Photo Credit: Pixabay

For obvious reasons, people around the world are engaging in a lot more screen time than usual. This might mean more online gaming and series watching for some, but for many of us, this is also an opportunity to catch up on some of the top modern classic movies we might have missed.

While the list of top modern classics around the world is endless, this list just gives 10 of the most moving, funny or even downright poignant movies of the last two decades, spanning from the 1980s right up until the present. Whether you’re a Tom Cruise fan or not, there will no doubt be at least a handful of titles in the list below that you can binge on. Read on to find out more.

10 Top Modern Classic Movies to Binge On

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

A deeply moving love story, this film explores the ways in which we try to forget about and deal with the pain of past relationships. Crossing multiple time periods and involving various characters, this film also shows how true love can bring people together again and again, even against the greatest of odds. Starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey, this is not the kind of love story you might be used to, but at the very least, Winslet’s wide variety of hair dye colours in this film is sure to keep you guessing.

2. Rain Man

An absolute classic that stars some of the biggest names in Hollywood cinema, this Oscar winning film explores the relationship between Tom Cruise’s character, Charlie, and his autistic brother Raymond (played by Dustin Hoffman). In a film that revolves around using Raymond’s remarkable attention to detail and cognitive skills, Rain Man also explores the nature of family relationships and the power of interpersonal understanding.

3. The Truman Show

Jim Carrey might be known for his more comedic roles, but in this iconic film, humour is cast aside to focus on the deeply disturbing realities of a finely crafted pseudo-reality. Truman, the protagonist, believes his life to be perfect, until he starts to notice strange things happening around him, which eventually leads him to find out the truth. This film, if nothing else, will give you a different perspective on reality television.

4. Pan’s Labyrinth

Set in the time of the Spanish Civil War, this Spanish movie follows a young girl on her journey of learning about the difference between good and evil, and the power of imagination to open up completely new realms of perception. One of the most well known of Guillermo del Toro’s film’s, this film is an insight into the gothic, folkloric and sometimes dark influences that are very present in Spanish literary culture.

5. The Big Lebowski

Moving on from dark and gothic, The Big Lebowski has to be up there with some of the best films to binge on annually, at least. Following an unfortunate miscommunication, The Dude, played by Jeff Bridges, is suddenly catapulted into a world of crime and kidnapping, with some hilarious and twisted experiences along the way. With a great soundtrack and some other enjoyable performances by John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, this is a cult classic that just might inspire you to go bowling in your nightgown.

6. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson films are known for their very stylised sets, humour and emotionally engaging character-driven narratives, often set in far out places. In the Grand Budapest Hotel, the drama centres around an opulent hotel in the European mountains, and from the beginning, the viewer is thrust into a web of intrigue and sinister plots, but ultimately, justice.

7. Office Space

A classic movie to watch when you’ve got a case of the “Mondays”, this nineties cult classic will have you thinking about how you can harness your true purpose in life, and how not to get relegated to an office back room without your stapler.

8. Inception

Traversing multiple layers of consciousness, this Leonardo di Caprio film will keep you on your toes as he tries to unravel a plot that spans a range of different subconscious levels. Not for the fainthearted, this movie will certainly keep you thinking long after the film has ended.

9. Her

In a world of automated machines, are humans destined to be lonely and disconnected? In this film, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansen, the relationship between man and machine is explored against the everyday difficulties of dealing with feelings and maintaining human relationships.

10. The Social Network

Billions of people all over the world use Facebook, but how many people actually understand all the turmoil that went into its creation? This film gives an insightful and sometimes disturbing account of the beginnings of the world’s most famous social network, with all the associated drama and betrayal that went on behind the scenes.

Final Thoughts on 10 Top Modern Classic Movies to Binge On

In the list above, we’ve given just 10 of the many top modern classic movies that you can binge on as we continue to spend a lot of time behind our screens. Of course, there are so many more films out there to watch, so why not just use this list as a starting point and take it from there?