Best films · Europe
10 Best Belgian Movies to Watch First
Start with films made from within Belgium, then follow the country's own creative voice through the complete ranking.
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Compare the route at a glance
Runtime, mood, and entry level help narrow the list without replacing the editorial ranking.
| Film | Runtime | Genre | Mood | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | Not verified | |||
| Two Days, One Night | Not verified | |||
| Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles | Not verified | |||
| The Brand New Testament | Not verified | |||
| Rosetta | Not verified | |||
| The Queen's Corgi | Not verified | |||
| Man Bites Dog | Not verified | |||
| The Broken Circle Breakdown | Not verified | |||
| Bullhead | Not verified | |||
| The Memory of a Killer | Not verified |
10 Essential Belgian Films
Ranked native cinema in Belgium’s own creative voice.
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1. Close
Two thirteen-year-old boys share an inseparable, tender friendship until schoolyard whispers about their closeness begin to drive a wedge between them. Lukas Dhont's aching drama about boyhood, intimacy, and the pressure to pull apart.
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2. Two Days, One Night
Over a single weekend, a young factory worker facing layoff races to visit her coworkers one by one, trying to persuade them to give up their bonuses so she can keep her job. The Dardenne brothers' tense, compassionate drama of dignity and solidarity.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A Belgian-led Dardenne brothers workplace drama rooted in Belgian labor conditions.
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3. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Across three days, a widowed Brussels housewife performs the rituals of her ordered life — cooking, cleaning, caring for her son, and discreetly receiving gentlemen callers in the afternoons — until tiny cracks begin to show. Chantal Akerman's monumental, hypnotic study of routine.
Why & details
Curator’s note: Chantal Akerman's Brussels-set Belgian/French landmark and a defining Belgian-authored film.
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4. The Brand New Testament
God, it turns out, is a petty, cruel man living in a Brussels apartment. Fed up with his tyranny, his young daughter slips down to earth and, in a mischievous act of rebellion, texts everyone the date of their death. A whimsical, irreverent comic fable.
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5. Rosetta
A fierce, impulsive teenage girl sharing a trailer with her alcoholic mother is desperate for steady work and the ordinary, dignified life it might bring. Refusing all charity, she fights for a foothold by almost any means. The Dardennes' raw, Palme d'Or-winning drama.
Why & details
Curator’s note: The Dardenne brothers' Belgian Palme d'Or winner about working-class life.
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6. The Queen's Corgi
Rex, the queen's pampered favorite among the royal corgis, lets his lofty status go to his head — until a mishap lands him outside the palace walls, adrift among the strays of London. An animated family comedy about a spoiled dog learning humility.
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7. Man Bites Dog
A documentary crew follows a charismatic, chatty serial killer as he goes about his grisly work, and finds itself slowly drawn from observation into complicity. A pitch-black Belgian mockumentary and savage satire on violence and the media.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A French-language Belgian mockumentary and cult landmark of Belgian cinema.
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8. The Broken Circle Breakdown
A tattoo artist and a bluegrass musician fall passionately in love and build a life around their band and their young daughter, until a devastating turn tests their bond and their beliefs. A soaring, sorrowful musical melodrama.
Why & details
Curator’s note: The loss of their young daughter threatens to destroy the love and faith of two married musicians.
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9. Bullhead
A hulking young cattle farmer, secretly scarred by a childhood trauma and hooked on the hormones he pumps into his herd, is drawn into a shady deal with a black-market beef trader — and toward a reckoning with his past. A brooding Flemish crime drama.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A young cattle farmer is approached by an unscrupulous veterinarian to make a shady deal with a notorious beef trader.
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10. The Memory of a Killer
An aging contract killer in the early grip of Alzheimer's takes one last job, then refuses when he learns who the target is — setting both the mob and the Antwerp police on his trail as his memory slips away. A stylish, melancholy thriller.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A Flemish Belgian crime thriller and one of Belgium's major modern genre exports.
The view from outside
10 Best Movies Set in or About Belgium
Compare how outside filmmakers have used Belgium as a sustained setting or subject.
- In Bruges 2008
- The Nun's Story 1959
- Battleground 1950
Selected by the FilmsAroundThe.World editorial desk
Ranked for craft, enduring reputation, influence, and importance within Belgium cinema. Decision labels are concise editorial aids, and content notes are non-exhaustive. Read the methodology.
Editorial review: 2026-07-13
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