
Essential MUBI Movies Ranked by Tomatometer
Since 2007, when it was originally called The Auteurs, MUBI has been on a mission to bring arthouse, independent, and world cinema to our theaters and TV screens. It initially began as a streaming service that rotated its catalog every month, and then became a film distributor with the release of its first acquired film, Arabian Nights.
In the last few years, MUBI has left a significant mark in the film industry, rivaling such independent powerhouses like A24 and NEON. Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave, Ira Sachs’ Passages, and Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother are just a few of MUBI’s critically acclaimed films, and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance was its first film to win an Academy Award, when it won for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. (The Substance was also nominated in several other categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress).
We’re celebrating all of the incredible movies MUBI has distributed by collecting its essential films and ranking them by Tomatometer. Check out our list below to see where your favorites landed, and to see what should be next on your watchlist. — Bryce Marrero
100%
Critics Consensus: Free Chol Soo Lee powerfully relates a story of injustice while issuing a searing indictment of the systemic racism that enabled it.
Synopsis: In 1970s San Francisco, 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. After spending years fighting to… View Full Synopsis
98%
Critics Consensus: Weaving high-stakes political commentary with rich personal dynamics that are bolstered by Sope Dirisu’s commanding performance, My Father’s Shadow casts a highly promising light on feature-debut director Akinola Davies’ future.
Synopsis: The UK’s Best International Feature Film entry to the 98th Academy Awards® and recipient of the Caméra d’Or Special Mention at Cannes, Akinola Davis Jr.’s… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Sope Dirisu, Godwin Egbo, Chibuike Marvellous Egbo, Efon Wini
Directed By: Akinola Davies
98%
Critics Consensus: The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki sidesteps sports biopic clichés with a beautifully filmed, well-acted look at the balance between career fulfillment and personal happiness.
Synopsis: Olli Mäki loses a fight for the world championship in the second round by knockout in front of a packed stadium.
Starring: Jarkko Lahti, Eero Milonoff, Oona Airola, Joonas Saartamo
Directed By: Juho Kuosmanen
98%
Critics Consensus: An uncommonly patient thriller, Azor elegantly slips the viewer into its cool grasp and never lets go.
Synopsis: Argentina, the late 1970s. Private banker Yvan (Fabrizio Rongione) arrives from Geneva with his wife Ines (Stéphanie Cléau) to replace a colleague who has mysteriously… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Fabrizio Rongione, Stéphanie Cléau, Elli Medeiros, Alexandre Trocki
Directed By: Andreas Fontana
98%
Critics Consensus: Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda takes a thoughtful look at the composer’s life and legacy that should prove affecting and illuminating for novices as well as longtime fans.
Synopsis: A portrait of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Directed By: Stephen Schible
97%
Critics Consensus: A quirky tale of star-crossed lovers, Fallen Leaves is a life-affirming gem from Finnish filmmaker Kaurismäki.
Synopsis: In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a local karaoke bar. However, the pair’s path to happiness is… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Janne Hyytiäinen, Alina Tomnikov
Directed By: Aki Kaurismäki
97%
Critics Consensus: A powerful debut for Molly Manning Walker, How to Have Sex authentically captures female adolescence and friendship with sobering effervescence.
Synopsis: Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday — drinking, clubbing and hooking up, in what should be the best summer of their lives.
Starring: Mia McKenna-Bruce, Samuel Bottomley, Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas
Directed By: Molly Manning Walker
97%
Critics Consensus: With a rigorous yet fantastical approach, Mati Diop’s Dahomey provocatively uncovers the restitution and repatriation of a stolen legacy, and serves as a powerful statement for decolonization.
Synopsis: From acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics), DAHOMEY is a poetic and immersive work of art that delves into real perspectives on far-reaching issues surrounding appropriation,… View Full Synopsis
Directed By: Mati Diop
97%
Critics Consensus: A tender odyssey with Mzia Arabuli’s wonderful performance as the audience’s guide, Crossing marks another humanist triumph for writer-director Levan Akin.
