History of Movies
My Library

Richard Linklater

American director and screenwriter (born 1960)

12.63body-of-work score · ranked #56 of 2631 directors · 17 films in our library

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite canon scores — methodology.

Born
July 30, 1960 · Houston
Nationality
United States
Work
screenwriter, film director, actor, film producer
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Richard Linklater
Sarah K Joyce · CC BY-SA 4.0

Films in our library, ranked

Ranked by composite canon score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls — our ordering, with every placement citing its evidence on the film's page.

  1. 1
    BoyhoodMust-See #76

    2014 · United States · drama

    BAFTA Best Film winner 2015 · Film Comment year-end poll 2014 #1 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2014 #2

    3.667 citations
  2. 2
    Before SunsetMust-See #265

    2004 · United States · romance, drama

    Film Comment year-end poll 2004 #3 · Sarris's annual top 10 2004 #1 · Rolling Stone 100 Best of the 21st Century #26

    2.369 citations
  3. 3
    Waking Life

    2001 · United States · drama, fantasy, animation

    Film Comment year-end poll 2001 #7 · Kehr's annual top 10 2001 #4 · Ebert's annual top 10 2001 #6

    1.146 citations
  4. 4
    Before Sunrise

    1995 · Austria / United States / Switzerland · romance, drama

    National Film Registry (inducted 2025) · Letterboxd Top 250 #165 · Empire 500 (2008) #200

    1.016 citations
  5. 5
    Before Midnight

    2013 · United States · romance, drama

    Film Comment year-end poll 2013 #3 · Criterion Collection spine #859

    0.662 citations
  6. 6
    School of Rock

    2003 · Germany / United States · musical, comedy

    Film Comment year-end poll 2003 #14 · Empire 500 (2008) #188 · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.573 citations
  7. 7
    A Scanner Darkly

    2006 · United States · sci-fi, drama

    Film Comment year-end poll 2006 #12 · Hoberman's annual top 10 2006 #4

    0.492 citations
  8. 8
    Dazed and Confused

    1993 · United States · comedy, drama

    Empire 500 (2008) #244 · Criterion Collection spine #336 · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.463 citations
  9. 9
    Slacker

    1991 · United States · comedy, drama

    National Film Registry (inducted 2012) · Criterion Collection spine #247

    0.392 citations
  10. 10
    Apollo 10½

    2022 · United States · sci-fi, drama

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2022 #7

    0.331 citation
  11. 11
    Nouvelle Vague

    2025 · France · drama

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2025 #8

    0.321 citation
  12. 12
    Bernie

    2011 · United States · crime, biography, comedy

    Film Comment year-end poll 2012 #13

    0.261 citation
  13. 13
    Everybody Wants Some!!That's What I'm Talking About

    2016 · United States · comedy, drama

    Film Comment year-end poll 2016 #17

    0.241 citation
  14. 14
    Blue Moon

    2025 · United States · biography, comedy, drama

    Film Comment year-end poll 2025 #17

    0.241 citation
  15. 15
    Fast Food Nation

    2006 · United Kingdom / United States · comedy, drama, romance

    Film Comment year-end poll 2006 #31

    0.201 citation
  16. 16
    Me and Orson Welles

    2008 · United Kingdom / United States · comedy, drama

    Film Comment year-end poll 2009 #31

    0.201 citation
  17. 17
    The Newton Boys

    1998 · United States · crime, comedy, drama

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation

Complete filmography

All 24 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.