It’s a brand new year and a brand new decade. With that in mind, here is our list of the Best Production Design of the Decade from 2010 to 2019.

It’s a brand new year and a brand new decade so I thought it was time we take a fond look back at the last decade. Here is our list of the Best Production Design of the Decade from 2010 to 2019.

These lists are always hard to do because film is such a subjective medium and most can not be compared to each other with each being a unique work of art but I tried my best nonetheless. I also found we currently lack the benefit of time passed with recent films to properly judge their impact, but after mulling through 311 films on my initial list I was able to cut it down to these top 25 movies with extraordinary production design released between 2010 and 2019.

Many of these films moved the production design needle, inspired the public, and created cultural conversation.

I felt it was important while creating this list to reevaluate films I didn’t initially love and films that didn’t suit my personal taste when they were first released. By going back, I found that some films moved the production design needle forward, changed the types of films getting greenlit, inspired the public, and in some cases, created a cultural conversation in a way that I could not ignore. Ultimately this list was created with storytelling and artistry meeting historical impact in mind whereas my annual year end lists are much more about my initial feelings on storytelling and artistry meeting technical achievement within a budget.

It should also be noted that I decided all 25 films would have to be completed by a different production designer. This means some films which I did love with all my heart didn’t quite make the cut. For instance, I chose not to include High-Rise, Stoker, or Doctor Strange because I was already highlighting films by the same production designers. There are many more films and production designers I would have loved to include, but 25 was about as much as I felt I could comfortably fit in this post.

Please take the order of these films with a certain grain of salt. All of these films are worthy of every adulation despite the order I chose to put them in. Please be aware that some photos below may contain spoilers. I hope you find new films on this list to see for the first time or rediscover in the years ahead.

Best Film Production Design of the Decade from 2010-2019

1. Inception (2010)

A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Production Designer: Guy Hendrix Dyas

Supervising Art Director: Brad Ricker

Set Decorator: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat

Costume Designer: Jeffrey Kurland

Director of Photography: Wally Pfister

2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous hotel from the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the first and second World Wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.

Director: Wes Anderson

Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen

Supervising Art Director: Gerald Sullivan

Set Decorator: Anna Pinnock

Costume Designer: Milena Canonero

Director of Photography: Robert D. Yeoman

3. Her (2013)

In a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.

Director: Spike Jonze

Production Designer: K.K. Barrett

Art Director: Austin Gorg

Set Decorator: Gene Serdena

Costume Designer: Casey Storm

Director of Photography: Hoyte Van Hoytema

4. The Shape of Water (2017)

At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Production Designer: Paul D. Austerberry

Art Director: Nigel Churcher

Set Decorator: Jeffrey A. Melvin and Shane Vieau

Costume Designer: Luis Sequeira

Director of Photography: Dan Laustsen

5. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

A young blade runner’s discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former blade runner Rick Deckard, who’s been missing for thirty years.

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Production Designer: Dennis Gassner

Supervising Art Director: Paul Inglis

Set Decorator: Alessandra Querzola

Costume Designer: Renée April

Director of Photography: Roger Deakins

6. Black Panther (2018)

T’Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country’s past.

Director: Ryan Coogler

Production Designer: Hannah Beachler

Supervising Art Director: Alan Hook

Set Decorator: Jay Hart

Costume Designer: Ruth E. Carter

Director of Photography: Rachel Morrison

7. Arrival (2016)

A linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Production Designer: Patrice Vermette

Supervising Art Director: Isabelle Guay

Set Decorator: Paul Hotte

Costume Designer: Renée April

Director of Photography: Bradford Young

8. Hugo (2011)

In 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.

Director: Martin Scorsese

Production Designer: Dante Ferretti

Art Director: David Warren

Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo

Costume Designer: Sandy Powell

Director of Photography: Robert Richardson

9. Parasite (2019)

All unemployed, Ki-taek and his family take peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks, as they ingratiate themselves into their lives and get entangled in an unexpected incident.

Director: Bong Joon Ho

Production Designer: Ha-jun Lee

Art Director: N/A

Set Decorator: N/A

Costume Designer: Se-yeon Choi

Director of Photography: Kyung-pyo Hong

10. The Tree of Life (2011)

The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents’ conflicting teachings.

Director: Terrence Malick

Production Designer: Jack Fisk

Art Director: David Crank

Set Decorator: Jeanette Scott

Costume Designer: Jacqueline West

Director of Photography: Emmanuel Lubezki

11. Ex Machina (2015)

A young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid A.I.

