There are plenty of movies out there—in fact, the selection is so vast that it can be hard to choose which ones deserve two hours of your time. Well, look no further, because we've narrowed it down for you! These are the must-watch films you should see at least once in your lifetime.
Titanic
Titanic was the recipient of 11 Academy Awards, and for good reason. Star-crossed lovers Jack and Rose meet as passengers aboard the ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic. You likely know what comes next, but James Cameron's three-hour epic will break your heart nonetheless.
The Devil Wears Prada
Andy is a recent college grad who dreams of writing for a major news publication. After landing a job as the assistant to Runway magazine's cold-hearted editor Miranda Priestly, Andy is sucked into Miranda's superficial world, unsure whether or not she'll be able to make it out unscathed.
Black Panther
After the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman this past year, Black Panther has become even more of a cultural landmark. Following his father's death, T'Challa returns home to Wakanda to assume his rightful position as king, only to face off with a powerful enemy who threatens the livelihood of his people.
Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is one of Studio Ghibli's best. 10-year-old Chihiro and her parents visit an abandoned amusement park, only for the latter to be transformed into humongous pigs. Chihiro is forced to work at the park—which is really a resort for supernatural beings—in order to free herself and her parents from its confines.
Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde features Reese Witherspoon in her most iconic role as Elle Woods, the sorority girl who has it all—until she doesn't. Determined to prove to her ex-boyfriend that she's serious enough to marry him, Elle follows him to Harvard Law. The only problem? He's engaged someone else.
The Farewell
In The Farewell, Billi's family returns to China to say goodbye to their beloved matriarch, Nai Nai, under the guise of a wedding. The only problem? Nai Nai has no idea that she's dying. Billi attempts to reconcile with her culture as well as her family's decision to keep Nai Nai's illness a secret from her.
Scream
Wes Craven reinvented the genre with this 1996 modern slasher-horror classic. A knife-wielding, murderous maniac stalks high-school students in the middle of suburbia. Nearly 25 years later, Scream remains clever, funny, and sharp as a blade.
Silver Linings Playbook
After losing his wife and his job, bipolar Pat Solatano is released from a mental institution into the care of his parents. Pat encounters Tiffany, who offers to help him reconnect with his estranged wife—but only if he does something for her, too.
The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride is easily Rob Reiner's best film. After a young man is separated from the love of his life, he sets off on a quest to rescue her—but in order to be reunited, he must endure the perilous evils lurking in the mythical kingdom of Florin.
Grease
Grease is the most successful musical movie of all time, and for good reason. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John star as Danny and Sandy, a leather-clad bad boy and a wholesome Australian exchange student whose summer romance threatens to cross clique lines.
Juno
Elliot Page and Michael Cera star as precocious teen Juno MacGuff and track-shorted Paulie Bleeker in Juno, a coming-of-age tale that won the 2008 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Pregnant Juno selects a failed rockstar and his wife to adopt her unborn child, but things take an unexpected turn when she becomes more than just the family's birth mother.
Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause stars a slew of now-deceased actors, including James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo. A troublemaking teen is supposed to maintain a clean slate in his new town, but he soon becomes involved with a number of unsavory characters.
Parasite
Parasite is a raw exploration of the relationship between class, greed, and capitalism. The unemployed, impoverished Kims gradually invade the home and lives of the wealthy Park family without anyone being the wiser. After a stomach-churning secret is revealed by the Park's former housekeeper, all hell breaks loose.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is the longest-running Hindi film of all-time. This Bollywood romantic comedy follows Raj and Simran, who meet on a trip to Europe and fall in love despite their parents' protests. DDLJ set the bar for other romcoms, and few have achieved something similar.
Carrie
Everybody knows that Sissy Spacek is the one true Carrie. This adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie follows Carrie White, who faces abuse in and out of the household. Carrie learns that she possesses telekinetic powers, and a prank at the school prom goes famously awry.
Do the Right Thing
Spike Jonze's masterpiece on racial confrontation in New York, Do the Right Things, showcases rising tensions between a pizza shop and the neighborhood residents. A local patron becomes upset when he sees that every actor on the shop's Wall of Fame is Italian, believing that a pizzeria in a predominantly Black neighborhood should feature more Black actors. The owner, Sal, disagrees—and soon the wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate.
Bridesmaids
Annie has lost everything—her boyfriend, her bakery, her savings. Nonetheless, her best friend, Lillian, appoints Annie as her maid of honor. Determine to make her best friend's wedding day as perfect as possible, Annie leads Lillian and the other bridesmaids down the wild path toward marriage.
