Best World Cinema Movies

The 50 greatest world cinema movies from every continent. International masterpieces ranked. Our expert curated list features the best picks with streaming links, ratings, and honest reviews. Updated for 2026 with the latest releases and classic favorites.

What are the best world cinema movies?

Our curated list of best world cinema movies features the highest-rated and most popular picks. Updated for 2026 with streaming links.

Last Updated: March 2026

The Godfather

1972★ 8.7

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

The Shawshank Redemption

1994★ 8.7

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

The Devastator

1986★ 4.4

This war's in your own backyard. Violent warfare erupts in Northern California when Vietnam vet Deacon Porter reassembles his Combat Strike Force to avenge the death of a commanding officer.

Communion

1989★ 5.3

A novelist's wife and son see him changed by an apparent encounter with aliens in the mountains.

Dolly Dearest

1991★ 5.5

An American family moves to Mexico to fabricate dolls, but their toy factory happens to be next to a Sanzian grave and the toys come into possession of an old, malicious spirit.

Emanuelle's Silver Tongue

1976★ 1.3

This movie is an Emmanuelle film in name only. Carmen Villani does get naked often, and there is this guy who looks like he was in the :Monkeys: The film begins with Billy ( Roberto Cenci ) who rushes to the airport of Tunis , for the arrival of her friend Andrea ( Carmen Villani ), returning from Paris with her husband. But Billy's happiness is shattered when she learns quickly that it should host to his house, at the request of Andrea, Bobby ( Gianfranco D'Angelo ), in love with Andrea, and Dr. Censi ( Nadia Cassini ), a friend of Bobby, who tries in vain to cure him of his uncontrollable desire of women, but to no avail, even allowing himself to him, after having hypnotized. After realizing that Bobby was not the right man for her, Andrea finally falls in love Billy.

Príbelská vzbura Janka Kráľa

1978

The plot takes place in the revolutionary year of 1848. It takes us to Príbelice, where Janko Kráľ returns from Pest after the March Revolution, to acquaint the Slovak people with the famous Twelve Points, together with his friend, teacher Ján Rotarides. They were voted on at the last Hungarian Diet in Bratislava with the promise of freedom and equality for Slovaks.

Pulp Fiction

1994★ 8.5

A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up boxer converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time.

Forrest Gump

1994★ 8.5

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

Volejte Martina

1966★ 6.0

The series of children's films about Detective Martin, who intervenes in cases involving children, begins with this film. It consists of two short stories: in the first ("Three Bottles"), the young hero, escaping from an orphanage, gets involved in a robbery of postage stamps..., in the second ("Flying Carousel"), the children fight a dishonest owner of fairground rides...

TNT Jackson

1974★ 4.6

A woman encounters thugs and drug dealers after traveling to Hong Kong to search for her missing brother.

Family Plot

1976★ 6.8

Spiritualist Blanche Tyler and her cab-driving boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.

Psycho III

1986★ 5.7

When Maureen Coyle, a suicidal nun who resembles Norman's former victim, Marion Crane, arrives at the motel, all bets are off and "Mother" is less than happy.

My Science Project

1985★ 6.2

His high school teacher issues an ultimatum: turn in a science project or flunk. So Mike Harlan scavenges a military base's junk pile for a suitable gizmo. He finds one... and unwittingly unleashes the awesome power and energy of the unknown. Twisted dimensions. Time warps. A fantastic realm where the past, present, and future collide in a whirling vortex of startling adventure and superlative special effects.

Waisetsuna onna: kuroi hada ni naku

1985★ 10.0

A married couple, Fumio Asakura and Kumiko, enjoyed having pleasure in each other by taking pictures during sex. Kumiko met her old friend from school, Fuko because her husband went on a business trip for three days. They go to a disco in Tachikawa and are almost attacked by three young Japanese. Fuko calls on a black man named Bill, who lives close to Kumiko...

GoodFellas

1990★ 8.5

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

Move Over, Darling

1963★ 6.7

Three years into their loving marriage, with two infant daughters at home in Los Angeles, Nicholas Arden and Ellen Wagstaff Arden are on a plane that goes down in the South Pacific. Although most passengers manage to survive the incident, Ellen presumably perishes when swept off her lifeboat, her body never recovered. Fast forward five years. Nicholas, wanting to move on with his life, has Ellen declared legally dead. Part of that moving on includes getting remarried, this time to a young woman named Bianca Steele, who, for their honeymoon, he plans to take to the same Monterrey resort where he and Ellen spent their honeymoon. On that very same day, Ellen is dropped off in Los Angeles by the Navy, who rescued her from the South Pacific island where she was stranded for the past five years. She asks the Navy not to publicize her rescue nor notify Nicholas as she wants to do so herself.

Roadie

1980★ 5.8

A young Texas good ol' boy has a knack with electronic equipment, and that talent gets him a job as a roadie with a raucous traveling rock-and-roll show.

Shahenshah

1988★ 6.3

Inspector Srivastav is framed by a wily and cunning gangster, J.K., and unable to prove his innocence, hangs himself, leaving behind his wife, and son, Vijay. Years later, Vijay has grown up and has joined the police force as an Inspector. Unlike his dad, he is corrupt and does accept bribes to turn a nelson's eye to crime. The City Police are assigned the task of apprehending a customed man called "Shahenshah", who operates at night and targets, tries and kills gangsters in a "Judge and Executioner "style. No one knows the real identity of Shahenshah, as he is feared by the police department, and respected by the poor and middle-class.

The Godfather Part II

1974★ 8.6

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

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We update our movie lists regularly based on new releases, ratings, and streaming availability. Last updated March 2026.

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