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Every Guy Ritchie Movie and TV Show, Ranked From Worst to Best
Every Guy Ritchie Movie and TV Show, Ranked From Worst to Best
Guy Ritchie has spent nearly three decades making films and television about gangsters, spies, soldiers, detectives, aristocrats, thieves and men who can apparently explain an extremely complicated criminal plan while simultaneously throwing somebody through a window. If you are trying to work out which Guy Ritchie movies and TV shows are actually worth watching, his increasingly huge filmography now makes that harder than it once was.
The easy version of Ritchie's career used to be simple: watch Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, watch Snatch, perhaps add Sherlock Holmes, and then decide how much Cockney criminality one evening can reasonably contain. That no longer works. Ritchie has moved between British gangster movies, Hollywood blockbusters, Disney musicals, war films, spy thrillers, historical adventures and streaming television, while repeatedly returning to the criminal underworld that first made his name.
By August 2026, there is more to rank than ever. The Gentlemen has become a major Netflix franchise, with Season 2 arriving on September 3 and Netflix already confirming Season 3. MobLand is heading into a second season on Paramount+ on September 18, while Young Sherlock has brought Ritchie's kinetic Sherlock Holmes style to Prime Video with Hero Fiennes Tiffin playing a much younger version of the detective. About Netflix
Then there are the movies. Ritchie's 2026 action thriller In the Grey reunited him with several actors from his recent films, while 2025's Fountain of Youth attempted a much more family-friendly globe-trotting adventure.
Before those came The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Guy Ritchie's The Covenant, Wrath of Man, Operation Fortune, Aladdin, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and two separate Sherlock Holmes movies.
Not all of these experiments worked. Ritchie's Rotten Tomatoes filmography currently stretches from the 6% critical score of Swept Away to 82% for The Covenant, which tells you just how spectacular the distance between his best and worst days can be. Rotten Tomatoes
For this ranking, I'm counting Ritchie's released feature films and the major television series he has directly shaped as director, creator or major executive producer. I'm not ranking short films, advertisements or projects that have not been released yet, which means Wife and Dog can argue about its position another day.
The ranking is based on quality, entertainment value, performances, rewatchability, how successfully each project uses Ritchie's particular filmmaking style and, frankly, whether I would willingly put it on again tonight.
Some placements are going to annoy people.
Good.
A Guy Ritchie ranking should probably involve at least one argument.
Let’s get into it 👇
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20. Swept Away
Released in 2002, Swept Away remains the Guy Ritchie film you mention when somebody becomes slightly too enthusiastic about claiming the director has never made a genuinely bad movie. Madonna plays wealthy socialite Amber Leighton, who becomes stranded on an island with Giuseppe, a sailor played by Adriano Giannini, after their hostile relationship changes dramatically once their usual class hierarchy disappears.
You can understand why Ritchie wanted to attempt something different after Lock, Stock and Snatch. Making another London gangster film immediately would have trapped him inside a formula before his career had properly begun, and an English-language remake of Lina Wertmüller's controversial 1974 film certainly represented a drastic change of direction.
Unfortunately, different does not automatically mean good. The romance has very little believable emotional development, the power dynamics are uncomfortable without being thoughtfully examined, and the combination of broad comedy and supposed sensuality never settles into a consistent tone.
Rotten Tomatoes currently lists Swept Away at just 6%, making it easily Ritchie's lowest-rated feature. Even without the score, this would still occupy the bottom position because almost none of the characteristics that make his best work enjoyable are present. Rotten Tomatoes
If you're completing the entire Guy Ritchie filmography, eventually curiosity will win. Everyone else can safely remain curious.
Where to watch: Check current rental and purchase availability through Prime Video, Apple TV and other digital stores.
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19. Revolver
Revolver is the movie where Guy Ritchie disappears so deeply into his own ideas that he occasionally seems to forget another human being will eventually have to watch them. Jason Statham plays Jake Green, a gambler and conman who emerges from prison, becomes entangled with Ray Liotta's dangerous casino owner Dorothy Macha, and gradually enters a psychological game involving money, identity, manipulation and the ego.
There are individual moments I like enormously. Statham gets a stranger and more introspective role than the hard-edged action persona that would eventually define his career, Mark Strong is magnetic as Sorter, and Ritchie's visual confidence means even the most confusing scenes rarely look boring.
