25 Chinese Movies That Everyone Should See

Forbes

22-03-2025

Theater goers watching a movie at a cinema in Wanda Group's Oriental Movie Metropolis in Qingdao, ... More Shandong , China.
China has one of the biggest box offices in the world, so it only makes sense that there is also a bombing industry for Chinese language films. While many Chinese language movies come from the historic Hong Kong Cinema, many others come from Mainland China and the Taiwanese film industry. Each industry has a different history and feel, but they all have produced timeless classics. Between the three industries, Chinese language cinema has flourished with many iconic and beautiful Chinese films. The best Chinese movies range in genre from melodramas to martial arts spectaculars and there is something for everyone when it comes to the best Chinese films.
Chinese cinema dates back to the silent film era. However, the industry has gone through peaks and valleys when it comes to production. This list looks mainly at three distinct industries: mainland Chinese films, Hong Kong cinema and Taiwan's movie industry. However, it considers 'films made mainly in a Chinese language' broadly, including many co-productions (and even one U.S.-made film appears on the list).
Chinese language cinema has produced iconic directors like Chen Kaige, Yimou Zhang, Ang Lee and Wong Kar-wai, as well as actors like Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Gong Li, Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and many others. While this list doesn't include the highest-grossing Chinese movie, 2025's Ne Zha 2, it's a very notable film that is worth a watch. Ne Zha 2 is an animated sequel to 2018's Ne Zha and is currently the fifth highest-grossing film worldwide and the No. 1 highest-grossing animated film of all time. Generally, it should be said that this list comes from a Western perspective and a writer who doesn't speak any of the many languages spoken in China. However, this list tries to be the perfect primer for those interested in Chinese cinema and takes quality and historical significance into its ranking.
Directed by Derek Tsang, Better Days follows a petty criminal and a bullied high school student after the murder of a teenage girl in the lead-up to college entrance exams. The film stars Zhou Dongyu and Jackson Yee.
The film was highly anticipated in China (mainly due to the popularity of Zhou and Yee) and was both a critical and commercial success. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best International Feature Film as the entry from Hong Kong. It's a beautiful melodrama that feels perfectly modern. Find Better Days on streaming here.
The Farewell is possibly an odd choice for this list. While it is mainly in Mandarin (with sections in English), it is an American film. There are several great American films that are partially in Chinese in recent years (Everything, Everywhere, All At Once; Didi; and Lucky Grandma especially come to mind). While some of these films feel more like English films, with some sections in Chinese, The Farewell feels like a Chinese language film.
From director Lulu Wang, the film follows a Chinese-American woman who returns to Changchun to say goodbye to her Grandmother, who has recently been secretly diagnosed with cancer. The film stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin and Zhao Shu-zhen. It is available to stream here.
Directed by Jia Zhangke, Still Life tells the story of two people searching for missing spouses in Fengjie, a town destroyed by the building of the Three Gorges Dam. The film stars Zhao Tao and Han Sanming.
Jia has become synonymous with slow storytelling, which won't be for everyone, but Still Life feels like one of his most accessible films. The film was well-received by critics, especially after it was released in the U.S. in 2008 (it had previously won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2006, as well as other film festival prizes in 2007). It is currently available to stream on multiple platforms.
Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (right) in Chen Kaige's movie "Farewell My Concubine."
Farewell My Concubine is a romantic epic that follows two friends and actors in the Peking opera against the backdrop of the beginning of the Republic of China to the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. Directed by Chen Kaige, the film stars Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi and Gong Li.
The film is visually rich and heartbreaking. It was the first Chinese language film to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It also won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. However, it was controversial in China and weeks after it was released, the politburo demanded the film to be edited, and the government objected to the representation of homosexuality, 1960s China and suicide in the film. It is available here.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn won't be for everyone. However, it is a beautiful example of slow cinema. The film follows several characters at the final screening at the Taipei movie theater before it closes down as they watch the last 90 minutes of the 1967 film Dragon Inn.
Jun Shih and Miao Tien, who both appeared in the original Dragon Inn, appear as themselves in the film. They are joined by Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-chyi and Kiyonobu Mitamura. The film is directed by Tsai Ming-liang, who is one of the most noted filmmakers of the "Second New Wave' of Taiwanese cinema. Find it on streaming here.
Winston Chao and May Chin pose on set of the movie "The Wedding Banquet," circa 1993.
