20 Best War Movies Released Since 2000

9. The White Ribbon (2009)

One in a long line of unshakable character studies from the great Michael Haneke, The White Ribbon takes the shape of moving parable about how evil corrupts and controls people. 

Set in a fictious German town before the start of the First World War, the film is first and foremost a mystery, a pre-war image of lives upturned by blind faith, fascism, and greed. It's a strange and surreal experience, largely symbolic, but nonetheless a gripping exploration of how harmful fear can be.

With mysterious deaths and almost paranormal happenings plaguing the city, and the early stages of the Great War already on the horizon, The White Ribbon is glacial, patient, and doesn't offer its answers easily, though its stunning imagery and the aghast faces of its cast make every inch of it an enrapturing affair. 

Strange and moving, it's an assessment of how intrinsic war is to the human story - it has always followed us, and maybe it always will.