The 50 Best Foreign Language Movies Of the 21st Century So Far
List activity
10K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
48 titles
- DirectorMira NairStarsNaseeruddin ShahLillete DubeyShefali ShahA stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsAnaïs RebouxRoxane MesquidaLibero De RienzoTwo sisters confront their sexual attitudes and experiences while on a family holiday.
- DirectorRoy AnderssonStarsLars NordhStefan LarssonBengt C.W. CarlssonWhere are we humans going? A film poem inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. We meet people in the city. People trying to communicate, searching compassion and get the connection of small and large things.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsLubna AzabalMélissa Désormeaux-PoulinMaxim GaudetteTwins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.
- DirectorHaifaa Al-MansourStarsWaad MohammedReem AbdullahAbdullrahman Al GohaniAn enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsBruno GanzAlexandra Maria LaraUlrich MatthesTraudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsKåre HedebrantLina LeanderssonPer RagnarOskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsKôki MaedaOshiro MaedaRyôga HayashiTwelve-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents' divorce, hears a rumor that the new bullet trains will precipitate a wish-granting miracle when they pass each other at top speed.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi ZhangA young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsJuliette BinocheCharles BerlingJérémie RenierTwo brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession.
- DirectorAndrey ZvyagintsevStarsAleksey SerebryakovElena LyadovaRoman MadyanovIn a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsMonica BellucciVincent CasselAlbert DupontelEvents over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
- DirectorMiguel GomesStarsTelmo ChurroMiguel GomesHortêncílio AquinaA restless retired woman teams up with her deceased neighbor's maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsShu QiJack KaoChun-hao TuanThe ethereally beautiful Vicky recalls her romances with Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.
- DirectorPawel PawlikowskiStarsAgata KuleszaAgata TrzebuchowskaDawid OgrodnikA novice nun about to take her vows uncovers a family secret dating back to the German occupation.
- DirectorXavier DolanStarsAnne DorvalAntoine Olivier PilonSuzanne ClémentA widowed single mother, raising her violent son alone, finds new hope when a mysterious neighbor inserts herself into their household.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsKaridja TouréAssa SyllaLindsay KaramohA girl with few real prospects joins a gang, reinventing herself and gaining a sense of self confidence in the process. However, she soon finds that this new life does not necessarily make her any happier.
- DirectorAna Lily AmirpourStarsSheila VandArash MarandiMarshall ManeshIn the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsMarion CotillardFabrizio RongioneCatherine SaléeLiège, Belgium. Sandra is a factory worker who discovers that her workmates have opted for a EUR1,000 bonus in exchange for her dismissal. She has only a weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses in order to keep her job.
- DirectorAbdellatif KechicheStarsLéa SeydouxAdèle ExarchopoulosSalim KechioucheAdèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsMathieu AmalricEmmanuelle SeignerMarie-Josée CrozeThe true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsNantarat SawaddikulJaruchai IamaramSophon PukanokStory about director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's parents, who were both doctors, and the director's memories about growing up in the hospital environment.
- DirectorAlain GuiraudieStarsPierre DeladonchampsChristophe PaouPatrick d'AssumçaoSummertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel, an attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this but wants to live out his passion anyway.
- DirectorMaren AdeStarsLars EidingerBirgit MinichmayrHans-Jochen WagnerWhile on a Mediterranean vacation, a seemingly happy boyfriend and girlfriend find their connection to one another tested as they bond with another couple.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsMads MikkelsenThomas Bo LarsenAnnika WedderkoppA teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsGael García BernalAlfredo CastroAntonia ZegersAn advertising executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKang-sheng LeeShiang-chyi ChenYi-ching LuA watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsRomain DurisAure AtikaEmmanuelle DevosWill Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?
- DirectorCristian MungiuStarsAnamaria MarincaLaura VasiliuVlad IvanovA woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.
- DirectorJoachim TrierStarsAnders Danielsen LieEspen Klouman HøinerViktoria WingeFueled by literary aspirations and youthful exuberance, two competitive friends endure the pangs of love, depression, and burgeoning careers.
- DirectorMia Hansen-LøveStarsFélix de GivryPauline EtienneVincent MacaignePaul, a teenager in the underground scene of early-nineties Paris, forms a DJ collective with his friends and together they plunge into the nightlife of sex, drugs, and endless music.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsJuliette BinocheWilliam ShimellJean-Claude CarrièreIn Tuscany to promote his latest book, a middle-aged British writer meets a French woman who leads him to the village of Lucignano. While there, a chance question reveals something deeper.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsHaruhiko KatôKumiko AsôKoyukiTwo groups of people discover evidence that suggests spirits may be trying to invade the human world through the Internet.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsYun Jeong-hieLee Da-witKim Hee-raA sixty-something woman, faced with the discovery of a heinous family crime and in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, finds strength and purpose when she enrolls in a poetry class.
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsAïssa MaïgaTiécoura TraoréMaimouna Hélène DiarraBamako. Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up... In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa's woes... Amidst the pleas and the testimonies, life goes on in the courtyard. Chaka does not seem to be concerned by this novel Africa's desire to fight for its rights...
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsMaribel VerdúGael García BernalDaniel Giménez CachoIn Mexico, two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life and each other.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsNien-Jen WuElaine JinIssei OgataEach member of a middle-class Taipei family seeks to reconcile past and present relationships within their daily lives.
- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsChristos StergioglouMichele ValleyAngeliki PapouliaA controlling, manipulative father locks his three adult offsprings in a state of perpetual childhood by keeping them prisoner within the sprawling family compound.
- DirectorFernando MeirellesKátia LundStarsAlexandre RodriguesLeandro FirminoMatheus NachtergaeleIn the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsIsabelle HuppertChristopher LambertIsaach De BankoléAmidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsDenis LavantEdith ScobEva MendesA man boards a limousine to be driven to his day's work: nine mysterious "appointments."
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsMaría OnettoClaudia CanteroCésar BordónAfter hitting something with her car, a bourgeois Argentine woman's life slowly descends into paranoia and isolation, as she fears she may have killed someone.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungSiu Ping-LamTwo neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsPayman MaadiLeila HatamiSareh BayatA married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoKim Sang-kyungKim Roe-haIn a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsPenélope CruzCarmen MauraLola DueñasAfter her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.