10’Moulin Rouge!'

Over two decades later, it still holds up every bit as well as when it was released.

The movie isn’t just a universally relatable and deeply moving coming-of-age.

Most-Essential-Movies-of-2001

Custom Image by Federico Napoli

Neither is it just one ofthe best road romance moviesever made.

In summary: It’s one of the most gleefully original films of the 2000s.

Cult cinema would simply not be what it is today without it.

Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor singing while holding hands in ‘Moulin Rouge!'

Image via 20th Century Studios

It’s also brilliantly surrealistic, beautifully moving, and ambitious beyond what words can describe.

It has never been the same again.

Saying thatFellowshipdefined the 2000swould be quite the understatement.

Moulin Rouge Movie Poster

It’s easily the best movie of 2001, as well as easily its most ambitious.

KEEP READING:Essential Horror Movies of the 2000s, Ranked

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Amelie showing a spoon to the camera

Image via UGC  Fox Distribution

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Cast Placeholder Image

Tenoch, Julio, and Luisa all sitting on the beach together in ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ (2001)

Image via 20th Century Studios

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Donnie Darko looking directly in the mirror in Donnie Darko’ (2001)

Image via Newmarket FIlms

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John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig and Michael Pitt as Tommy Gnosis in ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’

Image via New Line Cinema

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Headshot Of John Cameron Mitchell

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Shrek and Donkey sitting and looking at the full moon in Shrek

Image via DreamWorks Pictures

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Rita and Betty in Mulholland Drive sit next to each other in a theater and look shocked.

Image via Universal Studios

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Headshot Of Laura Elena Harring

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Spirited Away Movie Poster

Hogwarts illuminated at night as people in small boats row to it in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Image via Warner Bros.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Movie Poster

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A still from The Fellowship of the Rings of Sam & Frodo, played by actors Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, leaving the Shire.

Image via New Line Cinema

The Lord Of The Rings- The Fellowship Of The Ring Poster

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Movie

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Spirited Away