The 2010s were packed with movies that changed cinema forever. It was a decade when superhero films and franchises completely took over Hollywood. Horror also made a massive comeback. The genre was elevated into something far greater and more profound than the torture, gore, and cheap jump scares popularized by the Saw and Final Destination sequels of the 2000s.
It was also the decade when streaming took over and fundamentally changed how movies were made and consumed. Platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and later Disney+ made it possible to binge entire franchises from the comfort of your couch, popcorn in hand, no DVDs required. So, here’s a look back at the most rewatchable movie from every year of the 2010s. These are the films that defined the decade, the ones people still quote, still recommend to friends, and still can’t turn off once they start.
10
‘The Social Network’ (2010)
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social NetworkImage via Sony Pictures Releasing
David Fincher’s perfectionist direction paired with Aaron Sorkin’s razor-sharp dialogue was a match made in heaven, and together they gave us one of the most flawless films of the decade: The Social Network. It’s a biopic that moves like a thriller, packed with incredible performances from Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. It’s also the defining pick of that year because it came at just the right time. Facebook was taking over the world, and social media was becoming a way of life. The movie told the story of the people behind a social and technological revolution that’s still shaping everything today.
What’s even more fascinating is how differently people view Mark Zuckerberg now compared to 2010. Back then, he was seen as a genius tech founder, not the controversial figure he later became after scandals like Cambridge Analytica. Fincher somehow spotted the darker side of Facebook long before the rest of the world did. And with a sequel titled The Social Reckoning now in development, the rewatch value has gone through the roof.
9
‘The Cabin in the Woods’ (2011)
Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, and Kristen Connolly in The Cabin in the WoodsImage Via Lionsgate
With The Cabin in the Woods, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon took the classic “teens in a cabin” formula and turned it into a clever deconstruction of horror tropes. The film pokes fun at almost every cliché while still being a genuinely effective horror film. It’s basically the ultimate horror movie for anyone who’s seen all the horror movies.
The film nods to classics like Evil Dead, The Shining, and The Thing, but it never slips into full-on parody territory like the Scary Movie series. Whedon once called it “a very loving hate letter to horror,” and that’s exactly what it feels like. The kind of film only true horror fans could make, and only true horror fans could fully appreciate.
8
‘The Hunger Games’ (2012)
Donald Sutherland and Wes Bentley as Coriolanus Snow and Claudius Templesmith in the rose garden in The Hunger Games (2012).Image via Lionsgate
2012 was an insane year for movies. The Avengers brought together Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for the first time and changed cinema forever. Django Unchained showed Quentin Tarantino at the top of his game. And Sacha Baron Cohen gave us one of the funniest comedies of the decade with The Dictator. But our pick from that year is The Hunger Games, because it completely changed how YA novels were seen and adapted at the time. It was gritty, intense, and didn’t treat its audience like kids. And its success kicked off a wave of dystopian YA adaptations like Divergent and The Maze Runner, but none of them quite reached the highs of Hunger Games.
It also gave us one of the coolest female leads ever with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) without turning her into a cookie-cutter Hollywood girlboss. That kind of representation opened the door for more female-led action movies like Wonder Woman and Atomic Blonde. Moreover, the idea of a televised battle royale where kids fight to the death for entertainment is such a fascinating premise, and the movie brings it to life in such an entertaining way that it’s impossible to turn off once you start it.
7
‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013)
Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall StreetImage via Paramount Pictures
There’s no other movie from 2013 that even comes close. Frozen, Gravity, and Her were all great, but when it comes to rewatchability, The Wolf of Wall Street takes the cake. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio teamed up to deliver one of the most outrageously unhinged and hilarious films of the 21st century. The movie has this infectious energy that makes you want to keep watching.
The film is three hours long but feels like half that because it moves at a breakneck pace from one joke to another. Office parties with naked girls, tossing little people at dartboards, blowing $26,000 on appetizers, and Leo tripping on Quaaludes while trying to get back home. It’s ridiculous and over the top, but Scorsese’s magic touch makes it all work perfectly.
6
‘Interstellar’ (2014)
Image via Warner Bros.
2014 was one of the best movie years ever. We got Whiplash, one of the most intense character studies ever made. Birdman, a full-on one-take film. Nightcrawler, American Sniper, the first John Wick, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is still considered by many to be the best MCU movie ever made. But Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is our movie of the year because it was a cinematic experience like no other.
It’s an emotional, mind-bending journey through time and cosmos. The visuals are breathtaking, Hans Zimmer’s ethereal score makes everything feel 10x more powerful, and Matthew McConaughey delivers one of the most heartbreaking performances of his career. Seeing him lose years with his kids through video messages is devastating, and when he later begs his past self to stay, it’s impossible not to cry. Interstellar was absolutely robbed at the Oscars and didn’t even get a Best Picture nomination, but it’s getting its due recognition here.
5
‘Creed’ (2015)
Image via Warner Bros.
