Two Decades Later: 8 Best Movies of 2006 That Still Hold Up Today, Ranked by RT

2006 was a turning point for world cinema. That year, the development of genres for the next decade was defined, from the revival of dark fantasy to the rise of crime dramas.

Nearly 20 years later, many of these movies remain relevant and have earned the status of modern classics.

8. 'Marie Antoinette', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 58%

Sofia Coppola has a soft spot for sad stories about sad girls. In this movie, Kirsten Dunst portrays Marie Antoinette as a deeply unhappy aristocrat who longed for love and wallowed in loneliness.

Versailles becomes a gilded cage where all eyes are on the Austrian princess. To escape the pressure of others and her husband's indifference, the queen retreats into endless celebrations and romantic intrigues.

With delicate dresses, mountains of cakes, and hundreds of glasses of champagne, the newly crowned queen indulges in nothing. In the finale, we say goodbye to the monarch not in a prison cell but in a carriage: she casts a final glance down the palace, then rushes off with her family into the unknown.

7. 'The Fall', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 64%

The Black Bandit, an escaped African slave named Otta Benga, an Indian sage, the Italian revolutionary Luigi, and the naturalist Charles Darwin are the heroes of Hollywood stuntman Roy's tales. The man is injured after a botched stunt on a bridge.

In a Los Angeles hospital, five-year-old Alexandria listens to his stories. One day, however, Roy learns that his beloved has betrayed him – he no longer wants to live and dreams of suicide. At that moment, Alexandria comes to him again, and the tale continues.

Nearly two decades later, the movie remains a fantasy benchmark: its visual scope and emotional depth surpass those of most modern projects.

6. 'The Prestige', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%

Christopher Nolan's psychological drama has both historical and sci-fi elements. Set at the turn of the 20th century, the movie tells the story of Nikola Tesla, who develops a teleportation machine and tests it with magician Robert Angier.

Ultimately, Tesla creates a device for duplicating objects. Following the Industrial Revolution, London's dreams shift from steam engines to the unrivaled tricks and masterful illusions of implacable enemies: the illusionists Alfred Borden and Robert Angier.

5. 'The Departed', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

In 2006, Scorsese remade the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. Leonardo DiCaprio plays an undercover cop working for the mafia, and Matt Damon portrays a criminal working within the law.

Jack Nicholson plays legendary crime boss Frank Costello, and Mark Wahlberg delivers the best performance of his career. For The Departed, Scorsese won his only Oscar as a director, and the film itself was named Best Picture.

The movie captivates with not only its 237 curse words but also its meticulous character development, shadowy motives, and departure from the original's stylistic choices.

4. 'Little Miss Sunshine', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Little Miss Sunshine brought together Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Toni Collette, and Abigail Breslin, who was an aspiring actress at the time, in the story of the Hoover family.

The boisterous and disparate relatives decide to support their youngest daughter, Olive, by traveling to a child beauty pageant in another state. Along the way, the Hoovers encounter various twists and turns, from a broken car to a funeral, leading to a triumphant ending.

Directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton have created a timeless indie classic that shows the power of unity, even in the most difficult times.

3. 'Children of Men', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men is set in 2027 in a world plagued by infertility, a refugee crisis, and anarchy. It is a movie about the rescue of a pregnant woman that transforms into a near-biblical epic.

This post-apocalyptic drama is primarily known for its incredible single-take action scenes. It was here that cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki first began experimenting with long, exquisitely staged sequences.

However, Children of Men is remarkable not only for its visual brilliance but also for its ability to simultaneously convey darkness and hope while subtly crafting the textures of a ruined world.

2. 'This Is England', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

This Is England is the story of summer vacation, those weeks between school terms when life-changing events can occur. Set in 1983, the film follows 12-year-old Shaun, a lonely boy living in a dreary coastal town whose father died in the Falklands War a few months earlier.

During the summer, he finds a suitable role model when a group of local teenage skinheads takes him in. There, he meets Combo, an older skinhead who was recently released from prison.

While Combo's group spends their time bullying local ethnic minorities, Shaun's rite of passage approaches, marking his departure from childhood innocence.

1. 'Pan's Labyrinth', 2006

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

The movie is set in Spain in 1944. Young Ofelia and her pregnant mother move to the military camp of her cruel stepfather, Captain Vidal. Amid the endless war and cruelty, Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth where she meets Pan who claims she is the lost princess of a magical kingdom.

Guillermo del Toro is a master filmmaker who can be admired for many things, but Pan's Labyrinth remains one of his greatest achievements – a dark, unsettling tale full of symbolism and haunting scenes.