The problem is that Revolver keeps explaining itself while becoming less clear. Ideas about ego, fear and self-deception are layered on top of gangster plotting until you begin wondering if you missed an important scene, then realise the film probably wants you to feel that way.
Its 13% Rotten Tomatoes score reflects the hostile critical response, although the audience score has historically been considerably kinder. Rotten Tomatoes I understand the cult following because there is ambition here, but I would rather watch Ritchie make something simple brilliantly than something profound confusingly.
Where to watch: Availability varies by territory through digital rental and purchase services.
18. Fountain of Youth
Fountain of Youth should have been ridiculous fun. John Krasinski and Natalie Portman play estranged siblings Luke and Charlotte Purdue, who reunite for a globe-trotting hunt for the legendary Fountain of Youth, joined by a cast that includes Eiza González, Domhnall Gleeson and Stanley Tucci.
The ingredients practically scream Sunday-afternoon adventure movie. Ancient clues, museums, exotic locations, sibling tension and immortal-life mythology give Ritchie the opportunity to combine National Treasure-style puzzles with the fast editing and elaborate action set pieces that suit him perfectly.
Some sequences work. Krasinski has the easy confidence needed for Luke, Portman gives Charlotte enough intelligence and irritation to stop the sibling dynamic becoming bland, and Ritchie can still stage movement through a location with more energy than most action directors.
But the story feels assembled from better adventure films rather than driven by an identity of its own. The characters are thinner than they should be, the mystery rarely becomes genuinely mysterious, and a 125-minute runtime makes the familiarity increasingly noticeable.
Critics responded similarly: Fountain of Youth currently sits at 35% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus praising the glossy production while criticising the derivative story. It remains available on Apple TV. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Stream on Apple TV.
17. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
I have a strange affection for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword because it is exactly what happens when somebody asks Guy Ritchie to adapt Arthurian legend and nobody in the room has the courage to tell him that medieval England probably did not operate like a London criminal organisation.
Charlie Hunnam plays Arthur as a streetwise survivor raised in a brothel after Jude Law's Vortigern murders his family and steals the throne. Arthur eventually pulls Excalibur from the stone, reluctantly accepts his heritage and joins a rebellion against his uncle.
This is absolutely not the dignified Arthurian epic some viewers expected. Ritchie uses rapid-fire storytelling, cheeky dialogue, training montages and sequences structured like somebody recounting a pub story after three drinks.
And sometimes it is fantastic.
The soundtrack pounds, Hunnam understands the movie he is in, Jude Law appears to be enjoying villainy tremendously, and certain action sequences possess genuinely huge scale. There is a version of this film twenty minutes shorter that I might rank considerably higher.
The issue is that mythology, world-building, franchise setup and Ritchie's stylistic flourishes compete instead of supporting one another. At 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, it remains one of his more critically rejected blockbusters, although its audience reputation has improved substantially over time. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Check Prime Video, Apple TV and other digital services for current availability.
16. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
Operation Fortune is a movie I enjoy while watching and struggle to remember approximately three days later. Jason Statham plays elite operative Orson Fortune, who is recruited alongside Aubrey Plaza's Sarah Fidel and Bugzy Malone's JJ Davies to stop the sale of dangerous technology connected to billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds, played with magnificent enthusiasm by Hugh Grant.
The clever part involves Josh Hartnett's movie star Danny Francesco. The team recruits him because Simmonds is a huge fan, turning celebrity access into an espionage weapon and giving Hartnett an opportunity to parody the vanity of actors while Grant cheerfully steals most scenes anyway.
Ritchie knows how to make this kind of material move. Cars arrive, expensive locations appear, somebody says something sarcastic, Statham hits several people and the next part of the scheme begins before you have enough time to question the previous one.
The problem is that very little carries emotional weight. The team chemistry is enjoyable without becoming memorable, the threat feels generic, and the entire project resembles a slightly less distinctive version of things Ritchie and Statham have already done better.
Its 51% Rotten Tomatoes score feels about right. Rotten Tomatoes This is competent, attractive Friday-night entertainment, but nobody needs to rearrange their weekend around it.
Where to watch: Check Prime Video and major digital rental services for current UK availability.
15. In the Grey
In the Grey is perhaps the most concentrated form of late-career Guy Ritchie imaginable. Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill and Eiza González play members of a covert team operating outside conventional structures who are assigned to recover a billion-dollar fortune from a dangerous despot.
