All 10 Best Picture Winners From the 2010s, Ranked Worst to Best

The 2010s were a pivotal time for cinema. The decade saw the rise of superhero cinema and produced some of the medium’s most successful blockbusters. However, many critically acclaimed pictures also came out during those ten years, many of which even made it to the Dolby Theater to claim the industry’s most prestigious award: the Oscar for Best Picture.

While not everyone would pick these movies as their personal top 10 favorite movies of the 2010s, that’s not to say they are bad. There are some legitimately great ones within the list of winners, including a few groundbreaking efforts from some of the industry’s best auteurs. With the decade over, this is a look at how the 10 Best Picture winners of the 2010s stand, ranked from worst to best.

10 ‘Green Book’ (2018)

Director: Peter Farrelly

Despite being the second most recent Best Picture winner of the 2010s, Green Book is potentially the most forgettable. A safe, somewhat middling film, it tells a low-key story about a musician and his bodyguard/driver, and how they grow to appreciate each other and become friends and all that. Green Book is partly a biopic, and partly a dramedy, though it’s not super successful at what it wants to do, however you want to define it.

Saving Green Book to some extent is the acting. Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen have great chemistry together and elevate the so-so script immensely. But otherwise, the film is a bit of an empty experience, tackling themes of racism and prejudice with kids’ gloves. Spike Lee‘s BlacKkKlansman was a more memorable nominee from 2018 that dealt with similar themes with greater depth, and would have been a worthier winner.

9 ‘The King’s Speech’ (2010)

Director: Tom Hooper

The first Best Picture winner of the decade is also one of the worst: The King’s Speech. While not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, it takes a fairly ordinary historical story about a member of the UK’s Royal Family needing to overcome a speech impediment while the UK seems to be on the brink of what would become World War II… and shows him overcoming a speech impediment, and then it ends.

Maybe those with an attachment to the Royal Family or interest in this period of history would find more to invest in The King’s Speech. All the acting is admittedly good, but director Tom Hooper‘s insistence on obnoxious close-ups was unfortunately on show here, and that element of his style would become far more criticized when it popped up again in Les Misérables (2012) and the infamous Cats (2019). The Social Network was always the best nominee from 2010, and should have won instead.

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8 ‘The Artist’ (2011)

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

The Artist was a film that made quite an impact upon release, won some awards, and then seemed to disappear. The Artist is a charming throwback to the silent film era, and an enjoyable blend of romance and dramedy that focuses on the last days of silent cinema as talkies came to dominate, and how it impacted a silent film star.

It might not tackle the premise quite as well as somewhat comparable films like Sunset Boulevard or Singin’ In The Rain, (and perhaps even the more recent Babylon, which does admittedly push things in edgier and more provocative directions), but it’s a nice, pleasant movie that’s hard to hate, and it sits as a pretty good Best Picture winner (and to be fair, 2011 wasn’t a particularly great year for film). Also in The Artist’s favor is a very cute dog. Always helps to have a cute dog in a movie.

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7 ‘Argo’ (2012)

Director: Ben Affleck

Argo has been a little forgotten as the years have gone on, but it remains a solid watch. It takes an interesting premise about a real-life event where hostages were rescued by making them part of a fake film crew, and does enough with it to be a pretty good film. As far as movies directed by Ben Affleck go, it’s one of the better ones for sure, and the man himself also gives a decent lead performance here (even if he’s somewhat overshadowed by supporting players like Alan Arkin, John Goodman, and Bryan Cranston).

Still, even though Argo does plenty right and proves adequately thrilling throughout, things aren’t quite as entertaining or intense as they could be, and the film doesn’t entirely soar overall. It remains a good movie, though, mainly thanks to that unique premise and its strong cast, and stands as a solid, if unexceptional, Best Picture winner of the 2010s.

6 ‘The Shape of Water’ (2017)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo Del Toro‘s science-fiction/romance/drama-hybrid, The Shape of Water, is about an unusual and unexpected romance between a deaf woman and… well, a fish-man. It admittedly sounds ridiculous, but it’s a testament to del Toro’s skill as a director that it ends up an engrossing and emotionally affecting movie, provided you can get on board with the premise. And, even if it might sound a little confronting, it’s outdone in the disturbing department by some other Guillermo del Toro films; that’s for sure.

