10 Best Steve McQueen Movies, Ranked

Steve McQueen is the British director behind intense, visually stunning dramas like Hunger, Shame, and 12 Years a Slave. This aesthetic reflects his career beginnings, as McQueen started as a visual artist in the 1990s, producing a series of experimental short films, before transitioning to feature directing in the late 2000s. Over the subsequent decade and a half, he has established himself as a master of striking imagery and nuanced drama, not afraid to take on the most challenging material.

His next movie, a historical drama titled Blitz with Saoirse Ronan and Stephen Graham, is slated for release later this year. In the meantime, viewers can dive into his formidable filmography. In addition to his short films, McQueen has directed character studies, historical films, heist movies, and documentaries. No matter the narrative terrain, he always approaches his stories with a welcome lack of sentimentality, making them all the more hard-hitting. These are the finest of McQueen’s films, which offer proof enough that he is among his generation’s best filmmakers.

10 ‘Small Axe: Education’ (2020)

Starring Kenyah Sandy, Sharlene Whyte, Tamara Lawrance, Daniel Francis

Small Axe is an anthology of five films that McQueen directed for the BBC, two of which were entered into the Cannes Film Festival. All the stories concern West Indian immigrants living in London between the 1960s and ’80s. The final installment, Education, centers on Kingsley (Kenyah Sandy), a Black boy who faces discrimination in a predominantly white school. Despite his undeniable talent, Kingsley is consistently marginalized and underestimated by his teachers. However, his mother (Sharlene White) refuses to accept the status quo and fights tirelessly for her son’s right to a fair education.

Education is a subtle story, focusing on the often-hidden yet no less harmful aspects of prejudice. It benefits from being naturalistic, thanks to a relaxed, realistic shooting style and authentic performances. Education is not quite as stylish as the other Small Axe movies, but that works to its benefit. Despite not flinching from its themes, the movie is also optimistic, recreating the 1970s but very much looking to the future.

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9 ‘Small Axe: Red, White, and Blue’ (2020)

Starring John Boyega, Steve Toussaint, Neil Maskell, Joy Richardson

“I’m not here to make any friends. I’m here to bring change to this organization from the inside out.” John Boyega leads the third Small Axe film as Leroy Logan, a young man who joins London’s Metropolitan Police in the 1980s. Inspired by his own experiences of racial discrimination, Logan hopes to bring about change from within. However, uncaring colleagues and family tensions stand in his way.

Red, White, and Blue is a powerful fusion of a social drama and a cop story, with vivid scenes set in forensic labs, icy courtrooms, and at the police academy. It raises questions about patriotism and assimilation, with Logan and some of his family members disagreeing over how they should respond to the society around them. Fundamentally, Red, White, and Blue succeeds thanks to the intense, layered performance from John Boyega, who shows a side of himself that audiences have never really seen before.

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8 ‘Small Axe: Mangrove’ (2020)

Starring Letitia Wright, Malachi Kirby, Shaun Parkes, Rochenda Sandall

“If you do not accept responsibility now, history will bestow it upon you.” Mangrove dramatizes an incident where several Black activists were falsely charged with inciting a riot. The story begins with​​​​​​ the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill, a hub of Caribbean culture and community. When the establishment becomes a target of relentless police harassment, the proprietor, Frank Crichlow (Shaun Parkes), and his patrons unite to protest peacefully. However, the authorities meet their demonstrations with brutal force.

From there, the movie plays out as both a courtroom drama and a character study. In some ways, it parallels Aaron Sorkin‘s The Trial of the Chicago 7, which came out the same year but had more humor and less depth. In particular, there’s a fascinating tension between the defendants, as the powers that be encourage them to betray one another. McQueen’s passion for the source material is evident, and his recreation of ’60s and ’70s London is impressively immersive.

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7 ‘Occupied City’ (2023)

Narrated by Melanie Hyams

Occupied City is a World War II documentary about Amsterdam under Nazi occupation, based on Atlas of an Occupied City, Amsterdam 1940-1945 by Bianca Stigter. It focuses on the everyday lives of ordinary people during this turbulent time, from the invasion to the escalating repression and the deportation of Jewish citizens. McQueen gets creative with the presentation, juxtaposing images of the city in the 1940s with footage from it today, drawing connections between the present and the not-too-distant past.

It’s an ambitious undertaking and one rich in food for thought, even if its 266-minute runtime drags in some sections. A few scenes feel unnecessary, and occasionally, McQueen’s attempts to find parallels between wartime Amsterdam and contemporary politics are a bit of a stretch. Overall, however, Occupied City deserves praise for painting an expansive portrait of the city at this pivotal moment in time while poking at difficult questions about responsibility and morality.

6 ‘Widows’ (2018)

Starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo

“If this thing goes wrong, I just want my kids to know that I didn’t sit there and take it. I did something.” On the more entertaining end of the spectrum is this neo-noir heist thriller with a killer cast. Viola Davis leads the ensemble as Veronica Rawlins, whose life is shattered when her husband (Liam Neeson), a renowned thief, dies in a botched robbery, leaving her with a substantial debt owed to a dangerous criminal organization. Desperate to protect her future, Veronica recruits the widows of her husband’s former crew to execute a daring crime that could solve their financial woes.

