TOP 10 FILMS OF 2021

As we head into the year 2022, it's customary for just about anyone that is at all interested in cinema to look back on the year that has been and reflect on some of the great films we've seen. Much like 2020, 2021 was an absolute shitshow of a year that regardless offered up some gems, whether at the capacity-capped theatres or at home on streaming services. 

Before I dive into my list of favourites, the usual and unfortunately necessary disclaimer: I am not claiming to have the single, objectively correct list of the best films of the year; this is simply my own personal list of favourites that I saw. This means that there are going to be films from 2021 that I haven't managed to see yet, too, and just like last year, if there's something that I see later that I think should be included in the conversation, I will go back and make an amendment. 

Before the list proper, here are some honourable mentions:

The Suicide Squad

While The Suicide Squad was exactly what I was expecting it to be, that didn't necessarily end up being a bad thing. In fact, it turns out to be one of its best assets - The Suicide Squad is what happens when you let a filmmaker with a distinct voice make a film by themselves with the freedom to follow through on their own creative decisions. It's a superhero film written and directed by James Gunn, and that kind of tells you everything you need to know.

Psycho Goreman

Psycho Goreman is a whole lot of fun, blending an E.T. style coming of age creature feature with the hyper-violent style of sci-fi horror filmmaking that was huge in the 1980s. The result is a charming and hilarious sci-fi film that never attempts to reach for anything it knows will shatter the self-awareness it builds up. Awesome creature effects, lots of gore, hilarious script and charming child performances make this well worth your time if Robocop was your favourite film growing up. 

No Time To Die

Daniel Craig receives the best possible send-off as Bond in a film that wraps up arguable the greatest arc any of the Bonds have pulled off over the years. Other than the one blemish across this era of Bond, the unfortunate and ill-conceived Question of Sport, Craig has well and truly turned the role into his own, with No Time To Die locking that it without a shadow of a doubt. It has everything you want from a Bond film - stakes, gadgets, secluded lairs, action, puns, stunning locations and car chases - but also introduces something that I think will come to be recognised as Craig's calling card as Bond. Emotional depth and real character-driven heft. 

Midnight Mass

Even though Midnight Mass is a miniseries and very much not a feature, it is too good not to mention on my end-of-year list. Besides, in a year dominated by streaming in lieu of movie theatres, it was more cinematic than a lot of the films I saw. Written and directed by modern horror genius Mike Flanagan, Midnight Mass is a masterclass in character and theme across its seven episodes. The way faith and religion is baked into the very narrative of the show was deeply refreshing and incredibly moving at points, and besides being a thrilling story with solid scares along the way, it also engages with these themes an a deeply respectful and serious way with real nuance. Even if horror isn't your thing, I would highly suggest giving Midnight Mass a go. 

Let's dive into my top 10!

10. Minari

There was something incredibly comforting and soothing about going to see Minari in theatres at a time when the big new release films were huge, high-stakes blockbusters like Zack Snyder's Justice League. Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung's semi-autobiographical film focuses on a Korean family living in 1980s Arkansas, not only trying to earn a living in farming on foreign soil, but also trying to balance their own culture with the new one they find themselves living in the middle of. This central thematic conflict is externalised beautifully with the relationship between young David (played wonderfully Alan S. Kim) and his grandmother (played by Korean screen legend Yuh-Jung Youn), who visits from Korea. While Steven Yeun carries the film's narrative by being the driving presence in an admirable way, it is those two other performances that elevate the film to something special. Youn's performance in particular takes on an even bigger role in the emotional momentum of the film as the film moves into it's final act, providing one of the most resonant and textured performances of the year. Minari feels like a warm, steaming mug of tea on a rainy winter afternoon. 

©️Madman Entertainment, 2021

9. A Quiet Place Part II

One of the many films to be postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic, A Quiet Place Part II was one of the surprise hits of the year for me by the time it was finally released. While I liked the first film well enough, Part II is a films that feels full of confidence and energy from its opening moments. As soon as it began paying homage to Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men with an exhilarating car sequence, I was 100% in, and the film continued to thrill and excite all the way through to its final moments. One huge strength of the film is the addition of Cillian Murphy, one of this generation's most underrated talents, who gets lots of screentime alongside the incredibly talented Millicent Simmonds, whose increased screen presence was also a welcome improvement upon the first instalment. The relationship between these two characters is the heart of the film, and does a fantastic job in the (mostly) absence of John Krasinski's Lee. I have always loved the design of the creatures, too, and Part II does a great job of balancing the need to maintain mystery with the desire to see them in action. As with the first film, sound is hugely important in both relaying narrative and building tension, and there are some wonderfully tense sequences that are amongst the scariest of the year. 

