The 10 Best Narrative Movies Of All Time (According To Letterboxd Users)

Letterboxd is a social networking service revolving around its userbase’s shared love of film. One of the site’s most popular features allows users to rank and review films, adding their vote to the global tally – once that’s done, the films can be ranked by their popularity on the site. Leaving out films like documentaries or stand-up specials in order to focus on original, plot-driven entertainment, we’re going to be looking at the narrative films with the highest rankings on the site, and we’ll duly recognize the impact these films had on the cinephile community.

With millions of total votes between them, here’s the definitive ranking of the films Letterboxd users consider the best of the best.

10 A Brighter Summer Day (1991) – 4.4

The 1991 film A Brighter Summer Day follows a young boy growing up in Taiwan during the 1960s, learning about love, friendship, pain, and euphoria as he comes of age. With a runtime totaling nearly four hours, it was an unprecedently large undertaking for its rather small studio, but it became a critical success, praised for its acting as well as its themes of teenage social angst and the consequences of various family dynamics.

While it never became especially popular, A Brighter Summer Day still holds a special place in the hearts of film buffs as a creative masterpiece with a lot of talent, both in front of and behind the camera.

9 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – 4.4

The 2018 animated superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse follows Miles Morales, a teenaged version of Spider-Man, who has to learn how to control his powers and brave adversity with the help of a team of dimension-hopping alternate Spider-people looking to get home.

What hooked many people on the film is its unique animation style, which gives it a comic-book-like appearance. Other points in its favor include its talented ensemble cast, humor, direction, and fight scenes. Several critics named it as one of the best films to come out of a Marvel property.

8 Spirited Away (2001) – 4.4

The 2001 anime film Spirited Away, helmed by genre titan Hayao Miyazaki, follows a young girl who comes of age through her experiences in the spirit world, where, after a witch turns her parents to pigs, she’s forced to work as an attendant at the witch’s bathhouse in order to get a chance at saving her family.

Well-written, well-animated, and containing some emotional, heartfelt moments, Spirited Away has long been considered the most successful anime film ever created – and Letterboxd users seem to recognize that can be attributed to quality.

7 Come and See (1985) – 4.5

This 1985 Soviet anti-war film offers a gritty, true-to-life look at World War II, one of the most insufferable events over the course of human history. The story is very simple – a young teenager joins a resistance movement in Belarus as Nazis close in on his small town, only to experience firsthand the most brutal and grim aspects of war – but it’s moving nonetheless.

While many similar war-related films have been made, showcasing horrifying stories of watching others die around you while trying to survive against all the odds, this one has remained the most poignant for its historical accuracy and blunt realism.

6 12 Angry Men (1957) – 4.5

The 1957 film 12 Angry Men, directed by Sidney Lumet, is considered to be one of the greatest courtroom dramas ever created. Highlighting imperfections in the criminal justice system, as well as examining how prejudice affects people’s different views of the same situation, it follows a twelve-person jury forced to deliberate what seems to be an open-and-shut murder case because of a single juror’s belief that there is still reasonable doubt.

It’s astoundingly effective, extremely well-plotted, and even if the plot is a bit outdated, the themes and messages still hold up to this day.

5 Seven Samurai (1954) – 4.5

The 1954 epic Seven Samurai is often credited as being one of the most influential films of all time, launching the samurai-film genre and inspiring the famed Western The Magnificent Seven. It follows the titular characters, a team of rōnin (samurai without a master) hired and assembled by the inhabitants of a village in order to keep a squadron of bandits from pillaging their humble abode once more.

The characters all have distinct, succinct backstories; the story moves along steadily (not too fast or too slow, despite the film’s three-hour runtime), and the action sequences are brilliantly choreographed. It’s one of the most impressive feats of cinema to date, and you definitely have to see it to believe it.

4 Harakiri (1962) – 4.5

The 1962 samurai film Harakiri is set in the 1600s, during the Edo period in Japanese history, and follows an aging rōnin who believes the samurai codes of honor to be a lie, Tsugumo Hanshirō. He threatens to commit ritual suicide (also known as seppuku or harakiri) in the courtyard of a castle – a practice commonly used by beggars as a method of bribery. To deter Tsugomo, Saitō Kageyu, the senior counselor of the great lords, tells him the story of another man who made the same request, Chijiiwa Motome. The story is filled with twists and turns, eventually becoming interconnected with the ongoing narrative.

Critics loved the film, praising it as elegantly crafted and crediting its strange, almost mesmerizing aesthetic and emotional scenes for its positive reception.

3 The Godfather: Part II (1974) – 4.5

Francis Ford Coppola follows up his visionary crime masterpiece with a single film that combines sequel and prequel into one, as two split narratives are created. One is set after the events of the first film, which follows the misadventures of Michael Corleone, an elite Mafia kingpin.

The other, set before the first film, follows his father Vito Corleone, whose criminal empire slowly becomes more and more successful. The film is compelling from the outset, and the talented ensemble performances only make it more so; it’s an atmospheric work of art that, for its genre, is only rivaled by…

2 The Godfather (1972) – 4.6

While an ongoing debate still exists between fans of the Godfather franchise as to whether number one or number two is the best (number three is almost never even considered), Letterboxd users seem to agree on the former. It makes sense – perhaps the most famous crime drama ever created (and the film that remains the go-to for Mafia stereotypes), The Godfather tells the story of Michael Corleone as he goes from wanting nothing to do with his family’s criminal actions, to becoming the don of a criminal empire.

The Godfather is filled with complex, sympathetic characters and rife with artistic merit – and it’s almost universally identified as one of the most ingenious and breathtaking pieces in film history, definitively proving cinema a worthwhile art form.

1 Parasite (2019) – 4.6

A surprise hit at film festivals, the 2019 black comedy thriller Parasite follows a poor family that fakes their job qualifications so that each member can get a separate job working for the same rich family (while pretending not to know each other).

Things soon start to spiral out of control, and director Bong Joon-Ho works his visionary magic to create an aesthetically original social commentary that doesn’t forget to put plot first. Parasite is a well-made, well-acted, and generally witty exploration of familial and societal issues that aren’t traditionally acknowledged.

Check out LetterBoxd.com

About The Author