Ralph Fiennes and Tony Revolori in Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel."
You can identify a Wes Anderson film almost from the moment you start watching. The acclaimed director is known for using chapters to break the story into parts, packing his soundtracks with ‘60s and ‘70s tunes, and collaborating with the same people over and over again. Wes Anderson movies are beautiful, shot symmetrically and likely to include slow-motion scenes. The native Texan likes exploring dysfunctional family dynamics and depicting shattering losses of innocence. Little wonder Anderson has won such critical and cult devotion—he’s never made a bad movie, and his films are all worth a watch.
Who Is Wes Anderson? Life And Career Synopsis
Wesley Wales Anderson, Wes for short, is an American director born and raised in Houston, Texas. He began making films as a child. While attending the University of Texas at Austin and studying philosophy, Anderson roomed with the actor Owen Wilson, a frequent early collaborator. They worked together on Anderson’s directorial debut, Bottle Rocket.
That film, released in 1996, was a box office flop but a critical hit, establishing Anderson as a director to watch. In his next effort, Rushmore, the young auteur began sharpening his style. He also started his longstanding collaborations with Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, which continues to this day. Anderson has directed 11 films, most recently the 2023 release Asteroid City. His movies have received universally good reviews and high audience scores, though most have been undistinguished performers at the box office. Wes Anderson movies are known for stylistic elements such as long takes, a stylized color palette that recurs throughout, quirky costumes, and monochromatic set design.
In What Order Were Wes Anderson’s Movies Released?
Here are the 11 Wes Anderson movies in order of release:
1. Bottle Rocket (1996)
2. Rushmore (1998)
3. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
4. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
5. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
6. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
7. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
9. Isle of Dogs (2018)
10. The French Dispatch (2021)
11. Asteroid City (2023)
Wes Anderson’s Movies Ranked
Anderson has never made a bad movie—all his films are masterpieces of varying degrees. His best box office performer, 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, made $172 million, most of that internationally, but all his other films grossed below $100 million. His lowest-grossing movie was 1996’s Bottle Rocket, which didn’t even top $1 million.
Of course, while box office can measure popularity, it doesn’t mean everything. The Royal Tenenbaums is probably his best-known movie, and it only made $52 million domestically—but its high-powered cast, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman and, of course, Murray, and the Academy Award for Best Screenplay drew lots of attention. I have ranked his films from 11 to one based on quality, popularity, awards prestige and cast performance.
Bill Murray in Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou."
11. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Anderson co-wrote Aquatic with another acclaimed American director, Noah Baumbach. It follows Zissou (Murray), an oddball oceanographer based partly on Jacques Cousteau, who disastrously tries to seek revenge on the shark that killed his partner.
The film received the least-glowing reviews of Anderson’s career, yet many critics still liked the concept, and it has risen to cult status in the two decades since its release. There’s even a Family Guy episode named after the film. You can rent Aquatic on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
10. The French Dispatch (2021)
A cast of Anderson all-stars, including Murray, Tilda Swanson, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson, tell a story in three parts, which the director has called his ode to journalists. It focuses on a French newspaper where the editor dies suddenly. The three chapters depict different articles in his final edition.
The film was released when Covid-19 restrictions were still affecting box office performance and the film industry generally suffered from a publicity and revenue slump. Still, Dispatch premiered to buzz at Cannes and boasts a cast packed with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Benicio del Toro, Jeffrey Wright, and Henry Winkler. Anderson began developing Dispatch in 2019. It’s available to stream on Hulu, FX Now and Sling, and you can rent it on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
9. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Following their father’s passing, three estranged brothers (Anderson stalwarts Owen Wilson, Brody and Schwartzman) take a train called the Darjeeling Limited through India in an attempt to bond and work out their dysfunction. Schwartzman also co-wrote the script with Anderson and Roman Coppola.
Parts of the movie were filmed on location in India. Darjeeling won the Little Golden Lion award at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, earning solid though not rave reviews. You can rent the movie on YouTube, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
8. Bottle Rocket (1996)
Anderson’s first movie showcases his potential as a filmmaker, if lacking the stylistic polish of his later movies. It stars his college roommate and screenplay co-writer, Owen, and Wilson’s real-life brother, Luke Wilson, along with Luke Musgrave, as a trio of wannabe criminals whose heists never go according to plan.