Synopsis: From acclaimed director Levan Akin (And Then We Danced), CROSSING is a moving and tender tale of identity, acceptance and unlikely connection that transcends borders… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Mzia Arabuli, Lucas Kankava, Deniz Dumanli, Deniz Dumanli
Directed By: Levan Akin
97%
Critics Consensus: With intelligence and sensitivity, Great Freedom draws on past injustices to present a beautifully crafted tribute to the persistence of the human spirit.
Synopsis: In Germany after WWII, the liberation by the Allies did not mean freedom for everyone. Hans (Franz Rogowski) has been found guilty of something the… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Franz Rogowski, Georg Friedrich, Anton von Lucke, Thomas Prenn
Directed By: Sebastian Meise
96%
Critics Consensus: As unique and breathlessly expansive as its title, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World adds to the evidence supporting Radu Jude’s status as a uniquely gifted and provocative filmmaker.
Synopsis: From Golden Bear winner Radu Jude, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD takes a fierce and darkly comic swipe at… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Ilinca Manolache, Ovidiu Pîrsan, Nina Hoss, Dorina Lazăr
Directed By: Radu Jude
96%
Critics Consensus: Lingui, the Sacred Bonds uses one family’s fraught story to offer a forceful rejoinder to the oppressive norms of patriarchal culture.
Synopsis: On the outskirts of N’Djamena in Chad, Amina lives alone with her only 15-year-old daughter Maria. Her already fragile world collapses the day she discovers… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Achouackh Abakar, Rihane Khalil Alio, Youssouf Djaoro, Briya Gomdigue
Directed By: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
96%
Critics Consensus: Well-acted and appropriately beautiful, Sweat takes a thoughtful, empathetic look at social media fame.
Synopsis: Beloved fitness influencer Sylwia seemingly has it made: hundreds of thousands of social media followers, endorsement deals, photo spreads in magazines. But as she starts… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Magdalena Koleśnik, Julian Swiezewski, Aleksandra Konieczna, Zbigniew Zamachowski
Directed By: Magnus von Horn
94%
Critics Consensus: If Decision to Leave isn’t quite on the same level as Park Chan-wook’s masterpieces, this romantic thriller is still a remarkable achievement by any other metric.
Synopsis: From a mountain peak in South Korea, a man plummets to his death. Did he jump, or was he pushed? When detective Hae-joon arrives on… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Wei Tang, Park Hae-il, Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo
Directed By: Park Chan-wook
94%
Critics Consensus: Elevated by a remarkable Franz Rogowski performance, Passages adds another smart, deeply humanistic film to director/co-writer Ira Sachs’ estimable filmography.
Synopsis: Celebrated filmmaker Ira Sachs (Love is Strange) makes a breathtaking return with PASSAGES, a fresh, honest and brutally funny take on messy, modern relationships, starring… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Erwan Kepoa Falé
Directed By: Ira Sachs
94%
Critics Consensus: Devilishly examining the intersection of fame and obsession to thrilling effect, Alex Russell’s directorial debut delivers on all fronts.
Synopsis: A screw-turning psychological thriller made for the moment, LURKER is the razor-sharp directorial debut from The Bear and Beef writer-producer Alex Russell. When twenty-something Los… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Sunny Suljic, Cam Hicks
Directed By: Alex Russell
94%
Critics Consensus: Exquisitely well-crafted and laced with mordant humor, Sound of Falling is a haunting generational drama that announces Mascha Schillinski as a world-class directorial talent.
Synopsis: Over the course of a century, as four girls from different time periods experience their youth on a German farm, their lives become intertwined until… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Hanna Heckt, Lena Urzendowsky, Susanne Wuest, Luise Heyer
Directed By: Mascha Schilinski
94%
Critics Consensus: As harrowing as it is humane, The Settlers serves as a sharp-edged excavation of long-marginalized history.
