Steven Soderbergh has remained one of the most independent and influential filmmakers working for over three decades, with 2025 already delivering two new and very different movies from the prolific artist. From the experimental doodle of Schizopolis to the epic sweep of Che to the blockbuster charm of Ocean’s Eleven, this director has never made the same movie twice. Storming onto the scene with 1989’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape, the 26-year-old Soderbergh became the youngest solo director to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
That film would launch an indie boom and change the cinematic marketplace. However, it would eventually bring its director to Hollywood, where he would helm the major hit Ocean’s Eleven and become only the third filmmaker in history to receive two Best Director nominations in the same year, ultimately winning for Traffic (against his own Erin Brockovich). Every one of his works is worth watching if only to see his extraordinary talent for reinventing himself and always bringing the maximum amount of fun possible.
36
Full Frontal (2002)
A Day In The Life Of Hollywood Players
Full Frontal
- Release Date
-
August 2, 2002
- Runtime
-
96 minutes
- Writers
-
Coleman Hough
- Producers
-
Bob Weinstein, Gregory Jacobs, Harvey Weinstein
After winning Best Director for Traffic, Steven Soderbergh took $2 million, a few DV cameras, and went as low budget as possible on his next movie. That ended up being Full Frontal, a comedy-drama about a day in the life of several Hollywood characters. What is most impressive is that Soderbergh shot the movie with an amazing group of actors but ensured it was the most indie effort of his career. The cast included David Duchovny, Catherine Keener, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Terence Stamp, and many more.
The film received a limited release but still managed to make back its production budget. It received negative reviews from critics, though, with many confused about the story and critical of the “amateurish” camera work. Over a decade later, the movie was critically reassessed, with modern-day critics appreciating the amateur camerawork and production values on display.
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35
The Underneath (1995)
A Man Returns Home & Is Sucked Into A Heist
The Underneath
- Release Date
-
April 28, 1995
- Runtime
-
99 minutes
- Writers
-
Daniel Fuchs
- Producers
-
John Hardy, Joshua Donen, Lionel Wigram
Cast
-
-
Peter Gallagher
Michael Chambers
-
William Fichtner
Tommy Dundee
-
Adam Trese
David Chambers
In the afterglow of Soderbergh’s debut Sex, Lies, and Videotape, this neo-noir reunited the director with Peter Gallagher. A remake of the 1949 film Criss Cross, The Underneath follows a man returning to his hometown when his mother remarries. While there, he gets entangled in a risky plot to liberate a former lover from her abusive boyfriend. It’s a great-looking movie, and Soderbergh is clearly experimenting with many editing tricks.
However, critics were not happy with the final result, giving it a 62% Rotten Tomatoes score, with many saying it lacks the emotional connection that film noirs are known for. The director himself called it “sleepy,” and he’s not wrong.
34
The Laundromat (2019)
3 Stories Surrounding The Panama Papers Scandal
The Laundromat
5/10
- Release Date
-
October 18, 2019
- Runtime
-
96 minutes
- Writers
-
Scott Z. Burns
The Laundromat sees Steven Soderbergh take the book Secrecy World about the Panama Papers scandal and turn it into a comedy-drama with an all-star cast along for the ride. The film tells three different stories about people around the world affected by the Mossack Fonseca company, although it is somewhat fictionalized. Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas narrate the three stories, with a cast that includes Meryl Streep, Jeffrey Wright, James Cromwell, Sharon Stone, and more.
They praised the cast but showed disappointment with the unfocused approach to dealing with real-life events.
Critics were mixed on the film, giving it a 41% Rotten Tomatoes score. They praised the cast but showed disappointment with the unfocused approach to dealing with real-life events. However, some critics were more positive about the effort, praising Soderbergh’s more “playful” nature when dealing with serious topics.
