The Criterion Challenge 2025, a list by knuckletown

6.8

/44798/

70

/1633/

66

/651/

3.7

/92402/

94

/53/

78

/1519/

82

/21/

3.0

age 17+

A down and out young punk gets a job working with a seasoned repo man, but what awaits him in his new career is a series of outlandish adventures revolving around aliens, the CIA, and a most wanted '64 Chevy.

75

59

7.2

/3555/

74

/141/

66

/82/

3.9

/25534/

93

/60/

71

/12/

A photographer and her best friend are roommates. She is stuck with small-change shooting jobs and dreams of success. When her roommate decides to get married and leave, she feels hurt and has to learn how to deal with living alone.

83

7.6

/30023/

73

/578/

71

/432/

4.1

/56707/

85

/62/

86

/564/

93

/17/

4.0

A gambler and a prostitute become thriving business partners in a remote Old West mining town until a large corporation arrives on the scene.

81

7.4

/43798/

70

/736/

71

/569/

3.9

/57533/

89

/55/

84

/884/

85

/15/

4.0

age 17+

Robert Dupea spends his days doing various odd jobs, drinking and womanizing until an encounter with his sister makes him revisit his past.

83

7.5

/29017/

74

/798/

72

/404/

3.9

/38849/

97

/32/

89

/773/

82

/16/

4.0

age 17+

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.

86

8.1

/123370/

79

/1670/

80

/1759/

4.3

/162526/

94

/49/

94

/1307/

88

/17/

Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.

84

83

8.0

/15536/

77

/416/

77

/345/

4.1

/32862/

100

/16/

89

/126/

An alcoholic, abusive ne'er-do-well is shown the error of his ways through a legend that dooms the last person to die on New Year's Eve before the clock strikes twelve to take the reins of Death's chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year.

70

6.7

/12083/

67

/244/

67

/194/

3.6

/18513/

81

/36/

78

/359/

69

/14/

2.5

In underworld terms, Chas Devlin is a 'performer,' a gangster with a talent for violence and intimidation. Turner is a reclusive rock superstar. When Chas and Turner meet, their worlds collide—and the impact is both exotic and explosive.

83

7.8

/69872/

75

/1282/

75

/1041/

4.0

/97989/

97

/72/

89

/2286/

91

/17/

age 8+

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.

83

7.7

/48136/

74

/995/

72

/637/

4.0

/117247/

88

/59/

91

/871/

85

/21/

4.0

An unemployed Brit vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.

85

8.0

/33595/

79

/619/

80

/953/

4.2

/68716/

100

/46/

92

/278/

During the Nazi occupation of 1944 Rome, Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is pursued by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a means of escape.

84

8.1

/201094/

79

/3557/

79

/3067/

4.4

/364492/

78

/152/

92

/2590/

89

/21/

3.5

age 12+

An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.

82

7.8

/32426/

75

/649/

74

/521/

3.9

/33487/

98

/40/

87

/415/

85

/15/

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.

60

6.3

/44022/

62

/921/

60

/726/

3.7

/81756/

41

/148/

43

/1329/

51

/38/

3.5

age 18+

It took Anna 10 years to recover from the death of her husband, Sean, but now she's on the verge of marrying her boyfriend, Joseph, and finally moving on. However, on the night of her engagement party, a young boy named Sean turns up, saying he is her dead husband reincarnated. At first she ignores the child, but his knowledge of her former husband's life is uncanny, leading her to believe that he might be telling the truth.

82

7.8

/25182/

76

/619/

77

/456/

4.1

/84706/

90

/20/

90

/378/

While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.

84

8.0

/85150/

77

/1417/

80

/1990/

4.3

/141707/

95

/77/

90

/1537/

95

/13/

3.0

age 15+

Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.

60

56

5.5

/6294/

59

/181/

51

/113/

3.3

/13426/

73

/30/

47

/253/

71

/10/

After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.

79

76

7.5

/12586/

72

/236/

73

/198/

3.8

/14124/

95

/20/

87

/151/

80

/14/

Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?

76

7.3

/8316/

74

/260/

67

/136/

4.1

/41722/

77

/26/

83

/261/

67

/10/

3.5

age 13+

A small but growing Texas town, filled with strange and musical characters, celebrates its sesquicentennial and converge on a local parade and talent show.

