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All 11 Denis Villeneuve movies, ranked from worst to best
Will his James Bond movie live up to any of these?
Denis Villeneuve has been confirmed as the director of the long-awaited next James Bond movie, even if he'll have to finish working on Dune Messiah first.
The filmmaker has steadily delivered outstanding works over the years, from small movies like Incendies to big-budget epics like Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival. His latest work, Dune: Part Two, was one of the biggest movies of 2024, confirming the Canadian director as one of Hollywood's top filmmakers today.
As we wait to see what he does with the iconic 007, we've taken on the foolish task of trying to rank all of Denis Villeneuve's movies from worst to best. You probably won't agree with our ranking, but that's the beauty of cinema, and when it comes to a filmmaker like Villeneuve – much like with Christopher Nolan – there's not really a bad movie to be found.
So, with that in mind, here's Digital Spy's ranking of all 11 Denis Villeneuve movies after some heated debate between the movies team. Does Dune: Part Two come out on top? You'll have to read on to find out.
August 32nd on Earth (1998)
Some filmmakers get it right from the beginning, setting the bar high for themselves, but Villeneuve's directorial debut is probably his weakest film.
August 32nd on Earth follows Simone (Pascale Bussières), a model living in Montreal who re-examines her choices after a car accident. She decides to conceive a child with her best friend Philippe (Alexis Martin), who is actually in love with her.
The movie was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards.
Maelström (2000)
Two years after his feature film debut, Villeneuve directed Maelström, a surrealist romantic drama filled with interesting ideas that don't quite land. We're talking about a story narrated by a giant fish that is about to be slaughtered.
Marie-Josée Croze plays Bibiane, a struggling Montreal businesswoman who falls in love with the son of a man she killed with her car. It was a hit-and-run accident, so their romance is mixed with guilt and regrets.
Villeneuve was just starting to find his voice as a filmmaker, allowing himself to explore and try new things. However, his greatest movies were still to come.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes
Prisoners (2013)
Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman star in this twisty psychological thriller, which is emotionally intense and at times deeply unsettling.
The story starts with the abduction of two young girls in Pennsylvania. The father of one of the girls, Keller Dover (Jackman) sees his life turn upside down and feels the police are not doing enough, so he decides to take matters into his own hands along with his wife Grace (Maria Bello) and the parents of the other missing girl, Nancy (Viola Davis) and Franklin (Terrence Howard).
Prisoners is a surprising, harrowing movie that poses a difficult question: what would you be capable of doing for your loved ones?
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Enemy (2013)
Jake Gyllenhaal gives one of his best performances in Enemy, a fascinating psychological thriller where he gets to play two characters facing each other... and a spider?
Inspired by José Saramago's 2002 novel The Double, the story follows Adam (Gyllenhaal), a college professor who spots an actor in a movie who looks exactly like him. Obsessed with this discovery, he tracks down this actor and eventually steals his identity.
It's a mind-bending movie, but not entirely inaccessible, which makes it an absorbing watch.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes
Dune (2021)
Adapting Frank Herbert's Dune on the big screen proved an almost impossible challenge for Hollywood for many years, but Villeneuve's grandiose visual style was definitely a perfect fit.
With a star-studded cast (Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and more) and the smart choice of separating the book into two parts, 2021's Dune was a roaring success – even if being released during a global pandemic hurt its box office numbers.
Arrakis came to life in an incredible way in this movie, although many viewers might have been slightly disappointed by the lack of action. After all, this first movie was like a prologue to what was to come in the second part.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Polytechnique (2009)
Villeneuve's third film is a recreation of the 1989 Montréal Massacre, capturing the terror of this real-life shooting that shocked Canada to its core. It was compared to Gus Van Sant’s 2003 critically-acclaimed movie Elephant, which is about the infamous Columbine High massacre.
Following everything that happened before the tragic day, when a man made his way into an engineering school to murder specifically as many women as he could find, Polytechnique is a difficult watch.
Shot in black and white and with a runtime of only 77 minutes, this is one of the most unique movies in Villeneuve's career, his most close-to-reality film before becoming well known for his sci-fi epics.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Brilliant, beautiful and fascinating, this sequel to Blade Runner was a major victory for Villeneuve. It was not easy to return to the world created by Ridley Scott's 1982 movie, but Blade Runner 2049 is visually stunning and deeply respectful of its predecessor.
Set 30 years after the events of the original movie, the story follows Agent K (Ryan Gosling), an LAPD agent sent to 'retire' older models of replicants built by the Tyrell corporation. Superceded with newer and better versions, the goal of the company, now run by Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), is to create perfect synthetic humans.
Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard is back in this critically-acclaimed sequel, which also stars Ana de Armas and Robin Wright.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Incendies (2010)
Incendies is the movie where Villeneuve started to make clear what defined him as a filmmaker, both in visual style and thematic obsessions.
Nominated for Best International Feature at the Oscars in 2010, the movie follows twins Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) as they travel to an unnamed Middle Eastern country to fulfil their recently deceased mother's last wish. During that journey to their mother's homeland, they find out the traumas she endured and the secrets she hid.
In this movie, Villeneuve showed his ability to combine grand visuals and landscapes with a sense of intimacy for his characters.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Steven Spielberg said Dune: Part Two is "one of the most brilliant science-fiction films" he's ever seen, and that's not even the most enthusiastic review the movie got upon its release.
Following the events of Dune, the movie centres on Paul's journey from lost heir of House Atreides to Lisan al Gaib, the long-awaited Messiah of the Fremen.
Timotheé Chalamet leads the cast with Zendaya gaining more screen time as Chani and Rebecca Ferguson and Elvis' Austin Butler stealing the show as Lady Jessica and Harkonnen heir Feyd-Rautha.
With Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken also joining the cast and other stars like Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin returning, this star-studded sequel quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, as it completed the two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert's book.
The third movie, based on the second book Dune: Messiah, is already in the works with Villeneuve.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Sicario (2015)
Villeneuve's best thriller to date, Sicario is a brutally violent, intense, thought-provoking movie that had viewers at the edge of their seats. Masterful scenes like the ambush at the border control are still ingrained in our minds.
Starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin, the story follows idealistic FBI agent Kate Macer as she joins a mysterious government force planning to take down a big cartel boss.
A sequel titled Sicario: Day of the Soldado was released in 2018, with Del Toro and Brolin reprising their characters (not Emily Blunt, though) and Stefano Sollima taking over directing duties.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Arrival (2016)
According to Digital Spy's ranking (and Rotten Tomatoes too), Arrival is Villeneuve's best movie.
It's a mind-blowing, devastating sci-fi movie with a fascinating setting, top-notch performances and an unexpected ending that we are still trying to fully decipher.
Starring Amy Adams and Marvel star Jeremy Renner, and based on Ted Chiang's short story Story of Your Life, the story follows Dr Louise Banks, a linguistics professor who is chosen to lead an elite team of investigators trying to communicate with an unknown alien species that just landed on Earth.
Among Denis Villeneuve's best movies, which have an insanely high quality standard, Arrival is the one that we won't forget anytime soon.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over eight years. Based in the UK, she is a former deputy movies editor at Digital Spy, and previously worked for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas. Mireia's work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema and GamesRadar+ in the UK. She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service.
During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London. LinkedIn
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