(Photo by United Artists./ courtesy Everett Collection)
Welcome to the 100% Club, where every movie isn’t necessarily perfect, but their Tomatometers are. A place where all the critic reviews are Fresh, as far as the eye can see, without a Rotten mark to disrupt all the 1s and their attendant 0s in the percentage scores.
It’s a tough road for a movie to get a 100% with critics, fraught with peril. What if a small plot hole is big enough to irk a persnickety reviewer? What if the cinematographer didn’t show up that one day for a crucial scene? What if there was a bum performance from one of the background extras?
There’s the old industry adage that no one sets out to make out a bad movie. On the flip side, you’re almost jinxing it if you think the one you’re working on is going to be the one that makes every last cynical, benevolent critic crack a smirk and think, “Yeah, that was freaking awesome.” But the movies here have done just that, ranging from masterpieces of the silent era up until the new classics of today that tap into the pulse of the zeitgeist. Because it’s “relatively” easy to get a 100% score after that first handful of reviews (five is the minimum count for a movie to get its Tomatometer), every film listed here has at least crossed the Certified Fresh threshold. Then we sorted them by movies with more reviews featured higher up.
If you’re a discerning watcher with only time for some of the best movies of all time, you’re come to the right place. It’s time to pack that queue with the legends of cinema with our guide to every Certified Fresh movie with a 100% Tomatometer score! —Alex Vo
#1
Adjusted Score: 113694%
Critics Consensus: Leave No Trace takes an effectively low-key approach to a potentially sensationalistic story — and further benefits from brilliant work by Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie.
#2
Adjusted Score: 108635%
Critics Consensus: The rare sequel that arguably improves on its predecessor, Toy Story 2 uses inventive storytelling, gorgeous animation, and a talented cast to deliver another rich moviegoing experience for all ages.
#3
Adjusted Score: 106171%
Critics Consensus: James Marsh’s doc about artist Phililppe Petit’s artful caper brings you every ounce of suspense that can be wrung from a man on a (suspended) wire.
#4
Adjusted Score: 106490%
Critics Consensus: Honeyland uses life in a remote village to offer an eye-opening perspective on experiences that should resonate even for audiences halfway around the world.
Starring:
#5
Adjusted Score: 106522%
Critics Consensus: Minding the Gap draws on more than a decade of documentary footage to assemble a poignant picture of young American lives that resonates far beyond its onscreen subjects.
#6
Adjusted Score: 106492%
Critics Consensus: Featuring genuine scares through every corridor, His House is a terrifying look at the specters of the refugee experience and a stunning feature debut for Remi Weekes.
#7
Adjusted Score: 114612%
Critics Consensus: Offering a wonderfully witty script, spotless direction from George Cukor, and typically excellent lead performances, The Philadelphia Story is an unqualified classic.
#8
Adjusted Score: 105043%
Critics Consensus: A raw, fly-on-the-wall recounting of hospital life in Wuhan in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 76 Days is an engrossing and potent documentary – and a surprisingly comforting portrait of humanity.
Starring:
#9
Adjusted Score: 105043%
Critics Consensus: As entertaining as it is inspiring, Crip Camp uses one group’s remarkable story to highlight hope for the future and the power of community.
#10
Adjusted Score: 104683%
Critics Consensus: Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993) finds writer-director Carla Simón drawing on personal memories to create a thoughtful drama elevated by outstanding work from its young leads.
#11
Adjusted Score: 103841%
Critics Consensus: Boasting narrative depth, frank honesty, and exquisite visual beauty, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a modern animated treasure with timeless appeal.
#12
Adjusted Score: 107254%
Critics Consensus: Entertaining as it is innovative, Toy Story reinvigorated animation while heralding the arrival of Pixar as a family-friendly force to be reckoned with.
#13
Adjusted Score: 104625%
Critics Consensus: Brainy and bloody in equal measure, One Cut of the Dead reanimates the moribund zombie genre with a refreshing blend of formal daring and clever satire.
#14
Adjusted Score: 104035%
Critics Consensus: No Bears bears witness to Jafar Panahi’s incisive filmmaking while urging viewers to examine the complex layers of a deceptively simple story: a man oppressed and suppressed by his country.
#15
Adjusted Score: 112293%
Critics Consensus: Arguably Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, The Seven Samurai is an epic adventure classic with an engrossing story, memorable characters, and stunning action sequences that make it one of the most influential films ever made.