Casino Royale
Bond is back in Casino Royale, Daniel Craig's debut as 007. This time, Bond has been sent to Madagascar, where he uncovers a link to Le Chiffre, a man who finances terrorist organizations. MI6 wants Bond to win against Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game, hoping that the skilled operative will be able to take him down and earn his license to kill.
Carmen Jones
Dorothy Dandridge plays the titular character in this underrated musical set at an all-black army camp. Every man has his sights set on Carmen Jones, but she chooses to seduce a married soldier about to depart for flight school. However, when Carmen's eyes wander elsewhere, devastation ensues. Dandridge became the first Black actress in a leading role to be nominated for an Oscar.
Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls was the film that proved Jennifer Hudson had what it take to escape the bounds of American Idol success. A musical trio is discovered by an ambitious manager who offers them the chance of a lifetime, but the women come to learn that fame and glamor can cost you everything.
Annihilation
Determined to learn what happened to her husband after his own mission into Area X, Lena, a biologist and ex-soldier, volunteers to enter Area X—a bizarre and colorful landscape that appears to be mutating ever since it was struck by a meteorite.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey star in this Oscar-winning classic Charlie Kaufman film. After a terrible breakup, Clementine undergoes a procedure to erase her ex-boyfriend, Joel, from her mind. When Joel learns that Clementine has forgotten their relationship, he undergoes the same procedure, clinging to the final memories of the woman he once loved.
Amélie
In Paris, a shy waitress named Amélie returns a long-lost childhood treasure to the former occupant of her apartment. After seeing how deeply it impacts him, the young ingenue quietly sets out on a mission to improve the lives of those around her.
Mean Girls
For the first time in her life, teenager Cady Heron must navigate the perils of public school. She quickly learns of the rigid divide between certain cliques, eventually becoming a member of the cruel and elite "Plastics", a group of shallow girls whose popularity hinges on their appearances. However, Cady soon realizes that she may have fallen in too deep with the "it" crowd—and lost herself in the process.
Jaws
Steven Spielberg's Jaws remains quintessential viewing to this day. A young woman is killed by a monstrous shark, but the mayor refuses to close down beaches, fearing that the tourist revenue will dry up. Left with no other choice, an ichthyologist, and a grizzled ship captain team up with the town's police chief to capture the beast.
The Sound of Music
This heartwarming musical is based on the true story of the Von Trapp Family singers. Julie Andrews plays Maria, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey who becomes the governess for a widowed naval captain with seven children. Maria brings warmth, love, and light into the family's lives.
Roman Holiday
While Breakfast at Tiffany's is a top-tier film, Audrey Hepburn's performance in Roman Holiday earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. Hepburn plays a European princess visiting Rome who takes off for a night to escape her overwhelming schedule. After falling asleep on a park bench, a hunky Gregory Peck takes her back to his apartment, hoping to score an interview.
The Shining
In Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, Jack Torrance suffers from writer's block while working as the winter caretaker at the remote Overlook Hotel. Jack's wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny, attempt to settle into their new lives, but Danny suffers from psychic premonitions. As Danny's visions grow increasingly disturbing, Jack's psyche begins to unravel.
Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Jurassic Park spawned six sequels, and for good reason. Two paleontologists and a mathematician are among a group selected to tour a theme park populated by dinosaurs, which have been created using prehistoric DNA. Although the facility's billionaire backer assures its safety, things spiral out of control when the predators break free.
12 Angry Men
Twelve members of a jury must deliberate on the verdict of a murder trial case, with a guilty verdict meaning that the accused, an inner-city teenager, will be sentenced to death. As the men attempt to reach a unanimous decision while trapped in a single room, personal conflicts and rising tensions threaten to derail the process that will decide the boy's fate.
Rocky
Sylvester Stallone stars as the titular character in Rocky, a small-time boxer from blue-collar Philadelphia. Rocky is selected to take on the reigning world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed, after the undefeated Creed's initial opponent is injured. While training for the epic fight, Rocky tentatively begins a relationship with Adrian, his friend's shy sister.
To Kill a Mockingbird
6-year-old Scout Finch and her older brother Jem reside in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama, passing the time by spying on their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley, who only leaves the house at night. Atticus, Scout's widowed father, is hired to defend a Black man against a false rape accusation, exposing the children to the harsh realities of racism.
