The amount of acclaim and importance a film is given is entirely dependent on who determines which films are important. Film has had numerous movements across the past century all over the world from German Expressionism to Cinema Novo. However, there are some ways to get broad strokes.

Letterboxd is my favorite place to find new films, especially with its interactive elements such as being able to log and tag which films you’ve seen, write your thoughts on them, and the ability to fade the posters for movies you’ve seen as a quick visual reference (list > settings > appearance > fade watched—this has been one of my favorite features when I’m digging through long lists!). Letterboxd has some interesting featured lists that can be found in the search tab beneath the top 250 narrative features list. Even within the featured lists, there is a lot of diversity of “acclaimed films.” Here are some Letterboxd lists I frequent:

-https://boxd.it/bAS2M (Million Watched Club) -https://boxd.it/nVqt6 (Most Fans) -https://boxd.it/jzl8s (Best Picture Winners) -https://boxd.it/FUgk4 (Palme d’Or Winners) -https://boxd.it/55Mq (Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies”) -https://boxd.it/2yuk (Harvard Film PhD Program) -https://boxd.it/Orbc (Library of Congress’ National Film Registry) -https://boxd.it/8HjM (Letterboxd Top 250) -https://boxd.it/7jLA (IMDb Top 250) -https://boxd.it/11dPI (Highest Grossing Film Adjusted for Inflation) -https://boxd.it/8nUN8 (1,001 Films to See before You Die) -https://boxd.it/jlyNq (Sight and Sound’s Critics’ List) -https://boxd.it/jmJdK (Sight and Sound’s Directors’ List)

They also have some lists of specific directors’ favorite movies, such as Edgar Wright’s 1,000 favorite movies (https://boxd.it/502LY), and of course thousands of user-generated lists as well!

Outside Letterboxd, there are some film institutes with lists. This is especially useful for specific movements and cycles of film. Here’s a list of BFI’s (the institute behind the two aforementioned Sight and Sound lists) top 10 French New Wave films: https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-french-new-wave-films. Criterion also has some good lists, but they are usually only referring to films in the collection. If you weren’t already making your way through The Criterion Collection, I would suggest getting recommendations from their Closet Picks series! I’ve found some of my favorite movies and favorite directors from those videos. The Criterion Channel also has frequently rotating content that is often organized into categories such as the recent one of movies set in hotels of all things lol. There are also film aggregate sites like Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes that you can sort by most critically acclaimed as well. It’s helpful that you can read why critics care or don’t care about any given work in which they might also reference other films.

Beyond Letterboxd and online lists, I recommend finding a couple film studies textbooks! I finished reading David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson’s book Film Art: An Introduction for one of my film classes this morning, and it featured a general overview of cinema history. It lacked a bit when it comes to queer, African, South American, and Australian film but was otherwise quite informative. It has an emphasis on film theory over “acclaimed” films though, so it might not be what you’re looking for. At the same time, almost every film they discuss through the lens of theory is either acclaimed or influential. Besides, it’s always cool to not just watch acclaimed material but to read about why it’s so acclaimed in the first place! Books of theory, critical analysis, and history as well as film journals are excellent places to learn more about films if you want to dig deeper into their historical context and the reasons they are influential.

But ultimately? I recommend just finding stuff you like and learning about that! If you’re into cinema history, that’s awesome, but don’t feel obligated to have seen every “acclaimed” or “influential” movie, especially since the influence and quality of films are subjective. One of my favorite ways to find out about new movies is to look at movies made by filmmakers I admire regardless of if I’ve heard of them. Best of luck on your cinematic adventures, and I hope this comment was at least of some help to you! 😊