Harry Potter Movies Tier List: All 11 Films Ranked (2026)

The Complete Harry Potter Tier List

Eleven films across two decades and a generation. Ranking the Wizarding World is one of those debates that splits friend groups and family group chats: every Potterhead has their own pecking order. Here's a complete S/A/B/C/D tier list of all eight mainline films and the three Fantastic Beasts spinoffs. Disagree? Build your own definitive ranking in Shortlist.

Harry Potter Movies in Order

The Wizarding World films, in release and chronological order: they're mostly the same.

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

The three Fantastic Beasts films (2016, 2018, 2022) are prequels set decades before Harry, so chronologically they come first, but most fans recommend watching them after the main saga (or skipping the spinoffs entirely).

How to Build Your Own Harry Potter Tier List

You just built one. The card above took a handful of taps to do what a spreadsheet cannot: Prisoner of Azkaban against Half-Blood Prince is a question your gut has an answer to, and a star rating out of five is a question it does not.

Eleven Wizarding World films is too many to hold in your head at once, which is where Shortlist comes in: add all 11, or just the eight mainline movies, tap through the matchups, and get a full tier list with a share link to settle the group chat.

The same head-to-head method works for any franchise. See our movie tier list guide for the full approach.

Two different things get scored around this page. The S to D tiers above are editorial, and S means a film that held up rather than one that reviewed well on opening weekend. The score you see in the app is a different number: it is built from the head-to-head comparisons you make, scaled to 0 to 10, not from critic averages. How Shortlist scores work sets out the whole method.

The Best and Worst Harry Potter Movies: The Consensus

Critics and fans don't always agree, but the extremes are pretty settled:

• Consensus best: Prisoner of Azkaban. Cuarón's direction, the Time-Turner, and Lupin's storyline, a near-universal #1.
• Most epic: Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The series finale and the Battle of Hogwarts.
• Most underrated: Goblet of Fire. The film that proved the series could grow up.
• Most overrated: Sorcerer's Stone. Iconic for nostalgia, weakest as filmmaking.
• Worst of the Wizarding World: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Even Newt fans struggle to defend it.

Should You Include Fantastic Beasts in Your Ranking?

Most Potterhead tier lists keep the eight mainline films separate from the three Fantastic Beasts spinoffs: they're a different era, different cast, and different tone. Including them is fair game; ranking them against Harry Potter is what gets people upset. Shortlist supports custom lists, so you can build a "Harry Potter only" ranking and a separate "Wizarding World" ranking that includes everything.

What About the Harry Potter HBO Series?

HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV adaptation isn't in this list because it's television, not film. Once it airs, you'll be able to rank each season alongside other prestige TV in our TV show tier list guide.

Harry Potter Tier List FAQ

How many Harry Potter movies are there?

Eight mainline Harry Potter films released between 2001 and 2011, plus three Fantastic Beasts spinoff films released between 2016 and 2022, eleven Wizarding World theatrical films total.

What's the best Harry Potter movie?

Most critics, fans, and filmmakers rank Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) as the series' best, citing Alfonso Cuarón's direction, the darker tone, and a more mature visual style. Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the most common runner-up.

Should I watch Fantastic Beasts before or after Harry Potter?

After. Although Fantastic Beasts is set chronologically earlier, fans almost universally recommend finishing the eight mainline Harry Potter films first: the spinoffs lean heavily on Potter lore and emotional context that hasn't happened yet in their timeline.

Are the Harry Potter movies worth rewatching?

Yes, and your ranking will probably change as an adult. Films that felt slow as a kid (Prisoner of Azkaban, Deathly Hallows Part 1) tend to climb. Films you loved as a kid (Sorcerer's Stone) tend to drop. That's exactly why building a fresh tier list is fun.

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