Schindler's List
Oskar Schindler is a businessman who arrives in Krakow during the start of World War II, prepared to make a fortune. Schindler joins the Nazi party for the sake of political expediency and staffs his factory with Jewish workers for the same reasons. However, when the SS begin to annihilate Jews in the ghetto, Schindler attempts to protect his workers.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill makes his other films look like Disney flicks. A former assassin known only as The Bride wakes from a coma four years after her jealous ex-lover Bill attempted to murder her on her wedding day. Vowing to get even, she is determined to exact revenge upon every person who played a part in her disastrous wedding day.
Call Me by Your Name
In Luca Guadagnino's critically-acclaimed Call Me by Your Name, 17-year-old Elio Perlman is passing the summer of 1983 with his family at their Italian villa. He soon encounters Oliver, a handsome doctoral student interning for Elio's father. Together, Elio and Oliver allow themselves to succumb to desire in the heat of the season.
You've Got Mail
In this Nora Ephron classic rom-com, a struggling bookseller and a corporate chain retailer—set on putting her store out of business—harbor an intense dislike for one another. The pair strikes up an anonymous email correspondence, not realizing one another's true identities.
Paris Is Burning
This critically-acclaimed documentary focuses on the "house" culture of drag queens living in New York City, which offers a sense of community for LGBTQ+ people and performers, as well as their elaborate balls and celebrations. The film, which touches on poverty and racism, features interviews with a number of famous drag queens.
Lady Bird
Lady Bird was Greta Gerwig's coming-of-age directorial debut. The film follows a teen on the cusp of graduation whose turbulent relationship with her mother is exacerbated by her desire to express her individuality. The highs and lows of Lady Bird will resonate with anyone who was once an adolescent in search of escape.
Get Out
Jordan Peele's directorial debut was met with critical acclaim, including an Academy Award. Rose invites her boyfriend Chris to spend a weekend at her parents' upstate home. As the weekend progresses and racial tensions grow, Chris begins to notice that something isn't quite right with his girlfriend's family.
The Dark Knight
Christopher Nolan's second installment in The Dark Knight Trilogy earned over one billion dollars at the box office. D.A. Harvey Dent and Lt. Jim Gordon have done their best to help Batman keep a rein on Gotham City's crime—until the sociopathic Joker makes an appearance. Now, Batman must tread the thin line between heroism and vigilantism.
Moonlight
Barry Jenkins' Oscar-winning Moonlight takes a look at the three defining chapters in the life of a young Black man growing upin Miami. Chiron grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the daily struggles of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, all with the unconditional love and support of his community.
Casablanca
In the early years of World War II, Rick Blaine's nightclub becomes a safe haven for refugees in Casablanca. When an ex-lover and her boyfriend turn up at his door, Rick is left to face an impossible challenge. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are electric in this classic old Hollywood tale.
Coming to America
To escape an arranged marriage, wealthy Prince Akeem flees to America with his persnickety sidekick, Semmi, to find a woman who will love him in spite, not because of, his title. Disguised as a fast-food worker and foreign exchange student, Akeem struggles to reveal his true identity to the woman he falls for. If you can ignore some of the dated tropes, allows 1980s Eddie Murphy to sweep you off your feet.
Silence of the Lambs
Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins star in the Academy Award-winning The Silence of the Lambs. Young Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI training academy, is brought in to interview psychopathic, cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, hoping that his insight will offer them answers on a new case.
Almost Famous
In 1973, a 15-year-old journalist embarks on a life-changing journey. Commissioned by Rolling Stone to profile up-and-coming band Stillwater, the sheltered William tags along on their latest tour, experiencing the realities of fame firsthand. This timeless coming-of-age story is equal parts touching, exhilarating, and hilarious.
Her
Her explores the evolving risks of modern intimacy. In the future, sensitive and heartbroken Theodore becomes enraptured by a new operating system that possesses the unique ability to form an emotional connection with its user. It isn't long before Theodore falls in love with "Samantha", the program's engaging and playful voice.
Boyz n the Hood
John Singleton's directorial debut features an all-star cast: Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King, and Angela Bassett. The film follows the lives of three young men living in Crenshaw, examining the concepts of race, relationships, violence, and the future.
Dazed and Confused
Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused is a coming-of-age comedy that put Matthew McConaughey on the map. In 1976, a group of rowdy Texans celebrate the last day of high school. The cluster of teens wander aimlessly through their suburban town, depicting a nostalgic slice of true American life.
Good Will Hunting
Stellan Skarsgård, Matt Damon, and Robin Williams star in this critically-acclaimed drama. Will Hunting has a genius-level IQ, but he chooses to work as a janitor at MIT despite his intelligence. His talents are discovered by a professor; meanwhile, Will is forced to undergo treatment from a therapist.