©️Paramount Pictures Australia, 2021

8. Judas and the Black Messiah

Not only is Judas and the Black Messiah one of the best films to come out this year, but it really feels like it couldn't have come out at a more vital time. The key for me in connecting with the film is the pair of central performances from Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield that circle each other right through to its inevitable conclusion. As someone that knew admittedly little about the history, I thought the film did a really good job of balancing the necessary transfer of information to understand the context and what was happening with narrative momentum and interest. Not for the last time on this list, I also want to shout out Jesse Plemons, who is fast becoming one of the most exciting and engaging screen presences of this era. I'm sure the comparisons to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman haven't been doing him any favours, but if anyone was going to take up the mantle left by Hoffman, so far I see no reason for it not to be Plemons.

 

©️Warner Bros 2021

7. Nitram

I approached Nitram with a certain degree of trepidation, given my relationship to the subject matter as an Australian, but was pleasantly surprised by the amount of restraint and empathy that the film approaches the subject matter with. Detailing the early life of the perpetrator of the Port Arthur massacre of 1996 and the events that led to Australia's worst ever shooting, it's an incredibly gut-wrenching and at times intensely uncomfortable film to watch, and a film that could very easily have ended up feeling unnecessary or exploitative but masterfully holds its line. Caleb Landry Jones' lead performance is astounding, and truly fearless in his exploration of the sort of broken mind and culturally-abandoned individual that would end up committing such a heinous crime. There is a very particular way that Nitram made me feel at certain points that is incredibly hard to pin down. One scene in particular kind of epitomises the mixture of horror, dread and complicated empathy I'm talking about - the pivotal scene in the gun store that has already had so much written about it. There is a very particular reaction that I and other Australians I have talked to about it have that doesn't seem to translate to viewers from other countries, which I think has a lot to do with the reaction we have when we see that many guns all in one place, and the ease with which that young man was able to walk in an purchase firearms. I totally understand why others might feel that Nitram is a film that doesn't need to be made or seen, but for me it was an experience of confronting empathy but also catharsis and memorial that feels incredibly important for this current moment. 

©️Madman Entertainment 2021

6. In the Earth

Ben Wheatley has been quietly making a name for himself as one of the most exciting and interesting directors working in horror cinema this century, and In the Earth is a monumental achievement in horror cinema - especially under the circumstances of its production and release. It feels almost like a spiritual sequel to his 2013 film A Field in England, and reaches similarly psychedelic and hallucinatory heights of terror and paranoia. It takes the virus-based fears circulating in the zeitgeist at the moment and throws a science-fiction branch through the spokes of the narrative, and really thrives on its low-budget, small-scale production. In a year where lots of huge films seemed to be either cancelled or postponed, it was exciting to see a horror film lean into the restrictions inherent in todays filmmaking landscape and regardless feel just as monumental as any other horror film. 

©️Universal Sony Pictures 2021

5. Saint Maud

This was my surprise hit of the year. I had been hearing whispers about this film for a while, but nothing more than just the title and the feeling that it was one of the best horror films to come out of Britain in a long time. By the time it landed in Australian cinemas I was super excited to finally see it, not least because of how little I still knew about it. As it turns out, Saint Maud is pretty much my ideal film on paper - a serious, low budget horror film that takes subject matter of religion and faith in interesting, bold and fearless narrative directions. I totally get why this may not work fully for some, because like most of the horror films that really connect with me, it isn't "scary" in the popcorn Blumhouse sense of the word. But what it lacks in the elements of what I like to call "cattle-prod cinema" it more than makes up for in deep, complex characterisation, richly conceived thematic material and an oppressive sense of dread and unavoidable calamity. And boy does that pay off. Those final few frames (literally) are something to behold. 

©️A24 2021

4. The Power of the Dog

The Power of the Dog was a late entry into my list, only having seen it this January on Netflix, but it is certainly in the right spot up in this half of the list. Jane Campion's first film since 2009's Bright Star, it stars Benedict Cumberbatch in one of the most electric performances of the year. While most will remember 2021 the year that Doctor Strange played an important part in cracking open the multiverse in Spider-Man: Far From Home, his turn as Phil Burbank in Campion's adaptation of Thomas Savage's novel, for me The Power of the Dog is one of his most memorable and compelling roles in his already memorable acting career. The strength of his performance alone would be enough for me to strongly recommend it, but this is an example of a film that becomes more than the sum of its already stellar parts. The other performances are more than up to the standard set by Cumberbatch, especially Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and the score from Johnny Greenwood is nothing short of transcendent. 