The movie has guns, expensive clothes, international locations, criminal strategy and several people who look suspiciously comfortable carrying automatic weapons. Nobody could watch five minutes and mistake the director for Greta Gerwig.
Gyllenhaal and Cavill are enormously watchable together, and Ritchie knows exactly how to build an action sequence around performers who can communicate both danger and humour. Eiza González fits naturally into the director's increasingly familiar ensemble, while the compact 97-minute runtime means the story never gets enough time to become exhausting.
It also feels recycled. The plotting, character types and slick criminal-professional atmosphere echo several stronger Ritchie movies, leaving In the Grey entertaining without giving it much identity beyond being another competent Guy Ritchie action thriller.
Rotten Tomatoes currently places it at 52% with an 83% verified audience score, a gap that makes complete sense. Critics wanted greater originality; audiences largely wanted Cavill and Gyllenhaal doing cool things for an hour and a half. Rotten Tomatoes
I am closer to the audience on this one, but not enough to push it higher.
Where to watch: In the Grey opened theatrically on May 15, 2026 and is now available through digital and streaming outlets depending on territory. Rotten Tomatoes
14. Aladdin
Guy Ritchie directing a Disney musical still sounds like somebody generated two random pieces of Hollywood information and accidentally created a billion-dollar film. Yet his 2019 live-action Aladdin remake works more often than its unusual director-star combination suggests.
Mena Massoud plays Aladdin, Naomi Scott is Princess Jasmine and Will Smith inherits the almost impossible task of following Robin Williams as the Genie. The story remains familiar: a poor young man discovers a magical lamp, falls for a princess and finds himself manipulated by Marwan Kenzari's Jafar.
Ritchie largely suppresses his most recognisable habits. Nobody pauses the movie to explain a complicated criminal plan in Cockney slang, although the chase sequences and physical energy occasionally remind you who is behind the camera.
Smith deserves more credit than he received before release. Instead of imitating Williams, he turns the Genie into a warmer, more relaxed extension of his own screen personality, while Scott gives Jasmine considerably more narrative agency and gets one of the remake's strongest new musical moments.
The visual effects are uneven and the film rarely justifies its existence artistically beyond allowing Disney to remake an enormously successful property. Yet its audience response was far more enthusiastic than the critical reaction; Rotten Tomatoes lists 57% from critics and 94% from audiences. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Stream on Disney+.
13. RocknRolla
RocknRolla feels like Guy Ritchie walking back into the room after several years away and reminding everybody what he was originally good at. Gerard Butler plays One-Two, part of a group of small-time criminals pulled into a complicated London property deal involving Tom Wilkinson's mob boss Lenny Cole, Mark Strong's fixer Archy and a missing painting.
Then Tom Hardy turns up.
Then Idris Elba turns up.
Then Toby Kebbell starts stealing the movie.
The plot becomes increasingly tangled, but that is exactly where Ritchie is comfortable. Money changes hands, everyone thinks they are smarter than everyone else, criminal factions collide, and the editing keeps revealing that events we have been watching separately were considerably more connected than they first appeared.
It lacks the freshness of Lock, Stock and the sheer comic momentum of Snatch. Some character threads feel designed for the sequel Ritchie famously teased but never made, leaving the ending slightly more open than ideal.
Yet this is stylish, funny and packed with performers who would become even bigger stars later. Rotten Tomatoes gives it 60%, but I think its rewatchability comfortably beats that number. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Available through digital rental and purchase platforms depending on region.
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12. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows understands the most important thing about the first movie: Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are considerably more entertaining together than almost anything happening around them. The sequel therefore sends Holmes and Watson across Europe while Jared Harris' Professor James Moriarty attempts to manipulate events toward war.
Harris is the significant upgrade. Moriarty is intelligent enough to make Holmes genuinely uncertain, and the film's best confrontations are conversations between two men calculating several moves ahead rather than another explosion.
That does not mean explosions are missing.
Ritchie makes everything bigger, faster and more international, sometimes to the detriment of the detective element. Noomi Rapace joins the adventure as Simza, Stephen Fry appears as Mycroft Holmes and the action eventually builds toward the famous confrontation at Reichenbach.