33
Kafka (1991)
Franz Kafka Joins An Underground Group While Working As A Writer
Kafka
- Release Date
-
November 15, 1991
- Runtime
-
98 minutes
- Writers
-
Lem Dobbs
- Producers
-
Barry Levinson, Harry Benn, Mark Johnson, Paul Rassam
A biopic that cleverly mixes details of the famous writer’s personal life with the surreal, nightmarish imagery of his stories, Kafka is one of the more interesting failures in Soderbergh’s filmography. In Prague in 1919, Franz Kafka (Jeremy Irons) was working on becoming a writer while also juggling his career as an insurance adjuster. He then joins an underground group when a co-worker is murdered.
Gorgeously shot in striking black and white, the film’s multiple layers see the director juggling a lot of balls, and even though he can’t quite keep them all in the air, it’s never boring. This one is worth a watch for completists, and it has become a cult classic since its release, compared to Brazil and Naked Lunch.
32
Bubble (2005)
Three Doll Factory Employees Become Involved In A Murder Case
Bubble
- Release Date
-
January 27, 2006
- Runtime
-
74 minutes
- Writers
-
Coleman Hough
- Producers
-
Gregory Jacobs, Jason Kliot, Todd Wagner
Cast
-
Debbie Doebereiner
Martha
-
Omar Cowan
Martha’s Father
-
Dustin James Ashley
Kyle (as Dustin Ashley)
-
Phyllis Workman
Bakery Shopkeeper
Fifteen years before HBO Max struck a deal with Warner Bros. to release their films in theaters and through streaming simultaneously, this Steven Soderbergh oddity was the first film to debut in cinemas, on DVD, and on-demand on the same day.
Eschewing stars for a cast of unknowns, the director tells this story of murder in a small town with a fairly un-showy hand.
There’s some creepy imagery (a decapitated doll head, for one) and some impressive acting, but the movie’s overall stilted quality makes this another one for completists only. Critics did praise the movie as a “stripped down” and mundane film that remains creepy and somewhat engrossing.
31
Magic Mike’s Last Dance (2023)
Mike Returns To Bartending After The Pandemic & Finds His Place in The World
Magic Mike’s Last Dance
4/10
- Release Date
-
February 10, 2023
- Runtime
-
110 minutes
- Writers
-
Reid Carolin
The third and final movie in the Magic Mike series sees former male stripper Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) lose his furniture store business thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has to return to bartending, but he soon meets a new woman named Maxandra “Max” Mendoza (Salma Hayek), who invites him to London and makes him a business proposition — she wants him to choreograph the play Isabel Ascendant in the theater she received in her divorce settlement from her husband.
The movie takes the erotic dance scenes in a new direction thanks to the stage play format, but critics were not convinced, awarding it only a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes while saying that the franchise had lost a step since its start. However, Channing Tatum received praise once again for his performance as the lead in the franchise.
30
The Good German (2006)
A Neo-Noir Film Set After World War II
The Good German
- Release Date
-
December 8, 2006
- Runtime
-
105 minutes
Steven Soderbergh once again took an unexpected route with his 2006 movie The Good German. Soderbergh shot the movie in black and white and had it take place after the Allies beat the Nazis in World War II. The movie poster paid homage to Casablanca, and it is clear that was Soderbergh’s focus when making the movie as well. The story opens with a murder mystery that then adds in subplots of America hiring Nazi rocket scientists during Operation Paperclip.
The film received mixed reviews and was a box office flop. This was highly disappointing since not only was this Soderbergh following up his Ocean’s Eleven films, but it also starred industry titans George Clooney and Cate Blanchett. Critics mostly gave The Good German negative reviews, with some saying Soderbergh went too far in sticking with the old style of filmmaking. It did receive an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score by Thomas Newman.
29
Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
Danny Ocean Sets Out To Ruin A Man’s Casino In A Revenge Tale
Ocean’s Thirteen
- Release Date
-
June 8, 2007
- Runtime
-
122 Minutes
- Writers
-
Brian Koppelman, David Levien, George Clayton Johnson, Jack Golden Russell
This is exactly the movie Steven Soderbergh cleverly avoided making when he helmed the first Ocean’s sequel, Ocean’s Twelve. It’s bigger and louder but isn’t nearly as smart as its predecessors. Still, it’s still plenty of fun getting the gang together again. In this movie, Reuben Tishkoff decides to build a casino in Vegas, despite people telling him it was a bad idea. Soon, his investors and a man named Willy Bank (Al Pacino) double-cross him and take the casino from him, leaving him with nothing, resulting in Reuben having a heart attack.
