30 Best Woody Allen Movies Ranked for Filmmakers

Through seven vignettes, Allen orchestrates a satirical farce on sexuality, based on David Reuben’s novel of the same name. Adventurous as it may be, this infamous 1970’s classic is a cinematic ride that surely has its detractors.

Sleeper is Woody Allen’s singular vision of a futuristic dystopia. In the film, he plays the role of Miles Monroe, an ordinary man who’s cryogenically frozen after a near-fatal gall bladder operation.

Many of Woody Allen’s films deal with the complicated nature of relationships, but perhaps none are as explicit as Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which stars an all-star cast of Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johannson, Penelope Cruz, and Rebecca Hall.

Woody Allen’s first mockumentary is a gonzo recreation of criminal stories. The comedy of the film is elevated by the fact that Allen’s character Virgil Starkwell is the least lucky man on Earth.

Despite being one of Allen’s earliest films, Bananas is one of his most enduring. The film is a satire of war told through the neurotic lens of Allen’s character Mellish.

Woody Allen’s Radio Days is the definition of a big picture in a little frame. At just 96 minutes, Radio Days is short and sweet, yet ambitiously larger than life. Perhaps the most enduring aspect of Radio Days is its references to world cinema, beautifully commemorated by Allen.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle popularized murder mysteries in the 19th century with Sherlock Holmes, but it wasn’t until Woody Allen took the action from London to Manhattan that the genre was deconstructed in this neurotic new light.

So many of Woody Allen’s movies are about sensational happenings in high society, but with Broadway Danny Rose, he explores the other side of the entertainment industry, through the eyes of hard-working nobody Danny Rose.

With Husbands and Wives, Woody Allen gave one of the best directorial efforts of his career. Through claustrophobic interiors to shaky-cam long shots, Allen directs a film quite unlike any other he had done before.

Woody Allen’s Zelig is a mockumentary about how far a person will go to fit in. Allen plays Leonard Zelig, who is a man that is so obsessed with his own insecurity that he conforms to any situation that he’s in.

Interiors is one of Allen’s more straight-dramas and is full of existential dread and familial turmoil. The script is very much in the style of a Tennessee Williams play while the visuals contain clear references to the work of Ingmar Bergman.

Deconstructing Harry is one of Woody Allen’s most personal films. In the picture, he plays the role of Harry Block, a writer who uses the personal experiences of his friends and loved ones to create dramas, which causes them to abandon him.

Woody Allen’s commentary on Hollywood, The Purple Rose of Cairo, is a great moral lesson in separating fact from fiction. It’s for this reason that the film is such a tragedy, as reality, or simply whatever matters most, is sometimes trickier to decipher than it seems.

Cate Blanchett gives a tour de force performance in the lead role of Blue Jasmine, an undeniably somber Woody Allen film that shares more than a few similarities to Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.

Crimes and Misdemeanors is one of Allen’s more direct references to Dostoyevsky’s novel Crimes and Punishment, yet offers an entirely alternative perspective. 

The film is about the fate of those who deem themselves to be damned and the suffocating belief in curses and punishments.

Midnight in Paris is a fantastical vision of the city that was once home to some of the greatest minds in history. Owen Wilson plays the role of a wayward writer who goes back in time to meet the likes of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Salvador Dali.

Annie Hall is, and forever will be Woody Allen’s magnum opus. From start to finish, the film is a masterclass effort. 

The script is excellently nuanced, the acting is engrossing, and most importantly, the moral is insightful.