Another year of film is behind us! It was another strange one, hot off the heels of 2020’s ravaged pandemic landscape with theaters still struggling to reopen in the U.S. However, we did get some quality movies, so what were my ten favorite films released in the last year?
NOTE: Only films released between March and December of 2021 were considered here to coincide with the Oscars’ eligibility window. For films released in January and February, see my Top 10 Films of 2020 list!
Honorable Mention: Bo Burnham: Inside
I don’t consider Bo Burnham’s latest comedy special to be a “film”, but if I did, it would easily be my #1 of the year. This is the definitive piece of media to come out of the pandemic, capturing the feelings of isolation and depression we all felt while locked inside our homes and waiting out the madness. Despite being created entirely by one person, the ambition on display is simply incredible, with gorgeous cinematography, engaging themes, and a haunting performance from one of my favorite performers working today. The music is catchy and memorable, and the depictions of depression and suicidal ideation, while likely exaggerated, perfectly capture the feelings of hopelessness of today’s youth. It’s a stunning piece of art, and if for some reason you haven’t watched it yet, drop what you’re doing and seek it out on Netflix today. It’s a capital-M masterpiece!
10. The Killing of Two Lovers (Robert Machoian)
I had no expectations about this film going in, from a director I’d never heard of with a micro-budget that put major constraints on production. But wow, this is some of the most compelling filmmaking of the entire year! It tells a simple story of a young father separated from his wife and four children as his marriage goes through a rocky path, and his inner demons begin to rear their ugly heads and work their way to the surface. The title of the film (and the shocking opening scene) create a sense of dread as we watch this man spiral further and further into despair, contemplating some terrible, drastic action he cannot take back. The final fifteen minutes of the film had me on the edge of my seat, as I was literally watching through my fingers as things deteriorated to an inevitable end. I will say nothing more, except that you should absolutely seek this one out if you haven’t seen it yet, because it’s an experience like no other!
9. The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson)
Every review I saw ahead of this film called it “mid-tier Wes Anderson”, which I think is a massive disservice to both the film and filmmaker. First of all, Anderson’s films are already a cut above the vast majority of directors working today, and second of all, to dismiss this film’s merits just because he has made better films risks missing out on so much goodness contained within. It’s a love letter to journalists, specifically those individuals who seek deeper meaning in life by walking a mile in the shoes of others and sharing these experiences with others. I fell in love with many of the characters and didn’t mind the vignette structure at all, loving the depiction of a wide variety of lives and lifestyles. The comedy is fantastic, and Anderson’s unique visual style is on full display with some of the best cinematography and production design of the year. If you’re into Wes Anderson, you’ll dig this; even if you aren’t, you might still find something to like here!
8. The Last Duel (Ridley Scott)
Ridley Scott had a prolific year with two major releases this fall, and this is the one I fell for the hardest. This biopic about the final judicial duel in medieval France is told in a unique chapter structure, one that splits up its narrative perspective between three separate narrators: Jacques Le Gris, Jean De Carrouges, and Jean’s wife Marguerite who is raped by the former. It makes no bones about who is telling the truth here (it’s Marguerite), and it’s appalling to see how women were treated as mere property back in those days. This is one of the cleverest screenplays of the year, with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener each writing one chapter of the script to amplify its themes of ignorance and inability to view the world through the eyes of another. Great performances, solid direction, and a fantastic script add up to a great film experience!
7. After Love (Aleem Khan)
I caught this little indie late in the awards season just trying to be a completionist for the BAFTA’s, but boy was I blown away by it! It tells the story of a woman whose husband passes away who discovers that he had a secret family across the English Channel in France, and she decides to travel there and confront them. It’s an incredibly powerful story with a surprising amount of tension packed into the short runtime and simple story. I loved the dynamic between the three primary characters, and I especially loved that the filmmaker trusts the audience enough to let his characters make mistakes and act horribly at times, as we can still sympathize with their bad decisions due to their circumstances. For a debut feature, this is incredibly assured filmmaking with gorgeous cinematography and compelling emotional themes that are well-explored. If it sounds like I’m talking around the film it’s because I don’t want to give any of the film’s surprises away, and you should absolutely seek it out ASAP!!
6. C’mon C’mon (Mike Mills)
Mike Mills has made a film about his father (Beginners), his mother (20th Century Women), and now his son as he grapples with the idea of preparing a child for life on a dying planet. Joaquin Phoenix plays a somewhat broken man, still reeling from recent personal hardships, including the loss of his mother to dementia and the love of his life leaving him. He has as much to learn about life as his young nephew does, played by Woody Norman, and their adventures see each of them make mistakes and learn how to express themselves in a healthy manner. I’m a sucker for a good road trip flick, and Mills (plus DP Robbie Ryan) take us on an intimate yet epic journey across an America that is grappling with its own anxieties about the future. Mills offers a sense of infectious optimism that, despite the rocky road ahead, we can still find the happiness we seek by being open and honest with those around us. A simple but beautiful experience.