The slow-motion visualisation of Holmes analysing fights returns, although the technique feels slightly less surprising the second time. What remains fresh is Downey and Law's relationship, which combines genuine affection with the energy of two men who would rather walk into traffic than directly admit they care about one another.
A Game of Shadows sits at 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audience affection has always been stronger. Rotten Tomatoes It is a very entertaining sequel that loses some mystery while gaining scale.
Where to watch: Check major streaming and digital rental services in your territory.
11. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare may be one of the purest examples of Guy Ritchie understanding that historical accuracy and historical entertainment are not always identical goals. Henry Cavill leads a secret group of operatives tasked with disrupting Nazi operations during World War II, inspired by the real Special Operations Executive and Operation Postmaster.
Cavill plays Gus March-Phillipps with an enormous moustache and the cheerful energy of somebody attending a particularly enjoyable barbecue rather than a deadly wartime mission. Alan Ritchson appears even happier, turning Anders Lassen into something approaching a human artillery system.
Eiza González, Babs Olusanmokun, Alex Pettyfer, Henry Golding and Hero Fiennes Tiffin fill out an ensemble that understands the movie's tone perfectly. Ritchie is not attempting The Pianist; he is making an exaggerated wartime caper about unconventional people doing extremely violent things to Nazis.
That creates obvious tonal limitations. The enemies sometimes feel like video-game targets rather than threats, reducing suspense because the heroes appear almost superhuman.
Still, the movie moves quickly, looks great and has enough personality to overcome its thinness. Rotten Tomatoes currently lists it at 68% from critics and 91% from audiences, which again demonstrates how naturally Ritchie's recent action films connect with viewers even when critics want more depth. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Check Prime Video and other digital platforms for regional availability.
10. MobLand
MobLand is technically created by Ronan Bennett rather than Guy Ritchie, but Ritchie's fingerprints are so obvious across the project — including his direction of the opening episodes and his involvement as an executive producer — that leaving it out of a ranking of his major television work would feel ridiculous.
Tom Hardy plays Harry Da Souza, a fixer working for the Harrigan crime family led by Pierce Brosnan's Conrad and Helen Mirren's Maeve. When conflict with the rival Stevenson family escalates, Harry becomes the person attempting to prevent every violent, paranoid member of the organisation from destroying the entire empire.
Hardy is excellent because he understands that the calmest person in a gangster show is often the most dangerous. He rarely needs to announce what Harry is capable of; you can see him calculating how much trouble everyone else is creating.
Brosnan and Mirren have considerably more fun. Their performances are enormous, profane and occasionally close to theatrical, but MobLand would be much less enjoyable if the Harrigans behaved like normal people.
Season 1 received 77% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers frequently praising Hardy and the veteran ensemble even while noting that the show hardly reinvents gangster television. Rotten Tomatoes
Season 2 premieres September 18, 2026 on Paramount+, with all ten Season 1 episodes currently available to stream. Paramount+
Where to watch: Paramount+.
9. Young Sherlock
I expected Young Sherlock to feel like somebody stretching a recognisable intellectual property until it broke. Instead, Prime Video's 2026 series is an energetic, genuinely enjoyable origin story that understands the smartest decision is not trying to turn Hero Fiennes Tiffin into a miniature Robert Downey Jr.
Set in 1871, the eight-episode first season introduces Sherlock as a rebellious 19-year-old whose time at Oxford becomes entangled with murders, conspiracy and dangerous family secrets. Dónal Finn plays James Moriarty, while Zine Tseng, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, Max Irons and Colin Firth surround the young detective with an unusually strong ensemble.
Matthew Parkhill created the series, with Ritchie serving as executive producer and directing part of the production. Prime Video released all eight episodes on March 4, 2026. Rotten Tomatoes
The best decision is allowing Sherlock to be unfinished. He is observant and arrogant but nowhere near the fully formed detective audiences already know, meaning mistakes and emotional reactions still matter.
Ritchie's influence appears in the action, momentum and willingness to make Victorian mystery considerably louder than traditional Holmes adaptations. Purists may understandably prefer slower deduction, but the show knows exactly what version of Sherlock it wants to be.
Critics responded strongly, giving Season 1 an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score, while the audience score sits at 83%. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Prime Video.
