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The best Criterion Collection films on Criterion Channel right now

Right now the best Criterion Collection films on Criterion Channel in the United States are Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940) and Harakiri (1962). This is the top 24 streaming there today, ranked by how well rated each one is, how many people have rated it, and what people are watching now.

Updated November 12, 2026 · streaming in the United States

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  1. 1. Modern Times1936

    Film · 1h 27mComedy, Drama, Romance★ 8.3

    A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

    Stream onPrime VideoHBO MaxYouTube TVCriterion Channel+4

  2. 2. The Great Dictator1940

    Film · 2h 5mComedy, War★ 8.3

    Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.

    Stream onPrime VideofuboTVHBO MaxCriterion Channel+6

  3. 3. Harakiri1962

    Film · 2h 15mAction, Drama, History★ 8.5

    Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide…

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  4. 4. Flow2024

    Film · 1h 25mAdventure, Animation, Family★ 8.1

    A solitary cat, displaced by a great flood, finds refuge on a boat with various species and must navigate the challenges of adapting to a transformed world together.

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  5. 5. Ikiru1952

    Film · 2h 23mDrama★ 8.3

    Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion ChannelKanopy (free)

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  7. 6. La Haine1995

    Film · 1h 38mDrama★ 8.1

    After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert and Saïd, wander around unoccupied waiting for news about the state of health of a mutual friend who has been seriously injured when…

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  8. 7. The Gold Rush1925

    Film · 1h 35mAdventure, Comedy, Drama★ 8.0

    A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl.

    Stream onPrime VideoHBO MaxCriterion ChannelHistory Vault+11

  9. 8. M1931

    Film · 1h 50mDrama, Thriller, Crime★ 8.1

    In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt.

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion ChannelIndieFlix ShortsKanopy (free)+3

  10. 9. Wild Strawberries1957

    Film · 1h 31mDrama★ 8.1

    Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater.

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion ChannelKanopy (free)

  11. 10. Blue Velvet1986

    Film · 2h 0mMystery, Thriller, Crime★ 7.6

    The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

    Stream onCriterion ChannelKanopy (free)Hoopla (free)Roku Channel (free)+1

  12. 11. Night and Fog1956

    Film · 32mDocumentary, History★ 8.3

    Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion Channel

  13. 12. Boogie Nights1997

    Film · 2h 36mDrama, Comedy★ 7.6

    In 1977, an idealistic porn producer and his promising protege try to catch up with the end of an era before their never-ending party collides with cold, hard reality.

    Stream onCriterion ChannelPlex (free)

  14. 13. Il Sorpasso1962

    Film · 1h 45mDrama, Comedy, Adventure★ 8.2

    Roberto, a shy law student in Rome, meets Bruno, a forty-year-old exuberant, capricious man, who takes him for a drive through the Roman and Tuscany countries in the summer.

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  15. 14. The Circus1928

    Film · 1h 12mComedy, Drama, Romance★ 7.9

    Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman - soon the star of the show - and falls in love with the circus owner's stepdaughter.

    Stream onPrime VideoHBO MaxCriterion ChannelFlixFling+5

  16. 15. The Last Emperor1987

    Film · 2h 43mDrama, History★ 7.6

    A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his…

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion ChannelCinemax

  17. 16. Le Trou1960

    Film · 2h 12mDrama, Thriller, Crime★ 8.2

    Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer.

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  18. 17. To Be or Not to Be1942

    Film · 1h 39mComedy, War, Romance★ 7.8

    During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion Channel

  19. 18. Big Deal on Madonna Street1958

    Film · 1h 46mComedy, Crime★ 8.1

    Best friends Peppe and Mario are thieves, but they're not very good at it. Still, Peppe thinks that he's finally devised a master heist that will make them rich.

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  20. 19. Red Beard1965

    Film · 3h 5mDrama★ 8.2

    Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard.

    Stream onPrime VideoHBO MaxCriterion Channel

  21. 20. Autumn Sonata1978

    Film · 1h 33mDrama★ 8.0

    After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist.

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion Channel

  22. 21. Fishing with John1991

    Series · 1 seasonComedy, Documentary★ 7.6

    Musician John Lurie knows nothing about fishing, but that doesn't stop him from embarking on fishing in exotic locations with friends.

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  23. 22. Tanner '881988

    Series · 1 seasonComedy, War & Politics★ 6.9

    In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign…

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  24. 23. Berlin Alexanderplatz1980

    Series · 1 seasonDrama, Crime★ 7.5

    In late 1920s Berlin, Franz Biberkopf is released from prison and vows to go straight. However, he soon finds himself embroiled in the city’s criminal underworld.

    Stream onCriterion Channel

  25. 24. Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day1972

    Series · 1 seasonComedy, Drama★ 7.7

    The sprawling story of the everyday triumphs and travails of the young toolmaker Jochen and many of the people populating his world, including the woman he loves, his eccentric family, and his colleagues, with whom he bands together to…

    Stream onCriterion Channel

Questions

What are the best Criterion Collection films on Criterion Channel right now?
In the United States, as of November 12, 2026: Modern Times (1936), rated 8.3 out of 10 on TMDB, then The Great Dictator and Harakiri.
How is this list made?
Watchwalla asks TMDB for everything of this kind that streams in your country today, ranks it by rating (pulled toward the middle until enough people have rated a title), with a nudge for what's new and what people are watching now, and refreshes the list every day. Streaming availability comes from JustWatch, through TMDB.
Can it pick something for me?
Yes. The picker at watchwalla.com/tonight asks who's watching, how much time you have and what you're in the mood for, and gives three picks streaming where you are. Sign in and every title also gets a match score for your own taste.

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