25 Best Film Directors of the 21st Century (So Far)
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.
#6 (tie)
Paul Thomas Anderson
PTA has never made a bad film—and that's saying something considering that one of them starred Adam Sandler. In fact, including his three films released in the 1990s, his career average is an impressive 82.6. (Not included in his average score is the sub-feature-length 2015 documentary Junun, which received only a handful of reviews.) His next, still-untitled feature (possibly titled Phantom Thread) is set in the 1950s London fashion industry and will open in December, and it will reunite Anderson with his There Will Be Blood star Daniel Day-Lewis (in what could be the actor's final performance).
| Films directed, 2000-2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| ▣ | There Will Be Blood | 2007 |
| ▣ | The Master | 2012 |
| ▣ | Inherent Vice | 2014 |
| ▣ | Punch-Drunk Love | 2002 |