25 Best Film Directors of the 21st Century (So Far)

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – July 19, 2017

Which directors have received the best reviews from professional critics since 2000? Find out below, where we rank this century's top filmmakers by their average Metascores.

To be included, a director must have four or more eligible films. Such films have seven or more reviews from professional critics and were first released (in any country) on or after January 1, 2000, and must have been released (including as a straight-to-Netflix streaming release) at some point in the USA. Multi-director anthology films are excluded, as are theatrical re-releases of older films. Averages were calculated using Metascores from July 12, 2017, and include films released through July 7, 2017.

12 of 27 photo by Kino Lorber
80.2

#15

Miguel Gomes

The Portuguese director made the transition from film critic to filmmaker early this century, and his most notable achievement to date is 2015's three-part, six-hour Arabian Nights, which borrows the short-story-within-a-story structure of the Thousand and One Nights to depict a modern-day Portugal attempting to recover from the financial crisis. Note that the director's 2004 debut, The Face You Deserve (A Cara que Mereces), was not released in the United States.

Films directed, 2000-2017
▣Our Beloved Month of August2010
▣Arabian Nights: Volume 2, The Desolate One2015
▣Arabian Nights: Volume 1, The Restless One2015
▣Arabian Nights: Volume 3, The Enchanted One2015
▣Tabu2012
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