Dead Poets Society
Robin Williams plays John Keating, a new English teacher at a traditional all-boys preparatory school, this Oscar-winning drama. Keating uses unorthodox teaching methods to reach out to his students, who are struggling to meet the sky-high expectations of both their school and parents.
Selma
Ava Duvernay's Selma is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. Although the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 legally degregated the South, racism was still prevalent, making it difficult for Black people to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became a historic battleground in the fight for suffrage.
Y tu mamá también
In the remarkably bittersweet coming-of-age tale Y tu mamá también, 17-year-old boys Julio and Tenoch are grappling with the transition into adulthood. While on a carefree cross-country escapade, the two best friends find connection with themselves, each other, and a beautiful older woman.
The Departed
Martin Scorsese's The Departed is an uncompromised vision of the most rotten parts of society. South Boston cop Billy Costigan goes undercover to infiltrate a mobster organizer; at the same time, Colin Sullivan infiltrates the police department. When both organizations realize there is a mole among them, Billy and Colin must identify the other to save their own lives.
Before Sunrise
Richard Linklater's Before trilogy is essential viewing for anyone who believes in the power of love and connection. En route to Vienna, Celine, a Frech student returning to Paris, encounters Jesse, an American on his way back to the States. After an invigorating conversation, the two agree to get off the train in Vienna, and forge something that may or may not last longer than one fateful night.
Memento
In this psychological thriller, Guy Pearce plays Leonard, a man suffering from a rare and untreatable form of short-term memory loss—every fifteen minutes, the slate is wiped clean. Determined to track down the man who killed his wife, Leonard tattoos names and information on his body as a permanent reminder of what he's learned thus far.
Tangerine
Filmed entirely on an iPhone 5S, Tangerine follows the lives of two transgender sex workers, one of whom discovers that her boyfriend—and pimp—has been cheating on her. The film has received critical acclaim for its direction, screenplay, and depiction of trans individuals.
Lost in Translation
Sofia Coppola's Oscar-winning Lost in Translation paints a beautiful portrait of love and isolation against a breathtaking backdrop. Lonely, aging movie star Bob Harris meets conflicted newlywed Charlotte while in Tokyo. The film follows their unlikely yet increasingly intimate friendship.
The Bodyguard
This list simply wouldn't cut it without Whitney Houston's acting debut. Best-selling pop diva Rachel Marron hires a former secret service agent to protect her from a stalker whose obsession has grown increasingly disturbing. Although the two clash at first, he soon becomes an integral part of Rachel's life and inner circle.
Slumdog Millionaire
18-year-old Jamal Malik climbs the ranks on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", while flashbacks show exactly how he got there. Jamal and his brother, Salim, struggle to survive on the streets of Mumbai after the death of their mother; while Salim doesn't mind their life of crime, Jamal scrapes by doing petty work until landing a spot on the game show.
The Matrix
The Matrix is one of the biggest cultural milestones of the 1990s and early 2000s. Keanu Reeves stars as Neo, a computer hacker who believes that an elusive and dangerous figure named Morpheus can explain to him what the Matrix is. Neo is led to Morpheus through the underworld by Trinity, a beautiful stranger.
She's the Man
Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum star opposite one another in this early-2000s flick. Viola Johnson is posing as her twin brother, Sebastian, at a new boarding school; however, she falls in love with her handsome roommate, Duke, whose own girlfriend has fallen in love with Sebastian.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson's bubblegum comedy-drama stars a fantastic ensemble cast, including Ralph Fiennes, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, and more. The Grand Budapest Hotel is a popular European ski resort in the 1930s. When one of the concierge's lovers mysteriously dies, he finds himself the chief suspect in her murder.
Pride and Prejudice
This 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved novel follows Elizabeth Bennet, who lives with her parents and sisters in the English countryside. Facing pressure to marry, the outspoken Elizabeth is introduced to the grumpy, upper-class Mr. Darcy, whose reserved nature threatens any potential of a relationship.
Something's Gotta Give
Aging womanizer Harry and his young girlfriend, Marin, arrive at her family's beach house where they learn that Marin's mother Erica also plans to stay for the weekend. Erica and Harry get off on the wrong foot, but when the latter has a heart attack, the two find themselves stuck at the house together. Inevitably, a romance begins to kindle.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick's 1968 space epic was inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's 1951 short story "The Sentinel". Dr. Dave Bowman and a team of other astronauts are sent on a mysterious mission; their ship's computer system, HAL, begins to display increasingly bizarre behavior, leading to the ultimate showdown between man and machine.