Director: Alex Garland

Production Designer: Mark Digby

Supervising Art Director: Denis Schnegg

Set Decorator: Michelle Day

Costume Designer: Sammy Sheldon

Director of Photography: Rob Hardy

12. Roma (2018)

A year in the life of a middle-class family’s maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Production Designer: Eugenio Caballero

Art Director: Carlos Benassini and Oscar Tello

Set Decorator: Barbara Enriquez

Costume Designer: Anna Terrazas

Director of Photography: Alfonso Cuarón

13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet Agent within MI6.

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Production Designer: Maria Djurkovic

Art Director: Tom Brown and Mark Raggett

Set Decorator: Tatiana Macdonald

Costume Designer: Jacqueline Durran

Director of Photography: Hoyte Van Hoytema

14. Black Swan (2010)

A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake”.

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Production Designer: Thérèse DePrez

Art Director: David Stein

Set Decorator: Tora Peterson

Costume Designer: Amy Westcott

Director of Photography: Matthew Libatique

15. Crimson Peak (2015)

In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds – and remembers.

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Production Designer: Thomas E. Sanders

Supervising Art Director: Brandt Gordon

Set Decorator: Jeffrey A. Melvin and Shane Vieau

Costume Designer: Kate Hawley

Director of Photography: Dan Laustsen

16. Interstellar (2014)

A team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space in an attempt to ensure humanity’s survival.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Production Designer: Nathan Crowley

Supervising Art Director: Dean Wolcott

Set Decorator: Gary Fettis

Costume Designer: Mary Zophres

Director of Photography: Hoyte Van Hoytema

17. Anna Karenina (2012)

In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.

Director: Joe Wright

Production Designer: Sarah Greenwood

Art Director: Niall Moroney

Set Decorator: Katie Spencer

Costume Designer: Jacqueline Durran

Director of Photography: Seamus McGarvey

18. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper, and a drifter named Max.

Director: George Miller

Production Designer: Colin Gibson

Supervising Art Director: Richard Hobbs

Set Decorator: Lisa Thompson

Costume Designer: Jenny Beavan

Director of Photography: John Seale

19. Les Misérables (2012)

In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker’s daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.

Director: Tom Hooper

Production Designer: Eve Stewart

Art Director: Grant Armstrong

Set Decorator: Anna Lynch-Robinson

Costume Designer: Paco Delgado

Director of Photography: Danny Cohen

20. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

A group of intergalactic criminals must pull together to stop a fanatical warrior with plans to purge the universe.

Director: James Gunn

Production Designer: Charles Wood

Supervising Art Director: Ray Chan

Set Decorator: Richard Roberts

Costume Designer: Alexandra Byrne

Director of Photography: Ben Davis

21. Phantom Thread (2017)

Set in 1950s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Production Designer: Mark Tildesley

Supervising Art Director: Denis Schnegg

Set Decorator: Véronique Melery

Costume Designer: Mark Bridges

Director of Photography: Paul Thomas Anderson

22. The Great Gatsby (2013)

A writer and wall street trader, Nick, finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby.

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Production Designer: Catherine Martin

Associate Production Designer: Karen Murphy

Art Director: Ian Gracie

Set Decorator: Beverley Dunn

Costume Designer: Catherine Martin

Director of Photography: Simon Duggan

23. Lady Macbeth (2017)

In 19th-century rural England, a young bride who has been sold into marriage discovers an unstoppable desire within herself as she enters into an affair with a worker on her estate.

Director: William Oldroyd

Production Designer: Jacqueline Abrahams

Art Director: Thalia Ecclestone

Set Decorator: N/A

Costume Designer: Holly Waddington

Director of Photography: Ari Wegner

24. The Great Beauty (2013)

Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

Director: Paolo Sorrentino

Production Designer: Stefania Cella

Art Director: N/A

Set Decorator: N/A

Costume Designer: Daniela Ciancio

Director of Photography: Luca Bigazzi

25. Midsommar (2019)

A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown’s fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

Director: Ari Aster

Production Designer: Henrik Svensson

Art Director: Csaba Lodi

Set Decorator: Klara Alfredsson and Zsuzsa Sverteczki

Costume Designer: Andrea Flesch

Director of Photography: Pawel Pogorzelski

Which films would you add to our list of the best production design of the decade from 2010 to 2019? We would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

For more Production Design Inspiration on Art Departmental, click here.