Denis Villeneuve’s Favorite Movies: 29 Films the Director Wants You to See

“The Fabelmans” (2022)

Denis Villeneuve has made no secret of the influence that Steven Spielberg’s early films have had on his work, but he’s equally enthralled with the legendary director’s recent work.

“The Fabelmans’ is the best movie ever made about the power of cinema,” Villeneuve said in a recent tribute to Spielberg at the DGA Awards. “It’s a miracle. To say that I was deeply moved by this movie is an understatement. ‘The Fabelmans’ is a pure act of artistic generosity made by one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.”

“Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)

Villeneuve was thinking about desert movies long before he was hired to adapt “Dune.” In a 2021 appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival, he spoke about the influence that the definitive desert epic had on him.

“I was 19 years old or 18 years old and I showed up to a projection of’ Lawrence of Arabia,’ a new 70mm print in Montreal, and I was alone in the theater,” he said. “I was a film student at the time and it changed my life. It’s a master class of filmmaking and it still is by far one of my favorite movies.”

“Vertigo” (1958)

Critics were quick to call out the Hitchcockian influence on Villeneuve’s puzzler drama “Enemy,” and that was very much the director’s intention. As Villeneuve explained to Filmmaker Magazine, “I wanted to create a kind of feeling of vertigo, like the movie [‘Vertigo’] I love. That’s one of my favorite films of all time. I still don’t understand some images from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ There are pieces I am still struggling to try and find the real meaning of. I feel I understand different meanings of it as I grow up. It’s the power of cinema. It’s like a poem… Hitchcock was one of our inspirations — to create that kind of suspense. ‘Vertigo’ was a very, very strong reference.”

“No Country For Old Men” (2007)

Villeneuve named Joel and Ethan Coen’s Oscar winner “No Country for Old Men” one of the great films of the 21st century, telling The New York Times the Western drama was in contention with “There Will Be Blood” for the top spot. Villeneuve referred to “No Country for Old Men” as the Coen Brothers’ magnum opus, adding, “The image of the policeman’s boots making dark marks on the floor as he is being strangled by the nightmarish killer, portrayed by Javier Bardem, has haunted me since [the first watch].”

“2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)

Given that Denis Villeneuve is one of the most prominent names in 21st century science-fiction filmmaking, it should come as no surprise to find Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” ranked among his favorite films.

“I first watched it from the staircase when I was very young,” Villeneuve said about “2001” while on the Cannes Film Festival jury in 2018, noting the film gave him one of his first “cinematic shocks.” “Then I saw the entire film on television and was struck by the sense of vertigo that he managed to create. It became my favorite film. Rediscovering it at the festival, in 70mm, was a special moment for me…Science fiction appeals to me because it allows you to tackle difficult subjects such as religion, or other aspects of society that are off-limits, with a great deal of freedom and distance.”

“Children of Men” (2006)

“When I started making movies at the end of the 20th century, the previous generation of filmmakers said cinema was dead. Well long live cinema!,” Villeneuve wrote while presenting his list of the best films of the 21st century. Included among the titles is Alfonso Cuarón’s “Children of Men,” which IndieWire previously ranked on its list of the best science-fiction movies of the 21st century. The movie, starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.

“Dead Ringers” (1988)

While making “Enemy,” Villeneuve rewatched David Cronenberg favorite “Dead Ringers” to ensure he would be taking the concept of doubling to a new cinematic level and not just repeating what a master like Cronenberg did in the past. Villeneuve said to Filmmaker Magazine, “In some ways, when you’re doing a movie [today], it’s very tough to make something new. Even when you think you are making something new, you find out later that somebody did it before you. It’s very hard, very frustrating. Of course, we watched ‘Dead Ringers’ again. ‘Dead Ringers’ is one of the most traumatic movies I’ve seen in my life. ‘Dead Ringers’ deals with that kind of strange exploration of intimacy as well, but from a different point of view.”

“The Square” (2017)

Villeneuve told IndieWire in 2017 that Ruben Östlund’s “The Square” was a recent favorite film of his and a highlight of the year in film alongside the likes of Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing,” and Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie’s “Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves.” Winner of the Palme d’or at the Cannes Film Festival, “The Square” stars Claes Bang as a museum art curator whose personal and professional life is upended after a controversial promotional video for an art installation is published without his oversight. “The Square” missed out on Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did win six European Film Awards, including Best Picture.

