Terrence Malick isn't exactly the most prolific of directors, but his work has spanned decades and many have earned incredible amounts of critical acclaim. His movies were never meant to be blockbusters, and many have failed to find a mainstream audience. This is due to a variety of factors, including an emphasis on tone and mood and a significant lack of story and character work. Many people go to the movies to witness a story, not to experience...whatever it is that Terrence Malick does.
Malick has released ten movies since 1973, and we're here to rank them. These are Malick's best movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
10 Song To Song - 43%
By the 2010s, Malick wasn't quite regarded as he once was. Unfortunately, Song to Song looked to continue his streak of mediocre and disappointing releases. In fact, if we're judging by the critics accumulated on Rotten Tomatoes, this is his worst film ever.
It stars a certified A-list cast, including Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Rooney Mara, and Natalie Portman. But no matter how big the cast and how beautiful the movie looked, its themes and story couldn't connect in a satisfying way. It was nothing but a pretentious mix of Malick's worst and most obnoxious filmmaking tendencies.
9 To The Wonder - 46%
Coming in just above Song to Song is To the Wonder, an experimental romantic film starring Ben Affleck and Olga Kurylenko. This one involves Affleck's Neil and Kurylenko's Marina falling in love in Paris and struggling to adapt to their lives in the United States.
This movie is notable for being the final film reviewed by Roger Ebert, and he gave it a stellar three and a half stars out of four. However, other critics weren't so kind, many of whom complained about the emotionally empty story and shallow character work. It certainly looks pretty, though!
8 Knight Of Cups - 47%
Knight of Cups may sound a little pretentious. And that's because it is. It stars Christian Bale as Rick, a struggling and depressed screenwriter embarks on a quest for love and acceptance through Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
The people he meets are represented by various tarot cards, and Rick himself represents the Knight of Cups (hence the title). The story is also loosely based on Persian philosophy, New Testament writings, and Christian allegory. We can practically see you rolling your eyes through the screen, and that was the exact reaction of the critics.
7 The New World - 62%
Malick's The New World is essentially a live-action telling of the Pocahontas story. It concerns the founding of the Jamestown settlement and contains the likes of John Smith, Pocahontas, John Rolfe, and Chief Powhatan. It was certainly an ambitious piece of filmmaking and earned considerable acclaim for its score and Emmanuel Lubezki's stellar cinematography.
It's practically a given that Malick films look good. However, criticisms were levied against its laborious pacing and scattered story. It was a clear case of style over substance, although some still call it one of Malick's greater efforts.
6 The Thin Red Line - 80%
The Thin Red Line is perhaps Malick's most well known work. Released back in 1998, it tells a fictional account of the Battle of Mount Austen in the Pacific Theater. It was also Malick's first film in twenty years, and it served as a magnificent return. It was acclaimed for its cast and philosophical musings, and it was eventually nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
However, it lost to Shakespeare in Love and Saving Private Ryan, respectively. It may not have the legacy of the latter, but it's still one of Malick's greatest accomplishments. And that's saying something!
5 A Hidden Life - 83%
A Hidden Life serves as a wonderful return to form for Malick following two decades' worth of middling accomplishments. It is a historical drama recounting the life of Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter, a brave man who conscientiously objected to the Nazi regime during World War II.
It was praised by both film critics and historians, as Jägerstätter's biographer noted the movie's universality and spot-on casting choices. It's probably not for everyone (like most of Malick's work), but it's a fantastic story that deserves to be seen.
4 The Tree Of Life - 84%
The Tree of Life is another pretentious movie, but at least this one is actually good! It begins with a quotation from the Book of Job - "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?" The movie sort of seeks to answer that question.
It's essentially a giant allegory, using the complicated life of a Texan man named Jack O'Brien to metaphorically answer questions regarding the meaning and origins of life on Earth. It was simultaneously booed and applauded when it premiered at Cannes but went on to win the Palme d'Or anyway. And that just about sums it up.
3 Voyage Of Time - 89%
Voyage of Time isn't a movie, but a documentary forty years in the making. Malick himself holds this documentary in high regard, calling it "one of [his] greatest dreams." It's a hugely ambitious project, spanning forty years of production throughout the entire world, from Iceland to Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands.
It aims to tell the entire story of the known universe, from its explosive beginnings to its unforeseen death in the far future. It deserves to be seen on an IMAX screen because this is one gorgeous, expansive, and mesmerizing piece of work.
2 Days Of Heaven - 92%
And now we come to the masterpieces of Malick's long and storied career. It always kind of sucks when a director starts with their best work, but hey, what are you gonna do? Days of Heaven was Malick's second film, and it is far more straightforward than his later works.
Richard Gere and Brooke Adams star as lovers who trick their sick wealthy boss into marrying Adams's Abby so they can claim his fortune when he dies. It has since become known as one of the greatest works of the 70s, and perhaps one of the greatest films of all time. You know, depending on who you ask.
1 Badlands - 98%
With Badlands, Terrence Malick created an instant American classic. The story concerns a teenage girl, wonderfully played by Sissy Spacek, who falls under the allure of a drifter played by Martin Sheen. The two then embark on a killing spree across South Dakota.
The movie is loosely based on the killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, and the difficult subject matter combined with the luscious and lyrical photography results in a waking, yet oddly beautiful, nightmare. It's an experience more than it is a traditional "serial killer road movie," and it is one of the finest movies ever made.
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