#16
Adjusted Score: 103112%
Critics Consensus: Taxi to the Dark Side is an intelligent, powerful look into the dark corners of the War on Terror.
#17
Adjusted Score: 103038%
Critics Consensus: On paper, GETT: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem might seem less than thrilling, but on the screen, it delivers two hours of nonstop, tightly wound, brilliantly acted drama.
#18
Adjusted Score: 103713%
Critics Consensus: Quo Vadis, Aida? uses one woman’s heartbreaking conflict to offer a searing account of war’s devastating human toll.
#19
Adjusted Score: 113087%
Critics Consensus: Clever, incisive, and funny, Singin’ in the Rain is a masterpiece of the classical Hollywood musical.
#20
Adjusted Score: 103472%
Critics Consensus: An illuminating and urgent call to action, Welcome to Chechnya portrays the horrors of the mass persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in the Chechen Republic with tenacity and tenderness.
Starring:
#21
Adjusted Score: 102987%
Critics Consensus: Anchored by Yllka Gashi’s outstanding performance, Hive leads viewers on one woman’s fact-based quest for self-determination in a patriarchal society.
#22
Adjusted Score: 102265%
Critics Consensus: Deliver Us From Evil is a superb documentary and a searing look at an institution protecting its leaders at the expense of its followers. A profoundly disturbing chronicle of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the film builds a clear-eyed case against pedophile priest Oliver O’Grady, and the Catholic bureaucracy that protected him. The recollections of O’Grady’s victims are nothing short of shocking and heartbreaking.
#23
Adjusted Score: 102198%
Critics Consensus: Poetry is an absorbing, poignant drama because it offers no easy answers to its complex central conflict.
#24
Adjusted Score: 102154%
Critics Consensus: Waste Land begins with an eco-friendly premise, but quickly transforms into an uplifting portrait of the power of art and the dignity of the human spirit.
#25
Adjusted Score: 102442%
Critics Consensus: The Square offers an electrifying — and edifying — ground-level glimpse of life inside a real-life political revolution.
#26
Adjusted Score: 102476%
Critics Consensus: Seymour Bernstein’s genuineness shines so brightly in Seymour: An Introduction that viewers will forgive debuting director Ethan Hawke’s reverent treatment.
#27
Adjusted Score: 103049%
Critics Consensus: All In: The Fight for Democracy lives up to its title as a galvanizing rallying cry for voters to exercise — and preserve — their right to be heard.
#28
Adjusted Score: 106028%
Critics Consensus: With its impressive action sequences, taut economic direction, and relentlessly fast pace, it’s clear why The Terminator continues to be an influence on sci-fi and action flicks.
#29
Adjusted Score: 109835%
Critics Consensus: A psychologically complex portrait of obsession, Laura is also a deliciously well-crafted murder mystery.
#30
Adjusted Score: 102986%
Critics Consensus: An absorbing and affectionate tribute to a unique individual, Mucho Mucho Amor should prove fascinating for Walter Mercado fans as well as first-timers.
#31
Adjusted Score: 101914%
Critics Consensus: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film may seem modest at first, but this family drama casts a delicate, entrancing spell.
#32
Adjusted Score: 101730%
Critics Consensus: An enlightening and sobering documentary on Afghanistan’s very own X-Factor.
Starring:
#33
Adjusted Score: 102157%
Critics Consensus: Dawson City: Frozen Time takes a patient look at the past through long-lost film footage that reveals much more than glimpses at life through the camera’s lens.
#34
Adjusted Score: 111771%
Critics Consensus: Making excellent use of its period and setting, Peter Bogdanovich’s small town coming-of-age story is a sad but moving classic filled with impressive performances.
#35
Adjusted Score: 109083%
Critics Consensus: A landmark psychological thriller with arresting images, deep thoughts on modern society, and Peter Lorre in his finest performance.
#36
Adjusted Score: 102747%
Critics Consensus: Led by Noée Abita’s outstanding central performance, Slalom offers a moving account of oppression and abuse in the guise of mentorship.
#37
Adjusted Score: 108765%
Critics Consensus: Sidney Lumet’s feature debut is a superbly written, dramatically effective courtroom thriller that rightfully stands as a modern classic.