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017)

Villeneuve released one of the most acclaimed films of his career, “Blade Runner 2049,” in 2017, but he still found time to appreciate some of the other great movies released that year. In 2021 he released a list of his favorite movies of all time, and Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” was ranked at #13. 

“Downsizing” (2017)

Many of Villeneuve’s favorite movies are undisputed classics that are loved by virtually everyone. But the director is also willing to stump for movies that didn’t receive much acclaim. Case in point: “Downsizing.” Alexander Payne’s sci-fi satire about a man (Matt Damon) who decides to shrink himself received mixed reviews and was widely seen as a waste of potential, but Villeneuve sees it differently. In 2021 he listed it as his 15th favorite film of all time.

“Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves” (2016)

Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie’s sprawling portrait of political protesters in Quebec was a sleeper hit on the 2016 festival circuit, with many critics holding it up as a sympathetic portrayal of political anger at a time when there was no shortage of it in the world. Villeneuve appeared to agree, listing it as one of his favorite films of 2017 in a list provided to IndieWire.

“There Will Be Blood” (2007)

While naming “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood” the best films of the 21st century in a 2017 interview with The New York Times, Villeneuve had this to say about Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-winning epic, “I’m driven by the impact these movies had on me then, and still today. Time is the ultimate judge. There are specific shots that went directly through my skull, like a bullet spreading particles of my brain on my walls. Like the shot of Daniel Day-Lewis baptizing a baby with oil, making ‘There Will Be Blood’ an instant new classic.”

“mother!” (2017)

Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” infamously polarized moviegoers and earned a D CinemaScore, but it was one of Denis Villeneuve’s favorite movies of 2017. An environmental allegory that also re-imagines the Old Testament, “mother!” stars Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem as a couple come undone as their newly-renovated country home is overtaken by incoming strangers. “mother!” brought the worlds of Aronofsky and Villeneuve closer together as Aronofsky originally hired the late composer Johann Johannsson for the film’s original score. Aronofsky ultimately decided not to have a score in the film. Johannsson composed the scores for Villeneuve’s “Prisoners,” “Sicario,” and “Arrival.”

“A Star Is Born” (2018)

Villeneuve participated in Variety’s “Directors on Directors” series in 2018 and selected Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut “A Star Is Born” to shower in praise. The “Dune” director called the screening of “A Star Is Born” he attended “like nothing I’d seen before,” adding, “It was a rock concert. Several times during the movie, the audience cheered and erupted into loud applause. They were, of course, responding to Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’selectrifying performances. But something else was at work.”

“It is hard to believe that this movie is the work of a first-time director,” Villeneuve added. “The level of precision of camera work and mise-en-scene are truly impressive. The artistic choices Bradley Cooper made are those of a filmmaker in total control of his medium.”

“Seven Samurai” (1954)

Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” is a standout for Villeneuve because of the director’s approach to violence, which Villeneuve tried to echo in his movie “Sicario.” As Villeneuve told Den of Geek during the “Sicario” release, “I remember when I saw ‘Seven Samurai,’ Kurosawa, there are some scenes in that movie where you’re waiting for violence. Nothing is happening; everything is still. One of my favorite scenes is where you have two samurai waiting for thieves to pass by. They’re waiting. They know the thieves are coming. But they’re just waiting. The violence will arrive soon.”

“The feeling of that, waiting for that moment to happen, was so strong,” the director continued. “For me, it was my reference as I was doing ‘Sicario.’ The pressure of time, to stretch time just long enough so you create the necessary tension. The thing I love is that, when you look at it from a certain angle, there are moments where people are on the edge of their seat when watching ‘Sicario’ — but nothing is happening!”

“The Rider” (2017)

Villeneuve has been critical of Marvel’s formulaic approach to blockbuster filmmaking over the years, but the studio made one decision that gave him hope: hiring Chloe Zhao to direct “Eternals.” After the Oscar winner was hired to direct the film, Villeneuve heaped praise on her work, singling out “The Rider” as one of his favorites. 

