Top Films of 2021
Top Films of 2021
Honorable Mentions:
The Last Duel - Dir. Ridley Scott
The Last Duel is told from three perspectives. Although the truth of what happened is not really up for debate, the three narratives provide an understanding of the fallacy of perspective itself. In a landscape ruled by men, Jodie Comer's character must place her life and her son's life in the hands of the prideful and short-sighted patriarchy.
Spider-Man: No Way Home - Dir. Jon Watts
With everything going on in the new Spider-Man movie, you would think it would become overbloated. However, when watching, it does not feel that way at all. Full of action, humor, and lots of emotion, this Spider-Man movie is the biggest and most epic in scope yet. It successfully gives Marvel and Spider-Man fans everything they've ever wanted and balances its own weight with extreme ease.
CODA - Dir.
Sian Heder
With the Academy Award
for 'Best Picture' under its belt, "CODA" is a great film for
all types of audiences. Following a deaf family, as they navigate big changes
in their life, this film oozes originality. How does being deaf affect
navigating the world? How does being deaf affect navigating your own family? This
touching story leaves a warm feeling in the pit of your stomach and richly
demonstrates the value of communicating with your loved ones.
West Side Story - Dir. Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg's
adaptation of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical had many questioning why a
remake was necessary. However, this technical marvel blows those questions out
of the water. Spielberg scraped a lot of fat off the original, making a far more
efficient story. Not only this, the color tones and texture of the film creates
a place for the characters to express themselves. With so much of their
environment falling apart, the grey angst of the rough street is transformed
into a bright vibrancy of cultural expression.
Don't Look Up - Dir. Adam McKay
Adam McKay's new comedy
presents a scenario so upsetting, that you can't help but laugh. When two
astronomers try to warn of an incoming planet destroying comet, nobody takes
them seriously. Worse, things get political. Through the twists and turns of a society
too distracted with frivolity and levity, most of the characters end up raging
out. With this, Adam McKay laughingly rages out at the world and presents a
question about who we are as a society and what we value.
TOP 25:
25. The Lost Daughter - Dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal
A woman tries to relax on her beach vacation when unwelcomed visitors begin to get under her skin. One of their daughters goes missing, which sparks memories for Olivia Coleman's Leda. She begins to have flashbacks about her two daughters when they were younger. Old wounds begin to fester, as she starts to make psychologically troubling decisions. The Lost Daughter seems to be a haunting meditation on the difficulties of motherhood. As we spend time with all the mothers in the film, whether through flashbacks or real time, we see women trying to relax and be themselves only to be aggressively pestered by an unflinching nuisance. Gyllenhaal is unafraid to dissect the difficult discussions about the ugly side of motherhood, often not displayed enough in the film medium.
24. Parallel Mothers - Dir. Pedro Almodovar
A story revolving around two strangers who give birth at the same time turns into something quite different in the hands of Pedro Almodovar. Questions about maternity and lineage become the forefront of what's happening, leading to the importance of history - whether this history is family lineage, a country's history, or your own personal history that's shaped you.
23. Mass - Dir. Fran Kranz
Fran Kranz's "Mass" is simply four people sitting in a room talking for two hours. But, boy, does this conversation pack a punch. When the parents of a teenage boy sit down and talk with the parents of the teenage boy who shot and killed him in a school shooting, complex issues and emotions arise. Through the sorted bag of feelings and frustrations, we see four adults trying to assign blame, find reason where reason is absent, and most importantly, try to accept the things that they can't control.
22. Pig - Dir. Michael Sarnoski
In perhaps one of the most mystifying movies of the year, Michael Sarnoski's "Pig" has a pretty simple premise. Nicolas Cage plays a truffle hunter searching Portland for his stolen pig. However, the film quietly settles into something much more ambiguous. The sense of loss and longing permeates the entire film. As a viewer, you begin to realize the characters inhabiting our screen have a much richer backstory that isn't overly expressed. What follows is a realization that they are in the aftermath of tragic personal circumstances, longing for a world they wish they could go back to. As Cage's truffle hunter searches desperately for his beloved pig, so too do the characters continue to search for something that was taken from them.
21. Hold Me Tight - Dir. Mathieu Amalric
With his new directorial effort, Mathieu Amalric attempts to paint a picture of both the real and imagined. When a woman suddenly gets up and leaves her family, we see what life would be like for them without her, and her without them. The only problem is that things are not exactly what they seem. Many of the images we see in the film are simply fantastical projections. These projections turn out to be a coping mechanism for a traumic occurence. What the film is able to express so well is the subjective confusion and reconciliation with traumatic events which leave us in a malaise of our own 'if only things were different' fantasies.
