10 films, ranked
10 Films That Are Actually Perfect. No Notes.
Not favourites. Flawless.
Favourite films are personal. Perfect films are structural. Nothing is missing, nothing is spare, no scene could be cut without the whole thing wobbling.
You will disagree with at least three of these. That is the point of a list.
Parasite
2019
Number 1: Parasite
2019
Four genres, one house, zero wasted frames. The tonal handbrake turn halfway through should not be legal.
Mad Max: Fury Road
2015
Number 2: Mad Max: Fury Road
2015
A two-hour chase in one direction and then back again, and it contains more character work than most dramas.
Paddington 2
2017
Number 3: Paddington 2
2017
We are not being funny. Impeccable structure, genuine emotional payoff, and the best supporting villain performance of the century.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2018
Number 4: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2018
Rewrote what mainstream animation is allowed to look like and still found time to make the leap of faith sequence land perfectly.
The Social Network
2010
Number 5: The Social Network
2010
Dialogue as gunfire. A film about someone refreshing a page that somehow has more tension than most thrillers.
Jaws
1975
Number 6: Jaws
1975
The broken shark forced Spielberg into restraint and accidentally invented the modern blockbuster. The boat scene is still the best thing in it.
Alien
1979
Number 7: Alien
1979
A haunted house film where the house is a fridge in space. Every character talks like a bored employee, which is why it terrifies.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
2022
Number 8: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2022
Chaotic on the surface, immaculately built underneath. The rocks. The bagel. The laundry. All of it earns its place.
Ratatouille
2007
Number 9: Ratatouille
2007
The single best piece of writing Pixar has produced is a restaurant critic monologue about the nature of criticism. Uncomfortable for us, personally.
Whiplash
2014
Number 10: Whiplash
2014
Cut like a thriller, paced like a panic attack, and only one hundred and six minutes long. Efficiency as an art form.
Nearly made it
The ones that kept us up at night during the final cut.
- Some Like It Hot
- Toy Story 2
- Heat
- Before Sunset
- Aliens
Wrong? Tell us. We are on the internet, unfortunately.