“I’m your biggest fan. I think it’s genius that Marvel approached you because you’re the radical opposite of it aesthetically,” Villeneuve told Zhao in a 2021 conversation. “When I saw ‘The Rider‘ for the first time, I was blown away. I wrote a note to you—an artistic love letter. What touched me was your insane skill to be able to approach life. Life is so afraid of the camera. When I saw ‘The Rider,’ I cried because I was like, ‘She did it. She was able to go in that zone that I thought was not possible.’ 

“The Beguiled” (2017)

Included on Villeneuve’s list of his eight favorite films of 2017 (given exclusively to IndieWire at the time) was Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled,” an adaptation of Thomas P. Cullinan’s 1966 novel of the same name. First adapted for the screen by Don Siegel in 1971 (with Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page), “The Beguiled” gets an overtly feminist remix in the hands of Coppola, who made history at the Cannes Film Festival with the film by becoming just the second woman filmmaker to win the event’s Best Director prize. Coppola’s adaptation reunites her with Kirsten Dunst (“The Virgin Suicides”) and Elle Fanning (“Somewhere”), plus adds Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell into the mix. “The Beguiled” is set during the Civil War and centers around a group of women whose boarding house is disrupted by the arrival of a wounded male soldier.

“Inception” (2010)

One Christopher Nolan movie made Denis Villeneuve’s list of favorite films from the 21st century, and it was the Leonardo DiCaprio time-bending heist movie “Inception.” At least until “Dunkirk” came along, “Inception” was the Christopher Nolan movie Villeneuve loved most. Speaking to IndieWire in 2017, Villeneuve cited Nolan as one of his biggest inspirations as he made his way into big-budget studio fare such as “Blade Runner 2049” and later “Dune.” The director said, “To bring intellectual concepts and to bring them in that scope to the screen right now — it’s very rare. Every movie that [Christopher Nolan] comes out with, I have more admiration for his work.”

“Tenet” (2020)

It’s hardly surprising that Denis Villeneuve is a Christopher Nolan fan. The two filmmakers share a variety of stylistic traits, particularly their interest in science fiction movies that explore complex philosophical themes and experiment with the passage of time. Villeneuve has been open about his love of “Inception,” and he also praised Nolan’s “Tenet” in a 2021 interview.

“I was blown away by ‘Tenet,’ I think it’s a masterpiece,” Villeneuve said. “I think it’s a movie that’s an incredible cinematic achievement. I think that it’s a very complex movie, I had so much fun, I saw it several times and each time it was a blast and I think the level of mastery of Christopher Nolan is unmatched.”

“Blade Runner” (1982)

No surprise Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” is a Villeneuve favorite, considering the filmmaker’s decision to mount the sequel, “Blade Runner 2049.” Speaking to Time magazine in 2017 about his love for the original, Villeneuve said, “Most of the time in sci-fi movies, the world is purely a vision of the future, but in the original Blade Runner, you felt the dirt that was coming out of ages. That was something I wanted to bring back. I wanted to make sure that we were as specifically true to film noir as the first movie was. I wanted the atmosphere to carry the beautiful melancholy that was so powerful in the first movie. I wanted the world to be one of bleakness and gloom but to have sparks of beauty — coming out of technology or humanity.”

“Amores Perros” (2001)

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2000 Mexican crime drama “Amores Perros” got a shoutout in Denis Villeneuve’s New York Times reflection on the best films of the 21st century. The film served as Iñárritu’s international breakthrough, winning the Prize of the Critic’s Week at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival before landing an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. At the BAFTA Awards, “Amores Perros” took home the award for Best Film Not in the English Language. Starring Gael García Bernal, “Amores Perros” tells three stories all linked by a car accident. The drama is the first installment in Iñárritu’s  “Trilogy of Death” and was succeeded by “21 Grams” and “Babel.”

“Dogtooth” (2010)

“The madness in ‘Dogtooth’ is the most refreshing thing I’ve seen in a long time,” Villeneuve wrote while naming Yorgos Lanthimos’ Cannes-winning 2009 drama one of the best films of the 21st century. “Lanthimos may be one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. I’m still laughing at the crazy adults running to catch airplanes falling into their garden, because their father convinced them that they were fruit dropping from the sky.” “Dogtooth” won the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.