20. Petite Maman - Dir. Celine Sciamma
After the death of her grandmother, a little girl must reconcile with her grief. Not only this, she must reconcile with her mother's grief as well. Celine Sciamma's beautifully still picture captures the generational connective tissue of the women in a family. The touches of the fantastical add to the child-like perspective the film explores. In meeting the child version of her own mother, little Nelly connects with her in ways she never has before. She also realizes the difficulties of growing up and understands her mother's strife and sorrow.
19. Bergman Island - Dir. Mia Hansen-Love
Pablo Larrian's nightmare fairy tale creates a suffocating atmosphere. In the best performance of the year, Kristen Stewart masterfully plays Princess Diana throughout spending Christmas with her in-laws. Larrian creates a claustrophobic dreamscape to trap Diana in and even delves into her true personality, her desires, her dreams, and even her nightmares.
17. The French Dispatch - Dir. Wes Anderson
Perhaps the most Wes Anderson film Wes Anderson has ever made, this film has it all: black and white, color, stage play, French new wave, animation, and so much more. The film centers on journalists writing stories for a newspaper. With their varied interactions with their subjects, the characters must navigate characters in their quest for aesthetic control.
16. Vortex - Dir. Gasper Noe
Using a split screen, Gasper Noe tells two perspectives of the same story in his 2021 film "Vortex." The film centers on an elderly couple in their final days. This film moves at a leisurely pace, however, the inevitable end is all too palpable. The anguish of death creates a haunting chill that only becomes greater with the realization of the futility of it all. The only remembrance of our existence is the things we leave behind - and even those things get thrown out at some point. The film leaves the viewer reflecting on one's own downfall, the downfall of those we love, and the utterly terrifying vortex down the drain of life.
15. Murina - Dir. Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic
Telling a story that is both micro and macro, Antonenta Alamat Kusijanovic uses "Murina" to convey the feeling of being trapped. The story centers on the daughter of an overbearing father who is trapped with him on a remote Croatian island, but the story could very well be a parable of the lives of women as well as the lives of the Croatian people. Is there any hope of getting out of the restraints of this patriarchal dominance? As the unresolved ending of the film suggests, the answer seems to be no. Circumstantial freedom doesn't seem to exist, but the true freedom found in the film lies in scary places.
14. Great Freedom - Dir. Sebastian Meise
Spanning multiple decades, "Great Freedom" tells the true story of a man who was in and out of prison for violating Paragraph 175 of Germany's laws - Paragraph 175 being a discriminatory law against homosexual behavior. Through the frequent time jumps, we see a man who's spent his entire life trapped by social restrictions. Despite his being trapped, however, it becomes noticeable that he does not bend to his constrictions. The harassment, intimidation, and confinement by others does not deter his behavior. Through his headstrong convictions, he can transform the lives of those around him. The care and love he gives are infectious, and the intimacy he creates with those around him creates a life for himself.
13. The Souvenir Part II - Dir. Joanna Hogg
Who watches the watchmen? Or better yet, who examines the examiner? Well, Joanna Hogg's "The Souvenir Part II" does exactly that. Taking the themes from Part I and extending them leaps and bounds, Part II demonstrates how completely inward seeking one film can go. In trying to overcome the loss of her late boyfriend, Julie uses her graduate film as a mechanism for examining her life. What unfolds is the seams of the film itself, splicing itself open to reveal truths only conveyed through the medium of filmmaking. The film examines itself and in doing so, examines Julie. In doing that, it examines Joanna Hogg. The vulnerability displayed by the auteur demonstrates how invasive film actually is, while at the same time only ever really getting pieces of the whole correct. The art of examining becomes examined, the film examines film, and an artist examines herself.
12. Bad Luck Banging or Looney Porn - Dir. Radu Jude
This pandemic-era Romanian film is divided into three acts. The first act shows a woman walking through the city, while she makes several calls trying to get a pornographic video of her and her husband offline. While she is walking through the streets, we see pedestrians acting out in anger and paranoia over others, fueled by the COVID pandemic. The second act is a series of vignettes documenting Romanian culture; a culture that has been deeply affected by the authoritarian rule that finally ended in 1989. The third act shows the woman from the first act at her hearing at the school where she works. At this hearing, the parents argue whether to fire her from the school for her indecent exposure online. The totality of the film showcases a Romanian daily life that is full of people hysterical over morality and lawful governance. All the while, these people are only further driven apart by the theoretical messaging they espouse - each one with an opinion that they can back up with some online article or talk piece. What is left is a society on fire: a world still reeling from authoritarianism 30 years prior, trying in their own separated way to establish moral certainties, which further creates separation, and further fuels paranoia, fear, and rage.