Synopsis: Chile, 1901. Three horsemen embark on an expedition, tasked with securing a wealthy landowner’s vast property. Accompanying a reckless British lieutenant and an American mercenary… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Sam Spruell, Alfredo Castro, Mariano Llinás, Marcelo Alonso
Directed By: Felipe Gálvez Haberle
93%
Critics Consensus: While it may lack a narrative punch, Alcarràs captures this rural world and its heritage with a gripping sense of nostalgia for things forever gone.
Synopsis: In a small village in Catalonia, the peach farmers of the Solé family spend every summer together picking fruit from their orchard. But when plans… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Berta Pipó, Jordi Pujol Dolcet, Anna Otin, Xènia Roset
Directed By: Carla Simón
93%
Critics Consensus: Gasoline Rainbow takes an honest look at adolescence and — befitting its title — finds arresting beauty in incongruous and unexpected places.
Synopsis: Celebrated directorial duo the Ross Brothers (Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets and Contemporary Color) turn their pioneering hybrid approach to the cinematic road trip with GASOLINE… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Micah Bunch, Nathaly Garcia, Nichole Dukes, Tony Aburto
Directed By: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
92%
Critics Consensus: Threading its grim tale through sumptuous black-and-white photography, The Girl with the Needle is a haunting parable made with superb craft.
Synopsis: A standout selection from the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE is a dark fairy tale about one woman’s search for tenderness… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri, Ava Knox Martin
Directed By: Magnus von Horn
91%
Critics Consensus: Director Miguel Gomes continues to leverage the possibilities of cinema to explore passion and time in this globetrotting lark, richly realized in striking black-and-white photography.
Synopsis: From Miguel Gomes, the award winning director of Tabu and Arabian Nights, comes a globe-trotting tale of unrequited love. Earning Gomes the Best Director prize… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Crista Alfaiate, Gonçalo Waddington, Claúdio da Silva, Lang-Khê Tran
Directed By: Miguel Gomes
91%
Critics Consensus: A striking debut from director/co-writer Dea Kulumbegashvili, Beginning grapples convincingly with complex ideas while offering a brilliant showcase for star Ia Sukhitashvili.
Synopsis: A missionary’s life spirals out of control after extremists burn down a Jehovah’s Witnesses church in a remote Georgian village.
Starring: Ia Sukhitashvili, Rati Oneli, Kakha Kintsurashvili, Saba Gogichaishvili
Directed By: Dea Kulumbegashvili
90%
Critics Consensus: Kelly Reichardt crafts a heist film at her own laconic pace with The Mastermind, a contemplative crime drama that glides along Josh O’Connor’s effortless watchability and a sumptuously vintage aesthetic.
Synopsis: Celebrated filmmaker Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, Showing Up) directs an unforgettable Josh O’Connor in THE MASTERMIND, her latest Cannes triumph. In a sedate Massachusetts suburb… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Gaby Hoffmann, Josh O'Connor, John Magaro, Hope Davis
Directed By: Kelly Reichardt
90%
Critics Consensus: Refreshingly unique and ultimately enchanting, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky is an ode to love that finds magic in the mundane.
Synopsis: In the Georgian riverside town of Kutaisi, summertime romance and World Cup fever are in the air. After a pair of chance encounters, pharmacist Lisa… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Giorgi Ambroladze, Oliko Barbakadze, Giorgi Bochorishvili, Irina Chelidze
Directed By: Aleksandre Koberidze, Alexandre Koberidze
89%
Critics Consensus: Audaciously gross, wickedly clever, and possibly Demi Moore’s finest hour, The Substance is a gasp-inducing feat from writer-director Coralie Fargeat.
Synopsis: Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? You, only better in every way. You should try this new product, it’s called The… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Hugo Diego Garcia
Directed By: Coralie Fargeat
89%
Critics Consensus: By withholding clear heroes or easy villains in its tale of a destructive neighborly feud, Bring Them Down stands out as an exceptionally nuanced exercise in vengeance.
Synopsis: Starring Oscar-nominee Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin) and Christopher Abbott (Possessor, Sanctuary), BRING THEM DOWN is a tense and gripping thriller about two… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Christopher Abbott, Barry Keoghan, Nora Jane Noone, Paul Ready
Directed By: Chris Andrews
87%
Critics Consensus: Celebrating the virtues of fortitude and patience, La Grazia is an atypically restrained effort from writer-director Paolo Sorrentino that reunites him with the dependably majestic Toni Servillo.