82

7.5

/17068/

75

/487/

74

/370/

4.3

/83886/

95

/64/

77

/145/

94

/16/

A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores and takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. Slowly, her ritualized daily routines begin to fall apart.

69

64

6.6

/5203/

66

/186/

66

/98/

3.6

/20614/

81

/16/

67

/116/

While one tough woman with an invisible robe has stolen 18 babies for her powerful master, two other tough women and the cops try to stop her.

83

7.9

/27417/

76

/904/

76

/399/

4.1

/43111/

100

/19/

90

/558/

79

/12/

3.5

Errol Morris's unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas.

75

6.8

/68003/

69

/1517/

69

/1209/

3.9

/163344/

72

/117/

75

/4265/

73

/25/

4.0

age 17+

When actress Nikki Grace gets the lead role in a cursed film, her world becomes more and more surreal, blending realities and ideas of infidelity, reincarnation, and supernatural forces.

73

6.7

/16817/

63

/684/

65

/396/

3.6

/89219/

96

/160/

64

/61/

85

/30/

3.0

The world is a mysterious place when seen through the eyes of an animal. EO, a grey donkey with melancholic eyes, meets good and bad people on his life’s path, experiences joy and pain, endures the wheel of fortune randomly turn his luck into disaster and his despair into unexpected bliss. But not even for a moment does he lose his innocence.

44

23

4.7

/596/

58

/34/

51

/20/

2.6

/2100/

29

/14/

42

/7/

34

/5/

age 8+

In present-day Japan, little Masashi moves from an evacuation center to a small village. There he will discover that every child has the ability to communicate with a fantastic creature, but they are being used in an evil plan to collect the children’s negative energy. Artist Takashi Murakami ‘s debut film is an amazing epic story that is an X-Ray of children’s hopes and fears with the artist’s unmistakable visual style.

88

8.1

/56595/

79

/783/

80

/831/

4.4

/72745/

100

/45/

94

/619/

4.0

Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.

83

7.4

/20415/

73

/800/

71

/436/

4.1

/145941/

97

/219/

81

/39/

93

/37/

4.0

age 10+

After the death of her beloved grandmother, eight-year-old Nelly meets a strangely familiar girl her own age in the woods. Instantly forming a connection with this mysterious new friend, Nelly embarks on a fantastical journey of discovery which helps her come to terms with this newfound loss.

79

7.6

/38192/

74

/768/

75

/623/

3.8

/55047/

90

/71/

88

/705/

A gambler discovers an old flame while in Argentina, but she's married to his new boss.

84

7.6

/15475/

76

/383/

73

/346/

4.1

/75838/

100

/26/

85

/133/

4.0

Mona Bergeron is dead, her frozen body found in a ditch in the French countryside. From this, the film flashes back to the weeks leading up to her death. Through these flashbacks, Mona gradually declines as she travels from place to place, taking odd jobs and staying with whomever will offer her a place to sleep. Mona is fiercely independent, craving freedom over comfort, but it is this desire to be free that will eventually lead to her demise.

84

7.8

/16574/

74

/186/

73

/177/

3.9

/7609/

92

/37/

94

/270/

4.0

The circularity of violence seen in a story that circles on itself. In Macedonia, during the war in Bosnia, Christians hunt an ethnic Albanian girl who may have murdered one of their own. A young monk who's taken a vow of silence offers her protection. In London, a photographic editor who's pregnant needs to talk it out with her estranged husband and chooses a toney restaurant.

73

6.7

/11880/

70

/221/

65

/188/

3.4

/7589/

87

/133/

75

/389/

70

/34/

3.5

age 15+

Diana Guzman, a troubled Brooklyn teenager, decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer, all while keeping it a secret from her father.

81

7.0

/675/

69

/37/

65

/10/

3.7

/2812/

100

/22/

100

/2/

89

/5/

3.5

A man and a woman in Lagos want to escape their everyday lives, but extricating themselves is no easy task. Two stories narrated with tenderness and restraint that only fleetingly touch, the dream of migrating to Europe floating above them all the while.

76

65

7.3

/5639/

72

/65/

66

/76/

3.8

/8572/

94

/16/

74

/37/

Hans is a street fruit peddler and born loser. His choice of career upsets his bourgeois family, causing him to turn to drinking and violence. After recovering from a debilitating heart attack, his business finally begins to take off. However, the more he becomes a credit to his family, the more depressed he becomes.

