The strength of Citizen Kane has nothing to do with the story. The strength is in the additions that Orson Welles made to cinematic language with that film.
The story is only the vehicle with which Orson used for his bag of tricks. There are more compelling stories.
Only wonks and geeks care about “cinematic language”. People like to be entertained, or moved. Why is Titanic, a long soap opera disguised in its promotion as a disaster/SFX movie, on the list at all? Or, Annie Hall?