8. Wrath of Man
Wrath of Man barely resembles the playful Guy Ritchie associated with Snatch, and that is exactly why it works. Jason Statham plays a mysterious new employee at an armoured-truck company whose extraordinary response to an attempted robbery reveals that he is clearly not the ordinary security guard his colleagues believe him to be.
The story gradually moves backwards and sideways, revealing why Statham's character has entered this world and how an earlier tragedy connects him to the criminals planning an enormous heist. Ritchie structures the movie like a puzzle but removes most of his usual comedy.
Statham benefits enormously from that restraint. His expression barely changes, his dialogue is minimal and the film uses his physical presence instead of asking him to play another cheerful criminal professional.
The action is harsh rather than exuberant. Gunfire has weight, characters die suddenly and the climactic robbery feels dangerous because Ritchie finally stops pretending everyone involved will emerge laughing.
There are supporting characters who could use more development, and the nonlinear construction occasionally creates distance when the emotional story should be taking over. But this remains one of Ritchie's strongest straight thrillers.
Rotten Tomatoes currently lists Wrath of Man at 68% from critics and an impressive 90% from audiences. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Check current Prime Video and digital rental availability.
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7. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has become the Guy Ritchie movie whose fans seem increasingly determined to convince the rest of the world that we failed it in 2015. I am beginning to think they have a point.
Henry Cavill plays suave CIA agent Napoleon Solo, Armie Hammer plays Soviet operative Illya Kuryakin and Alicia Vikander plays Gaby Teller. During the Cold War, the American and Russian agents are forced into an uneasy partnership while attempting to stop a criminal organisation from developing nuclear weapons.
The plot is perfectly functional.
Nobody remembers this film because of the plot.
They remember Cavill eating in a truck while chaos unfolds behind him, the gorgeous costumes, Daniel Pemberton's score, split-screen editing and the almost absurd amount of style Ritchie packs into every location.
Cavill understands exactly how exaggerated Solo should be. He isn't attempting realistic espionage; he is playing the kind of man who would regard maintaining his tailoring during international catastrophe as an important professional responsibility.
The chemistry carries the film, and Ritchie's unusually controlled direction gives it a sophistication that some of his louder work lacks. Rotten Tomatoes puts it at 68%, although its cult reputation has grown substantially since release. Rotten Tomatoes
I would happily watch the sequel Hollywood never made.
Where to watch: Available through various streaming, rental and purchase platforms depending on territory.
6. The Gentlemen
The 2019 film The Gentlemen felt like Guy Ritchie coming home with considerably more money for tailoring. Matthew McConaughey plays Mickey Pearson, an American who has built an enormously profitable cannabis empire in Britain and now wants to sell the business before retiring with his wife Rosalind, played by Michelle Dockery.
Unfortunately, telling criminals you are retiring is apparently similar to announcing there is unattended cash in your living room.
Charlie Hunnam's Ray becomes the calm centre of the escalating chaos, while Hugh Grant's Fletcher delivers much of the story as an elaborate blackmail pitch. Colin Farrell almost steals the entire movie as Coach, a tracksuit-wearing boxing trainer desperately attempting to stop his young fighters from creating increasingly expensive problems.
This is Ritchie returning to interconnected criminal storytelling with twenty years of filmmaking experience behind him. The plotting is complicated but readable, the dialogue is playful without becoming exhausting and every actor understands that character matters more than plausibility.
Some racial humour has aged badly even within the relatively short time since release, and the female characters still receive less material than the men. Yet as a piece of British gangster entertainment, this is Ritchie operating comfortably inside his strongest territory.
It currently holds 75% on Rotten Tomatoes with an 84% audience score. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Streaming availability varies by territory; the television spinoff is on Netflix.
5. Sherlock Holmes
Robert Downey Jr. had already reinvented one iconic character with Iron Man when Guy Ritchie gave him Sherlock Holmes in 2009. Rather than presenting Holmes as a purely cerebral gentleman detective, Ritchie's version turns deduction itself into an action device.
Holmes studies how a fight will unfold before throwing the first punch. The camera slows down, Downey narrates the physical consequences and then the film snaps back into real time as his prediction unfolds.
It was such a clever visual idea that countless action movies subsequently borrowed variations of it.
Jude Law's Watson is equally important. He isn't a bumbling assistant but a soldier, doctor and increasingly exhausted friend trying to create a normal life while Holmes keeps dragging him toward another dangerous mystery.