In this beautiful meditation on life, Mike Mills crafts a story full of emotions. The emotionality of the individual characters always seems to be messily bumping into each other. Joaquin Phoenix plays an uncle who must look after his nephew while the child's mother tries to manage her mentally ill husband. Through the emotional complexity of the uncle and nephew's travels, Phoenix attempts to explain the adult world to the boy. Through these extended discussions and interactions, the child learns that adults don't know what they're doing either. As they navigate their emotional landscape, they must learn to forgive each other and even themselves. With this film, Mike Mills crafts an authentic story of humanity: all their hopes, their fears, and their suffering. The authenticity of the story stems from the filmmaker and actors inhabiting a naturalistic style of simply being. Through this being, the actors are able to find truth. The truth and all its messiness are showcased in this bittersweet tale of growing up and realizing that the struggles of life and meant to be met with persistence and resilience.
10. Benedetta - Dir. Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven's transgressive tale about a 17th-century nun, "Benedetta," raises questions about the nature of desire, religion, and power. The titular protagonist, who has been raised in a convent since the age of nine, begins to experience visions of Christ as an adult. Due to the repression she's experienced all her life, she begins to act out sexually, spiritually, and politically. When the nuns witness Benedetta's miracle marking by Jesus, she becomes the nun superior, free to follow her indulgences. With these indulgences comes the indulgences of power, as her dalliances of spiritual insight allow her power over people (which is conceded by others believing it is God's will). What follows is the unraveling of the power structure of the church, right down to the Nuncio whose higher power position in the church gets toppled by extremist perceptions of the people Benedetta has manipulated. Verhoeven uses the invisible power dynamics in the spaces between the characters, as well as the surrounding threat of the bubonic plague, to demonstrate how humanity succumbs to the will of power to save them from existential terror. By succumbing to this invisible power do we cut away our basic human desires, repressing ourselves to fit the structure around us. Only when Benedetta gives in to her bodily desires does she experience the spiritual and political awakening of her world, using the intimacy of the fears of the flesh to construct belief, power, and reality itself.
9. Red Rocket - Dir. Sean Baker
From the writer/director of Tangerine and The Florida Project, comes another film about a group of people living on the edges of society, this time in a small Texas town. Sean Baker's Red Rocket portrays a man trying to rise again after falling from the heights of the California porn industry after he moves back to Texas City and crashes with his estranged wife. Baker visually surrounds the characters with the neighboring chemical plant, as if to trap and suffocate them by it. The characters are stagnant and have no hopes of making it out, except for Simon Rex's character, whose charisma and aspirations create a restless desire to scratch his way out of stagnation and desolation, even if he is not making it easy on himself.
8. Titane - Dir. Julia Ducournau
Coming off her 2016 hit Raw, writer/director Julia Ducournau presents us with another body horror film. This piece grabs the viewer and violently takes them on a roller-coaster ride. Inside its unsettling imagery, absurdist twists, and high octane pace lies a story about love. Whether this love is sexual, romantic, plutonic, or familial is entirely left to interpretation. Regardless, Ducournau presents a story about the trauma, grotesqueness, and beauty of the human body and all forms it takes.
This coming-of-age film from legendary director Paul Thomas Anderson tells the story of two lovers trying to make it in an adult world. The only problem is that the adult world is full of immature children in adult bodies. Those that aren't immature or crazy are having to compromise who they are. Anderson infuses this world with restless and immature characters who are only ever out for themselves. The anxieties of an uncertain and dangerous world are constantly lurking just beyond the frame and forcing the characters into a state of unhealthy coping. Because of this, the landscape of the film is full of immature and insane characters reverting back to childish states of being. All the while, protagonists Gary and Alana are desperately trying to grow up. The only problem is that life is so much simpler when you don't. This perhaps seems to be the main argument Anderson makes with the film. The current state of America can be found within the restless adults desperately trying to cope with the madness of the world by reverting back to a state of innocence. However, this innocence is only a licorice pizza: the nostalgia and childlike behavior is only an inviting means to cope with the dark, unsavory underbelly of reality and adulthood. This reversion is only a band-aid and perhaps, as the characters never seem to learn, the best antidote is simply to grow up.
6. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy - Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is an anthology broken down into three parts. Each part is beautifully constructed by writer/director Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Each one involves a romantic pursuit. However, the tone of each is that of longing, as characters feel so empty and unsatisfied in their daily lives that their experiences with chance encounters force them to satiate their intense loneliness and their yearning to be seen and understood. In a very Renoir-esque manner, Hamaguchi makes you very aware of the character's overall environments, forcing you to associate the characters as being products of their world. Since this is a world that the viewer also finds themselves in, we begin to meditate on our own longing, ever suppressed by the innumerable cold activities we partake in every day. With Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Hamaguchi reaches into the pits of our romantic, sexual, and platonic desires to allow us a moment to feel what it's like to be seen.
5. A Hero - Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Boy, does Asghar Farhadi love to weave an intricate web of moral quandaries. With A Hero, he has a seemingly nice man face a choice between using a found purse containing lots of money to pay off his debts so he can get out of prison or returning the purse to clear his conscious. He decides to return the purse, making him morally correct. Right? This single act ignites a spiraling array of morally ambiguous questions. On top of this, the man's public opinion becomes more powerful than the money itself. His constant shifts in public perception through newspapers, television, and social media swirl his life into disarray, as he (and everyone else in the film) must continuously appear morally virtuous, even if the situation isn't exactly as showcased. The film is a thrilling, yet haunting representation of our time, as it demonstrates the complexities of making seemingly moral decisions and how our public image can throw those moralities into a state of confusion.
4. The Worst Person in the World - Dir. Joachim Trier
Joachim Trier's rom-com for people who hate rom-coms, "The Worst Person in the World," is 12 chapters in the life of Julie, as she navigates turning 30. Through these slices of her life, we see a representation of the millennial malaise. Julie is fully aware that she doesn't know what she wants or who she even is. Her sense of reckless abandon is intertwined with deep searching for her life to become stable. Through her searching, she discovers that all the plans, all the relationships, and all the meaning she desperately desires all turn out to be misshapen and ill-formed. The disillusionment of the future is the only certainty. All of Julie's (and our) time here on Earth we spend searching for a grand design that never reveals itself. What's left is clinging to half-realities that reveal nothing, yet reveal everything if you just look close enough. In this film, the growing pains of adulthood are explored, through the subjectivity of Julie's lost searching.
Jane Campion's first film in 12 years tells the story of Montana ranchers who must adapt to new circumstances. The pacing of the first half of the film leaves the viewer feeling tense and unsettled. The second half takes a smooth shift into something much more uncertain. The towering mountains surrounding the wide open spaces of Montana and the claustrophobic interiors of their ranch home create an atmosphere of inescapability. What's left is psychological manipulations of power, sexual frustration, and despair in a rapidly changing world.
2. Memoria - Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
In our modern world, we are all a little displaced from nature. The hustle and bustle of contemporary life offer a convenient distraction from our earthly home. In Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Memoria," we find an English woman displaced in Colombia. When she suddenly begins hearing loud noises in her head, she tries desperately to track down what is causing it. The search for answers, however, leads only to more ambiguity. What isn't ambiguous, however, are the effects of this search. The woman, played by Tilda Swinton, uncovers something deep within her, found amid our divine world. What is discovered? Something from deep within the Earth? Something from long long ago? Something spiritual from the depths of our soul? These questions are not answered by the film. But these answers are left with the audience. Once you leave the theater and go back out into the hustle and bustle of your world, the noises and vibrations of life will burst out at you, telling you the story of humanity. The film will change you and will open something deep within that even you cannot ever truly know for certain.
1. Drive My Car - Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
"If you really want to look at someone, then your only option is to look at yourself squarely and deeply," are the words spoken by Takatsuki in Ryusuke Hamaguchi's masterpiece, "Drive My Car." This piece of advice is exactly what the film asks us to do. Through Hamaguchi's intense sit-in with a grieving widower, we truly connect to the character in an intense way. As a theater director, he experiments with multi-lingual productions. Throughout the story, the barriers of linguistics and communication become broken down, and what's left are people who are not at all different from each other or from the viewer. Hamaguchi asks us to pass the barriers of human differences and look at others squarely in the face and feel their pain and love. In doing so, we see ourselves. This connection to ourselves through others allows us to share in each other's heartbreak and suffering. This is made even more apparent through the way we communicate this suffering through our art. In exploring these themes of communication, we begin to realize what's lost in communication itself. As the protagonist says, "Just read the text. The meaning will follow." The heartbreak of not communicating enough with his late spouse becomes the grief examined, reminding us to just say the text. Speak to each other, despite the lack of perfect understanding of that communication, and don't let the words fall by the wayside.
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