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Critic’s Picks: The Best Films of 2021

This year’s top fifteen films come from France, Japan, Denmark, Norway, the UK, and the US, and they run the gamut in tone, style, and popularity.
Critics Picks Best Films 2021
By  · Published on January 22nd, 2022

10. The Mitchells vs the Machines

The Mitchells Vs The Machines
Netflix

2021 was a pretty good year for animated films, but as much as I enjoy Luca and Raya and the Last Dragon, neither can touch the manic energy and big heart of The Mitchells vs the Machines. A goofy but endlessly relatable family sits at the heart of the film as their vacation is interrupted by an alien invasion. Co-directors/writers Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe craft a wildly energetic film that moves at an electric pace with action scenes, spectacle, and big gags. It’s ridiculously fun, but what lifts it above the fray is the film’s ability to interweave the bombast with some genuinely affecting scenes and exchanges.


9. Benedetta (France)

Benedetta
Pathé Int'l

Is Paul Verhoeven’s latest a saucy ride featuring lesbian nun shenanigans? Absolutely, but Verhoeven and co-writers David Birke and Pascal Bonitzer have more on their minds than just naughty, blasphemous fun. Virginie Efira gives a strong performance as Benedetta, a young nun who finds herself embroiled in a power struggle complicated by lust, the patriarchy, and a possible miracle. It’s mean at times, sexy at others, but there’s a surprising river of comedy running through it too — not big, bold laughs, but a grimly humorous commentary on faith, the church, and the power of shared delusions. You won’t forget Benedetta‘s big swings anytime soon.


8. CODA

Sundance 2021: Coda
Sundance Institute

Writer/director Sian Heder’s remake of 2014’s The Bélier Family is in some ways the ultimate Sundance film — a feel-good tear-jerker with familiar faces that leaves audiences walking away on a high. It’s the story of a teenager (a terrific Emilia Jones) whose parents and brother are all deaf, and her struggle to balance her love for them with her desire for something beyond their small coastal town. Deaf actors play the deaf characters, and entire conversations unfold in sign language with all the emotion and energy you’d expect between family members. It’s a sweet film about family and leaving the nest, but it’s also extremely funny and, well, will leave you on a high.


7. The Power of the Dog (UK)

The Power Of The Dog

Jane Campion’s first feature film since 2009’s Bright Star is an atypical western about two brothers whose splintering relationship threatens their otherwise successful ranch. Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons play diametrically different brothers, and things grow complicated when a love interest (Kirsten Dunst) and her lanky son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) arrive. Complicated but rarely predictable, as Campion’s script (an adaptation of Thomas Savage’s novel) moves characters in unexpected ways and towards unforeseen conclusions. Beautifully acted, attractively shot, and it ends on an applause-worthy smile.


6. Drive My Car (Japan)

Drive My Car
Janus Films

Writer/director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi released two films in 2021 with a collective run-time of three hundred minutes. This adaptation of a Haruki Murakami story is the longer of the two, but viewers with a working brain won’t find fault with the length. An actor still recovering from his cheating wife’s death takes a road head-trip about regret and acceptance, anger and release, and how letting people in can sometimes help you out. It’s beautiful, honest, and thought-provoking, and the concept of creating/telling stories during/after sex is ridiculously sensual. Worth every one of its many, many minutes.


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Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.