Dirty Dancing is the greatest movie of all time

The British Film Institute’s critics think Vertigo is the greatest movie of all time. Empire says it’s Lord of the rings. Time Out think 2001: A Space Odyssey is the best. But they’re all wrong. The greatest movie of all time is Dirty Dancing. It is unique. There is no other film like it. Vertigo is just a thriller, and there are lots of those. Lord of the rings is a fantasy adventure among other fantasy adventure films. 2001 is just another sci-fi movie.

But Dirty Dancing is in a genre of it’s own. It’s a musical without being a musical. It’s a romance that doesn’t shrink from the difficult realities of relationships. It’s a coming-of-age story that tackles social issues around class, wealth and privilege. It’s proudly feminist in how it treats abortion and women’s agency over their choices. There is no other movie that is so thought-provoking and challenging at the same time as being uplifting and life-affirming, and that makes it the greatest movie of all time. Nobody puts Dirty Dancing in the corner.