Stephen King is a name that needs no introduction. The man who gave us Carrie, The Shining, and It has spent nearly five decades captivating readers with his chilling tales that make a den out of your psyche by blending horror with heartbreak and fear with redemption. But King isn’t just an iconic author. He is also a lifelong cinephile who has never been shy of telling the world what moves him.
While King is one of the most vocal champions of great filmmaking, what sets him apart is that he doesn’t hedge his bets. He has tweeted love letters to The Badabook, defended The Blair Witch Project, and is famously critical of Kubrick’s The Shining. Recently, King took to X (formerly Twitter) and dropped a definitive list of his ten favorite movies.
And because we’re gluttons for rankings, we have taken Stephen King’s 10 picks and ordered them by their Rotten Tomatoes scores.
‘Sorcerer’ (1977) – 84%
Sorcerer is among the many movies that feel like they belong to the same category as King’s own gritty, dreadful, and fatalistic tales. Directed by William Friedkin, it follows four desperate men from different corners of the world who find themselves exiled in a remote Latin American village. When an oil well explodes nearby, they are hired to transport unstable nitroglycerin across dangerous terrain.
Story of Existential Dread
Stephen King has always gravitated toward stories where ordinary men are pushed to extraordinary extremes, and Sorcerer is that kind of film. Putting it on his list of all-time favorite movies is no small praise, considering the fact that it was a box office casualty overshadowed by Star Wars. But Friedkin’s vision, anchored by Roy Scheider’s haunted performance as Jackie Scanlon, makes it a compelling watch.
‘The Getaway’ (1972) – 84%
A heist story that is sweaty, desperate, and tangled in moral compromise, The Getaway is directed by Sam Peckinpah and based on Jim Thompson’s novel. It follows Carter “Doc” McCoy, who is sprung from prison by his wife under shady conditions. After a botched bank job, their escape is less a chase and more a slow unraveling of trust, loyalty, and survival instinct.
A Heist Gone Wrong
King has long been enamored with The Getaway’s unapologetic approach to storytelling, its relentless pace, and the unforgettable performances of Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw. Its raw intensity makes it more than just a crime thriller. Peckinpah’s direction is lean, but emotionally jagged, and the movie’s moral ambiguity is right in King’s wheelhouse. Basically, it’s not about the heist, it’s about what happens when the plan falls apart.
‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977) – 90%
Close Encounters of the Third Kind delivers an outstanding story about alien contact. And no, it’s not all laser battles and sleek spacecraft. It centers on Roy Neary, a blue-collar worker whose life is upended after a mysterious encounter with a UFO. As Roy gets consumed by visions of a strange mountain, his obsession alienates him from his family and pushes him towards others with the same inexplicable experiences.
Haunting In Its Own Way
Steven Spielberg has this strange ability to blend the awe-inspiring elements of his narratives with the deeply personal terror of being human, of transforming under mysterious circumstances. And his movie explores the unknown while studying the human condition. King has openly praised Close Encounters with the Third Kind, calling it a terrific movie and admiring its grounded approach. Richard Dreyfuss leads the movie and the use of music turns communication into something spiritual.
‘Mean Streets’ (1973) – 92%
Martin Scorsese’s breakthrough movie, Mean Streets, is all about the pulse. Set in New York’s Little Italy, it follows Charlie, a young man torn between Catholic guilt and street loyalty, and Johnny Boy, his reckless and self-destructive friend. The movie meanders through debts, bar fights, and backroom deals, but its real heart lies in Charlie’s realization that redemption might not be possible in a world built on sin.
The Darkness Within Ordinary Men
Stephen King’s fascination with flawed protagonists and moral reckoning is no secret. Mean Streets is messy, intimate, and very honest. Which is exactly why it finds a place in Stephen King’s definitive list of favorite movies. Robert De Niro’s Johnny Boy is the kind of chaotic character he would pen. A man who laughs in the face of consequences and drags everyone down with him. Additionally, Scorsese’s use of voiceover, music, and dialogue is, as always, iconic.
‘Groundhog Day’ (1993) – 94%
If Stephen King were to write a comedy, it would be funny, yes, but also existential. That’s precisely what Groundhog Day is. Directed by Harold Ramis, it follows Phil Connors, a cynical weatherman who gets trapped in a time loop and is forced to relive the same day in Punxsutawney over and over again. At first, he indulges in despair, but slowly, he begins to change.
