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Stanley Kubrick movies in order

Thirteen features, no two in the same genre. The order is simple; the entry point is not.

Updated 5 August 2026 · 11 titles tracked

Kubrick made thirteen features in forty-six years and never made the same kind of film twice — war, satire, science fiction, horror, costume drama, crime. Nothing connects, so order is entirely free.

The risk is starting on the wrong one and concluding he is cold and slow. He is often both, but not in the films you should meet first.

Kubrick films, in a suggested starting order

An entry path rather than release order. Toggle on the filmography page.

  1. 1Dr. Strangelove1964 · Major work
  2. 2The Shining1980 · Major work
  3. 3Full Metal Jacket1987 · Major work
  4. 42001: A Space Odyssey1968 · Major work
  5. 5A Clockwork Orange1971 · Major work
  6. 6Paths of Glory1957 · Major work
  7. 7Eyes Wide Shut1999
  8. 8Barry Lyndon1975
  9. 9The Killing1956
  10. 10Lolita1962
  11. 11Spartacus1960
Open the full Stanley Kubrick filmography

Start with Dr. Strangelove or The Shining

Dr. Strangelove is the funniest film about nuclear annihilation ever made, it is 95 minutes, and Peter Sellers plays three roles. It is the easiest possible way in.

The Shining is the most gripping, and the most immediately effective. Stephen King famously hated it, which has never mattered to anyone else.

Then Full Metal Jacket, then 2001, then A Clockwork Orange.

Do not start with 2001

2001: A Space Odyssey is the masterpiece and a genuinely difficult first Kubrick. It has almost no dialogue for long stretches, it moves at the pace of an actual spacecraft, and its final twenty minutes are deliberately unexplained.

It rewards patience enormously. It does not reward being the first thing you try, on a laptop, at 11pm.

Barry Lyndon is the same warning doubled — three hours, shot by candlelight, and increasingly argued to be his best film. Get there eventually.

The one he disowned

Spartacus is the only film he did not originate — he was hired after the original director was fired, had no final cut, and later refused to count it as his. It is a good film and barely a Kubrick one.

Common questions

What order should I watch Kubrick movies in?

Any order — none of them connect. Start with Dr. Strangelove or The Shining, then Full Metal Jacket, 2001 and A Clockwork Orange.

Which Kubrick movie should I watch first?

Dr. Strangelove or The Shining. Both are immediately accessible. 2001 and Barry Lyndon are better once you already like his work.

How many movies did Stanley Kubrick direct?

Thirteen features. He disowned Spartacus, the only one he did not originate himself.