5. Nine Days (Edson Oda)
It’s rare to see such ambition and grandeur on display in a directorial debut, but Oda swings for the fences with this meditation on life and loss thereof. He takes a deeply intense personal experience (the death of a loved one) and turns it into a clever little sci-fi tale of a man who judges the lives of others. Winston Duke portrays a man we barely get to know, whose motivations we are always trying to understand, as he himself is trying to understand the loss of somebody he held near and dear to his heart. It raises fascinating questions about what constitutes a life well lived: are fame and success really the most important indicators of happiness? I didn’t expect this to hit as hard as it did, and I found myself riveted by this simple but incredibly effective story. It’s a damn shame this got dumped in July so that nobody saw it, because it deserves the world.
4. Red Rocket (Sean Baker)
Walking out of the theater after Sean Baker’s latest, I thought it was a hilarious good time but nothing particularly special. Yet it has stuck in my mind ever since as its hidden layers and clever subtext revealed themselves to me, proving that there is much more than meets the eye with this comedy-drama. Simon Rex’s Mikey is a force of nature, an unstoppable wrecking ball who takes advantage of everyone and everything he can to advance his own interests. Set against the backdrop of the 2016 election, it’s clear that he is yet another example of a man who spins tall tales to convince others to do his bidding for him. It’s reminiscent of Uncut Gems in the way we can’t look away from the train wreck that is this guy’s life, and by the end we are simultaneously repulsed by Mikey yet passively rooting for his success. We rarely get characters this deeply flawed nowadays, and Baker proves he’s one of cinema’s most vital filmmakers with this fantastic character study.
3. CODA (Siân Heder)
CODA is extremely formulaic and predictable, but that’s literally the only bad thing I can say about the film because it’s an absolute joy from start to finish. It features brilliant performances from the entire ensemble and an emotionally-affecting story of family, following your passion and personal responsibility. I fell in love with Emilia Jones’ character and yearned for her to be able to follow her dreams in spite of all the obstacles in her path. What I especially appreciate is how it does not victimize her deaf family – they are NOT helpless, and they fight for their agency and the right to solve their own problems without the help of the hearing world around them. That’s what sets the film apart from most of its ilk: the protagonist is not the only active character, and everyone around her is perfectly capable of changing their own circumstances. It’s rare for me to fall in love with this kind of cheesy story, but it’s pure serotonin and I can put it on any time to cure my bad mood instantly. I’ll have this one on repeat for years to come, and I’ll continue to say it all awards season long: Troy Kotsur for Best Supporting Actor!!!
2. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
There’s something magical about this film that only a few films per decade are able to capture. Some indescribable quality that goes beyond the individual parts that make up a film. It’s hard to describe exactly what makes this film so special, but once you fall into the rhythm of the film, it is utterly captivating, and I was unable to look away in multiple scenes. The meditations on life and death are haunting and resonant, while the clever ways the story explores language and stories themselves furthered my appreciation of the themes. It’s about more than just dealing with loss: it’s also about learning how to connect with other people and how to forgive yourself for past mistakes. The only reason it’s not my #1 film is the imposing 3-hour length, but I can easily see this leapfrogging into the top spot upon rewatch once I’m more prepared for the slow burn, because it’s highly rewarding if you’re willing to commit yourself to it.
1. Spencer (Pablo Larraín)
I wasn’t a big fan of Larraín’s last biopic, 2016’s Jackie, so I went into this expecting to see a solid Kristen Stewart performance and not much more. But I was not prepared for the psychological torment this film would put me through, excelling more than most films I’ve seen recently at putting me into the head of the central character. Every single element of filmmaking is utilized to create an immersive atmosphere, from the stark cinematography to the unsettling score to the harsh sound design to the disjointed editing to the stifling art direction and more. Not a single element is out of place, especially Stewart, who turns in the best female performance not only of this year, but of the past several years. There’s nary a scene she isn’t in, carrying every moment on her expressive face, totally vulnerable to the camera, mirroring Diana’s feelings of vulnerability and lack of privacy in the public eye. It’s the kind of filmmaking we don’t get enough of these days, and I hope we see more films in the future that are this bold and uncompromising in their vision.
Conclusion
Thanks for joining me for another calendar year of cinema! Despite the omicron variant rearing its ugly head in recent weeks, I’m still optimistic that 2022 and beyond will be even stronger years for movies. I unfortunately still have a few major releases that I won’t be able to watch until January, including Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero, Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World and Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. I will have reviews for those as soon as I’m able to see them, and who knows? Maybe one or two of them will crack my Top 10 list in retrospect. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you all next year! 😉
All image rights belong to the films’ respective distributors.
-Austin Daniel
Scriptophile 