It doesn’t stand as Del Toro’s very best movie, but it has all the stylistic touches, great visuals, and fantastic production design audiences expect from the director. Throw in great performances from Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, and Richard Jenkins (among others), The Shape of Water stands as one of the better Best Picture winners of the 2010s.

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5 ‘Spotlight’ (2015)

Director: Tom McCarthy

Spotlight tells the story of how a team of journalists uncovered systemic child abuse present in the Catholic Church, but the telling of the story is shockingly dull. Stellar work from an ensemble including the Oscar-nominated Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo further elevates this film, which won the 2016 Oscar for Best Picture.

Spotlight is far from perfect; it’s visually flat and slow-paced, not exactly looking or feeling any better than most TV that made waves in the 2010s. It’s an undeniably important and powerful story, and its main strength relies on the brilliant cast. However, some still believe the amazing Mad Max: Fury Road – arguably one of the greatest action movies of all time – should have won instead. Curiously, Spotlight might not even be the best film about this harrowing subject, as the 2006 documentary Deliver Us from Evil, directed by Amy Berg, is arguably more compelling.

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4 ‘Moonlight’ (2016)

Director: Barry Jenkins

Barry Jenkins‘ Moonlight tells the story of Chiron, split into three distinct thirds, with the first focusing on his life as a child, the second with him as a teenager, and then the third as a young adult. It’s a personal and moving film about finding one’s identity and sexuality, and more broadly, about the challenges of growing up. It has an ambitious and fascinating structure, with the earlier parts of Moonlight feeling most like a well-made coming-of-age film, and then some of the later parts placing an emphasis on gripping drama.

It’s a far more intimate and quiet film than the standard Best Picture winner, which makes Moonlight stand out from the crowd. Instead of focusing on a large-scale historical event, it’s a low-budget, low-key drama, though it still manages to leave a strong impact, with fantastically natural performances and beautiful visuals.

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3 ’12 Years A Slave’ (2013)

Director: Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen‘s 2013 Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave pulls very few punches compared to other Oscar winners that lighten or water down heavy content. In covering the true story of Solomon Northup‘s experience of being sold into slavery for 12 years, audiences are shown the true horrors of how slaves were treated in America during the 1800s. As far as biographical movies that have won Best Picture go (and there have been a fair few), 12 Years a Slave is easily one of the best.

But to show what happened in an uncompromising and brutal manner is what a movie about slavery should do. If it’s difficult to watch, then it’s doing what it needs to, and 12 Years a Slave is a vitally important film that shows slavery as the ugly and dehumanizing practice it was, and does so with great filmmaking and acting.

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2 ‘Birdman’ (2014)

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

While this was made as superhero movies were really starting to dominate the box office, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) certainly isn’t one. It’s pretty critical of them, really, in telling the story of one man who’s best known for playing a superhero (early in his career) as he juggles his acting career, family, work colleagues, and personal demons. It can be a funny film at times, but there’s also a sense of tension throughout, making it one of the less comfortable and perhaps even least easy-going comedies in recent memory.

It’s made to look as though it’s one continuous take, which makes for a visually inventive film that retains a constant sense of tension and momentum. It’s equal parts funny and sad, and Michael Keaton has never been better. It’s a truly great Best Picture winner all around.

1 ‘Parasite’ (2019)

Director: Bong Joon-Ho

The most recent of the 2010s winners is also easily the best. Bong Joon-Ho made several great genre-bending films before Parasite, but this stands as his best so far. An unpredictable, hilarious, and tragic film, the less said about its inventive premise the better, for anyone still yet to experience it. Its screenplay is simply too good to give away what happens within its narrative, because it’s all perfectly paced and balanced tonally, and best experienced with as little knowledge beforehand as possible.

Parasite is a film that’s both daring and accessible, being a perfect blend of entertainment and biting social commentary. With flawless acting across the board, amazing visuals, and breathless pacing that never lets up until its gut-punch of a finale, Parasite is the most worthy Best Picture winner of the 2010s, and one of the best films ever to win the award.

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NEXT: Movies With the Most Nominations in Oscar History