The 50 best movies of 2011

Features
By published

1. Drive

The Movie: Ryan Gosling's nameless driver gets embroiled in romance (with Carey Mulligan) and headstomping violence (with everyone else). Nicolas Winding Refn's ice-cool 80s-styled retro-noir seduced Cannes (where Refn won Best Director) and became the year's cult classic when it arrived on our shores in September.

Impact: Hitherto staunchly heterosexual men going gay for Gosling, who basically became king of cinema this year. A rush on satin jackets and toothpicks. And expect Cliff Martinez's soundtrack to appear on every TV show for the next few years.

See more Movies Features
Simon Kinnear
Latest in Movies
Fantastic Four: 1234 #2 cover excerpt
Sue Storm and Namor are officially both in Avengers: Doomsday, and fans are wondering if Reed Richards has something to worry about
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers with the rest of the gang during the superhero movie, The Avengers.
The OG Fox X-Men are back, with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and more joining the cast of Avengers: Doomsday alongside a whole new Avengers team to take on Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom
Robert Downey Jr. sitting in a chair at the end of a long line of chairs
Everything announced during Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal live stream
Halloween director John Carpenter
15 years on from his last horror movie, Halloween's John Carpenter says he'd "love to direct again" – but he has one condition
The cast of Suicide Squad (2016)
David Ayer admits James Gunn has good reason not to release his cut of Suicide Squad, but he remains hopeful it'll happen
The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast assemble
Fantastic Four star says the Marvel movie "will go down in history" for rejuvenating the MCU, "in the same way the Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther hit"
Latest in Features
Naoe kills a target with a black and white filter over the camera highlighting the red of blood spray in Assassin's Creed Shadows, with an On The Radar orange frame
Assassin's Creed Shadows "has a little bit of Tarantino flavor", but its real secret ingredient is intrigue: "It's almost like you're watching an episode of Shogun"
Helldivers 2 Borderline Justice Warbond helldiver using hoverpack to shoot down with hunting rifle
Talking points from the Game Developers Conference 2025 and how they could impact the future of gaming
Flexispot E7 Plus with plant, monitor, soundbar, and controller on top next to white wall lighting.
Gaming desks vs regular desks: which surface should you buy?
Google Pixel 9a smartphones on a beige background
One Google Pixel 9a feature could make it a better gaming phone than most budget mainstream models
Yasuke and Naoe ready to fight on the Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail
On The Radar: Assassin's Creed Shadows coverage hub
Captain Planet #1
Captain Planet is back after 33 years with a "sexy" makeover and a message that's as important as ever: "Reality has gotten a lot less subtle"
More about movies
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers with the rest of the gang during the superhero movie, The Avengers.

The OG Fox X-Men are back, with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and more joining the cast of Avengers: Doomsday alongside a whole new Avengers team to take on Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom
Fantastic Four: 1234 #2 cover excerpt

Sue Storm and Namor are officially both in Avengers: Doomsday, and fans are wondering if Reed Richards has something to worry about
Andor season 2

Andor showrunner hopes that the Disney Plus show's success helps convince Lucasfilm to sign off on either a Star Wars horror movie or sitcom

See more latest
Most Popular
Flexispot E7 Plus with plant, monitor, soundbar, and controller on top next to white wall lighting.
Gaming desks vs regular desks: which surface should you buy?
Helldivers 2 Borderline Justice Warbond helldiver using hoverpack to shoot down with hunting rifle
Talking points from the Game Developers Conference 2025 and how they could impact the future of gaming
Naoe kills a target with a black and white filter over the camera highlighting the red of blood spray in Assassin's Creed Shadows, with an On The Radar orange frame
Assassin's Creed Shadows "has a little bit of Tarantino flavor", but its real secret ingredient is intrigue: "It's almost like you're watching an episode of Shogun"
Google Pixel 9a smartphones on a beige background
One Google Pixel 9a feature could make it a better gaming phone than most budget mainstream models
Assassin's Creed Shadows protagonist Yasuke
Assassin's Creed Shadows is great, but I need feudal Japanese stories to stop cribbing from Kurosawa quite so hard
Searching
The 32 most underrated psychological thrillers of all time
Daredevil: Born Again trailer
Daredevil: Born Again episode 5 isn't a filler episode, it brings back the magic of old-school episodic TV
Colorful key art for Wildgate showing spaceships flying towards one another at speed while exchanging laser fire, smaller crew members circling around them - in the background, purple-tinged space warps and distorts
"We have to earn it": Wildgate is a frenzied sci-fi shooter from former Blizzard devs, but this multiplayer isn't riding any coattails
Yasuke and Naoe ready to fight on the Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail
On The Radar: Assassin's Creed Shadows coverage hub
Captain Planet #1
Captain Planet is back after 33 years with a "sexy" makeover and a message that's as important as ever: "Reality has gotten a lot less subtle"