Year-End Lists

IndieWire: Best Films of 2021, as voted by film critics from around the world

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
2. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
4. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
5. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
6. The French Dispatch
   Wes Anderson
7. Flee
   Jonas Poher Rasmussen
8. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
9. Passing
   Rebecca Hall
10. C'mon C'mon
    Mike Mills
11. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
12. The Green Knight
    David Lowery
13. Dune
    Denis Villeneuve
14. Pig
    Michael Sarnoski
15. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Questlove
16. The Lost Daughter
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
17. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
18. West Side Story
    Steven Spielberg
19. The Tragedy of Macbeth
    Joel Coen
20. Days
    Tsai Ming-liang
21. Belfast
    Kenneth Branagh
22. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
23. A Hero
    Asghar Farhadi
24. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
25. Benedetta
    Paul Verhoeven
26. The Disciple
    Chaitanya Tamhane
27. CODA
    Sian Heder
28. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
    Aleksandre Koberidze
29. Titane
    Julia Ducournau
30. Annette
    Leos Carax
31. The Velvet Underground
    Todd Haynes
32. Red Rocket
    Sean Baker
33. El Planeta
    Amalia Ulman
34. In the Same Breath
    Nanfu Wang
35. Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
    Lili Horvát
36. Zola
    Janicza Bravo
37. Spencer
    Pablo Larraín
38. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
39. Nine Days
    Edson Oda
40. Jockey
    Clint Bentley
41. Test Pattern
    Shatara Michelle Ford
42. Belle
    Mamoru Hosoda
43. Beginning
    Déa Kulumbegashvili
44. Cyrano
    Joe Wright
45. Parallel Mothers
    Pedro Almodóvar
46. Nightmare Alley
    Guillermo del Toro
47. Identifying Features
    Fernanda Valadez
48. Mass
    Fran Kranz
49. King Richard
    Reinaldo Marcus Green
50. Undine
    Christian Petzold

Best Documentary

1. Flee
   Jonas Poher Rasmussen
2. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
   Questlove
3. Procession
   Robert Greene
4. The Velvet Underground
   Todd Haynes
5. The Rescue
   Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
6. The Beatles: Get Back
   Peter Jackson
7. Her Socialist Smile
   John Gianvito
8. All Light, Everywhere
   Theo Anthony
9. The Sparks Brothers
   Edgar Wright
10. Val
    Aaron Fradkin
10. Attica
    Stanley Nelson and Traci Curry