MOVIEPIQ · FANTASY · CURATED LIST

Best Fantasy Movies After A Breakup From The 2000S That Will Make You Think For Days

The best fantasy movies after a breakup from the 2000s that will make you think for days. A hand-curated list of fantasy films for Moviepiq.

After a breakup, the wrong film makes everything worse. The right one doesn't fix anything — but it reminds you that other people have survived worse, and come out the other side.

The 2000s produced a remarkable run of intelligent, ambitious cinema — a decade that took genre seriously and rewarded patient audiences. transport you somewhere entirely new while saying something true about the world you already know.

Great fantasy films don't ask you to suspend disbelief — they build worlds so vivid that disbelief simply evaporates.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie poster
1
2001 · ★★★★½ 8.8/10

A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.

Pan's Labyrinth movie poster
2
2006 · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

In post-Civil War Spain, a troubled girl escapes into a fantastical labyrinth, where a mysterious faun reveals that she is a lost princess.

The Princess Bride movie poster
3
1987 · ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

A grandfather reads a story to his sick grandson about a farmhand-turned-pirate who must rescue the woman he loves from a scheming prince.

Spirited Away movie poster
4
2001 · ★★★★½ 8.6/10

A sullen ten-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.

The Shape of Water movie poster
5
2017 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

A mute woman working as a janitor in a secret government laboratory falls in love with a mysterious aquatic creature.

The fantasy films that endure are the ones rooted in genuine emotion. The magic is the vehicle; the story is always about something human.

Big Fish movie poster
6
2003 · ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

A son tries to learn more about his dying father by piecing together the stories he told throughout his life.

Stardust movie poster
7
2007 · ★★★½☆ 7.6/10

In a countryside town bordering on a magical kingdom, a young man makes a promise to his beloved to retrieve a fallen star.

The NeverEnding Story movie poster
8
1984 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

A troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.

Labyrinth movie poster
9
1986 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

Sixteen-year-old Sarah is given thirteen hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King.

Princess Mononoke movie poster
10
1997 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, a young warrior encounters a battle between forest gods and humans who consume the forest's resources.

The films that stay with you aren't always the ones that answer every question. Sometimes it's the ones that leave you with better questions.

A great fantasy film leaves you with that rare ache — a longing to return to a world that never existed.