Synopsis: From Academy and BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, LA GRAZIA is a sweeping exploration of love, duty, and personal freedom. Toni Servillo — winner of… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Toni Servillo, Anna Ferzetti, Orlando Cinque, Massimo Venturiello
Directed By: Paolo Sorrentino
86%
Critics Consensus: Director Andrea Arnold strikes a coming-of-age chord through Nykiya Adams’ moving performance, marrying fantasy and reality to the dizzying end.
Synopsis: The long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking from Academy Award-winner Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Fish Tank), BIRD is a tender, striking and extraordinarily surprising coming-of-age fable… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Barry Keoghan, Franz Rogowski, Nykiya Adams, James Nelson-Joyce
Directed By: Andrea Arnold
86%
Critics Consensus: Breaking through the genre wall, The Delinquents is an astute existential heist movie that will reward patient viewers with a humorous fable about freedom.
Synopsis: Buenos Aires bank employee Morán dreams up a scheme to liberate himself from corporate monotony: he’ll steal enough money to support a modest retirement, then… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Germán de Silva, Laura Paredes, Margarita Molfino, Daniel Elias
Directed By: Rodrigo Moreno
85%
Critics Consensus: Overflowing with ideas as it moves across genres, The Five Devils uses intoxicating magical realism to explore a family’s troubled past.
Synopsis: Eight-year-old Vicky has a mysterious gift: she can recreate any scent she comes across, even that of her beloved mother Joanne. When her estranged aunt… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Sally Dramé, Swala Emati, Moustapha Mbengue
Directed By: Léa Mysius
84%
Critics Consensus: Father Mother Sister Brother is a subtly haunting, wryly funny, and visually poised triptych that transforms the banal awkwardness of family life into a bittersweet meditation on the bonds that persist.
Synopsis: FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER is a feature film, though carefully constructed in the form of a triptych. The three stories all concern the relationships between… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Mayim Bialik, Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Sarah Greene
Directed By: Jim Jarmusch
82%
Critics Consensus: Rotting in the Sun‘s bold ambition and infectious frenetic energy prove a natural — albeit not universally appealing — fit for its unique flavor of dark mischief.
Synopsis: Writer-director Sebastián Silva’s Sundance hit ROTTING IN THE SUN is a darkly funny and refreshingly audacious meta-comedy that skewers the business of filmmaking and our… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jordan Firstman, Sebastian Silva, Robert Keller, Vitter Leíja
Directed By: Sebastian Silva, Sebastián Silva
75%
Critics Consensus: A frenzied depiction of a common but oft-ignored experience, Die My Love might be too stylistically mannered to fully connect but gifts Jennifer Lawrence with one of her most vivid roles yet.
Synopsis: A portrait of a woman engulfed by love and madness.
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek
Directed By: Lynne Ramsay
74%
Critics Consensus: A fascinating exploration of human connection, Family Romance, LLC sees Werner Herzog following an unconventional path to existentialism.
Synopsis: A man is hired to impersonate the missing father of a 12-year-old girl.
Starring: Mahiro Tanimoto, Ishii Yuichi, Miki Fujimaki, Takashi Nakatani
Directed By: Werner Herzog
100%
Synopsis: In a sprawling mega city where the dangers of climate change are present not future, acclaimed filmmaker Rahul Jain shows a world on the brink…. View Full Synopsis
Directed By: Rahul Jain
96%
Critics Consensus: As carefully and impressively constructed as its title would suggest, The Cathedral offers an absorbing, impressionistic child’s-eye look at family life.
Synopsis: An only child’s meditative, impressionistic account of an American family’s rise and fall over twenty years.
Starring: Monica Barbaro, Brian d'Arcy James, Geraldine Singer, Mark Zeisler
Directed By: Ricky D'Ambrose
93%
Synopsis: During the American Bicentennial weekend, a 15-year-old Nova Scotia boy runs away with his girlfriend to make a new home with his artistic mother.
