Best movie from the year you were born

Arguably, cinema is the most culturally significant art form in modern American history. A quality film doesn’t just straddle the full spectrum of sight and sound. Indeed, the best movies also serve as a reflection of and catalyst to the cultural norms of their time. This is evident from the earliest days of cinema up into the modern day: 1930’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” rocked audiences with its unflinching portrayal of World War I while, in 2024, “Dune: Part Two” delivered a timely reminder of the corrupting influence of power.

A truly great work of cinema can be cherished not just for its writing, acting, directing, cinematography, and music, but also as visual documentation of the era in which it was released. Hence, the best movie from the year you were born is both a great film in and of itself and, furthermore, an illuminating window into a history you don’t remember.

Stacker compiled data on the top feature-length films from the past century of cinema and crowned a champion for each year using the Stacker score—an equally weighted blend of IMDb and Metacritic ratings. Films had to have at least 2,500 votes and a Metascore to make the list. Ties were broken by Metascore and further by IMDb votes. A couple of years in the ’20s did not have sufficient Metacritic data. In these instances, the #1 film was determined by IMDb user rating. Data is as of Aug. 26, 2024.

Let’s find out if the top movie from your birth year has aged as gracefully as you.