Included with subscription · US · updated October 29, 2026
Best movies and shows on Criterion Channel right now, ranked
The highest-rated movies and TV shows included with Criterion Channel in the US right now. Titles that need a paid add-on channel, a rental or a purchase aren’t counted.
How this is ranked: when a title has at least 5 ratings from Wochly users, its score is their average. Otherwise we use TMDB’s user rating weighted by how many people voted, so a title with a handful of votes can’t outrank an established favorite. Community ratings are still sparse for Criterion Channel, so most scores below are the weighted TMDB signal (marked “TMDB, weighted”); green scores come from Wochly users. Availability comes from JustWatch via TMDB and is re-checked every few hours.
Best movies on Criterion Channel
- 1
Modern Times (1936)
Comedy, Drama, Romance
A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...
8.1TMDB, weighted
- 2
The Great Dictator (1940)
Comedy, War
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
8.1TMDB, weighted
- 3
Harakiri (1962)
Action, Drama, History
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.
8.0TMDB, weighted
- 4
La Haine (1995)
Drama
After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert and Saïd, wander around unoccupied waiting for news about the state of health of a mutual friend who has been seriously injured when confronting the police.
7.9TMDB, weighted
- 5
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997)
Animation, Science Fiction, Drama
SEELE orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can advance his own plans for the Human Instrumentality Project. Shinji is pushed to the limits of his sanity as he is forced to decide the fate of humanity.
7.9TMDB, weighted
- 6
Ikiru (1952)
Drama
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
7.8TMDB, weighted
- 7
Flow (2024)
Adventure, Animation, Family
A solitary cat, displaced by a great flood, finds refuge on a boat with various species and must navigate the challenges of adapting to a transformed world together.
7.8TMDB, weighted
- 8
M (1931)
Drama, Thriller, Crime
In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.
7.8TMDB, weighted
- 9
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Drama
Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.
7.8TMDB, weighted
- 10
The Gold Rush (1925)
Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl.
7.7TMDB, weighted
- 11
Il Sorpasso (1962)
Drama, Comedy, Adventure
Roberto, a shy law student in Rome, meets Bruno, a forty-year-old exuberant, capricious man, who takes him for a drive through the Roman and Tuscany countries in the summer. When their journey starts to blend into their daily lives though, the pair’s newfound friendship is tested.
7.6TMDB, weighted
- 12
Three Colors: Red (1994)
Drama, Mystery, Romance
Part-time model Valentine unexpectedly befriends a retired judge after she runs over his dog. At first, the grumpy man shows no concern about the dog, and Valentine decides to keep it. But the two form a bond when she returns to his house and catches him listening to his neighbors’ phone calls.
7.6TMDB, weighted
- 13
Infernal Affairs (2002)
Drama, Thriller, Crime
Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and Inspector Lau Kin Ming, respectively, race against time to expose the mole within their midst.
7.5TMDB, weighted
- 14
We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974)
Drama, Comedy
Three partisans bound by a strong friendship return home after the war, but the clash with everyday reality puts a strain on their bond.
7.5TMDB, weighted
- 15
Rome, Open City (1945)
Drama, War
During the Nazi occupation of 1944 Rome, Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is pursued by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a means of escape.
7.5TMDB, weighted
- 16
Boogie Nights (1997)
Drama, Comedy
In 1977, an idealistic porn producer and his promising protege try to catch up with the end of an era before their never-ending party collides with cold, hard reality.
7.5TMDB, weighted
- 17
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
Comedy, Crime
Best friends Peppe and Mario are thieves, but they're not very good at it. Still, Peppe thinks that he's finally devised a master heist that will make them rich. With the help of some fellow criminals, he plans to dig a tunnel from a rented apartment to the pawnshop next door, where they can rob the safe. But his plan is far from foolproof, and the fact that no one in the group has any experience digging tunnels proves to be the least of their problems.
7.5TMDB, weighted
- 18
Night and Fog (1956)
Documentary, History
Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.
7.5TMDB, weighted
- 19
Blue Velvet (1986)
Mystery, Thriller, Crime
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
7.5TMDB, weighted
- 20
Throne of Blood (1957)
Drama, History
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 21
Le Trou (1960)
Drama, Thriller, Crime
Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 22
The Circus (1928)
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman - soon the star of the show - and falls in love with the circus owner's stepdaughter.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 23
Autumn Sonata (1978)
Drama
After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 24
Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Drama, Thriller
A vacationing entomologist suffers extreme physical and psychological trauma after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village and made to live with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 25
Three Colors: Blue (1993)
Drama
The wife of a famous composer survives a car accident that kills her husband and daughter. Now alone, she shakes off her old identity and explores her newfound freedom but finds that she is unbreakably bound to other humans, including her husband’s mistress, whose existence she never suspected.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 26
Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
Drama, Romance, Crime
When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 27
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Drama
As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 28
The Celebration (1998)
Drama
The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a devastating secret that turns the night into a battle of truth and denial.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 29
The Last Emperor (1987)
Drama, History
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
7.4TMDB, weighted
- 30
La Notte (1961)
Drama, Romance
A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship in Milan.
7.3TMDB, weighted
Best TV shows on Criterion Channel
- 1
Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Animation, Drama
At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels would come back to finish the job. Fifteen years later, that day has come... but this time, humanity is ready to fight back with terrifying bio-mechanical weapons known as the Evangelions. Watch as Shinji, Rei, Asuka and the rest of the mysterious shadow agency Nerv battle to save earth from total annihilation.
8.3TMDB, weighted
- 2
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002)
Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
In the future when technological enhancements and robotics are a way of life, Major Motoko Kusanagi and Section 9 take care of the jobs that are too difficult for the police. Section 9 employs hackers, sharpshooters, detectives and cyborgs all in an effort to thwart cyber criminals and their plans to attack the innocent.
7.5TMDB, weighted
- 3
The Prisoner (1967)
Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery
After resigning, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is really a bizarre Kafkaesque prison. His warders demand information. He gives them nothing, but only tries to escape.
7.0TMDB, weighted
- 4
War and Peace (2016)
Drama
The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.
7.0TMDB, weighted
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