The Wedding Banquet follows a bisexual Taiwanese man, Gao Wai-Tung, who lives in New York with his Jewish boyfriend. He plans on marrying a friend to keep her from being deported to Mainland China and keep his parents off his back. However, when Wai-Tung's parents arrive for the courthouse wedding, his relationships are thrown into chaos. It stars Winston Chao, Gua Ah-leh, Lung Sihung, May Chin and Mitchell Lichtenstein.
While the film is at its core a romcom, it has a beautiful depth and complexity to it as it explores 1990s queer and immigrant culture. The film is the second in director Ang Lee's 'Father Knows Best' Trilogy (three films starring Lung that examine themes of Confucian families and changing cultures) with 1991's Pushing Hands and 1994's Eat Drink Man Woman. The Wedding Banquet was nominated for a Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar and Golden Globe. In 2023, it was also chosen for preservation at the Library of Congress. The Wedding Banquet is being remade in 2025 as an English Language film starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran and Han Gi-chan. Unfortunately, it is currently not available for streaming.
The Time to Love and the Time to Die (sometimes also called A Time to Live, A Time to Die) is a film inspired by director Hsiao-hsien Hou's childhood. It follows a boy whose family moves from Mainland China to Taiwan.
The coming-of-age drama stars Yu An-shun, Tien Feng and Xin Shufen. It is an emotionally rich and heartbreaking film about family, homeland and illness. However, it might be most notable for its top-notch directing and acting. Unfortunately, it is currently not available for streaming.
Director Zhang Yimou is a powerhouse of Chinese cinema, and Raise the Red Lantern is one of his most iconic films. Set in the 1920s, the film follows a teenager who becomes the fourth concubine or a wealthy man after her father's death, only to clash with the other women of the house.
The film stars Gong Li, Ma Jingwu, He Saifei and Cao Cuifen. Gong and Zhang are frequent collaborators; Raise the Red Lantern is the third of eight collaborations after 1987's Red Sorghum in 1987 and Ju Dou in 1990 (both great Chinese films in their own right). Raise the Red Lantern won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Unfortunately, it is currently not available for streaming.
French re-release of poster art with an English title for "A Touch Of Zen," 1971.
A Touch of Zen is a wuxia (a genre that follows martial artists in ancient China) film and co-production between Taiwan and Hong Kong. It follows an unmotivated artist and a princess on the run from a murderous general while exploring themes like feminism, transcendence and Zen Buddhism.
A Touch of Zen won the Technical Grand Prize and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It was only the second Chinese-language film to win an award at Cannes and was the first wuxia film to win an international film festival award. The film was directed by King Hu and stars Hsu Feng and Shih Chun. It is currently available on streaming on multiple platforms.
Police Story follows a cop who fights to clear his name after being framed for murder. Directed, co-written by and starring Jackie Chan, Police Story is pure heart-racing fun and is surprisingly funny for an action film. Chan walks the line between comedy and impressive stunt work during the film's many action scenes. Contemporary reviews even liken Chan to silent comedians like Buster Keaton.
Police Story became a seven-movie franchise, and the films vary in quality. While the original is arguably the best, Police Story 3: Supercop (which features Chan teaming up with Michelle Yeoh for some of the best action scenes in the franchise) and Police Story 2 (which adds emotional depth to the series) are excellent films in their own right. The original Police Story is available to stream here.
Ann Hui's Boat People follows a Japanese photojournalist as he breaks away from a government-approved tour of Vietnam to photograph the real lives of Vietnamese people under communist rule. While parts of the film are in Cantonese, much of it is also in Vietnamese and Japanese.
Boat People stars George Lam, Andy Lau, Cora Miao and Season Ma. The film won five Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film. While it is the third film in Hui's Vietnam Trilogy, it is largely seen as her masterpiece and cemented her as a fixture of Hong Kong's New Wave. However, it was also a controversial film as many saw it as anti-Vietnamese or at least one-sided against the Vietnamese government. The film was also banned in Taiwan and later China. It is available to steam here.
Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing in the Wong Kar-wai 1990 movie "Days of Being Wild."
Days of Being Wild is one of many great films by director Wong Kar-Wai. The film follows a a playboy, his former lover, his new girlfriend and a policeman after a family secret is revealed.
Days of Being Wild won best film at the Hong Kong Film Awards. The film has a star-studded cast, including Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. It is the first film in an informal trilogy with 2000's In the Mood for Love and 2004's 2046, all of which are must-watches for those interested in contemporary Hong Kong Cinema. It is available to stream on multiple platforms.