2015 was the year of legacy sequels. We got Mad Max: Fury Road, The Force Awakens, and Jurassic World, but Creed wins by a long shot. It brought new life to the Rocky franchise by introducing fresh blood while still respecting the original protagonist. Sylvester Stallone’s arc was so well done that he finally won a Golden Globe for playing Rocky, a role he was only ever nominated for in the earlier films. Creed didn’t try to go bigger or flashier than its predecessors, and it wasn’t trying to set up sequels or prequels or spinoffs. It was a tight two-hour mix of emotional storytelling and crowd-pleasing boxing action.
This was the movie that turned Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler into household names. The training montage, the one-take boxing scene, the reimagined Rocky theme kicking in right when it needs to, it all just works perfectly. Creed is pure motivation in movie form, and that’s exactly why it’s so rewatchable.
4
‘Train to Busan’ (2016)
Soo-an, played by actor Kim Su-an, stands fearfully clutching a backpack while people fight behind her in Train to Busan.Image via Next Entertainment World
2016 was another amazing year with La La Land, Arrival, and Captain America: Civil War. But Train to Busan was the surprise South Korean hit that stole hearts across the world and became one of the greatest zombie movies ever made. It follows a group of strangers trapped on a high-speed train as a zombie outbreak spreads across the country. Their only hope is to survive long enough to reach Busan, which is rumored to be a safe zone.
Once the zombie action starts, the movie is relentless and never slows down. And what makes it stand out is how grounded it feels. The characters don’t have guns or knives like in most zombie movies. That means they can’t really kill the zombies, just knock them down and hope they stay down, which adds a whole other layer of fear. Train to Busan is a movie that scares you, then makes you laugh, makes you angry, and by the end, leaves you in tears with one of the most gut-wrenching endings ever in a horror movie.
3
‘Get Out’ (2017)
Rose and Chris smiling while looking in the same direction in Get Out 2017Image via Universal Pictures
In 2017, we got Logan, Blade Runner 2049, and Dunkirk. But Get Out was easily the most important movie of the year because it changed the horror genre forever. This time, the horror didn’t come from monsters or ghosts. It came from seeing the world through another race’s eyes. It was such a fresh new idea that Jordan Peele won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with his very first movie. And it also opened the door for a new wave of social thrillers like The Menu, Blink Twice, and Triangle of Sadness.
The film openly points out classic horror clichés, like the Black guy being the first to die, and then subverts them in brilliant fashion. Peele also does an incredible job of building this eerie, too-perfect atmosphere where everything looks fine on the surface, but you just know something’s seriously off. It keeps getting more and more uncomfortable until you’re literally yelling at your screen, “Get out, Chris!” It’s scary, smart, and entertaining all at once, and it never loses its impact, no matter how many times you see it.
2
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ (2018)
Miles Morales being held and choked against a window by Kingpin in a subway in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseImage via Sony Pictures Animation
This was easily the toughest year to pick just one film. 2018 brought us Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which is arguably the best entry in the franchise. Black Panther became the first superhero movie ever nominated for Best Picture. And Infinity War united the entire world in collective heartbreak as the Avengers actually lost for once. But even with all that, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse still stands above the rest. It brought Miles Morales to the big screen for the first time and did it so perfectly that he instantly became as iconic as Peter Parker. The animators also blended comic book aesthetics with 3D animation to create a groundbreaking new animation look now dubbed the Spider-Verse style, which every new animated movie tries to replicate.
The movie also introduced general audiences to the whole multiverse concept and brought together so many versions of Spider-Man that comic book fans had dreamed of seeing for years. It played with the audience’s knowledge of the Spider-Man universe. Like that moment when Liv reveals her full name is Olivia Octavius, it doesn’t just set off Peter’s Spidey-Sense, it sets off ours too, because we know that’s Doc Ock. It’s full of clever jokes and nods like that, but it also has moments of real heart. The death of Peter B. Parker, Uncle Aaron’s final scene, Miles’ leap of faith, all of it hits just as hard on a rewatch. You can feel the love for Spider-Man in every frame, and that’s why it’s impossible not to keep coming back to it.
1
‘Parasite’ (2019)
Park So-dam and Choi Woo-shik check their cellphones in a scene from ParasiteImage via NEON
Bong Joon-ho’s South Korean masterpiece Parasite made history as the first non-English film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, and it totally earned it. The cinematography, set design, acting, and music all work perfectly in sync to elevate the screenplay, which is the real star of the show. The movie begins as a dark comedy heist thriller where the Kim family sneaks their way into the wealthy Park household by pretending to be unrelated workers.
Then, about two-thirds in, the movie pulls the rug out from under you and delivers one of the greatest plot twists of modern cinema. In one jarring scene, it goes from dark comedy to full-blown horror. Knowing what’s coming actually makes it even better to rewatch. You start noticing all the little clues that were foreshadowing the twist the whole time. And it’s even more fun showing it to your friends or family for the first time. You get to watch them sit there in shock and awe as they finally understand why you’ve been hyping this movie.
Release Date
May 30, 2019
Runtime
133 minutes
Lee Sun-kyun
Park Dong-ik