Top Movies of 2021

As we approach the two-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s easy to feel discouraged and wonder when or even whether it will be over. It’s especially hard to stay optimistic after that brief post-vaccination moment last summer when we thought we might be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Turns out we were just seeing the headlights of the oncoming variant train, driven by all the humans who couldn’t or wouldn’t get vaccinated.

Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that we are still so much better off than we were this time last year. Thanks to the vaccines, those of us who’d previously been in lockdown have been able to see our family and friends in person and move about with more if not perfect freedom. And for movie lovers, vaccines allowed us to look forward to a bumper crop of new movies and to venture to theaters again. This might seem trivial in the grand scheme of things, but it isn’t. At their best, movies aren’t just a distraction, they’re balm for the soul. Without being an actual religion, they can feel like one – and theaters are our places of, if not worship, then spiritual renewal, catharsis, and communion. I still remember the joy I felt last March returning to a movie theater for the first time in over a year, and have savored every trip I’ve made since.

Admittedly, with first delta and more recently omicron casting new doubts on the safety of going to the movies, I’ve been cutting back on those trips. As a result, I have not yet seen Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, Jockey, A Hero, or Spider-Man: No Way Home, and as of this post, The Worst Person in the World, Compartment No. 6, Petite Maman, and Cyrano have not yet opened in theaters near me, even though I do want to see all of them at some point. I also missed Mass and Red Rocket in theaters (and King Richard in its initial HBO Max window) and am waiting for them to come to one of my streaming services or Netflix’s DVD program. Additionally, I have not seen (and frankly have very little interest in seeing) Annette, Titane, or House of Gucci. And – my usual failings – I have seen relatively few documentaries, foreign films, or animated films from 2021. With those many caveats, here are my top 15 films of 2021. It is probably not a coincidence that nine of them (and seven of the top ten) were films I saw in theaters rather than at home, though whether that was causal or correlative is difficult to say.

1. Tie:

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jane Campion’s latest, based on the Thomas Savage novel about a 1920s rancher in Montana (Benedict Cumberbatch) who reacts...poorly when his brother and ranch co-owner (Jesse Plemons) brings home a wife (Kirsten Dunst) with a teenage son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), is a tense psychological drama in the handsome trappings of a Western. This is an “iceberg” film, in which everything is in the subtext, the gazes, the body language, and the words left unsaid. While Cumberbatch is superb as the anti-hero at war with himself, his three co-stars also play superbly off him and each other.

DRIVE MY CAR

More of an expansion than an adaptation of a short story by Haruki Murakami, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Cannes hit is an achingly poignant, empathetic film about people burdened with memories of complicated and fraught past relationships. Despite the three-hour run time, I found it completely engrossing from beginning to end. It helps that it’s centered both literally and thematically on one of my favorite plays, Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, which the evolution of the film’s protagonist (Hidetoshi Nishijima) echoes in ways both obvious and not. Nishijima delivers an impressive, moving performance as Kafuku, the actor who suppresses as much as he projects, but I was equally struck by Park Yoo-rim, who’s luminous as the mute Sonia to Kafuku’s Vanya.

3. WEST SIDE STORY

No, it isn’t better than the 1961 version but it's right up there, striking just the right balance between respectful homage and thoughtful, well-conceived update. Commercial flop or no, it deserves to become a classic. And I say this as someone who ranks the 1961 WSS among my favorite movies of all time.

4. THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand are very good as older, wearier versions of the murderous Scottish thane and his wife, but what really stands out about Joel Coen’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy is its spare, minimalist, yet appropriately eerie staging, accentuated by the heavily chiaroscuro-ed B&W cinematography and 4:3 aspect ratio and the brilliantly spooky performance by Kathryn Hunter as the three witches-in-one. The film leans both into and away from its own theatricality, feeling less like a play and more like a Bergman dream.

5. SUMMER OF SOUL (OR WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED),

Questlove hits documentary gold with the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, aka “Black Woodstock,” which was filmed but astoundingly never picked up by any studios or TV stations at the time despite featuring a powerhouse lineup ranging from blues legend B.B. King and gospel queen Mahalia Jackson to then up-and-coming Mavis Staples, Gladys Knight, and 19-year-old Stevie Wonder to Nina Simone and Sly & the Family Stone at their peak. Their loss is our gain, as the performances are electric even half a century later. Questlove smartly edits and cross-cuts them with archival news footage of the period and present-day interviews with attendees, performers, and other commentators to underscore the historical significance of the event. But ultimately the concert footage speaks for itself, showcasing American history and black culture at an important inflection point via awesome live music.

6. PIG

One of the year’s best surprises, this offbeat, unexpectedly tender film about a recluse (Nicolas Cage) who’s forced to return to the city – and his past – when his beloved truffle-hunting pig is stolen rarely goes where you expect it to go and is ultimately all the better for it. It's also a welcome reminder that despite his, um, checkered filmography, Cage is a terrific actor – one of our best when he wants to be.

