What a year it’s been. In some capacities, post-pandemic life began to creep back to normal with the aid of vaccines. So too did the global box office. But multiple variants spooked people into skipping out of movies in theaters as a fundamental shift to the industry took shape. Day and date releases became more prevalent as the economics of a new movie market unfurled. A misleading rescue beacon, Spider-Man: No Way Home just delivered the best receipts of the entire 2020/2021 but that level of resurgent success seemed reserved exclusively for superhero content. No adult-skewing cinema has fared nearly as well.

Recovery would be slower than first expected, 2021 revealed. And this held true throughout the business of moviemaking. As a result, independent cinema flourished and tentpole movies struggled. HBO Max built their entire pitch around the idea of movies hitting theaters and streaming simultaneously and though it can be argued that that worked to the platform’s favor in many instances, there’s no denying that a bulk of the films dropped there were major disappointments, both financially and critically speaking.

But 2021 wasn’t all bad. Film festivals kind of returned, with most opting for a virtual-only or hybrid approach (some of which worked exceedingly better than others); and blockbusters came revving back to life, with many major franchises returning to the big screen.  There were total quality bombs like The Matrix: Resurrections, The Woman in the Window, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, The Little Things, and Halloween Kills but there was way more to celebrate.

2021 held a handful of outstanding documentaries such as the Ady Barkan-starring ALS activism piece Not Going Quietly, Morgan Neville’s Roadrunner about celebrity chef Anthony Bourdian, nerve-rattling free-climbing doc The Alpinist about the dramatic rise of climber Marc-André Leclerc, and Questlove’s music-filled uncovered festival footage showcase Summer of Soul.

This year introduced us to the Midwestern delights of Barb and Star, a new generation of Sopranos, Alana Haim the actress and Cooper Hoffman the actor. David Lowery made an anti-hero hero’s journey as did Jane Campion. Kristen Stewart put her spin on Princess Diana while Nia DaCosta made Candyman relevant for the smartphone generation. Edgar Wright made his first horror movie while Disney made an animated movie about displaced immigrants. Everything, it seemed, was topsy-turvy.

Wrong Turn got a ripping good reboot, Scott Cooper made a terrifying Wendigo horror flick, and there weren’t just one but two haunting eco-horror movies. Jerrod Carmichael made a hell of a tragicomedy debut, as did Lauren Hadaway. Turns out a global pandemic was ample roosting ground for new creatives and plenty of horror.

But there could only be ten “best” films (whatever that actually means). For ten is the magic number when it comes to countdowns and I’m not one to break with tradition. As always, my opinion is subject to change with the faintest influence and my perspective on the 2021 movie season will very likely look entirely different ten years down the road. But, at the moment, these are the movies that stuck with me most, that made me want to return to their worlds, that left some kind of indelible impression. Take a look at our Top Ten of 2020 to refresh how that worked last year. So without further adieu and explanation, I present, the Top Ten Films of 2021…

10. SAINT MAUD

Devotion becomes obsession, obsession becomes madness in the A24 arthouse horror feature Saint Maud, about a religious caretaker who believes she can communicate with God. The crux of this becomes: are her visions truly a glimpse of the Divine or has Maud simply lost her marbles. Breakout writer-director Rose Glass remains playful with this thread throughout the film, which builds slowly and purposefully around her budding relationship with her charge Amanda, an ex-dancer succumbing to disease, towards a fiery conclusion. A masterclass in suspense and tension, Saint Maud challenges modern horror conceits by leaning into a more traditional – and even more horrifying – approach that calls to mind classics like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby.  [FULL REVIEW]

9. MASS

There was no stronger Acting-with-a-capital-A ensemble in 2021 than in Mass, Fran Kranz’s delicate chamber drama about two sets of grieving parents meeting in a church after a horrific tragedy. Mass is the first of two films on this top ten that deal with school shootings, a uniquely American pain point, and Kranz approaches the topic with a sincerity and hurt that evokes that same response from his audience. This is a powerful film, and very difficult to watch. It will almost assuredly get even the more hardened viewer’s tear ducts flowing. But what Kranz has made also feels essential in a way that no other film in 2021 did. Mass is interested in having difficult conversations about blame, forgiveness, pain, and regret that too-often are left bottled up until the grave. This is a movie about the power of conversation, of listening, of being heard, and watching celebrated character actors like Ann Dowd, Jacob Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, and Reed Birney really dig into the emotionality of the text is nothing short of cathartic. [FULL REVIEW]

8. THE FALLOUT

Led by a commanding, star-making turn by Jenna Ortega, actress-turned-first-time-filmmaker Megan Park’s The Fallout also wrestles with American’s gun violence epidemic. Her film tracks the emotional spiraling of two victims who sit trapped in a women’s bathroom while a school shooter haunts the halls outside, killing their classmates and friends. After the incident, the newly-minted BFFs fail to properly process the experience, and turn to teenage experimentation as a way of repressing their survivor’s guilt. Tragic but ultimately hopeful, and driven by strongly-written female characters, this SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner sinks into the complexity of grief, unraveling a Europhia-esque coming-of-age story that feels like the most definitive film to date about Gen-Z. [FULL REVIEW]

