Edgar Wright is the ultimate pop culture omnivore. The British director is one of the most outspoken movie and music fans of his generation, taking every opportunity to hype up his favorite artists in interviews and reference them in his films. He seldom discriminates by genre, expressing equal admiration for highbrow art films and mainstream blockbusters.
That passion for all things entertaining is reflected in Wright’s eclectic filmography, which has seen him pivot from zombie comedies to video game-influenced breakup revenge sagas to car chase musicals without ever missing a beat. That isn’t to say that he doesn’t have a signature style, as his films all feature his famously playful camerawork and trademark sense of humor. But rather than limit himself to one genre — or even a few genres, for that matter — Wright is seemingly determined to apply his filmmaking sensibilities to any and every cinematic niche he finds remotely interesting.
The sheer scope of Wright’s movie knowledge can be overwhelming: the guy once had the guts to list his top 1,000 movies without a hint of irony. No matter how young you are, it is almost certainly too late to work your way through every movie that Wright has ever enjoyed.
Thankfully, there’s some smaller lists Wright has compiled that gives a window into his cinematic obsessions. There’s Sight & Sound, for one: The magazine’s once-a-decade Best Films of All Time poll limits its contributors to selecting their ten favorite films (unless you’re Martin Scorsese, whose status as the godfather of cinephilia ensures that nobody questions when he submits 20).
Wright has made it very clear that he can discuss obscure cultural oddities with the best of them, but his Sight & Sound list largely sticks to classics that are indisputably great; a 2011 interview he did with the Criterion Collection features a few more eclectic choices, like The Monkees’ music film “Head.” Wright’s comments about the films reflect the deep appreciation for the filmmakers who came before him. Taken together, the movies on Wright’s lists reflect the “crowd pleasing genre fare executed at the highest possible level” ethos that has defined his entire career.
Keep reading for a list of Wright’s 15 favorite films of all time.
[Editor’s note: This list was published on March 27, 2023 and has since been updated.] With editorial contributions by Wilson Chapman.
One of the most acclaimed political thrillers of all time, Brian De Palma’s “Blow Out” stars John Travolta as a sound effects technician who unintentionally records evidence of an assassination attempt while working on a slasher film. In a 2011 story for the Criterion Collection, Wright named the movie as one of his 10 favorites in Criterion’s library. He wrote, “There’s not a wasted shot, not even a wasted corner of frame.” —WC
Terry Gillem’s tragic, funny “Brazil” stars Jonathan Pryce as a lowly office worker in a dystopian world that becomes an enemy of the state when he attempts to find a woman who has been appearing in his dreams. In his Criterion story, Wright wrote about the impact of seeing the film at a young age, saying, “It was such a powerful, bold vision, so joyous in its escapism and so crushing in its ultimate nihilism, that it left my teenage mind in tatters.” —WC
A surreal and savage satire, Luis Buñel’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” focuses on several dinner parties of six upper class types, each continiously disrupted by a variety of obstacles and interruptions. In his Criterion story, Wright wrote: “Buñuel has a fiendishly prankish sense of humor to go along with his endless smarts. If you have never watched a film of his, this is a good place to start.” —WC
Georges Franju’s iconic horror film stars Pierre Brasseur as a mad doctor who attempts radical surgery to fix his daughter Louise’s (Alida Valli) face after a car accident disfigures her. In his Criterion interview, Wright called it “a quite extraordinary film.” —WC
A spinoff and finale to the band’s popular NBC series, “Head” starred Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, and Michael Nesmith of the Monkees on a psychedelic, stream-of-conciousness journey. In his Criterion interview, Wright said that it was his “favorite film that stars a musical artist, by some degree,” and called it “a gem of rock music cinema, with great songs and images throughout.” —WC
Edgar Wright’s love of movies might be matched only by his love of music. The director is famous for his impeccable knack for needle drops, so it’s hardly surprising that he adores one of Hollywood’s most famous musicals. —CZ
In his Sight & Sound comments, Wright described Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s “Singin’ In the Rain” as: “Undeniably magical cinema, leaving every single audience member who watches it delighted and transported. It’s fascinating that what is ostensibly both a satire of the tricky transitional period from silent films to talkies, and a celebration of the back catalogue of songs from that era, becomes perhaps the most famous Hollywood film of them all.”
Max Ophüls’ landmark French romance was a staple on many top directors’ Sight & Sound lists, and Wright was no exception.