Starring: Molly Parker, Allan Hawco, Julia Sarah Stone, Dylan Authors
Directed By: Bruce McDonald
89%
Synopsis: Nearly 15 years later, Vita (Odessa Young), recounts making her first feature — a semi-autobiographical film about a young woman who gets pregnant and decides… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Odessa Young, Devon Ross, Cole Doman, Philip Ettinger
Directed By: Zia Anger
88%
Critics Consensus: If State Funeral risks repetitiveness in its patient approach, the glimpse of history it offers remains a fascinating — and frightening — look at life under a totalitarian regime.
Synopsis: Mourners flock to Moscow’s Red Square to attend Josef Stalin’s funeral.
Directed By: Sergei Loznitsa
87%
Critics Consensus: High & Low – John Galliano surveys a public figure’s fall from grace with intelligence and even-handedness, making for a consistently compelling watch.
Synopsis: HIGH & LOW – JOHN GALLIANO is the gripping and thought-provoking new documentary from Academy Award® winner Kevin Macdonald, charting the rise-and-fall story of fashion… View Full Synopsis
Directed By: Kevin Macdonald
85%
Synopsis: This coming-of-age comedy tracks one very long day for Palace Bryant, a newly minted MFA grad whose final 24 hours in art school become a… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Diamond Stingily, Cammisa Buerhaus, Ruby McCollister, Brent David Freaney
Directed By: Martine Syms
74%
Synopsis: Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no name, in an undefined time and place, disappears. In Athina Rachel Tsangari’s tragicomic take on a Western,… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Harry Melling, Frank Dillane, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosy McEwen
Directed By: Athina Rachel Tsangari
69%
Critics Consensus: Its drawn-out pacing and overly familiar trajectory undermine its potential to truly surprise, but The History of Sound nonetheless offers a visually stunning and well-acted journey through its melancholic exploration of human connection.
Synopsis: “The History of Sound” follows two young men — Lionel (Paul Mescal) and David (Josh O’Connor) — in the shadows of WWI who are determined… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Paul Mescal, Josh O'Connor, Peter Mark Kendall, Chris Cooper
Directed By: Oliver Hermanus
64%
Critics Consensus: More visually elaborate than the fragmented story can sometimes support, The Fall walks the line between labor of love and filmmaker self-indulgence.
Synopsis: A bedridden patient (Lee Pace) captivates a hospitalized girl (Catinca Untaru) with a fantastic tale involving heroes, mystics and villains on a desert island.
Starring: Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell, Robin Smith
Directed By: Tarsem Singh
63%
Critics Consensus: Matthias and Maxime enchants almost as much as it frustrates, although Xavier Dolan fans may appreciate seeing the writer-director working at a more restrained pitch.
Synopsis: Two young men’s lifelong friendship is tested when they act in a movie whose script calls for them to kiss each other.
Starring: Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas, Xavier Dolan, Harris Dickinson, Anne Dorval
Directed By: Xavier Dolan
60%
Synopsis: In the wake of Vice Media’s bankruptcy, Eddie Huang (famed host of Vice’s Huang’s World, author, chef, producer, and former attorney), takes you on a… View Full Synopsis
Directed By: Eddie Huang
51%
Synopsis: Fake it ’til you make it. The latest gem from Amalia Ulman (El Planeta), MAGIC FARM takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey packed with twists… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Joe Apollonio, Camila Del Campo, Valeria Lois, Simon Rex
Directed By: Amalia Ulman
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Synopsis: An obsessive actor begins to question his sanity after he finds himself repeatedly trapped in a nightmare that is eerily similar to a film he… View Full Synopsis
Starring: Andrew Ableson, Graham Jenkins, Chris Barry, Michelle Bernard
Directed By: Sasha Sibley
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Synopsis: Composer, pianist and music producer Ryuichi Sakamoto makes a guest appearance at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City in 2017, unveiling his new… View Full Synopsis
Directed By: Stephen Schible