“Dogville” (2004)

“I vividly remember watching Lars von Trier’s ‘Dogville,’” Villeneuve said while naming the 2003 Nicole Kidman-starring drama one of his favorite films of the 21st century. “The idea of making a set without walls to show the cowardice of a community was genius.” Kidman stars as Grace Mulligan, a woman who takes refuge in the small mountain town of the title while in hiding from mobsters. Grace agrees to take part in physical labor in return for being allowed to stay in Dogville. The ensemble cast includes Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany, Chloë Sevigny, Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier, Ben Gazzara, Harriet Andersson, and James Caan.

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977)

Villeneuve told IndieWire that Steven Spielberg is “a genius as a film director” whose films provided some of the “big artistic shocks” of his life, from “Jaws” to “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” It was the latter title that proved instrumental for Villeneuve, as Spielberg’s casting of Francois Truffaut in “Third Kind” opened the door for Villeneuve to discover the French New Wave.

“I was raised in a small village in Quebec, so mostly in this part of the world the cinema I was in contact with was American cinema,” Villeneuve told the Toronto Film Critics Association in 2017. “So I remember where I discovered the job of director when I was suddenly attracted to the movies of someone specific, and why him? Why was he such a strong storyteller? There was a mark of an artist there. And it was Spielberg. So as a kid I was inspired by Spielberg very early. That was my first cinema crush!”

“Duel” (1971)

Villeneuve’s admiration for Steven Spielberg dates all the way back to his first feature, the 1971 car chase movie “Duel.” In his 2022 DGA Awards speech, Villeneuve devoted considerable time to expressing his love for Spielberg’s work, and singled out the unseen evil truck driver in “Duel” as a character that had an early influence on him.

“I wondered who was the magician who transformed trucks into bullies and station wagons into sharks,” Villeneuve said. “Then I saw a film that moves me to the core by the kindness of his people coming from the stars and the humanist of a french scientist…this movie felt like home to me and as the credits rolled I knew that was the way I wanted to live my life”. 

“Jaws” (1975)

By now, you’re probably noticing a pattern — Villeneuve loves Spielberg. It’s hardly surprising that the “Arrival” director is a fan of Spielberg’s first blockbuster, which is still considered by many to be one of the best films ever made. Villeneuve has expressed his admiration for the nautical thriller on numerous occasions, and even singled it out as a reason why he insisted on going to the desert to shoot “Dune.”

“My argument was that they didn’t shoot ‘Jaws,’ in a swimming pool,” he said in a 2021 interview. “The title is ‘Dune’ — we need to be in the real environment.”

“Under the Skin” (2014)

In naming Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin” as one of his favorite movies of the 21st century, Villeneuve wrote the image of “Scarlett Johansson in a pool of darkness” stood out as one of contemporary film’s most memorable. “Under the Skin” casts Johansson as a humanoid alien who wanders around Glasgow luring unsuspecting men back to her lair, where their bodies are decomposed and harvested for her home planet. The film ranked in the top 10 on IndieWire’s list of the best films of the 2010s.

“A Prophet” (2010)

Jacques Audiard’s 2010 prison drama “A Prophet,” starring Tahar Rahim, won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and was later cited by Villeneuve as one of the best films of the 21st century. Writing about Audiard’s movie for The New York Times, Villeneuve remarked, “The deer being killed in slow motion by a car in ‘A Prophet’ remains one of the most powerful cinematic shots of the last decade.

“Dunkirk” (2017)

While Denis Villeneuve spent summer 2017 in the editing room working on “Blade Runner 2049,” he made sure to find enough time to check out Christopher Nolan’s World War II survival thriller “Dunkirk” in theaters. As the director explained to IndieWire, “‘Dunkirk’ had been designed for the big screen. I didn’t want to make any concession with that movie. Christopher Nolan is a very impressive filmmaker, because he is able to keep his identity and create his own universe in that large scope,” he said. “To bring intellectual concepts and to bring them in that scope to the screen right now — it’s very rare. Every movie that he comes out with, I have more admiration for his work.”