Mark Strong's Lord Blackwood gives the movie a supernatural appearance that gradually collides with Holmes' insistence on rational explanation. Victorian London becomes dirty, industrial and alive rather than another museum recreation.
The mystery itself is not Conan Doyle's finest, but Ritchie finds a way to make detective reasoning cinematic. Downey and Law then supply the emotional centre that allows all the machinery around them to work.
The movie sits at 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, but its influence and rewatchability easily push it into my top five. Rotten Tomatoes
Where to watch: Check current streaming and digital rental platforms.
4. The Gentlemen – TV Series
Turning The Gentlemen into television sounded unnecessary until Guy Ritchie realised the world was actually better suited to eight hours of increasingly absurd criminal problems. Netflix's series does not continue Mickey Pearson's story, instead introducing Theo James as Eddie Horniman, an aristocrat who inherits his family's estate and discovers an industrial cannabis operation hidden beneath it.
Kaya Scodelario plays Susie Glass, the criminal operator managing the business. Eddie initially wants the operation removed, but the series gradually reveals something considerably more interesting: he might actually enjoy being a gangster.
That transformation gives the television version an advantage over the film. Eddie and Susie have enough time to develop a partnership built on suspicion, attraction, respect and the increasingly obvious fact that they are both dangerously good at this.
Daniel Ings is hilariously stressful as Eddie's brother Freddy, Vinnie Jones gives one of his warmest Ritchie performances as Geoff, while Ray Winstone and Giancarlo Esposito bring veteran criminal authority to opposite corners of the story.
Season 1 holds a 75% critical score and 84% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Ritchie created the series, co-wrote it and directed the first two episodes. Rotten Tomatoes
Even better, the story is expanding. Season 2 premieres on Netflix on September 3, 2026, and Netflix confirmed on August 23 that a third season has already been ordered. About Netflix
Where to watch: Netflix.
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3. Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
The Covenant is the movie I would show somebody who thinks Guy Ritchie cannot direct without fast-talking gangsters, jokes about criminal incompetence and somebody wearing an extremely expensive suit.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Sergeant John Kinley, an American soldier serving in Afghanistan who works with interpreter Ahmed, played superbly by Dar Salim. After an ambush leaves Kinley badly wounded, Ahmed risks everything to carry him across dangerous territory to safety.
The second half reverses the obligation. Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family have not received the promised passage to America, leaving him unable to accept that the man who saved his life has effectively been abandoned.
Ritchie directs with surprising restraint. The action remains tense and muscular, but there are long stretches where landscape, exhaustion and physical movement communicate more than dialogue.
Gyllenhaal is excellent, but Salim is the revelation. Ahmed is not reduced to a device for an American hero's development; his intelligence, dignity and determination make the emotional debt between the men believable.
The movie currently holds Ritchie's highest Rotten Tomatoes critical score at 82%, accompanied by an extraordinary 98% verified audience score. Rotten Tomatoes
It proves Ritchie doesn't need his usual tricks.
He just needs a story worth trusting.
Where to watch: Currently available on Disney+ in supported territories, including through services listed by Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes
2. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels didn't simply introduce Guy Ritchie. It introduced an entire filmmaking personality so confidently that dozens of imitators immediately appeared.
Four friends pool their money so Eddie can enter a high-stakes card game run by crime boss Harry Lonsdale. Eddie loses spectacularly, leaving the group with an impossible debt and a short deadline, which leads them toward a plan to rob criminals who are themselves planning a robbery.
Then everything goes wrong.
And then the things that went wrong collide with completely different things going wrong.
That structure became a Ritchie signature. Multiple criminal groups operate independently, objects move unexpectedly between them, and eventually the audience realises every storyline is heading toward the same collision.
Jason Statham made his film debut here, Vinnie Jones transformed his intimidating football reputation into an acting career and the entire cast contributes to the feeling that you have walked into a London pub where everyone is either planning a crime or about to become the victim of one.
The film is rougher than Snatch and less visually polished, but that scrappiness is part of its identity. Rotten Tomatoes lists it at 75% from critics and 93% from audiences. Rotten Tomatoes
Nearly three decades later, you can still see its DNA everywhere in British crime comedy.
Where to watch: Check current digital rental, purchase and streaming services.