Turns Repetition into Revelation
Groundhog Day is brilliant because it’s simple. There’s one man, one day, and infinite chances. It’s a story about transformation and evolving under pressure, even if the pressure is cosmic or absurd. King loves the movie because he loves movies that blend genre with heart.
‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974) – 96%
There is a coldness to The Godfather Part II that’s impossible to look away from. Francis Ford Coppola’s sequel/prequel hybrid tracks two timelines. One follows the rise of young Vito Corleone in early 20th-century New York, and the other captures the moral decade of his son Michael decades later. It’s less about crime and more about moral corrosion. Of family, of identity, and of legacy.
Generational Storytelling Like No Other
When Al Pacino’s Michael grows up to become the head of the Corleone family, he tightens his grip on power while losing everything that once made him human. His arc is a masterclass in descent. Stephen King’s stories also often explore how good intentions curdle into something monstrous, and the inclusion of The Godfather Part II in his ultimate list is a nod to his love for character-driven tragedies.
‘Jaws’ (1975) – 97%
Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller turns a summer resort town into a feeding ground for a great white shark. And it turns out, the great horror isn’t the creature itself, but the way the town denies its existence. Police Chief Brody, marine biologist Hooper, and grizzled shark hunter Quint form a reluctant trio and head out to the sea to confront the beast.
The Monster Beneath
In Jaws, the shark is just a catalyst. The real story is about fear, how it spreads, how it isolates, and how it forces people to react. Stephen King’s own work hinges on that kind of creeping dread, where the monster is just one part of the equation. He has praised the pacing and the character work, especially the USS Indianapolis monologue delivered by Quint, which King described as “one of the best things ever put to film.” And John Williams’ score? Legendary.
‘Double Indemnity’ (1944) – 97%
Directed by Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity is a noir classic about an insurance salesman named Walter Neff, who gets tangled up with the seductive Phyllis Dietrichson in a plot to murder her husband and collect the insurance. From the moment Neff walks into her house, you can tell he’s doomed. The movie unfolds in flashbacks, with Neff narrating his own downfall.
Murder Never Goes According to Plan
To put it simply, Double Indemnity is a movie about how ordinary people make one bad choice and spend the rest of their lives trying to survive the consequences. Complete with razor-sharp dialogue and smoky atmosphere, it features Fred MacMurray playing against type and turning in a performance that is all quiet panic and misplaced confidence. Barbara Stanwych’s Phyllis is manipulative and Edward G. Robinson’s Barton sniffs out the rot beneath the surface.
‘Casablanca’ (1942) – 99%
Stephen King does not have a soft spot for romantic tragedies, but Casablanca is one movie that hits hardest. Set during World War II in the liminal space of Morocco, it follows Rick Blaine, a cynical bar owner who is forced to confront his own past when his former lover, Ilsa, walks into his club with her resistance-leader husband. Rick’s transformation from a detached exile to a selfless hero against the urgent backdrop of war is the heart of the story.
Romance Wrapped in Wartime Sacrifice
Casablanca is a towering achievement in the art of storytelling, and that’s apparent in its 99% Rotten Tomatoes score. The movie’s presence on Stephen King’s list of all-time favorites reflects his love for narratives that combine personal stakes with larger moral questions, emotional tension, and political stakes. Plus, the screenplay is endlessly quotable (“We’ll always have Paris,” “Here’s looking at you, kid”) and the final scene is one of cinema’s most enduring acts of sacrifice.
‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ (1948) – 100%
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, directed by John Huston, follows three down-and-out Americans named Dobbs, Curtin, and Howard, as they search for gold in the Mexican mountains. Their harmless camaraderie quickly transforms into suspicion and madness, especially for Dobbs, who gets so paranoid that it’s terrifying.
The Corrupting Nature of Greed
A lot of King’s movies explore how external forces like money, power, or fear reveal the cracks already present in a person’s psyche. This one falls under the same category because Humphrey Bogart’s Dobbs does not become a monster. He was always one, just waiting for the right moment to pause. Walter Huston, in a role that earned him an Oscar, brings wisdom as the only character who seems to understand the cost of greed. And Huston’s direction is unsentimental enough for King’s appreciation to stem from the lack of illusion.