“To only be dazzled by Max Ophüls’ exquisite Fabergé eggs of the screen is to deny not just their sincere emotional power but countless other facets as well,” he wrote. “‘Madame De…’ is a film about love, loss and wild chance that is, all at once, romantic, playful, tragic, strikingly self-reflexive and (yes) about as ornate and breathtakingly elaborate as cinema gets.” —CZ
Wright has made some of the most visually dazzling, impeccably edited action movies of his generation. So of course, his Sight & Sound ballot had to include what many view as the most visually dazzling, impeccably edited action movie of his generation: “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
“We are in an era where most films released by major studios are so homogenised in their tone and execution that the use of the word ‘content’ to describe them feels sadly apt,” Wright wrote of George Miller’s modern classic. “And then, racing out of the desert, comes a wildcard masterpiece that is so idiosyncratic it seems miraculous that it even exists. George Miller’s visual wonder of an action movie is both thrillingly modern and a glorious tribute to engines of pure cinema like The General and Stagecoach. We should all be grateful that this film was made at all.” —CZ
Wright has been increasingly interested in horror filmmaking lately, directing “Last Night in Soho” and developing a remake of Stephen King’s “The Running Man.” On his Sight & Sound ballot, he singled out Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now” as a horror movie that shaped him.
“A horror masterpiece that marries its theme of precognition to the beguiling wonders of associative editing,” he wrote. “Colours, shapes, patterns, action and sound all merge to create a beautifully nightmarish palindrome.” —CZ
Like many of the great filmmakers of his time, Edgar Wright has a soft spot for Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver.”
“An existential trip into hell so vividly depicted that you are not only transfixed by the fates of the characters, but concerned for the wellbeing of everyone involved in the making of it,” Wright wrote on his 2022 Sight & Sound ballot. “The enduring enigma of Taxi Driver is how such a dark and ugly spiral is so electrifyingly compelling, pulling the mesmerised viewer willingly into a waking nightmare.” —CZ
Edgar Wright can go toe-to-toe with just about anyone when it comes to obscure film knowledge. But sometimes, you just can’t beat the classics. Wright acknowledged as much when he added Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” to his Sight & Sound ballot.
“Perhaps the most influential and indelible film of them all, with its then-shocking subversions of the genre becoming well-worn tropes ever since,” he wrote. “Yet even sixty plus years later, it still has the power to hypnotize. And it’s not just the shower scene. ‘Psycho’ lures you into a lucid dream from the first bleakly beautiful monochromatic frame.” —CZ
While many of Wright’s Sight & Sound picks were undisputed classics, he picked a wild card when he added John Landis’ horror comedy “An American Werewolf in London” to his ballot. He acknowledged the controversial nature of his selection in his comments explaining the pick.
“I’m fully expecting to be the only person to pick this film for their top ten and that would make it a more subjective choice as ‘the greatest film of all time,'” Wright wrote. “However, this would be denying the idea that a perfect movie is sometimes the result of sheer alchemy. It’s not clear to me why a film that mixes comedy, horror, pathos, groundbreaking effects, vivid gore, terrific location work, inspired casting, Buñuel-inspired dream logic, moon related soundtrack choices and jokes about British TV would merit being the pinnacle of the art form, but I’ve never spent a more enjoyable 97 minutes at the cinema and that alone earns a place on my list.” —CZ
Due to changing box office trends and Hollywood’s increasing focus on television, cinematic comedies have not exactly been having a great run lately. Wright is one of the few directors who still manages to make relatively large comedic films, and he has plenty of respect for others who do the same.
He included the Coen Brothers’ “Raising Arizona” on his Sight & Sound ballot, writing that: “Making comedy is hard. When a film is very funny, the word ‘effortless’ is often used. But this denies the fact that any great comedy is a Herculean task that requires screenwriting, performance, direction, composition, astute editing and, frankly, every department of the crew to hit a bullseye on a moving target. That ‘Raising Arizona’ also features exceptional action raises that difficultly level to ‘insanely ambitious’. Let’s please describe this, and any classic comedy, as ‘supernaturally funny.'” —CZ
Wright’s first feature as a director is the little-seen 1995 spaghetti western parody “Fistful of Fingers.” So it’s fitting that he used his Sight & Sound list to honor the genre he once lampooned.
“It’s appropriate that an Italian version of an American genre would give us filmmaking at its most operatic,” Wright wrote. “Sergio Leone’s marriage of visual storytelling with composer Ennio Morricone’s score becomes utterly divine in this film’s climax, elevating a scene of three men standing in a cemetery to transcendent art. It was one of the first movies I saw again once cinemas reopened during the pandemic and it left me reeling and levitating at the sheer beauty of cinema.” —CZ
Wright has spent his entire career making genre films that are as immaculately crafted as anything you can find at your local arthouse. So it feels very appropriate that he honored “2001” — one of the first genre films to be seen as high art — on his Sight & Sound ballot.
“In the last decade, Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece has become the film I’ve seen the most times on the big screen,” Wright wrote. “The reason I keep coming back is that the further we travel away from it in time and space, the more impressive it becomes. It was groundbreaking in its day, but if anything it’s even more confounding now. When a docking spaceship is soundtracked by the Blue Danube, I’m in heaven. Will we ever see a major studio film like it again?” —CZ
