women’s rights. “Early Summer” is considered one of Ozu’s most ambitious projects and ties the themes he explored throughout his career into one story. #91. The French Connection (1971) Films en Stock – Director: Olivier Assayas – Metascore: 94 – Runtime: 334 minutes This movie–which originally aired as a TV miniseries–features Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as Carlos the Jackal, a Venezuelan revolutionary who founded a global terrorist network and raided the 1975 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting. He was a Marxist dedicated to the Palestinian cause. Roger Ebert wrote that for Carlos, “his religion and his cause were the same, and they were himself. This is a terrifying portrait of an egomaniac who demands absolute obedience, and craves it even more when his power and relevance are drained away.” #88. Chimes at Midnight (1967) The Mirisch Corporation – Director: Billy Wilder – Metascore: 94 – Runtime: 125 minutes Inspired by the British romantic drama “Brief Encounter,” written by Noël Coward, “The Apartment” centers on C.C. Baxter, an insurance accountant and bachelor played by Jack Lemmon, who lets his bosses use his apartment for their affairs. When director and co-writer Billy Wilder saw “Brief Encounter,” he wondered about the unknown character who had lent the apartment for the extramarital affair. #84. Meet Me in St. Louis (1945) Shinchosha Company – Director: Isao Takahata – Metascore: 94 – Runtime: 89 minutes A Japanese anime, “Grave of the Fireflies” was based on Akiyuki Nosaka’s 1967 short story of the same name. It tells the story of two orphans trying to get through the final months of World War II. Roger Ebert wrote that it belonged on any list of the greatest war films ever made. Director Isao Takahata himself lived through a terrible air attack on his hometown of Okayama. #78. The Irishman (2019) Amusement Park Films – Director: Mike Leigh – Metascore: 94 – Runtime: 150 minutes The movie recounts the last 25 years of the life of painter J.M.W. Turner, who died in 1851. Among his achievements? He once had himself tied to the mast of a ship before he painted a snow storm. He also turned down 100,000 pounds for his work to instead donate it to Great Britain, even though Queen Victoria detested his work. The actor who played Turner, Timothy Spall, took private art lessons from a British artist for about two years to prepare for the role. #76. Pulp Fiction (1994) John Springer Collection // Corbis via Getty Images – Director: John Frankenheimer – Metascore: 94 – Runtime: 126 minutes Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh star in this political thriller about a former prisoner of war who is brainwashed into becoming an assassin for communists. The movie was not released in many of the former “Iron Curtain” countries until after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1993, because of the political nature of the plot. #74. The Servant (1964) Columbia Pictures – Director: Martin Scorsese – Metascore: 94 – Runtime: 114 minutes Robert De Niro plays a disturbed Vietnam veteran who drives a taxi cab overnight in New York City, alongside Jodie Foster as an underage prostitute. Vietnam Veterans of America called De Niro’s character “perhaps Hollywood’s most psychotic Vietnam veteran (and that’s saying something).” Screenwriter Paul Schrader told The Hollywood Reporter that he thought of the cab as a “metal coffin that moved through the city with this kid who seems to be in the middle of society but is in fact all alone.” Scorsese and others squatted in the back of the cab to film, while the sound man was in the trunk. #72. 45 Years (2015) Sony Pictures Classics – Director: Richard Linklater – Metascore: 94 – Runtime: 109 minutes This is the third in a series starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, a couple who meet in their 20s and now are at the end of a family vacation in Greece. The romantic drama began with “Before Sunrise” in 1995, and was followed by “Before Sunset” in 2004. The movie is dedicated to Amy Lehrhaupt, who inspired the first film. She and Richard Linklater had lost touch and he learned in 2010 that she had died only a few weeks before he started shooting “Before Sunrise.” #67. Carol (2015) BBC Films – Director: Charlotte Wells – Metascore: 95 – Runtime: 102 minutes “Aftersun” is Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut, and it’s a gem. The movie shares the story of 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) and her father Calum (Paul Mescal) taking a trip to Turkey, and her reflection on the moment and her relationship with her dad 20 years later. When speaking about the story’s inspiration, Wells, who lost her father as a teenager, said: “It’s not autobiographical, per se, but I think of it as being emotionally autobiographical. And, over the course of writing, I got more and more of myself into both characters.” You may also like: Mistakes from the 50 best movies of all time #65. La Dolce Vita (1961) Paramount Pictures – Director: Billy Wilder – Metascore: 95 – Runtime: 107 minutes This film noir features murder and insurance fraud, and an insurance representative seduced into the scheme. The plot was based on the 1920s murder trial of Ruth Snyder, which author James M. Cain turned into a novel. She was later executed in the electric chair in Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York and was photographed by the New York Daily News as she died. It was the first photograph of an execution in an electric chair. #63. A Separation (2011) Otto Preminger Films – Director: Otto Preminger – Metascore: 95 – Runtime: 161 minutes When an Army lieutenant is accused of murdering a bartender, his defense is temporary insanity. Then more problems arise. The police surgeon finds no evidence and a lawyer discovers the lieutenant is exceedingly jealous and his wife is a flirt. You may also like: Famous movie quotes from the year you were born #60. The Hurt Locker (2009) British Film Institute (BRI) – Director: Sarah Gavron – Metascore: 95 – Runtime: 93 minutes This coming-of-age movie is set in London, where a teenager takes care of her younger brother after their mother leaves. Critic Carlos Aguilar wrote in the Los Angeles Times that it “differentiates itself from other recent explorations of modern girlhood set amid immigrant communities.” It won awards from the British Independent Film Awards and at the Brussels and Dublin film festivals. #57. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) Lilies Films – Director: Céline Sciamma – Metascore: 95 – Runtime: 122 minutes A painter is commissioned to create a wedding portrait of a young woman at the end of the 18th century in Brittany. The portrait is meant to be completed in secret, but a romance develops between the painter and her subject. In real life, director Céline Sciamma and Adèle Haenel, who plays the bride-to-be Heloise, are former lovers who parted on good terms. #56. My Fair Lady (1964) Universal Pictures – Director: James Whale – Metascore: 95 – Runtime: 75 minutes Dr. Frankenstein and his monster are not dead but have survived, and Dr. Frankenstein is forced by the mad Dr. Pretorius to create a woman to be the monster’s companion. She is played by Elsa Lanchester, pulling double duty as Mary Shelley in the movie’s opening. #51. Lovers Rock (2020) BBC Programs – Director: Steve McQueen – Metascore: 95 – Runtime: 70 minutes “Lovers Rock” looks at Black life in Britain in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, following a woman named Martha attending a party. The name refers to a music genre, a romantic version of reggae created by British-born children of Caribbean immigrants. The house parties drew young people who were not welcome at the white clubs, and the Janet Kay song “Silly Games” is at its center. The movie is the second in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” series. #50. Modern Times (1936) Igor Film – Director: Gillo Pontecorvo – Metascore: 96 – Runtime: 121 minutes The people of Algiers are fighting for independence from France, with the National Liberation Front or FLN leading the resistance. The violence increases with torture and bombings. The story is mostly told through two figures, Ali La Pointe, a real Algerian revolutionary, on one side, and on the other, Colonel Mathieu, a composite character of multiple French counterinsurgency officers. #47. Sansho the Bailiff (1955) Daiei Studios – Director: Kenji Mizoguchi – Metascore: 96 – Runtime: 124 minutes Kenji Mizoguchi made nearly 90 films throughout his prolific career, and one of his most critically acclaimed is “Sansho Dayu” (known as “Sansho the Bailiff” in the U.S.). The 1955 Japanese period piece is an adaptation of a 1915 short story where two aristocratic children are sold into slavery. #46. Mean Streets (1973) Twentieth Century Fox – Director: John Ford – Metascore: 96 – Runtime: 129 minutes Based on John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Grapes of Wrath” follows a poor family forced off their land in the Midwest, who travel to California during the Great Depression. #43. Nashville (1975) Charles Burnett Productions – Director: Charles Burnett – Metascore: 96 – Runtime: 80 minutes “Killer of Sheep” captures Los Angeles’ Watts neighborhood in the mid-1970s. Life in Watts is seen through Stan, who is worn down by working in a slaughterhouse. Discouraged by money problems, he takes joy in small moments. “The film offers no solutions; it merely presents life–sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with transcendent joy and gentle humor,” according to its website. It was shot on location in Watts on a budget of less than $10,000, most of it grant money. #41. Manchester by the Sea (2016) A24 – Director: Barry Jenkins – Metascore: 99 – Runtime: 111 minutes The story tracks three periods of Chiron’s life: his adolescence, his mid-teenage years, and finally young adulthood. The three actors who played Chiron barely even met during production, according to The Associated Press. The movie is based on a play by MacArthur Fellow Tarell Alvin McCraney, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue,” which had not been produced. You may also like: 100 best American movies of all time #14. City Lights (1931) Paul Gregory Productions – Director: Charles Laughton – Metascore: 99 – Runtime: 92 minutes A widow’s children resist telling their mother’s new husband, a preacher, where their father hid the $10,000 he stole. The preacher character was inspired by Dutch-born serial killer Harry Powers. #12. Fanny and Alexander (1982) RKO Radio Pictures – Director: Alfred Hitchcock – Metascore: 100 – Runtime: 102 minutes In this post-wartime drama, a woman is asked to spy on Nazis in South Africa. To clarify a plot point, writer Ben Hecht and director Alfred Hitchcock approached Nobel Prize-winning physicist Robert Millikan about how to make an atomic bomb. Millikan would not say but agreed that the uranium could fit in a wine bottle. #9. Three Colors: Red (1994) Warner Bros. – Director: Michael Curtiz – Metascore: 100 – Runtime: 102 minutes This classic features Rick Blaine, an expatriate cafe owner played by Humphrey Bogart, and his former lover, Ingrid Bergman, who is trying to flee Casablanca with her husband at the beginning of World War II. The movie includes Rick’s memorable line, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” and the song, “As Time Goes By,” played by Dooley Wilson as Sam. “Casablanca” won three Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. You may also like: 100 greatest movie songs from 100 years of film #5. The Leopard (1963) RKO Radio Pictures – Director: Orson Welles – Metascore: 100 – Runtime: 119 minutes The final word from newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is one the best-known in film history: rosebud. A reporter works to decipher its meaning and to illuminate Kane’s life. #3. The Godfather (1972)