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1. Snatch
Snatch is Guy Ritchie with the rough edges of his debut sharpened into something close to perfect entertainment. It takes everything that worked about Lock, Stock — intersecting criminals, terrible plans, rapid dialogue, violence, coincidence and deeply stupid men believing they are geniuses — and executes it with greater confidence.
Jason Statham plays Turkish, a boxing promoter who becomes entangled with Alan Ford's terrifying Brick Top after plans involving an underground fight go wrong. Brad Pitt plays Mickey O'Neil, an Irish Traveller boxer whose almost incomprehensible accent becomes one of the film's greatest jokes without reducing him to simply the joke.
Meanwhile, an enormous stolen diamond moves through another criminal storyline involving Benicio del Toro, Dennis Farina, Rade Šerbedžija and several people who would all be considerably safer if they stopped trying to obtain it.
Ritchie cuts between these stories with astonishing rhythm. Setups become punchlines twenty minutes later, apparently minor objects become essential, and almost everybody eventually meets somebody from a storyline they had no idea existed.
But the characters are why it remains so rewatchable. Brick Top is terrifying, Bullet-Tooth Tony is effortlessly cool, Turkish and Tommy feel like genuine friends, and Pitt seems delighted every second Mickey is on screen.
Rotten Tomatoes currently gives Snatch 74% from critics but 93% from audiences. Rotten Tomatoes The audience has this one right.
The Covenant may be Ritchie's most mature movie. Lock, Stock may be the most important.
Snatch is still the one I would choose to watch.
That makes it No. 1.
Where to watch: Check Netflix, Prime Video and digital rental platforms for current regional availability.
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Conclusion
Guy Ritchie's filmography is much more interesting now than the phrase “director of British gangster movies” suggests. The gangsters are still there — thankfully — but his career now stretches across war drama, spy comedy, family adventure, fantasy, detective fiction, action thrillers and three substantial television worlds.
The weakest movies usually appear when Ritchie loses the things that make his storytelling distinctive. Swept Away feels disconnected from his strengths, while Fountain of Youth proves that glossy action alone cannot replace memorable characters and sharp dialogue.
His strongest work does the opposite. The Covenant removes much of the trademark humour and demonstrates how good Ritchie can be when he exercises restraint, while The Gentlemen television series proves his criminal worlds can actually improve when given more room to breathe.
Sherlock Holmes and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. show how successfully his style can be applied to existing properties. Wrath of Man demonstrates that Jason Statham and Ritchie can shift into much darker territory without losing their chemistry.
But the top two still bring everything back to the beginning.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels remains one of the most confident British directorial debuts of its era. It created a filmmaking language Ritchie would spend decades revisiting, refining and occasionally parodying.
Snatch takes that language and makes it sing.
It is fast without becoming exhausting, complicated without becoming incomprehensible and violent without losing its sense of humour. Most importantly, its enormous collection of criminals are memorable enough that you would recognise half of them from a single line of dialogue.
Twenty-eight years after his feature debut, Ritchie is also more prolific than ever. The Gentlemen Season 2 arrives September 3, MobLand Season 2 follows September 18, Young Sherlock has established another potential franchise, and Netflix has already ordered a third Gentlemen season. About Netflix
So this ranking probably won't stay definitive for long.
Knowing Guy Ritchie, another six gangsters are already walking toward a pub somewhere while somebody explains a plan that is about to go horribly wrong.
What would you rank No. 1: Snatch, Lock, Stock, The Covenant or something else entirely?
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FAQs
1. What is Guy Ritchie’s best movie?
My pick is Snatch. It takes the interconnected criminal plotting of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and improves the pacing, performances, humour and visual confidence without losing the scrappy British personality that made Ritchie's debut exciting.
The Covenant is arguably his strongest dramatic film, while Lock, Stock remains his most historically important. If you want the clearest example of what people mean when they describe something as a “Guy Ritchie movie,” however, Snatch is the place to start.
2. What is Guy Ritchie’s highest-rated movie?
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant is currently his highest-rated feature on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 82% Tomatometer score and 98% verified audience score. Rotten Tomatoes
The film is considerably more restrained than his traditional gangster movies. Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim lead the Afghanistan-set war thriller, with the relationship between Sergeant John Kinley and interpreter Ahmed providing its emotional centre.
3. What Guy Ritchie movie should I watch first?
Start with Snatch if you want the full Guy Ritchie experience: British criminals, overlapping schemes, fast dialogue, Jason Statham, dark comedy and increasingly ridiculous misunderstandings.