#38
Adjusted Score: 102626%
Critics Consensus: Harrowing yet essential viewing, Athlete A shines an unforgiving light on horrific abuses — as well as the culture that allowed them to continue unabated for years.
#39
Adjusted Score: 108070%
Critics Consensus: Ambitious, adventurous, and sometimes frightening, Pinocchio arguably represents the pinnacle of Disney’s collected works — it’s beautifully crafted and emotionally resonant.
#40
Adjusted Score: 104918%
Critics Consensus: Only Yesterday‘s long-delayed U.S. debut fills a frustrating gap for American Ghibli fans while offering further proof of the studio’s incredibly consistent commitment to quality.
#41
Adjusted Score: 104359%
Critics Consensus: A complex, stirring, and beautifully realized portrait of interconnected lives, Red is the captivating conclusion to a remarkable trilogy.
#42
Adjusted Score: 102305%
Critics Consensus: The Work takes a gut-wrenching look at lives all too often written off as lost causes, persuasively arguing that growth and change can be waiting where we least expect it.
Starring:
#43
Adjusted Score: 101902%
Critics Consensus: Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds is a touching, bittersweet, and ultimately charming love story that serves as a poignantly effective tribute to the strangely complicated, uniquely resilient mother/daughter duo.
#44
Adjusted Score: 101977%
Critics Consensus: Attica revisits the titular riot with intelligence, compassion, and anger, presenting a version of events that honors history as much as it exemplifies the art of documentary filmmaking.
#45
Adjusted Score: 101466%
Critics Consensus: Last Train Home is a haunting, vivid documentary exploring the human toll of China’s economic boom in intimate, unforgettable detail.
Starring:
#46
Adjusted Score: 105162%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to director Juzo Itami’s offbeat humor and sharp satirical edge, Tampopo is a funny, sexy, affectionate celebration of food and its broad influence on Japanese culture.
#47
Adjusted Score: 102322%
Critics Consensus: In telling one couple’s story, A Secret Love pays understated yet powerful tribute to a lifetime of choices and sacrifices made in the name of enduring devotion.
#48
Adjusted Score: 108360%
Critics Consensus: Remade but never duplicated, this darkly humorous morality tale represents John Huston at his finest.
#49
Adjusted Score: 101836%
Critics Consensus: O.J.: Made in America paints a balanced and thorough portrait of the American dream juxtaposed with tragedy and executed with power and skill.
#50
Adjusted Score: 102090%
Critics Consensus: Darkly funny and impressively ambitious, Chained for Life is as unpredictable as it is original.
#51
Adjusted Score: 102143%
Critics Consensus: Clear, concise, and comprehensive, Coded Bias offers a chilling look at largely unseen side effects of modern society’s algorithmic underpinnings.
#52
Adjusted Score: 106365%
Critics Consensus: Though hampered by Stuart Rosenberg’s direction, Cool Hand Luke is held aloft by a stellar script and one of Paul Newman’s most indelible performances.
#53
Adjusted Score: 109917%
Critics Consensus: Alfred Hitchcock’s earliest classic — and his own personal favorite — deals its flesh-crawling thrills as deftly as its finely shaded characters.
#54
Adjusted Score: 105787%
Critics Consensus: One of cinema’s greatest courtroom dramas, Anatomy of a Murder is tense, thought-provoking, and brilliantly acted, with great performances from James Stewart and George C. Scott.
#55
Adjusted Score: 108358%
Critics Consensus: A delightful blend of slapstick humor, poignant emotion, and social commentary, The Gold Rush encapsulates Chaplin’s strengths as a writer, director, and star.
#56
Adjusted Score: 101830%
Critics Consensus: Raw and energetic like the music that inspired the 1970s political movement, White Riot offers invaluable insight into how music can change the world — and how Rock Against Racism still resonates.
#57
Adjusted Score: 101711%
Critics Consensus: Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror takes a fascinating deep dive that’ll leave like-minded viewers making numerous new additions to their streaming queues.
#58
Adjusted Score: 101598%
Critics Consensus: 3 And 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets tells a gut-wrenching story in overall gripping fashion — and wisely underplays its outrage, letting the details speak for themselves.
#59
Adjusted Score: 110866%
Critics Consensus: Errol Flynn thrills as the legendary title character, and the film embodies the type of imaginative family adventure tailor-made for the silver screen.