This leads Danny to put his team back together again and set out to ruin Banks’ new casino’s grand opening. Their plan is to force him to lose the Five Diamond Award competition, which is important to Banks, and, more importantly, to rig the games in the casino to pay out millions in winnings, which could cost Banks enough money to lose control of the casino to his Board of Directors. The movie was a box office success, and it received decent reviews, but it was still a slight letdown that ended the franchise for a decade.
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28
Schizopolis (1996)
A Man Becomes Lost In A Cult-Like Religious Group
Schizopolis
- Release Date
-
April 2, 1997
- Runtime
-
99 minutes
- Producers
-
John Hardy
-
Scott Allen
Right Hand Man
-
-
Betsy Brantley
Mrs. Munson
-
Marcus Lyle Brown
Corporate Mole
Sex, Lies, and Videotape was the debut, but this was the big reset. Unhappy with the trajectory of his career, Soderbergh set off to his hometown of Baton Rouge with $250,000 and cast himself in this gonzo experimental film. Absolutely absurd and charmingly incomprehensible, this is mostly a self-indulgent palate cleanser, but it becomes more and more charming with every great new movie Soderbergh makes.
Schizopolis does not possess a linear plot but attempts to tell the same story from three different perspectives. The film had a poor reception at the Cannes Film Festival despite it appearing as a surprise screening. While it was also a box office failure, it did pick up a small cult following and even received a Criterion Collection release.
27
Gray’s Anatomy (1996)
A Monologue Film With Spalding Gray
Gray’s Anatomy
- Release Date
-
September 11, 1996
- Runtime
-
80 minutes
- Writers
-
Renée Shafransky
- Producers
-
Caroline Kaplan, John Hardy, Jonathan Sehring
-
Mike McLaughlin
Self – Interviewee
-
-
-
Spalding Gray filmed four of his monologues, hiring phenomenal directors like The Silence of the Lambs’ Jonathan Demme, to translate them to the screen. His fourth and final one is his murkiest, a rambling and depressing account of a bad experience he had with eye surgery. Soderbergh, however, brings his A-game, enfolding Gray in a visual landscape that is as overwhelming as it is complementary to the text.
It is one of Soderbergh’s most curious movie releases.
This was the last Spalding Gray monologist film, co-written by Renee Shafransky and directed by Steven Soderbergh. It is one of Soderbergh’s most curious movie releases, and it received mixed reviews, with some critics praising its bizarre odyssey into the neurotic mind and others complaining that it is insincere.
26
Let Them All Talk (2020)
A Renowned Author Makes A Transatlantic Trip
Let Them All Talk
- Release Date
-
December 10, 2020
- Runtime
-
113 minutes
- Writers
-
Deborah Eisenberg
This mostly improvised curiosity is essentially Soderbergh, Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen, and Lucas Hedges hanging out on a cruise ship. When it allows itself to simply be that, Let Them All Talk is a real charmer, with particularly great performances from Wiest and Bergen. Streep plays a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who can’t fly due to health reasons but needs to cross the Atlantic, which leads her on this transatlantic crossing. Gemma Chan plays her agent Karen, who comes as well, trying to learn more about her new book.
This is the better of Streep’s and Soderbergh’s collaborations, but one can’t help but want more from the duo than this mildly amusing lark. Critics praised the film, awarding it an 88% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score. Most of the praise went to the cast, specifically thanks to their talent lending to the improvisational aspects of the script.
25
Unsane (2018)
A Woman Is Involuntarily Committed To A Mental Health Facility
Unsane
6/10
- Release Date
-
March 23, 2018
- Writers
-
James Greer, Jonathan Bernstein
Soderbergh’s second film after Logan Lucky brought him out of a self-imposed “retirement.” Unsane could easily feel like a tossed-off Hitchcockian genre exercise. Trapped in a mental hospital and riddled with anxiety that her stalker of two years is somewhere in the facility with her, this is stripped-down Soderbergh having fun, shooting this claustrophobic thriller on an iPhone, and yielding star status to a terrifically scared Claire Foy.
