These Are the Sight and Sound Poll’s Best Films of the 21st Century

The Sight and Sound poll was, for many decades, the most prestigious film poll around, that clearly changed, for some, with the 2022 edition of the once-every-decade poll. Regardless, you can still find some neat stats in between the cracks.

A whopping 25 films from the 21st century made the list this time around. The S&S poll has always been known not to lean towards modern-day cinema, but this decade’s edition had a whopping 1600+ voters, many of whom probably didn’t watch enough old movies in their lifetimes.

The result is Sciamma, Peele, Jenkins and Bong making the top 100. What can you do. If I had to choose 21st Century additions to the S&S canon then they would be limited to just “Mulholland Drive,” “The Tree of Life,” “There Will Be Blood,” and “Spirited Away.”

I’ve narrowed down this year’s poll results to just 21st century filmmaking. I won’t event bother in dissecting this list, maybe you can tell me which titles stick out like a sore thumb here.

1) “In the Mood For Love” (#5)
2) “Mulholland Drive” (#8)
3) “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (#30)
4) “Moonlight” (#60)
5) “The Gleaners and I” (#67)
6) “Spirited Away” (#75)
7) “Parasite” (#90)
8) “Yi Yi” (#90)
9) “Get Out” (#95)
10) “Tropical Malady” (#95)

11) “Goodbye, Dragon Inn” (#108)
12) “There Will Be Blood” (#122)
13) “La Cienaga” (#136)
14) “Twin Peaks: The Return” (#152)
15) “West of the Tracks” (#157)
16) “Under the Skin” (#169)
17) “The Headless Woman” (#196)
18) “Uncle Boonmee” (#196)
19) “The Tree of Life” (#196)
20) “Mad Max: Fury Road” (#196)
20) “Zama” (#196)

I haven’t seen “West of the Tracks” and “La Cienaga,” all the other titles range from good to great. There’s already been a lot of debate as to whether “Moonlight,” “Get Out,” “Portrait of A Lady on Fire” or even “Parasite” deserved to be on this list. Not because they’re aren’t strong films, three of them made my top ten list in their respective years of release, but rather due to their very high placements in the poll.

Some noteworthy 21st Century films that did not make the top 250: “Zodiac,” “No Country For Old Men,” “Children of Men,” “The Master,” “Carol,” “ROMA,” “Phantom Thread,” “Boyhood,” “The Social Network,” and “Inside Llewyn Davis.” In fact, there was not a single film from Coen or Fincher. Sacrilege!