Top 25 Film Trilogies

Humans think in threes. I consider this creationally normative. Have you ever tried to write a sentence with two examples or a list with four items? It takes an effort for us to choose those things, whereas a sequence of three feels natural and passes almost unnoticed. And so it is with movies. Make one or make three. Please do not deviate from those choices. And yet, many great trilogies have been expanded into tetralogies (or even further). I would love to put the following series on my list of favorite trilogies, but they no longer can claim that title: Toy Story, The Trip, Thor, The Avengers, Captain America, The Thin Man, and Tati’s M. Hulot series. Likewise, I am tempted to prematurely add A Quiet Place and Knives Out, but alas, we must wait for their third installments. But that only leaves room for more excellent film triptychs on the list.

If you know me, you can already guess what trilogies will NOT be on my list. I do want to point out that three of my choices are series that I have not yet finished, having only seen two of the three films. I include them, however, because given what I know of the third film and how amazing the other two are, I guarantee that they will end up here when I do get the chance to finish the trilogy. (I’ve been trying to see You, The Living for years, but it’s just not available in this stinkin’ country!) I will highlight those unseen films in bold.

So, further ado deleted, I present my list of 25 favorite film trilogies.