Though the movie was a limited-release box office bust, it earned critical kudos and put Anderson on people’s radars, paving the way for his follow-up, Rushmore. Rocket was based on a 13-minute black-and-white film Anderson directed in 1992, which earned a spot at the Sundance Film Festival, allowing Anderson to secure funding to make the longer movie. Rocket is available on PlutoTV to stream. You can also rent it on YouTube, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
Scarlett Johansson at the "Asteroid City" red carpet.
7. Asteroid City (2023)
Anderson’s 11th film received solid notices, though not the best of his career. He once again teamed with Coppola to pen this story of a dad in mourning who becomes stranded with his family in the rural town of Asteroid City during its annual stargazing convention.
The cast includes Schwartzman as well as Anderson favorite Scarlett Johansson, plus Bryan Cranston and Tom Hanks. The stylization is classic Anderson, presenting his vision of a 1950s town in technicolor. The movie took about three years to get on screen from its initial announcement. City is streaming on Peacock, or you can rent it on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
6. Isle of Dogs (2018)
In this visually striking stop-action animated film, Anderson follows a boy in Japan who goes in search of his dog after all canines are banished from his island following a canine flu epidemic. The voice cast includes Murray, Cranston, Jeff Goldblum, Johansson and many other Anderson regulars.
This is one of two animated Anderson films, and the medium suits his style. He enjoys the great leeway with color and symmetry, and his story is both affecting and affectionate. It took about three years in development to produce Dogs, which you can stream on Disney+. It’s available to rent on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
5. Rushmore (1998)
While Anderson has arguably made better movies, Rushmore is perhaps his most beloved and the one that brought him to national attention. It marked his first collaboration with Schwartzman and Murray, who play friends competing for the love of a young teacher (Olivia Williams).
Rushmore did merely okay at the box office, but it was a critical smash. The film branded Anderson a rising talent, winning him the Best Director prize at the Independent Spirit Awards. The movie, which was filmed in less than two months, also revitalized Murray’s flagging career. You can rent Rushmore on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
4. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Anderson and co-writer Coppola entered slightly new territory with this coming-of-age film about a tween couple (played by Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) who run away together, sending the local town into a panic. Bruce Willis plays the policeman who organizes a search to find them, while Murray and McDormand portray the girl’s parents.
Kingdom earned praise for addressing juvenile mental health. It received strong reviews across the board as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. While it only took three months to make, the nationwide search to cast the young actors played out over eight months. You can rent Kingdom on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
Actor Jason Schwartzman and director Wes Anderson attend a screening of "Fantastic M. Fox."
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Anderson’s other animated film is an underrated gem, due partly to the vocal talents of George Clooney and Meryl Streep as Mr. and Mrs. Fox. Anderson co-wrote the film, about a fox trying to escape his rural roots and help his community fight the local farmers, with Baumbach, their first of two collaborations.
It is a cartoon, but Fox is sophisticated, with sight gags, satirical plotlines and commentary that goes over kids’ heads. The movie exhibits many of Anderson’s stylistic tendencies, coming across even in a different type of format. It took five years for the film based on the Roald Dahl story to be made, and it earned two Oscar nods. You can stream Fox on Max or Amazon Prime Video, or you can rent it on Apple TV+, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
2. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Anderson is known for his tales of dysfunctional families, and the Tenenbaums may be the most dysfunctional of all. The family patriarch (Gene Hackman) returns years after abandoning his wife (Anjelica Huston) and gifted children (Stiller, Luke Wilson and Paltrow), who are struggling in adulthood.
The family’s duplicity and deviousness, interspersed with several instances of stunning loss, make them the sort of train wreck it’s hard to look away from. Tenenbaums received the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, and Hackman earned a Golden Globe. Anderson loosely based the absurdist-style movie on his own parents’ divorce. You can rent the film on Amazon Prime Video Apple TV+, YouTube, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Hotel raked in the money at the box office for a reason—it is Anderson’s most fully realized film, with an engrossing, creative storyline and breathtaking cinematography. Ralph Fiennes stars as the concierge of an Eastern European resort accused of murdering a wealthy woman (Swanson); the whole story is told in flashback.
The movie, filmed over a two-month span in 2013, received a Best Picture Oscar nomination, along with eight other nods. It is available to stream on YouTube, or you can rent it on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu or Google Play Movies & TV.
Bottom Line
Wes Anderson is one of the greatest directors of his generation, with a distinctive style and vision that make his films unique. You can’t go wrong with watching any of his 11 films, no matter which one you choose.