75

7.0

/9020/

70

/238/

69

/143/

3.9

/59635/

88

/48/

79

/79/

78

/18/

3.0

Amid the sweltering summer heat in northern Argentina, two middle-class families retreat to a crumbling country estate and a modest townhouse, where strained relationships, simmering tensions, and the presence of children and servants quietly expose the fractures of family life. Between idle days, gossip, and unspoken desires, the boundaries of class, tradition, and faith are reflected in their everyday interactions.

83

7.9

/30421/

74

/553/

74

/496/

4.0

/37667/

100

/43/

89

/602/

89

/15/

age 12+

Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.

87

8.0

/10986/

79

/643/

77

/188/

4.3

/47926/

100

/130/

90

/117/

89

/28/

4.0

age 16+

Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.

77

7.1

/2065/

70

/60/

68

/31/

3.8

/9063/

96

/52/

75

/38/

85

/4/

3.0

Two cabbies search San Francisco's Chinatown for a mysterious character who has disappeared with their $4000. Their quest leads them on a humorous, if mundane, journey which illuminates the many problems experienced by Chinese-Americans trying to assimilate into contemporary American society.

82

7.3

/21701/

71

/494/

69

/509/

3.7

/35328/

100

/32/

85

/453/

90

/16/

4.0

Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort, where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s masterpiece of gentle slapstick is a series of effortlessly well-choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers; it was the first entry in the Hulot series and the film that launched its maker to international stardom.

77

75

7.1

/11565/

72

/301/

68

/214/

3.9

/46230/

90

/31/

85

/539/

Dawn Davenport progresses from a teenage nightmare hell-bent on getting cha-cha heels for Christmas to a fame monster whose egomaniacal impulses land her in the electric chair.

85

8.0

/69408/

77

/883/

79

/1135/

4.2

/81612/

98

/80/

93

/988/

3.5

When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.

74

72

7.2

/16083/

72

/345/

70

/279/

3.9

/45725/

79

/28/

83

/300/

65

/13/

Cosmo Vittelli, the proprietor of a sleazy, low-rent Hollywood cabaret, has a real affection for the women who strip in his peepshows and the staff who keep up his dingy establishment. He also has a major gambling problem that has gotten him in trouble before. When Cosmo loses big-time at an underground casino run by mobster Mort, he isn't able to pay up. Mort then offers Cosmo the chance to pay back his debt by knocking off a pesky, Mafia-protected bookie.

68

46

6.6

/1289/

62

/33/

67

/34/

3.6

/2521/

80

/10/

64

/5/

70

/6/

The Ceddo people try to preserve their traditional African culture against the onslaught of Islam, Christianity, and the slave trade. When King Demba War sides with the Muslims, the Ceddo kidnap his daughter, Princess Dior Yacine, to protest their forcible conversion to Islam.

82

80

7.6

/17032/

75

/367/

73

/263/

4.1

/26114/

100

/32/

82

/243/

86

/10/

A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an air freight service must risk his pilots' lives to earn a major contract.

64

5.3

/8996/

56

/571/

53

/218/

3.1

/28609/

91

/148/

67

/58/

72

/30/

2.5

age 15+

Aisha, a Senegalese immigrant who takes a job as a nanny for a wealthy white family in New York City, finds herself consumed by unsettling visions and a growing rage.

77

7.2

/38715/

74

/1656/

73

/749/

4.0

/323575/

90

/42/

78

/564/

75

/12/

Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.

79

7.9

/8034/

76

/246/

75

/184/

4.0

/15877/

89

/30/

3.0

An undertaker gets married to an old executioner's daughter and, although he doesn't like it, must continue the profession of his father-in-law after his retirement.

81

76

7.5

/10412/

74

/212/

72

/277/

4.0

/18344/

100

/19/

88

/40/

Paris, France, 1942, during the Nazi occupation. Robert Klein, a successful art dealer who benefits from the misfortunes of those who are ruthlessly persecuted, discovers by chance that there is another Robert Klein, apparently a Jewish man; someone with whom he could be mistakenly identified, something dangerous in such harsh times.

79

7.4

/44945/

69

/973/

72

/858/

3.8

/103362/

92

/53/

84

/878/

81

/15/