Favourite Films of 2021

2021 was a year I saw 172 new films and within that there were many I adored so picking just 10 that stood out as my favourite was really challenging. And then, when picking my absolute favourite for the year, it came down to two films which I loved completely, films that meant something special for me in different ways, but both exemplified why I love movies and have made cinema my main pastime and passion. I ended up settling on one but it could have just as easily been the other. There is no objective right or wrong when it comes to loving movies. We love what we love. So for better or worse here are the 10 films I loved the most in 2021. 

Belfast

I saw Belfast in cinemas more times than any other and each time I rewatched it touched me more. This is a film that loves films, literally in scenes showing the main characters transformed by going to the movies, but also in how it is structured to take full advantage of the medium of cinema. Belfast is a beautiful story about hope and loss and celebrating love. It is just downright glorious to see. If it wasn’t for one other movie this easily would have been my favourite film of the year…

Dance of the 41/ El Baile de los 41

I was surprised by this film. I wasn’t familiar with the events that inspired it and worried it would play out like a typical historical drama. But it was none of what I feared. Erotic and lush, personal and intimate. Dance of the 41 managed to reach a painful place in my heart. Sometimes we need to sit with pain and this film helped me with that. 

Dune Part One

I have struggled to appreciate Dune in all its adaptations and iterations due to some serious issues I have with the plot, characters, and messages inherent in this story. And then along comes director Villeneuve, for whom the oft misused word “visionary” actually applies, who takes this story and makes it as glorious as it could be, fixing so much of what has gone wrong in the telling of this tale before. Another often misused word, “epic” is certainly in order. Joining the ranks of the Lord of the Rings movies, Dune will undoubtedly be amongst the classics of
genre cinema for decades. 

The Harder They Fall

These. People. Existed. With these words starts one of the most spectacular western legends ever committed to screen. The Harder They Fall features a dream cast, a complex revenge tale, and some of the most damn enjoyable film making of this or any year. But it is about more than that. It’s about redefining a genre, and in doing so redefining the way America (and the world) sees America. Stories are myth building, identity creation. Westerns hold a specific role in that. The Harder They Fall reminds us that so much of what we’ve been told is fiction and that there are so many more stories to tell. 

Malcom & Marie

Yes, there are more black and white films on my list this year than I believe there ever have been. Malcom & Marie is the second of four and is an explosive little film about two damaged people barely holding on to a relationship they probably shouldn’t hold on to. This is one of those films that is certainly not for everyone but for me it was riveting. From the first moments and I was hooked. The energy Zendaya and Washington bring to this is intense and tragic. I love that this isn’t a train wreck for us to watch like they are the Real Housewives of anything. It is full of pain and rage and passion and sorrow and we can see ourselves reflected when we are in our lower moments. 

No Sudden Move

I’m no fan of director Soderbergh but this year he blew me away. Part period crime drama part social critique, No Sudden Move has a stellar cast and the best script Soderbergh has written. I said what I said. It could have been all gritty cool but Soderbergh infuses a grand sense of tragedy to it, both personal and societal. And, like all the other films on my list, this film is a thing of beauty to watch.

Swan Song

By my count there are at least 7 films named Swan Song and 2 of them were released in 2021. Both of them were good films but underground queer director Todd Stephens’ film was just one of the best cinematic experiences I had in 2021. His exploration of the changing nature of queerness, the legacy of gay tragedy across generations, and the gloriousness of everyday non-conformity is a beautiful story. And Udo Kier is hands down one of the best performers to watch in any movie in 2021. 

tick, tick… BOOM!

Musicals were on point in 2021 from Spielberg’s remarkable adaptation of West Side Story, to Joe Wright’s more classic Cyrano, to Jon M. Chu’s energetic film of In the Heights, to The Sparks’ weird but bold Annette. But for me the one that surprised me most, and for which I fell head over heels, was Lin-Manuel Miranda’s film of Johnathan Larson’s pre-Rent musical. At first blush it feels like proto-Rent but as you rewatch it (as I did many times) you see something unique and special in its own right. So much of what makes it work is Andrew Garfield giving what I believe may be my favourite performance of the year. It is very much about a moment in time, a lost moment, but now we’ll have it forever. 

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Even though this is one of the most filmed of Shakespeare’s Scottish Play, I am always up for a new interpretation and with this cast, Joel Coen leans into a bold, theatrical, operatic staging that shows us just how amazing film can be. My third B&W pick for this year is anything but part of a trend. Often we look to digital special effects creating life like impossibilities as the height of spectacle, but this film reminds us that there are other sorts of visual glory that can happen on screen. The cast is amazing, the staging is exciting, and the stripped down rapid paced script is electric. This is a reminder of why I love going to the movies.  

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Rarely has a movie felt more like it was made Just. For. Me. This is the film I’ve been dreaming about, not just since the WB decided to rework it into something more palatable for theatrical release in 2017 but since I was a child and read my JLA comics imaging how it could look as a live action movie. I remember watching Superman and Batman on film wondering how seeing these characters together and taken seriously, not just in a silly popcorn movie style action blockbuster, but a film that explored them as powerfully as the comic books did. This year I got to find out. And it was all I had hoped for. I get that most people want their superhero movies light and frothy. I get that there needs to be a tongue firmly planted in cheek for many to be able to watch characters with extraordinary powers. But I need these stories to carry the weight of the world and heroic attempts to overcome adversity. For me, for the 15 year old nerd in me walking to the comic store after school me, no film did for me what ZSJL did. 

For extra glory watch the Justice is Grey edition. For me 2021 ended up being all about the B&W films and this version added something to the film that made it feel even more powerful. 

I saw ZSJL early in 2021 and near the end of the year Belfast, which I adore entirely, almost knocked it out of the spot at the top of my list where it had sat all year. But no matter how much I enjoyed it or any of the other films on this list, this truly epic love letter to all the Justice League loving fans who waited so long for this epic to finally arrive holds fast by being everything I wanted it to be and more. 

11 – 20

In alphabetical but otherwise no particular order:

Army of the Dead

CODA

Cowboys

Here & After

Last Night in Soho

Nine Days

Passing

Pig

The Sparks Brothers 

West Side Story

(two of the above are also in B&W making it 6 out of 20)

Each of these came close to making my top ten.. but itw as just too good a year…

My favourite ensemble cast was the amazing cast of Mass, Ann Dowd, Martha Plimpton, Jason Isaacs, and Reed Birney. 

Andrew Garfield in tick, tick… BOOM! was my favourite lead performer and my favourite supporting was Chloris Leachman in one of her last roles Jump, Darling. 

Dune Part One had my favourite score while No Time to Die by Billie Eilish was my favourite song from a film. 

The Sparks by Edgar Wright was my favourite documentary and Two Distant Strangers was my favourite short film.