Films From the Last 10 Years That Will Become Classics In the Future

Whatever the genre is, movies that truly move us don’t fade with time. They become classics.

Over the last decade, cinema has produced many such gems that don’t announce their greatness out loud. They quietly grow richer with every revisit.

Some dazzle us with their grandeur, and others surprise us by bending genres. The point is that each one has a uniqueness attached to it that resonates with us all.

History has shown us that the future remembers those classic movies that made us laugh, love, cry, and jump out of our seats in excitement. With that in mind, this is a list of films that are bound to achieve classic status in the future.

10 Films Destined to Become Classics in the Future

1. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

After more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) returns to train the detachments of Top Gun graduates while confronting the ghosts of his past.

The very fact that Joseph Kosinski’s big-screen spectacle of a movie single-handedly revived Hollywood and the theatrical experience across the world speaks volumes.

Putting actors in the actual F/A-18 jets to shoot mind-boggling flight-action scenes is something no CGI blockbusters can replicate. Moreover, Tom Cruise’s charisma kills in the film. Carrying on the Top Gun (1986) legacy forward, Top Gun: Maverick is a timeless classic.

2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Set in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, a drifter, Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), and a warrior imperator, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), lead a high-speed chase to escape a warlord.

Mad Max: Fury Road is exhilarating and drops the viewers straight into the action. The whole movie feels like an action-packed third act without a lengthy setup — something Christopher Nolan took notice of and used in his film Dunkirk. George Miller crafted complex narratives and character arcs using minimal dialogue. In addition, the use of practical stunts over heavy CGI has set a high benchmark for future action movies to achieve.

3. Get Out (2017)

In Jordan Peele’s debut horror-mystery, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) visits his white girlfriend’s wealthy family estate, only to be a target of a disturbing conspiracy hiding behind her parents’ overtly accommodating behavior. And now he has to get out.

Get Out, at its core, is a social thriller that uses horror tropes to critique the subtle forms of bias and racism. This alone makes it a culturally resonant phenomenon. Moreover, the screenplay’s effective use of visual metaphors makes it a rewatchable treat for the audience.

4. Parasite (2019)

Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite follows a destitute Kim family, living in a cramped semi-basement, who cunningly infiltrate a rich household. But a secret hidden in the basement threatens their newfound livelihood by uncovering the harsh realities of the rich-poor gap.

This social satire masterpiece shattered the one-inch subtitle barrier and was hailed worldwide. The movie flawlessly transitions from comedy to thriller. As a masterclass in screenwriting as well as filmmaking, it will be studied by up-and-coming writers as a defining work of social satire in the 21st century.

5. Burning (2018)

An aspiring writer and deliveryman, Lee Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in), falls for his childhood friend Shin Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo). As a wealthy and mysterious hobbyist, Ben (Steven Yeun), enters their life, Lee slowly becomes suspicious of his intentions.

Inspired by William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning,” Lee Chang-dong’s movie lures you in with its meditative character study of three young people and subverts the expectations. It’s a slow-paced thriller that refuses to give you answers.

Moreover, the haunting atmosphere and overbearing weight of not knowing the truth make Burning a quintessential example of a modern psychological mystery.

6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) plunges into the Spider-Verse and clashes with the leader of the Spider-society, Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), to redefine the very definition of a hero and save his loved ones.

The movie literally flipped the “destined hero” template of the superhero genre. From watercolour mood pieces to punk-rock collage visual art styles, it expanded the visual vocabulary of animation movies more than its predecessor.

The darker and visually bold approach to complex storytelling in animation is what makes Across the Spider-Verse a future classic.

7. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), a stressed-out laundromat owner, connects to her alternate versions of the multiverse to fight a nihilistic threat, Jobu Tupaki.

The movie effectively captures the internet-age anxieties and sensory overload to introduce an existential threat, both literally and metaphorically. From kung-fu and absurdism to the madness of the multiverse, the film has it all.

But at the heart, it’s a deeply emotional movie. The way it deals with modern nihilism with sensitivity and love as a resolution makes it worth watching again and again.

8. Dune: Part 2 (2024)

Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) finally unites the Fremen (desert dwellers) to seek revenge for his family’s destruction and fulfills his prophecy of becoming a Messiah.

Based on Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel with the same name, Dennis Villeneuve’s Dune saga might just be the Lord of the Rings of this generation.

With an even bigger scale than its predecessor, the movie excels in every department: immersive sound design, visual grandeur, and lots of sandworms. Both Dune and Dune: Part 2 are going to be classics in a remarkably short time.

9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Set in France in the late 18th century, a mother assigns Marianne (Noémie Merlant) to paint her daughter’s Heloise (Adèle Haenel) wedding portrait without her knowledge, because Heloise won’t budge for an arranged marriage. But in the process, Marianne falls for Heloise.

Director Céline Sciamma prefers the use of silence and restrained emotions rather than a drama-heavy musical approach. Moreover, it is difficult to take your eyes off Claire Mathon’s stunning cinematography — every frame deserves to be captured and hung on the wall.

The fresh and innovative take on the concept of the “female gaze” as opposed to the traditional “male romantic gaze” found in cinema is what makes “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” stand out.

10. Oppenheimer (2023)

“Now I am become death, destroyer of the worlds.” Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is about one of the most important physicists, the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer.

In the movie, Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) races against time to invent the nuclear weapon, along with facing the trials for the charge of treason.

In the movie, Nolan turned a historical drama into a battle between objectivity and subjectivity. The film exhibits a fast-paced style that’s heavy on dialogue, and it still proved to be a larger-than-life theatrical event with a surreal IMAX experience.

With a stellar cast, an even better background score by Ludwig Göransson, and Nolan’s narrative genius, Oppenheimer is an orchestra where every engine of filmmaking delivers its peak performance. It will stand the test of time.