The movie was a box office success for Soderbergh thanks to his extremely low-budget shoot with the iPhone camera. It also received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising Soderbergh for telling his story in a very low-fi manner. However, there were complaints from the audience members that the overall quality of the image was not good enough to warrant seeing it on the big screen when it was released.
24
High Flying Bird (2019)
An NBA Star’s Agent Comes Up With A New Deal During A Lockout
High Flying Bird
7/10
- Release Date
-
January 27, 2019
- Runtime
-
90 minutes
- Writers
-
Tarell Alvin McCraney
High Flying Bird, written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, the Academy Award-winning writer whose play inspired Moonlight, is a bit of an underappreciated gem. Andre Holland plays a star NBA player’s agent who comes up with a bold but controversial business plan while the league is locked out due to haggling over revenue sharing. Along the way, Soderbergh brings in several NBA stars to do interview scenes about their rookie years, including Reggie Jackson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Donovan Mitchell.
Essentially a series of backroom negotiations, all filmed on an iPhone, this is a sports drama that takes an alternate approach to the genre but still plays as thrilling as any big game. Critics loved the movie, awarding it a high 91% Rotten Tomatoes score, although fans were not as enthralled, giving it a 49% Popcornmeter score.
23
Behind the Candelabra (2013)
A Biopic About Liberace & His Love Affair With Scott Thorson
Behind the Candelabra
- Release Date
-
May 26, 2013
- Runtime
-
118 minutes
- Writers
-
Richard LaGravenese, Scott Thorson, Alex Thorleifson
Soderbergh doesn’t really do romances, so it’s surprising that his 2013 HBO film about the relationship between Liberace and his much younger assistant-slash-lover Scott Thorson is so eminently warm and lovable. Matt Damon is phenomenally sweet as Thorson, and Michael Douglas taps in exquisitely into the powerhouse charm that made such a flamboyantly gay artist so embraced by a largely homophobic public.
Behind the Candelabra sees Soderbergh shedding his cerebral qualities and delivering one of his most sincere films. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and competed for the Palme d’Or. Instead of premiering in theaters, it ended up going straight to HBO and received critical acclaim, mostly for Douglas and Damon’s performances.
22
King of the Hill (1993)
A Boy Struggles For Survival During The Depression
King of the Hill
- Release Date
-
August 20, 1993
- Runtime
-
103 minutes
- Producers
-
Albert Berger, Barbara Maltby, John Hardy
Cast
-
Jeroen Krabbé
Mr. Kurlander
-
Jesse Bradford
Aaron Kurlander
-
Lisa Eichhorn
Mrs. Kurlander
-
On paper, King of the Hill, a fairly straightforward coming-of-age drama set during the Depression, might seem one of Soderbergh’s least interesting works. In reality, it was the first hint of the director’s chameleonic powers. He’s in total service of the story here, crafting a straightforward but genuinely uplifting film about a young boy figuring out how to survive in a rough-and-tumble world.
The movie takes place during the Great Depression and follows a young boy struggling to live on his own in a hotel while his mother is institutionalized in a sanitarium with tuberculosis. While the movie was a box office bomb, it was still highly praised by critics, with a 91% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with praise going to the script’s subtle coming-of-age tale.
21
And Everything Is Going Fine (2010)
A Documentary About Spalding Gray
And Everything Is Going Fine
- Release Date
-
June 4, 2010
- Runtime
-
89 minutes
- Producers
-
Amy Hobby, Joshua Blum
Cast
-
Spalding Gray
Self (archive footage)
After Spalding Gray’s death, Steven Soderbergh applied an ingenious approach to retrospectively give the actor and writer the perfect vehicle to discuss what led to his suicide. Shunning talking head style interviews or narration, Soderbergh cobbles together footage from Gray’s career into a powerful portrait of a genius’ decline to despair.
