Photo by Myke Simon

I’ve been feeling burned out politically. My hope is the November 4 election results are a sign the American public is increasingly rejecting President Donald Trump’s authoritarian ambitions. Still, I feel exhausted and, for the moment, at least, my view of what change is possible in the near future is a lot more modest than it was a couple of years ago. All I want to do is to go into a kind of political hibernation.

To counteract this, I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to do less doomscrolling and spend more time engaged in seemingly frivolous pursuits. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of publications assemble lists of the best films of the 21st century, now that we’re a quarter of the way through. It’s an interesting exercise that I wanted to replicate here by naming my 25 favorite movies of the new millennium. However, before I get to my list, I wanted to mention a few qualifications.

The first is the choices are necessarily subjective. If I did this exercise a month from now, my picks might be dramatically different. Many publications ranked their lists, but that was too difficult for me, so I’m providing my choices in chronological order. Further, there are so many great films from this era I haven’t seen. As just one example, I haven’t caught up with this year’s One Battle After Another, which is getting rave reviews. All that said, here is my list.

Love & Basketball — Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s feature debut is a wonderful sports drama, released in 2000, starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps as a couple trying to balance their relationship with athletic ambitions.

Chicken Run — Also released at the turn of the millennium, this is a stop motion classic from directors Peter Lord and Nick Park, about animals trying to escape from a farm. Julia Sawalha And Mel Gibson lead the voice cast.

Spirited Away — Hayao Miyazaki oversaw the 2001 animated film about a girl who enters a magical realm, in which her parents are transformed into pigs and she is forced to work in a bathhouse to free them.

The Fellowship of the Ring — It’s tough to know what entry in Peter Jackson’s masterful adaptation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy to go with, but I settled on the first, which came to theaters in 2001.

City of God — I recall some reviewer calling this 2002 crime epic the Brazilian Goodfellas, which seems about right. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund got remarkable performances from their primarily amateur cast.

Signs — M. Night Shyamalan’s 2002 meditation on faith in the context of an alien invasion is far and away my favorite of his films. Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix play a pair of brothers trying to survive with the former’s children.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — It’s a quirky, 2004 romantic drama, directed by Michael Gondry, about a man, played by Jim Carrey, who undergoes a medical procedure to forget his ex-girlfriend, played by Kate Winslet.

Pan’s Labrynth — Ivana Baquero stars in Guillermo Del Toro’s 2006 dark fairy tale, set in fascist Spain during World War II. The creature design is very creative and off-putting, which assumably was the goal.

The Departed — Martin Scorsese finally won his Oscar for this excellent crime thriller, released in 2006, about the Boston criminal underworld. The cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson.

Knocked Up — I wanted to include a Judd Apatow comedy and the 2007 film might be my favorite of his work. Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigel play an unlikely couple who conceive a child after a drunken one-night stand.

WALL-E — I love the prolonged, wordless opening of the 2008 animated film, directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a trash-collecting robot on an uninhabitable Earth that falls for a visiting droid.

Toy Story 3 — Lee Unkrich helmed the 2010 entry in the series, where Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang accidentally find themselves in a daycare donation bin. I found the ending to be especially poignant.

Never Let Me Go — Released later the same year, Mark Romanek’s dystopian romance is an exploration of mortality. Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield star. I want to read the book it’s based on.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes — Rupert Wyatt directed the 2011 franchise reboot. With the help of groundbreaking computer-generated imagery, Andy Serkis plays a chimpanzee who leads a rebellion against humanity.

Skyfall — Sam Mendes’ 2012 film might be the best entry in the James Bond series. Daniel Craig plays an injured, over-the-hill spy who investigates an attack on MI6, carried out by Javier Bardem’s villain.

Noah — Russell Crowe plays the titular character in this vegan interpretation of the Book of Genesis, which, from what I understand, is surprisingly faithful to the text. Darren Aronofsky directed the 2014 biblical epic.

Train to Busan — The 2016 South Korean movie, directed by Yeon Sang-ho, is one of my favorite examples of the zombie genre. Gong Yoo plays a dad who must protect his daughter, played by Kim Su-an.

La La Land — I understand the criticism of Damien Chazelle’s film, released the same year, but I can’t help getting swept up in the music, the romanticization of Hollywood, and the chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

Get Out — Daniel Kaluuya stars as a black man, dating a white woman, played by Allison Williams, whose family hides a disturbing secret, in Jordan Peele’s fantastic, socially-conscious horror movie from 2017.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — I believe the 2019 film, about a fading television star and his stuntman, played by DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, is Quentin Tarantino’s best work to date. I wish he wouldn’t limit himself to 10 movies.

Avengers: Endgame — I’d feel a little strange not including a superhero film, given the genre’s dominance. Anthony and Joe Russo’s movie, released the same year, successfully tied together a decade of Marvel storytelling.

West Side Story — Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort star in Steven Spielberg’s under-appreciated, 2021 remake of the classic musical. It got great reviews, but it doesn’t seem like many people saw it.

Everything Everywhere All At Once — Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert‘s 2022 absurdist film follows Michelle Yeoh as a laundromat manager who navigates alternate dimensions to save the multiverse.

Mutant Mayhem — I was a big fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise as a kid, so Jeff Rowe’s 2023 animated movie was right up my alley. The reptilian brothers confront the villainous Superfly.

Sinners — Ryan Coogler’s 2025 horror film is about vampires, Jim Crow and music. Michael B. Jordan stars in a dual role as a pair of twins who establish a juke joint in the Mississippi Delta, circa the 1930s, which is overrun by evil.

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