If you prefer something more serious, start with The Covenant. Sherlock Holmes is probably the easiest entry point for viewers who want action and mystery without diving immediately into Ritchie's London gangster world.
4. Is The Gentlemen TV show connected to the movie?
The Netflix series is inspired by and operates within the criminal world established by The Gentlemen movie, but it tells a new story with different main characters. Theo James plays aristocrat Eddie Horniman and Kaya Scodelario plays Susie Glass, who operates the cannabis empire underneath his inherited estate. Netflix
You therefore do not need to watch Matthew McConaughey's 2019 film before beginning the series. Knowing the movie may help you understand the tone, but the television plot stands independently.
5. Will there be The Gentlemen Season 2?
Yes. The Gentlemen Season 2 premieres on Netflix on September 3, 2026, with Theo James, Kaya Scodelario and Daniel Ings returning. About Netflix
Netflix has already gone further and confirmed Season 3. That announcement arrived on August 23, 2026, making The Gentlemen one of Ritchie's most significant continuing franchises.
6. Is MobLand a Guy Ritchie show?
MobLand was created by Ronan Bennett, but Guy Ritchie has been an important creative force behind the television production and directed episodes of the series. The crime drama stars Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren as figures caught inside a violent struggle between criminal families. Rotten Tomatoes
Season 1 is available on Paramount+. Season 2 premieres September 18, 2026 with ten episodes released weekly. Paramount+
7. Is Young Sherlock directed by Guy Ritchie?
Guy Ritchie is an executive producer on Young Sherlock and directed episodes of the Prime Video series, although Matthew Parkhill is the show's creator. Hero Fiennes Tiffin stars as the 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes. Rotten Tomatoes
The first eight-episode season premiered on March 4, 2026. It currently holds an 84% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes and is available exclusively through Prime Video. Rotten Tomatoes
8. How many Sherlock Holmes movies did Guy Ritchie direct?
Ritchie directed two released Sherlock Holmes feature films starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law: Sherlock Holmes in 2009 and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows in 2011.
The films reinvent Holmes as a much more physical action hero while maintaining his powers of observation and deduction. Ritchie's association with the character later continued through his involvement with Prime Video's Young Sherlock.
9. What Guy Ritchie movies star Jason Statham?
Jason Statham has been one of Ritchie's most important recurring collaborators. Their films together include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, Wrath of Man and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.
Lock, Stock was particularly important because it helped launch Statham's acting career. His later reunion with Ritchie in Wrath of Man demonstrated how much both had changed, replacing cheeky criminal comedy with a much colder revenge thriller.
10. What should I watch after The Gentlemen?
Start with Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels if you want more Guy Ritchie gangster storytelling. RocknRolla provides another London crime ensemble, while MobLand gives you a darker, more traditional organised-crime television drama.
For more British crime television beyond Ritchie, That Love Podcast's guide to 20 Must-Watch British Crime Dramas and Detective Shows is a good next stop.
For current Guy Ritchie review scores and filmography information, visit Rotten Tomatoes:
More Places to Find Great Movies and TV Shows
If you're on the hunt for your next favourite TV show or movie, there is no shortage of resources to help you discover something worth watching. Using a mixture of databases, review aggregators and industry publications is particularly useful when following a director as prolific as Guy Ritchie.
IMDb and Wikipedia are useful for filmographies, cast details and production information, while Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic help you compare critical and audience reactions. Entertainment Weekly, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter are particularly useful for new Guy Ritchie projects because his television and movie slate continues changing quickly.
IMDb — The premier source for movie and TV show information.https://www.imdb.com/
Rotten Tomatoes — Aggregates movie and television reviews from critics and audiences.https://www.rottentomatoes.com/
Metacritic — Compiles reviews and scores for movies, television, games and more.https://www.metacritic.com/
Wikipedia — A useful resource for cast information, production history and filmographies.https://www.wikipedia.org/
TV Guide — Television listings, recommendations and entertainment coverage.https://www.tvguide.com/
Entertainment Weekly — Entertainment news, reviews, interviews and features.https://ew.com/
Deadline Hollywood — Industry news covering film, television, streaming and Hollywood.https://deadline.com/
The Hollywood Reporter — Entertainment news, analysis, interviews and reviews.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/
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