10 Most Controversial Movies of the 2020s So Far (2024)

Controversy often sells, and when it doesn’t, it at least gets people talking. Filmmakers sometimes get accused of playing things safe compared to those who were active in the world of film during decades past, but this is an unfair broad criticism. Some filmmakers play it safe, sure, but others take risks and seem willing to stir up passionate opinions, be they positive or negative.

Some of the following films were intended to be controversial, some ended up controversial because they divided people, while others ended up provoking in ways both intended and unintended. What binds the following movies is the fact they were all released during the 2020s. You might not like them all, but you will likely feel some kind of way about them. They took risks, some of them offended people, and they all proved challenging in various (not to mention usually interesting) ways.

10 'The Apprentice' (2024)

Director: Ali Abbasi

The Apprentice is a gutsy film for many reasons, the most obvious being that it’s a not-at-all flattering look at Donald Trump during the 1970s and ‘80s, with it getting a wide release about one month out from an election that will decide whether Trump becomes President again. The film itself is well-made, and the performances are fantastic, but it’s been intrinsically linked to legal action and complications.

Nevertheless, this biographical movie still got released, and time will tell whether further legal issues spring up in its wake, especially if the people depicted in the movie view it as defamatory. Without picking a side, it’s fair to observe that there are clear sides and a certain amount of division in America, and different people of different political beliefs are likely to react quite passionately to the content shown in The Apprentice. It’s very bold in the places it goes; alarming and provocative are words that come to mind when watching it.

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9 'Joker: Folie à Deux' (2024)

Director: Todd Phillips

While The Apprentice has positive qualities to be found that back up the potentially incendiary nature of the movie, Joker: Folie à Deux instead feels more like a practical joke. And hey, if that’s the intent, given the title character and all, maybe you can begrudgingly respect where this sequel goes, and how much it seems to go out of its way to upset and criticize anyone who liked the first movie.

That could also be too charitable, and maybe those involved with Joker: Folie à Deux thought they were making something actually good. It really fails as a musical and a courtroom drama, though, ultimately only being somewhat interesting because of how unsatisfying it is; that, at least, is a statement of sorts. Also, people probably should be angry about the movie kind of wasting Lady Gaga, too.

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8 'Titane' (2021)

Director: Julia Ducournau

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A bold psychological horror movie that goes to some wild places early on and then just keeps on getting more bizarre, Titane is something that can’t be called unpredictable because that would be underselling it. Things start with a killing spree and some interesting activity between a woman and a car, and then the whole film moves into something slower, less easy to describe, and also more touching (in a surprising way).

It was a pretty out-there pick for the top prize at Cannes, which did create some headlines owing to the fact that Titane is certainly an acquired taste. Nothing is off-limits here, and that does result in a movie that’s uncomfortable and deeply strange, but it does such things with a purpose, and inevitably proves impossible to forget, once watched (for better or worse).

Titane

R

Horror

Drama

Sci-Fi

Where to Watch

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*Availability in US

Release Date

October 1, 2021

Director

Julia Ducournau

Cast

Vincent Lindon , Agathe Rousselle , Garance Marillier , Laïs Salameh , Dominique Frot , Myriem Akeddiou

Runtime

108 minutes

7 'Megalopolis' (2024)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Much of the pre-release buzz around Megalopolis suggested a troubled film production, but given Francis Ford Coppola directed Apocalypse Now, and that had an infamous production history, maybe such controversy could be spun in one’s favor. Certain stories about the film weren’t easily spinnable, though, and some of the marketing also put a sour taste in the mouths of many, arguably understandably so.

Then the film came out and those who did watch it ended up being pretty divided. Megalopolis sees Coppola going (potentially) out with a bang, feeling like he made something he wanted to make and didn’t really care how many other people would understand or try to understand. For all the stuff that happened before it came out, and all the confusion it caused once it was released, Megalopolis can be seen as a decently controversial film.

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6 'Promising Young Woman' (2020)

Director: Emerald Fennell

There’s an immediate intensity to Promising Young Woman and it never really lets up, building and becoming more complicated as it goes along, like all good thrillers should (probably) do. It’s a film that puts a new spin on the idea of a revenge movie, following a woman named Cassandra who tragically lost her closest friend and wants to get back at the people she holds responsible.

Promising Young Woman is aggressively direct in some ways while also being potentially up to interpretation in other regards, with some people being alarmed by the directness while others find themselves frustrated by interpreting things one way over another. It’s a movie with a lot to say and it kind of blurts it all out at once. It’s overwhelming in a way that’s both staggering and potentially confounding, and also the kind of film that everyone seems to have a strong opinion on, one way or the other.

