10. Dazed and Confused (1993)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (236,467 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (62 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $17.6 million (1.9 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $15.3 million
Few films capture the spirit of an era quite like this one from Richard Linklater, which takes place in small-town Texas on the last day of school. Fueled by a pitch-perfect soundtrack, the story bounces between various characters and misadventures. A number of key scenes and lines have since become part of the cultural lexicon. This is the film that put Matthew McConaughey on the map and Quentin Tarantino once named it as one of the 10 best films of all time.
9. Children of Men (2006)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (531,198 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (255 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $97.7 million (10.7 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $106.3 million
Loosely adapted from a novel by P. D. James, this dystopian thriller takes place in a world where humans can no longer reproduce. With the emergence of a pregnant woman comes an escalating series of uniquely gripping action sequences. On BBC’s recent list of The 21st Century’s 100 greatest films – which surveyed 62 established critics – this one landed at No. 13.
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8. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (301,866 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (51 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $20.3 million (2.2 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $24.3 million
This low-key drama features an Oscar-nominated performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays the disabled younger brother to Johnny Depp’s Gilbert Grape. The story takes place in small-town Iowa and captures a melancholic portrait of American life. DiCaprio delivered yet another breakout performance earlier that same year, in “This Boy’s Life.”
7. Office Space (1999)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (325,914 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 80% (102 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $22 million (2.4 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $18.1 million
Mike Judge’s workplace comedy suffered from a miscalculated marketing campaign, underperforming at the box office and then leaving theaters before word-of-mouth could spread. It soon became an outright phenomenon through TV airings and home rentals, ranking among the best-selling DVDs of its era. To this day, it remains one of cinema’s most enduring and oft-quoted classics.
6. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (328,609 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (138 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $12.6 million (1.4 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $7.6 million
Darren Aronofsky’s sophomore feature is a stylish but gritty adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.’s cult novel. Set in and around Coney Island, it follows four drug addicts as they sink into various states of despair. Addiction itself functions as an overarching theme and one that turns everything from food to television into its own sort of drug.
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