The Blue Kite was actually banned in China upon its completion and led to a ten-year ban from filmmaking by its director, Tian Zhuangzhuang. However, it is now regarded as a classic of Chinese Cinema. The film follows a woman whose librarian husband is forced into a labor camp during the Maoist purges; she must then survive poverty during the 1950s to raise her young son.
The film stars Lü Liping, Pu Quanxin, Chen Xiaoman, Li Xuejian and Guo Baochang. The Blue Kite is a prime example of 'the Fifth Generation' of mainland Chinese filmmaking. It is a very political film; however, it's also a profoundly human film. The Blue Kite is currently streaming here.
Hou Hsiao-hsien's A City of Sadness is a historical drama that follows three brothers as they navigate the changing culture of Taiwan and the White Terror after the Japanese exit the Island in the 1940s.
The film stars Tony Leung, Xin Shufen, Chen Sung-young, Jack Kao and Li Tian-lu. It was the first Taiwanese film to win the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. The film is the first in Hou's loose "Taiwan Trilogy" with 1993's The Puppetmaster and 1995's Good Men, Good Women. Unfortunately, A City of Sadness is not currently available for streaming.
Street Angel follows two sisters who find work at a tea house in 1930s Shanghai and the trumpet player (who the younger sister falls in love with). There is a lot going on in the film, including romance, music, comedy, the struggles of poverty and the galvanization of left-wing politics. The film comes at the end of the Golden Age of Shanghai Cinema, and while it feels like an important film, it is also highly watchable.
Directed by Yuan Muzhi, the film stars Zhou Xuan and Zhao Dan. Zhou was a popular singer and even nicknamed the "Golden Voice.' The film popularized two songs, 'Song of the Four Seasons' and 'Songstress at the Ends of the Earth.' It falls under public domain in the U.S. and is available to stream here.
Infernal Affairs is the Hong Kong film on which Martin Scorsese's The Departed is based. The film follows a police cadet who goes undercover in the Triad and a mole installed by a crime boss. After they both rise in the organization, their covers become in danger of being blown.
Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, the film stars Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang. The film is emotional and visually rich. Infernal Affairs was nominated for 16 Hong Kong Film Awards and won seven, including Best Film. It is available to stream here.
The Goddess might be a hard sell to a modern audience. It is a silent film about a mother being forced into sex work to provide for her son in 1930s Shanghai. Directed by Wu Yonggang, the film stars Ruan Lingyu in one of her final roles.
The Goddess was popular when it came out. However, it experienced a reassurance in popularity after the 1991 Ruan biopic, Center Stage starring Maggie Chueng, used extracts of The Goddess and 1935's New Women to showcase the films of the "Chinese Garbo.' The Goddess is also notable for its early use of filmmaking techniques of montage and dissolve. Unfortunately, it is currently not available on streaming.
Written and directed by King Hu, Dragon Inn is a foundational film in the wuxia genre. Dragon Inn follows a warrior who seeks to defend the children of a condemned general from the secret police in 1400s China. While the plot is fairly simple, the action and imagery of this film are iconic.
While the film has been remade twice (1992's New Dragon Gate Inn and 2011's Flying Swords of Dragon Gate), the original is the best of the three. There are very few Taiwanese films that were made before 1970, and Dragon Inn is easily the most iconic film of early Taiwanese cinema. It is available to stream here.
There are a couple of excellent martial arts films about the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung (Jackie Chan's Drunken Master II and Donnie Yen's Iron Monkey especially come to mind); however, Once Upon a Time in China is the best. The film follows Wong's fight for family, love and his martial arts school against the backdrop of a rapidly modernizing way of life in late 1800s China and the rising tide of imperialism.
Directed by Tsui Hark, the film stars Jet Li. Once Upon a Time in China has become a staple of Hong Kong Cinema and the wuxia movie genre. It has led to five sequels and a TV series. It won four Hong Kong Film Awards and was a breakout film for Li. Find it here.
Election 2, also sometimes called Triad Election, is a sequel to 2000's Election. While both films are great movies, Election 2 is better. The film follows a boss who runs for an unheard-of second term to hold on to the top spot in a crime syndicate.
The film was shown at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It has become a cult favorite, especially among fans of Hong Kong cinema and director Johnnie To. The film stars Louis Koo, Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, Cheung Siu-fai, Lam Suet and Gordon Lam. Unfortunately, it is currently not available on streaming.