#60
Adjusted Score: 106434%
Critics Consensus: A potent drama that is as socially important today as when it was made, The Grapes of Wrath is affecting, moving, and deservedly considered an American classic.
#61
Adjusted Score: 111500%
Critics Consensus: Charles Chaplin’ irascible Tramp is given able support from Jackie Coogan as The Kid in this slapstick masterpiece, balancing the guffaws with moments of disarming poignancy.
#62
Adjusted Score: 101773%
Critics Consensus: Slay the Dragon takes a suitably outraged — but ultimately optimistic — look at modern-day gerrymandering that doubles as a heartfelt call to action.
Starring:
#63
Adjusted Score: 106421%
Critics Consensus: Tokyo Story is a Yasujiro Ozu masterpiece whose rewarding complexity has lost none of its power more than half a century on.
#64
Adjusted Score: 101495%
Critics Consensus: The Age of Shadows justifies its imposing length with a richly detailed period drama whose sprawling size is matched by strong acting, impressive craft, and narrative depth.
#65
Adjusted Score: 107828%
Critics Consensus: A technical masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin is Soviet cinema at its finest, and its montage editing techniques remain influential to this day.
#66
Adjusted Score: 101857%
Critics Consensus: Hannah Gadsby: Nanette brilliantly moves modern comedy into nakedly honest new territory, pivoting from dry humor to raw, powerful storytelling.
#67
Adjusted Score: 108444%
Critics Consensus: Performed with chameleonic brio by Alec Guinness, Kind Hearts and Coronets is a triumphant farce.
#68
Adjusted Score: 103084%
Critics Consensus: Thought-provoking and beautifully filmed, Before Sunrise is an intelligent, unabashedly romantic look at modern love, led by marvelously natural performances from Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
#69
Adjusted Score: 101132%
Critics Consensus: Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone is an entertaining, heartwarming, and balanced documentary about the influential Los Angeles band.
#70
Adjusted Score: 101132%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#71
Adjusted Score: 101784%
Critics Consensus: Strong Island uses one family’s heartbreaking tragedy to offer a sobering picture of racial injustice in modern America.
#72
Adjusted Score: 106084%
Critics Consensus: Open City fills in the familiar contours of its storyline with three-dimensional characters and a narrative depth that add up to a towering — and still powerfully resonant — cinematic achievement.
#73
Adjusted Score: 101498%
Critics Consensus: Sabaya presents a scary and sobering look at human suffering — and the efforts of those dedicated to ending it.
Starring:
#74
Adjusted Score: 105774%
Critics Consensus: Typifying the best that the Western genre has to offer, Stagecoach is a rip-roaring adventure given dramatic heft by John Ford’s dynamic direction and John Wayne’s mesmerizing star turn.
#75
Adjusted Score: 106275%
Critics Consensus: An existential suspense classic, The Wages of Fear blends nonstop suspense with biting satire; its influence is still being felt on today’s thrillers.
#76
Adjusted Score: 101245%
Critics Consensus: Smart, affectionate, and unabashedly sincere, Sound City pairs a great soundtrack with a well-argued ode to one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most fondly remembered bygone eras.
#77
Adjusted Score: 101780%
Critics Consensus: A sobering documentary and a stark warning, A Thousand Cuts underscores the importance of the press at a pivotal moment in world history.
#78
Adjusted Score: 101071%
Critics Consensus: We Were Here revisits the crises facing the gay community in the early 1980s — and offers a powerful tribute to the inspiring resolve shown at a time of turmoil.
#79
Adjusted Score: 101496%
Critics Consensus: Rife with the political intrigue promised by its title, Coup 53 is a spellbinding documentary with the heart of a thriller.
#80
Adjusted Score: 101040%
Critics Consensus: Well-written and powerfully acted, Fireworks Wednesday gives audiences an early, assured glimpse of writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s emerging talent.
#81
Adjusted Score: 101294%
Critics Consensus: Quietly compassionate and rich in detail, Ilo Ilo is a strikingly mature debut from writer-director Anthony Chen.
#82
Adjusted Score: 101496%
Critics Consensus: Brought to life by a breakout performance by Camila Morrone, Mickey and the Bear finds affecting drama at the crossroads of a young woman’s coming-of-age journey.