7. BO BURNHAM: INSIDE

“Welcome to the internet. Have a look around. Anything that brain of yours can think of can be found.” Bo Burnham’s half-standup special, half-existential breakdown documented the intellectual comedian’s musical and production ingenuity in full effect against his deteriorating mental health during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many attempted to distill the panic, anxiety, idiosyncrasies, and angst of the pandemic into some form of entertainment but no-one brought better content than Daddy Burnham. This remarkable opus transcended the traditional boundaries of a “comedy special”, incorporating DIY cinematography, blocking, and choreography that leaves the viewer enamored by Burnham’s dedication to his craft. The songs are clever ear-worms, the commentary is oft searing, the peeling back of the curtain of his own persona both poignant and potent. If the walls between comedy special and film do finally come down, thank Bo Burnham and Inside.

6. ZOLA

Adapted from an infamous Twitter thread about some next-level stripper drama, Zola is a distinctive, alive creation that tells a stranger-than-fiction saga with an apparently never-ending well of creative energy. Director Janicza Bravo fires on all cylinders, taking the “more is more” approach to editorial choices, candy-colored cinematography, and over-the-top performance, while one of the year’s most impressive ensemble cast – made up of Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Colman Domingo, and Nicholas Braun (best known as Cousin Greg from ‘Succession‘) – work in discordant harmony to make Zola a searingly funny and disturbing tale of new friendship gone absolutely belly up. [FULL REVIEW]

5. CODA

CODA has two meanings. For the purposes of Sian Heder’s Sundance Grand Jury and Audience Award winner, the most blatant is “child of deaf adult”. But coda also represents a musical refrain where a piece is brought to its proper conclusion. And boy does this movie hit some highs on its way out. Heder’s crowd-pleasing musical-drama tells the story of Ruby (Emilia Jones in a fiery breakout turn), the only hearing child of an otherwise deaf family who has unforeseen musical ambitions and talent. It’s the feel good movie of the year and went largely (tragically) under-the-radar when Apple unceremoniously dumped the film in the middle of the summer, a strange move after acquiring it in a record-breaking sale. Regardless of its overall market impact, CODA remains one of the year’s few unabashed delights; a funny, moving family film that no one with a heartbeat could reasonably dislike. [FULL REVIEW]

4. PLEASURE

Putting the come in come-up, Pleasure tells the story of an aspiring porn superstar who just landed in sunny California. Backed by an absolutely ravishing and inimitably brave lead performance by Sofia Kappel and directed with great wit and nervy punch by Ninja Thyberg, this button-pushing character study very much earns its NC-17 rating, peeling back the stained curtain of the industry to relish in its unsavory underbelly. After some back and forth in distribution rights, Pleasure won’t hit theaters until sometime in 2022 but when it does, you can now be assured that it’ll be in its full uncut glory. Provocative and titillating, this Sundance debut is designed to unsettle and arouse and does both handily as its lead character navigates an industry that’s built around pleasing audiences, often at the expense of its performers. [FULL REVIEW]

3. TITANE

An anarchic audio-visual blitz of disturbia and psychopathy, Titane is an almost-indescribable descent into the grinch-like heart of a verifiable villainess. The Spark Notes version might read: a showgirl-turned-serial killer forms a familial bond with a grieving fireman. But that omits the overbearing importance of automobile sexual intercourse. Yes, you read that correctly. Car sex factors in significantly. Titane is a lot. A lot a lot. But its distinctive, constantly-course-correcting narrative makes for one of the most surprising French imports of some time. And one that proves to be strangely endearing and even kind-hearted. Brutal, violence, and weirdly sweet, Titane is hands down the most wild ride of 2021. [FULL REVIEW]

2. RED ROCKET

The Florida Project writer-director Sean Baker returns to deliver a home-run of scumbag cinema with Red Rocket, a darkly hilarious hang-out movie about washed-up porn star Mikey Sabre as he returns to his Texas City, Texas hometown. While others who had been chewed up and spat out by Hollywood’s seedier cousin industry, Mikey refuses to tuck his tail between his legs, plotting and scheming at a return to form, regardless of who he needs to step over to get his way. He starts dating a teenage donut-shopgirl and hopes her sexual talents will propel them both back to the double-D-league. Baker creates multi-dimensional and one-of-a-kind characters and throws them into zany but believable worlds; worlds that mirror the strangest of American headlines and are just as WTF. Red Rocket boasts excellent performances from the most unexpected places with lead Simon Rex offering the most memorable male performance of 2021. [FULL REVIEW]

1. DUNE

In 2021, Denis Villeneuve delivered a meticulous and weird space opera that ranks amongst the greatest science fiction films. From intergalactic mysticism to stalking sandworms, Villeneuve’s vision of spice planet Arakas is brimming with the kind of specific details that makes a movie and the universe it inhabits feel distinctive and essential. While so many modern franchises look and feel overtly the same, Dune dares to make every single frame, every single moment, into a wowing portrait – and a plot/character beat that actually matters. The excellent cast, masterful production design, and wowing effects work marinade to make Dune the best and most distinctive film of the year as well as an unforgettable entry to the annals of space epics. [FULL REVIEW]

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