Top 10 films of the year 2021

Movie Review (2021)

A list of films released in the United Kingdom in 2021 that I have watched and believe are the best. Simples. Spoilers ahead.

Films released this year that I haven’t watched yet which might have joined the list:

Judas and the black messiah

Dune

The French Dispatch

Nightmare Alley

The Lost Daughter

Honourable mentions:

Everybody is talking about Jaime

The Suicide Squad

Cruella

I care alot

Mank

The actual list:

10- Don't look up

It could have been funnier. It could have been more poingnant. It could have been better paced. All of the above is true and all of it is not, shroedingers truth if you will. How do you capture the utter madness of the last two years in a satirical manner when every single day has been an abundance of gaffs and jokes the equivalent of being slapped in the face by a wet kipper 6 times a day. To capture the truth on film would have been so absurd, so unrealistic, so outright outrageous that no one would believe it. Never let anyone call this the new normal because it should be understood for the atrocity it is and the stupidity of our governments should not be normalised. The film applies all of this in the only way it could, painfully, to the other pandemic our governments have known about for years and known we could do something about yet similarly ignores, climate change. It is funny enough, poignant enough and well paced enough that we don’t all cry from desperation and we should be thankful of Adam Kay for pulling those punches on our already dire condition.

9- No Time to Die

As a child running around rolly pollying with my hand formed gun shouting pew pew at my faux russian friend twiddling his none existent moustache yelling about world domination, it was obvious then as it was today that I’d have an emotional reaction to the last Craig film. 15years is basically all of my cognitively aware life and though I prefer the out right camp comedy of the Piers Brosnan films when I want a Sunday eve romp, no other Bond has matched the classy quality of Craigs. Though they are hit or miss in quality (Spectre easily being one of the worst films full stop), No Time to Die is a cracking send off that is respectful of the past, exciting for the future and oh so present in modern times. With a dash of horror imagery, that they really should have leaned in more, as well as perfectly timed comedy and action, this unquestionably stands as one of the best Bond films alongside Skyfall.

8- Spencer

After a pandemic has demonstrated to us all the pain of isolation and the slow drown into despair that occurs before your eyes with everything you do seemingly ineffective at preventing the inevitable, well, this film touches that nerve as a diamond encrusted mirror is held up to us and Diana and shows the similarities between us and the people’s princess. Kristen Stewart deserves all the praise she gets as she is in every shot and never misses a beat. There is a beating heart in this slow burn drama but the restrictions given to anything that tackles the current monarchy leaves the film a bit smaller in scope than a biting commentary on isolation could be.

7-The Last Duel

The first 30mins are exceedingly necessary but do not do the film service; on first watch, the beginning is slow, stereotypical and so cliche of the medieval drama genre. And that is exactly the point as the last 2/3s subverts the ridiculousness of the tired genre by dismantling the male-centred viewpoint and the problem that is its usual grip on society’s media and considered norm. As Carol Travis says “If males are the normal, then females are left to feel abnormal“ and this movie perfectly captures how the chokehold of the male narrative has left female stories feeling abnormal and untrue. Perspective and realavitism and phenomenology are all essential to understand the zeitgeist of modern society and if we need movies like this to simply outline and explain that in the most obvious of terms in a genre tailored to the people that need to hear it the most, then we must support it.

6- House of Gucci

It is a comedy that is in no way subtle but blink and you’ll miss the jokes, it won’t handhold you with canned laughter or silly looks, but the comedy is there and it is very funny once you commit fully to the wavelength of the film. These characters are larger than life and the life they lead is vulgar where even the most innocent of conversations leads to huge repercussion. A screaming fuck in the back of a portacabin leads to a white dress in a church- literally. The absurdity commits throughout the film for the first 2hours and wriproars through the Italian mob genre like a sledgehammer dismantling the honest ridiculousness in the stereotypically male centred drama. Admittedly, the last 30mins drags on first watch as it meanders to the end we all knew was coming; however, on a second watch you can appreciate what they were trying to show. The source material is so strong that this really could have been a lot better but the fun romp the first 2hrs is means it is worth a watch.

5- The power of the dog

If Call me by your name had a baby with Brokeback Mountain you’d still underestimate this brilliance. Slow and tense this movie bubbles with genius throughout and keeps you on your toes until the very last frame. At every point you will think you know the characters and their motivations but the journey keeps you enthralled as you only truly realise it just before the characters- the way a good murder mystery should be. This is a genreless film that is difficult to describe as you are not watching what you think you are and that is undoubtedly the point. Viva la beautiful revolution.

4- King Richard

I find Will Smith insufferable, he’s a larger than life movie star who 90% of the time plays himself, so very American. This is one of those movies that are part of the 10% as Smith finds a charcter larger in life than himself and fully commits to giving a career highlight performance where at no point is it anyone except Richard Williams on the screen. The movie is a feel good ‘work hard and you’ll achieve’ film, but its strength lies in never hiding what that means and the real risks and strains faced along the way. The shining star that brings it all together is Aunjaune Ellis’s portrayl of Brandi Williams who deserves more credit as a character in the movie and in the Oscar conversations forgetting her being the emotional core that grounds her husband away from being cartoony.

3- Tik Tik Boom

When starting this film I knew nothing: never heard of the play, nor the man, never watched RENT, don’t like/watch musicals, and don’t rate Lin Manuel Miranda as only made it half way through Hamilton. So, it had an up hill battle from the start, I only tuned in because I’d seen clips of Andrew Garfield in Angels in America and I felt I might have been sleeping on him as an actor. I certainly had. Garfield is charisma personified in this film and brings such a joy and energy to the performance that even when I was unsure what I was watching at the start I knew I was having a good time. The cuts between the stage show and life not only has fantastic energy and framing in how he became a legend, but it solves all my usual problems with musicals as it is presenting life through his eyes and how he frames his world through theatre. It made me have a deep appreciation for a man I knew nothing about and made me want to go out and learn more about him and watch his musicals which is the biggest compliment a biopic can ever have.

2- The Sound of Metal

The dizzying whirlwind of the rockstar life comes crashing to a halt in this sobering plea to enjoy every moment. The strength of this movie is not that it makes you feel sorry for our newly deaf protagonist- though it does that really well too- it is that it shows us how it is not the end but an exciting beginning that we can all learn something from. The film forces you to appreciate life and the world around us, which our work-centred capitalist lifestyle rarely gives us the opportunity to, and that appreciation is a mind frame we can all choose no matter our situation. It is a beautiful film where the sound editing and exquisite acting hits you in the feelings and will stay with you long after the film finishes.

1- The Father

A psychological drama that puts you in the shoes of the protagonist in a way I’ve never seen in film before. Pushing the medium of film through ingenious edits, sly transitions and haunting music, this will make you uncomfortable and that is exactly the point. You will be questioning everything and not trusting anyone, the saddening reality of dementia. With career high nuanced performances from both leads that makes you feel every second, this is a must watch film as it not only shows you the suffering of the father in an empathetic way but everyone around him. As someone who has watched their mother go through the daughters role, this one hit home.