Even more effective than the filmmaker’s attempt to showcase the artist during his life, this is both a document of Gray’s storytelling gifts and a reveal of the pain behind every word. In addition to honoring Gray’s legacy, Soderbergh also used a music soundtrack composed by Gray’s son, Forrest Gray. The Criterion Collection released the documentary after its release.
20
Presence (2024)
A Horror Movie About Supernatural Entities Haunting A Home
Presence
8/10
- Release Date
-
January 24, 2025
- Runtime
-
85 Minutes
- Writers
-
David Koepp
- Producers
-
Ken Meyer
Steven Soderbergh went all out in the horror genre in 2024 when he directed the supernatural thriller Presence. While he had worked in horror before, this allowed him to venture into the realm of hauntings, ghosts, and demonic presences. In the movie, a family of four moves into a house that happens to be inhabited by a poltergeist who can’t leave the house but is unsure why. What really makes the movie interesting is that the point of view is the Presence and not the family who moves into the home.
The film is a tale of grief, with the family all dealing with their own problems, and the audience watches from the Presence’s point of view. It is also a mystery, as the reason the spirit is in the house isn’t revealed until the climactic ending scene. Critics praised the film, with an 89% fresh rating, calling it a “slow burn thriller” where Soderbergh inventively plays with the horror genre.
19
The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
A Slice-Of-Life Tale Of A Manhattan Escort
The Girlfriend Experience
- Release Date
-
May 22, 2009
- Runtime
-
77 minutes
- Writers
-
Brian Koppelman, David Levien
- Producers
-
Gregory Jacobs, Todd Wagner
-
Sasha Grey
Chelsea / Christine
-
-
-
Upon its release, The Girlfriend Experience was mostly viewed as a gimmick, casting porn star Sasha Grey in its leading role of a Manhattan escort. Viewed in more modern times, this is a far more interesting film than that narrative implied. It’s a movie entirely about transactions, and while Grey isn’t the most dynamic of actresses, she communicates perfectly the way her character knows how to mimic romance to pay the bills and how that lifestyle ultimately leaves her a bit empty inside.
The film takes place in the days leading up to the 2008 presidential election, where Chelsea deals with her boyfriend, her escort clients, and her job, in which she offers what she calls the “girlfriend experience.” The movie only received a 67% fresh rating when released but has since been reappraised and was even spun off into a TV series.
18
Kimi (2022)
A Woman Finds Her Life In Danger Following A Murder Discovery
Kimi
7/10
- Release Date
-
February 10, 2022
- Runtime
-
89 minutes
- Writers
-
David Koepp
Released in 2022 on Max, Steven Soderbergh directed the thriller film Kimi. The name of the film refers to an AI smart speaker (similar to Siri) and follows an employee of the company who developed it after she learns through a recording that the company’s CEO had his mistress murdered. However, when she tries to report this, her own company decides to cover it up and kill her to silence her from revealing the truth. Zoë Kravitz stars in the lead role as the woman trying to expose the truth.
Critics praised the movie, awarding it a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, calling it a great thriller with a 21st-century spin. This was also one of Soderbergh’s more mainstream directorial releases of his career, and featured a great performance by Zoe Kravitz in the lead role.
17
Logan Lucky (2017)
A Heist Movie Where A Crew Tries To Rob The Charlotte Motor Speedway
Logan Lucky
8/10
- Release Date
-
August 18, 2017
- Runtime
-
118 Minutes
- Writers
-
Jules Asner
Steven Soderbergh retired in 2013, announcing he was leaving filmmaking to focus on other personal projects. However, four years later, he came out of retirement to direct Logan Lucky, which he released through his own production company. Logan Lucky sees Soderbergh direct a huge hit in his first movie back. It’s a slight, tight heist movie, but impeccably made, with a dynamite cast.
Everyone in this film seems to be having fun (Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, and more) but never making fun of the redneck characters at its center. The big standout is Craig, whose bleached hair and zany performance would foreshadow the type of post-Bond fun he was down to have in later films like Knives Out. The movie was only a slight box office success but had an impressive 92% Rotten Tomatoes score.