Widows is the closest thing to a Steve McQueen genre movie, combining some engaging thriller tropes with themes of race, politics, gender, and power; this alone places it among the best heist movies. The script by McQueen and Gone Girl‘s Gillian Flynn is solid and smart, even if a few of the plot twists are a little far-fetched. The rest of the heavy lifting comes courtesy of the talented performers, including Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Colin Farrell, Daniel Kaluuya, and Jacki Weaver.

5 ‘Shame’ (2011)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie

“If you had a choice to live in the past or the future, and you could be anything you wanted to be, what would you be?” Michael Fassbender delivers his most intense performance in this psychological drama as Brandon Sullivan, an outwardly successful New Yorker struggling with sex addiction. His carefully constructed facade begins to crumble when his wayward younger sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan), unexpectedly arrives and asks to stay.

Shame is a nonjudgmental and uncompromising exploration of sex addiction, diving deep into its protagonist’s psyche. McQueen depicts Brandon’s sexual encounters as he experiences them: cold, unsatisfying, devoid of emotion, and lacking allure; through him, the movie comments more broadly on loneliness and disconnection. All of Shame‘s characters grapple with isolation in some way, even if not quite as devastatingly as Brandon. Ever the stylist, McQueen captures this bleak subject matter with meticulous cinematography and immersive long takes, making the whole affair icily beautiful.

4 ‘Hunger’ (2008)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Liam McMahon, Stuart Graham

“I always felt that thief next to Jesus got off lightly.” Before Shame, Fassbender and McQueen made another visceral drama, this time based on a true story. Hunger tells the story of the 1981 hunger strike led by Bobby Sands (Fassbender), a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The film delves into Sands’ personality, juxtaposing his commitment to his cause with the toll of his self-imposed starvation.

Hunger is unflinchingly brutal, depicting the grim realities of prison life, from bodily fluids to violent confrontations. Like Shame, it’s also visually impressive, reflecting McQueen’s mastery of images. One standout moment, stylistically, is a 17-minute uncut static shot of Sands speaking with a priest who tries to talk him out of the strike. The careful cinematography serves to emphasize the philosophical themes and to accentuate Fassbender’s performance. Playing such an unusually steadfast figure is no easy feat, but he rises to the occasion.

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3 ‘Uprising’ (2021)

Starring: Peter Bleksley, Alex Wheatle, George Rhoden, George Ruddock

Uprising is a three-part documentary series that chronicles the New Cross Fire, in which 13 young Black people died, and the subsequent protests and uprisings in South London in 1981. In this regard, it’s a kind of non-fiction companion piece to Small Axe, which also touches on the fire and its aftermath. Here, McQueen relies mostly on oral history, drawing on accounts of those who witnessed or took part in the events.

Although it focuses on just the upheaval of 1981, the documentary does implicitly comment on subsequent tragedies and community outrage in Britain, all the way up to the infamous Grenfell fire in 2023. In the process, Uprising criticizes the authorities for not doing enough to prevent such terrible incidents. “It seems like people don’t want to solve things,” McQueen explains. “They just want to put a lid on things. But once you put a lid on something, sooner or later, it’s gonna explode.”

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2 ‘Small Axe: Lovers Rock’ (2020)

Starring: Micheal Ward, Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Shaniqua Okwok

“Move your feet! You don’t know who you’ll meet.” One of the best films from 2020 and the best entry in Small Axe is also the most low-key and joyful. Lovers Rock is an ode to love, music, and community set in the vibrant world of London’s West Indian house parties in the 1980s. It focuses on Martha (Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) and Frank (Micheal Ward), who meet at one such gathering, where they are swept up in the intoxicating rhythms of reggae and dub. As the night unfolds, their connection deepens amidst the pulsating beats and haze of cigarette smoke.

Through this romance, Lovers Rock captures the essence of a cultural movement at a specific moment in time, shaped by an eclectic mix of influences and pressures. Reggae forms the stylistic throughline, and the movie is worth checking out for the soundtrack alone. As McQueen explains: “That kind of music never dies. It’s eternal. It’s so powerful that it can relate to 50 years ago as much as it relates to today.”

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1 ’12 Years A Slave’ (2013)

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano

“I will keep myself hardy until freedom is opportune!” When it comes to scope and ambition, no project in McQueen’s filmography can eclipse 12 Years a Slave, his haunting adaptation of Solomon Northup‘s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) memoir. Northup was a free Black man living in New York in the 1840s who was abducted and sold into slavery in the South. Although stripped of his identity and dignity, Northup continues to dream of being free once more.

12 Years a Slave is weighty but distant, observing the inhumanity of this era with a detached eye. Although it’s the story of one man, it becomes a meditation on an entire society. In this regard, it’s like Occupied City in that it hones in on the banality of evil. Although the pace is reflective, McQueen once again displays his visual prowess, crafting some of his most memorable shots. For instance, one of the boldest shows Northup’s solitary walk against the shocking image of lynched bodies in the background. Although some commentators took issue with a few of the narrative choices, 12 Years a Slave has already been canonized as a 21st-century masterpiece and the pinnacle of McQueen’s filmmaking.

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