#83
Adjusted Score: 106204%
Critics Consensus: Giulietta Masina is remarkable as a chronically unfortunate wretch with an indomitable spirit in Federico Fellini’s unrelentingly bleak — yet ultimately uplifting — odyssey through heartbreak.
#84
Adjusted Score: 101496%
Critics Consensus: Rewind pulls at the roots of a family’s horrific trauma with a deeply personal documentary that’s hard to watch, but worth the effort.
#85
Adjusted Score: 101511%
Critics Consensus: Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street compassionately draws on an actor’s personal journey to offer a compelling and illuminating reexamination of the franchise’s first sequel.
#86
Adjusted Score: 103815%
Critics Consensus: As sensitive as the young man at its center, Searching for Bobby Fischer uses a prodigy’s struggle to find personal balance as the background for a powerfully moving drama.
#87
Adjusted Score: 105344%
Critics Consensus: Au Hasard Balthazar uses one animal’s lifelong journey to trace a soberly compelling — and ultimately heartbreaking — outline of the human experience.
#88
Adjusted Score: 105932%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and performed, Mäedchen in Uniform avoids easy melodrama with its sensitive handling of oft-sensationalized subject matter.
#89
Adjusted Score: 101658%
Critics Consensus: A clear-eyed look at an extraordinary subject, Mayor makes essential viewing out of one politician’s quest to preserve dignity in the midst of bureaucracy.
#90
Adjusted Score: 103535%
Critics Consensus: An achingly sad anti-war film, Grave of the Fireflies is one of Studio Ghibli’s most profoundly beautiful, haunting works.
#91
Adjusted Score: 101189%
Critics Consensus: Bertrand Tavernier is an engaging guide through this Journey Through French Cinema, curating a revelatory tour through his homeland’s film history with a personal touch that will delight movie fans and the culturally curious alike.
#92
Adjusted Score: 101598%
Critics Consensus: A coming-of-age drama that thoughtfully handles hard-hitting themes, Paper Spiders is anchored by heartbreaking performances from its leads.
#93
Adjusted Score: 100888%
Critics Consensus: Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness serves as an effective primer on its subject, as well as an evocative portrait of the era in which he lived.
#94
Adjusted Score: 103958%
Critics Consensus: Stalker is a complex, oblique parable that draws unforgettable images and philosophical musings from its sci-fi/thriller setting.
#95
Adjusted Score: 101496%
Critics Consensus: Narratively slight yet cumulatively absorbing, The Woman Who Ran finds writer-director Hong Sang-soo continuing to work in a beguilingly minor key.
#96
Adjusted Score: 101331%
Critics Consensus: Urgent and empathetic, Changing the Game takes an affecting and admirably nuanced look at young transgender athletes.
#97
Adjusted Score: 101371%
Critics Consensus: Mr. Death outlines its subject’s controversial life’s work with the deeply fascinating and thought-provoking élan film fans have come to expect from director Errol Morris.
#98
Adjusted Score: 108154%
Critics Consensus: A glamorous and enthralling Depression-era diversion, Top Hat is nearly flawless, with acrobatics by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that make the hardest physical stunts seem light as air.
#99
Adjusted Score: 101478%
Critics Consensus: Acasa, My Home presents a powerful documentary portrait of one family’s odyssey that illustrates bittersweet truths about freedom and society.
Starring:
#100
Adjusted Score: 101098%
Critics Consensus: A rare advocacy documentary that fully trusts its subject’s ability to fascinate, More Than Honey enlightens without badgering — and is all the more effective for it.
#101
Adjusted Score: 101275%
Critics Consensus: Engrossing for casual listeners as well as hardcore fans, Mystify: Michael Hutchence sheds a poignant light on a life and career cut short by tragedy.
#102
Adjusted Score: 103719%
Critics Consensus: Visually and thematically evocative, Sugar Cane Alley tells a story that’s heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure.
#103
Adjusted Score: 101037%
Critics Consensus: California Typewriter is an affectionate, nostalgic love letter to the typed word from enthusiasts and experts alike.
#104
Adjusted Score: 103526%
Critics Consensus: The Decline of Western Civilization takes a frank, often funny look at the punk culture of the late ’70s and early ’80s.
#105
Adjusted Score: 105821%
Critics Consensus: Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense captures the energetic, unpredictable live act of peak Talking Heads with color and visual wit.