At its best, cinema can be a mirror, helping us see ourselves more clearly and even making us confront parts of ourselves we wouldn't be able to otherwise. The last quarter-century has been no exception, producing more than its fair share of masterful character studies . This list attempts to rank the very best of them.

As global anxiety deepened and identity grew more and more fractured, many filmmakers turned inward, creating moving portraits of loneliness, obsession, self-destruction, and, sometimes, even hope. The films below are existential excavations , peeling back layers to get at the truth. They will be ranked based on their overall quality and how effective they are at exploring their core themes.

10 ‘First Reformed’ (2017)

Image via A24

"Wisdom is holding two contradic

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