©️Netflix 2021

3. Dune

One of my most anticipated films of 2020 which quickly became one of my most anticipated films of 2021, Dune is an intensely satisfying film as a long time fan of Frank Herbert's seminal science fiction novel that manages the balancing act of working both for viewers like me and non-readers alike. The world-building relishes in tiny details that reveal huge depth and a tangibly lived-in quality. Some are complaining about the truncated nature of its structure, this being Part One after all, but for me the arc of young Paul growing into a young man and developing towards the type of diplomat and warrior that is needed to harness desert power was more than enough to propel me through its 150-minute runtime. I did a full write-up on Dune for Insights Magazine, which you can read here.

©️Universal Pictures 2021

2. The Green Knight

I am still bitterly disappointed that I haven't had the opportunity to see The Green Knight on the big screen, but nonetheless it comes in at a close second on my list of favourite films of the year. David Lowery became one of the working directors that I am most interested in after A Ghost Story affected me on a profoundly deep level, and the choices he has made as a filmmaker outside of that film only served to deepen that interest. The Green Knight is the sort of film that I can't really believe was allowed to be made in today's cinema landscape, but holy shit am I glad that is was, because films like this are the ones that make me excited to go to the cinema. Its pacing is measured and reserved, but burns along with a quiet intensity that only begins to reveal itself in its final act, and the atmosphere it commands is mysterious and engrossing beyond description. Fantasy cinema is something that I am largely indifferent towards, often because it never quite seems to take its subject matter as seriously as the novels I love all have an unflinching commitment towards. For me, The Green Knight is right up there with something like Pan's Labyrinth as one of the most exciting, challenging and bold fantasy films of this century, and I can't wait to see what Lowery does next. Also, if you like this film and haven't already done so, I highly recommend you listen to the episode of the A24 Podcast featuring Lowery and Elijah Wood talking about the history and production of the film. 

©️A24 2021

1. Titane

Personal favourites of the year are so deeply tied to personal taste, and nowhere is that more clear than my choice for my favourite film of 2021; Titane. This might have been my most anticipated film of the year after how much I loved Raw, her previous and debut feature. Much like how I admire The Green Knight for taking its subject matter and genre seriously, I am incredibly attracted to the films of Julia Ducournau, largely because of how seriously she takes genre cinema and how she is willing to take risks within genre. The same is true of Titane as it is with Raw, they are both films that use and exploit elements of genre to externalise and explore thematic material and deeply complex characters. Where Raw was a sweet, life-affirming coming of age tale wrapped up in the skin of a cannibal movie, Titane takes on the Wes Anderson-esque "found family" narrative structure using the cinematic language of body horror. I don't want to talk at all about plot here on the off chance that I encourage someone to see it for the first time, although I will say that the easiest way to describe it from a thematic and aesthetic standpoint is that it takes clear inspiration from the cinema of David Cronenberg, in particular Videodrome and Crash. It is visceral, touching, stomach-churning, funny, subversive and challenging, and is the sort of film that is always needed, regardless of where the rest of cinema is at the time. It's a hand grenade lobbed into a crowd; it's shocking and headline-grabbing in some of its content; it's the sort of film that you won't stop thinking about for weeks after, even if that is purely as a result of your brain trying to figure out whether you loved it or hated it and not quite being able to tell the difference. Some have been dismissing it as exploitation trash, which I think is reductive and a reading of the film that doesn't take it as seriously or as lightly as it is asking you to, and is also indicative of the work still needed to be done for genre films like this to be fully allowed into the conversation around great films. Titane is genre filmmaking at its most visceral, exciting and cutting, and is the sort of film you won't ever forget. 

©️Film4 2021

There we have it - my favourite films of 2021! Like I already said, there are plenty of other films that I haven't managed to see at the time of putting this list together, and if any of them need to be added to this list after having seen them (which will happen) I will make additions and annotations down in the comments section. 

Speaking of which, I'd love to hear your thoughts on 2021. What were your favourite films of the year? Did I miss anything you thought should have been in the conversation? 

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BRF