Yellow Earth is Chen Kaige's directorial debut. The film follows a traveling communist soldier and a rebellious young girl who seeks freedom from her village's traditions. The film stars Xueqi Wang, Bai Xue, Quiang Liu and Tuo Tan.
The film is visually striking, with another iconic 'fifth-generation' director, Zhang Yimou, as cinematographer. Yellow Earth is an important film in Chinese history. In 1982, both Chen and Zhang were in The Beijing Film Academy's first graduating class since it was closed in the 1960s during Mao's Cultural Revolution. Unfortunately, it is currently not available on streaming.
Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a beautifully made wuxia epic. Set in a stylized version of the Qing Dynasty, it follows a warrior, his lover, a princess and a thief after a 400-year-old sword is stolen. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen.
The film, which is a multinational co-production, was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning four, including Best Foreign Language Film. Lee also received a Golden Globe for Best Director. It was also a surprise international hit at the box office. The film feels half like a comic book and half like a folktale in a really effective way. It is available to stream here.
Spring in a Small Town follows a newly poor married couple as the wife's former lover visits their family compound. Directed by Fei Mu, the film was named the best Chinese film ever made by the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005.
The film starts with an iconic elongated narration from actress Wei Wei as Zhou Yuwen. There are only five characters in the movie, making it feel incredibly intimate and lonely. While Spring in a Small Town is now a beloved classic, it was controversial upon its release. It was rejected by the Communist Party, which would come to power the following year in 1949. It was rediscovered when the China Film Archive released a new print of the film in the 1980s, and it has since become an enduring classic of mainland Chinese cinema. It is in the public domain in the U.S. and is available here.
Director Wong Kar-wai is a powerhouse of Hong Kong cinema, and In the Mood For Love is one of his greatest films. In the Mood For Love follows neighbors in 1960s British Hong Kong as they bond outside of their marriages. It's a dreamy and heartbreaking romance.
The film has been influential in the romance genre and has inspired films like Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation and Barry Jenkins' Moonlight. It also served as inspiration for one of the alternate universes in The Daniels' Everything, Everywhere All at Once. Wong is a fabulous director and his films Chungking Express and Happy Together are other must-watches for those interested in Hong Kong Cinema. It is available to stream here.
Actor Yun-Fat Chow on set of the movie "A Better Tomorrow."
In the States, director John Woo is best known for films like Face/Off and Mission Impossible 2, but his Hong Kong action classic A Better Tomorrow is arguably his best film. The film follows an ex-triad member as he tries to connect with his estranged policeman brother and avoid the pull of gang life.
A Better Tomorrow is a highly influential film in Hong Kong action cinema and is often credited for starting the Heroic Bloodshed or Hong Kong Blood Opera genre. The film was ranked number two on The Hong Kong Film Awards list of Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures. The film stars Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun-fat. Unfortunately, it is currently not available to stream.
Bottom Line
Whether you are looking for a quiet meditation on Chinese history or a loud Hong Kong action film, these films represent the beautiful depth and breadth of Chinese language cinema.
There are many directors who have become synonymous with great Chinese language cinema. From the mainland, Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou became notable directors from the so-called 'fifth generation,' aka directors who started making films in the 1980s after the Beijing Film Academy reopened. Others like Jia Zhangke have become noted directors since as part of the sixth generation.
In Hong Kong, directors like Wong Kar-wai, Ann Hui and John Woo have risen to international prominence along with names like Johnnie To and Stephen Chow. Similarly, Taiwan has produced directors like Ang Lee and Hou Hsiao-Hsien (though Hou was born in Mainland China).
While several Chinese language films have been nominated for Best International Feature Film Oscars, only one, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has won in the category. While it was a multinational co-production, it won as the selection from Taiwan. Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a wuxia martial arts epic starring Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. It was also nominated for Best Picture but lost to Gladiator.
Yeoh (who is Malaysian but has been a fixture of the Hong Kong film industry) would go on to win an Oscar for Best Actress for her work on Everything Everywhere All at Once (which, while more of an English language film, includes scenes in Chinese and also won Best Picture).
China produces many of its own films. However, many Hollywood films are still released in China. Some Hollywood films are even very popular in China; for example, the ninth highest-grossing film in China is Avengers: Endgame. Traditionally, many movies made in Hong Kong have also been popular in Mainland China.
Three industries make the vast majority of Chinese language films: Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China. Each industry has its own history and output, but all three have produced popular and critically successful films.