Promising Young Woman

R

Where to Watch

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Release Date

December 13, 2020

Director

Emerald Fennell

Cast

Carey Mulligan , bo burnham , Clancy Brown , Jennifer Coolidge , Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Runtime

113

Main Genre

Thriller

5 'Saltburn' (2023)

Director: Emerald Fennell

Emerald Fennell didn’t shy away from rustling feathers when it came to directing her second film, following Promising Young Woman: Saltburn. This one is more of a comedy, but it goes to places that might well make it even darker than Fennell’s first feature film. How much you either like or dislike what is said here might depend on how satirical you do (or don’t) find the movie as a whole.

Sympathies will lie with different characters of differing qualities of life, and there is an interpretation of Saltburn that potentially renders it kind of iffy. You couple that with the various infamous shocking scenes and cap it off with the way the whole thing ends, and you’ve got something divisive that wanted people talking about it. The dust has settled to some extent now, but for a time in late 2023 and early 2024, Saltburn was undoubtedly successful at getting people to talk about it.

Saltburn

R

Comedy

Drama

Thriller

Where to Watch

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Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

November 17, 2023

Director

Emerald Fennell

Cast

Rosamund Pike , Barry Keoghan , Jacob Elordi , Carey Mulligan , Archie Madekwe

Runtime

127 minutes

4 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' (2020)

Director: Jason Woliner

2006’s Borat is one of the greatest satirical movies of all time, and a release that certainly wasn’t without controversy upon release. Notably, certain people involved in the movie felt misled about its production when they appeared on camera, and some scenes found in the film led to some legal action between participants and those behind the movie.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm might not have been as good quality-wise as the original, but it lived up to that 2006 movie in the sense that it was bold, sometimes shocking, and willing to show some people in a very unflattering light. Like The Apprentice, it was also a movie linked with politics released right around the time of a U.S. election, and so that got people talking and, perhaps more often than not, arguing about the film’s merits (or lack thereof).

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

R

Mockumentary

Comedy

Where to Watch

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Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

October 23, 2020

Director

Jason Woliner

Cast

Sacha Baron Cohen , Maria Bakalova

Runtime

96 minutes

3 'Blonde' (2022)

Director: Andrew Dominik

It’s pretty rare for a movie to get an NC-17 rating nowadays, putting Blonde in a rather prestigious camp. It did earn such a rating, given it was a very uncomfortable, rather graphic, and overall nightmarish look at the tragic life of Marilyn Monroe, focusing more often than not on the hardships she faced and the ways she was mistreated by powerful men associated with the film industry in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Nothing is off-limits here, and given the film is based on – or at least inspired by – a real person, the graphic content rubbed some people the wrong way. Blonde shocks and unnerves for a purpose, but there is an argument to be made about whether using Monroe’s name and likeness was the right thing to do. Truthfully, it may have been a matter of getting more people aware of the film, because something like The Assistant – which has similar themes, but no direct real-life names/characters – didn’t make nearly as much of a splash.

Blonde

NC-17

Biography

Drama

Romance

Where to Watch

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Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

September 28, 2022

Director

Andrew Dominik

Cast

Scoot McNairy , Sara Paxton , Spencer Garrett , Bobby Cannavale , Ana De Armas , Dan Butler , Adrien Brody , Garret Dillahunt , Rebecca Wisocky , Michael Masini , Luke Whoriskey , Toby Huss , Ned Bellamy , Julianne Nicholson , Lucy DeVito , Evan Williams , Chris Lemmon , Xavier Samuel , David Warshofsky

Runtime

2h 46m

2 'Civil War' (2024)

Director: Alex Garland

Like with The Apprentice and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the people behind Civil War knew what they were doing when it came to releasing something that at least seemed politically charged in a U.S. election year. Emphasis on the “seemed,” because Civil War doesn’t really take sides, and also makes sure to keep its conflict either vague or far-fetched by modern-day standards, allowing a certain separation between reality and the film.

Of course, that could well anger some people wanting the film to make more of a statement, so frustrations around such a film are possibly inevitable; a damned if you do, damned if you don’t sort of situation. More understandably, Civil War also generated some negative press through its marketing, with shades of the grossness of the Megalopolis trailer found in certain promotional images tied to the film.

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1 'Terrifier 3' (2024)

Director: Damien Leone

Following in the footsteps of the first two Terrifier movies, Terrifier 3 is ridiculously violent and uncompromisingly grim, but all in a way that makes it a must-watch for fans of more extreme horror. Art the Clown is once again slaughtering people, but not without making them suffer first, and he’s doing so at a time of year some people label as the most wonderful.

It’s all very over-the-top, but the violence in Terrifier 3 is genuinely sickening, and not even kids are safe from Art this time around. And there are also stories (that maybe should be taken with a grain of salt) about people getting ill while watching Terrifier 3, which adds to the buzz and makes it feel appropriately dangerous. Honestly, salt aside, it is a frequently revolting and admirably tense watch, so if you were to pass and/or walk out at some point, that might well be understandable.

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