7. PASSING

A slow-burn, delicately crafted film directed by Rebecca Hall and based on the 1929 novel by Nella Larsen about two black women in the 1920s (played by Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga), playmates as children, who reconnect later in life when one of them (Negga) is now “passing” for white. Thompson and Negga are both excellent, and the film is brilliantly shot in black and white, underscoring how many shades there are between black and white and how many ways to see both oneself and others.

8. DUNE: PART 1

World-building at its most mesmerizing. A capital-M movie with the kind of epic sweep and scale that epitomizes why we go to the movies in the first place.

9. C’MON C’MON

Mike Mills’ latest film, about a radio journalist (Joaquin Phoenix) who finds himself temporarily looking after his 9-year-old nephew (Woody Norman) is a characteristically low-key, quietly perceptive character study that derives most of its power from the wonderful performances. Its portrayal of how frustrating, bewildering, yet rapturous the experience of parenting can be will resonate most with parents, but I still found it affecting as a non-parent. Equally effective is its nuanced treatment of the complicated but loving sibling dynamic between Phoenix’s character and his sister (an excellent Gaby Hoffman). There aren’t enough movies about brother-sister relationships, and luckily this is a good one.

10. PARALLEL MOTHERS

Ostensibly a twisty melodrama about two mothers who give birth at the same time and how their lives become unexpectedly intertwined, Pedro Almodóvar’s latest is really about confronting history and heredity in a much broader sense. It’s a lot to take in – the time jumps are dizzying, and the narrative and emotional jumps even more so! – but it’s a gorgeous, absorbing film, and Penélope Cruz delivers a knockout performance.

11. SPENCER

A beautifully shot, oddly dreamy psychological horror show that I initially wasn’t quite sure how I felt about yet grew on me the more time passed. It’s too heavy-handed with the symbolism and is so ensconced in its fictionalized Diana’s perspective it doesn’t even try to humanize anyone in the royal family other than her two princeling sons. Nor was I ever really able to see Kristen Stewart as Diana so much as a Kristen Stewart riff on a Diana-like character. Still, it’s a strangely compelling watch so long as you’re not looking for mimicry or historical accuracy, and earns bonus points for the exquisite costumes and art direction and for Timothy Spall’s dryly hilarious supporting turn as the palace watchdog.

12. THE CARD COUNTER

Oscar Isaac is the reason to see Paul Schrader’s latest Dark Odyssey of a Morally Tormented Man. He delivers what is still, in my opinion, the best performance of the year in a powerful if flawed and overly schematic study of moral guilt, as I’ve detailed previously.

13. I’M YOUR MAN

This German rom com (really more of a rom-dramedy) about a woman (Maren Eggert) asked to try out a humanoid robot (Dan Stevens) who’s been programmed to be her perfect love match, is funny, sharp, more poignant and less predictable than it initially seems. It’s essentially a harder-eyed but still warm-hearted German version of Spike Jonze’s Her that explores thought-provoking questions about living in a society where you can have everything designed to fit your tastes and preferences. Stevens is perfect as a kind of Gigolo Joe 2.0 who evolves (or does he?) into something more complex, while Eggert is even better as his test-pilot, almost too cerebral and skeptical for her own good, who can’t help warming up to him even as she remains keenly attuned to the dangers of doing so.

14. ZOLA

Last year’s indie film sensation brings to life a viral Twitter thread about two strippers who took a, let’s call it road trip to Florida that went super-sideways. Its discomforting brilliance lies in how deftly it shifts between WTF, hilarious, horrific, and sometimes all three at once, without once losing its deadpan tone. Much of the credit goes to the perfectly calibrated performances by Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, and Colman Domingo.

15. THE LAST DUEL

I liked Ridley Scott’s “Rashomon in 14th century France” a lot more than I thought I would, despite the grim, somber visuals (medieval muddiness) and even grimmer subject matter (rape and medieval justice). Scott knows how to direct battles and other scenes of violence with unnerving effectiveness, and the ongoing relevance of the rape storyline is highlighted by the tripartite script by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Nicole Holofcener, based on a historical incident and book by the same name. Damon and Adam Driver are fine as the two duelists, but the real MVPs of the cast are Jodie Comer as the accuser and Affleck as the higher-ranking lord who plays a key role in setting up the conflict.

Honorable mentions: Black Widow; The French Dispatch; Tick, Tick…BOOM!; The Green Knight; The Lost Daughter; The Hand of God; Bergman Island; Belfast; CODA; Don’t Look Up; In the Heights

Special commendation for documentaries (basically, all the docs I saw this year – admittedly not many – were excellent): in addition to Summer of Soul, cited above, I highly recommend Procession; The Rescue; Flee; and Gunda.