Year-End Lists

Robert Daniels: Top 50 Films of 2021

[see also 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019]

1. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
2. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
   Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
3. Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
   Lili Horvát
4. Parallel Mothers
   Pedro Almodóvar
5. Titane
   Julia Ducournau
6. Spencer
   Pablo Larraín
7. The Gaze
   Barry Jenkins
8. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
9. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
10. Pig
    Michael Sarnoski
11. Identifying Features
    Fernanda Valadez
12. The Green Knight
    David Lowery
13. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
14. Shiva Baby
    Emma Seligman
15. Faya Dayi
    Jessica Beshir
16. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
17. The Rescue
    Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
18. Nine Days
    Edson Oda
19. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Questlove
20. Passing
    Rebecca Hall
21. A Hero
    Asghar Farhadi
22. CODA
    Sian Heder
23. Attica
    Stanley Nelson and Traci Curry
24. The Lost Daughter
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
25. Holler
    Nicole Riegel
26. Limbo
    Ben Sharrock
27. Test Pattern
    Shatara Michelle Ford
28. The Tragedy of Macbeth
    Joel Coen
29. Pink Skies Ahead
    Kelly Oxford
30. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
31. The Woman in the Window
    Joe Wright
32. A Crime on the Bayou
    Nancy Buirski
33. Zola
    Janicza Bravo
34. The Mad Women's Ball
    Mélanie Laurent
35. Together Together
    Nikole Beckwith
36. Really Love
    Angel Kristi Williams
37. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
    Will Sharpe
38. Riders of Justice
    Anders Thomas Jensen
39. The Summit of the Gods
    Patrick Imbert
40. Jockey
    Clint Bentley
41. The Legend of the Underground
    Nneka Onuorah and Giselle Bailey
42. Shadow Kingdom: The Early Songs of Bob Dylan
    Alma Har'el
43. Black Art: In the Absence of Light
    Sam Pollard
44. My Name Is Pauli Murray
    Betsy West and Julie Cohen
45. In the Same Breath
    Nanfu Wang
46. Memoria
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
47. The Matrix Resurrections
    Lana Wachowski
48. The Year of the Everlasting Storm
    various artists
49. The Novice
    Lauren Hadaway
50. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
    Andy Serkis

Honorable mentions

• 17 Blocks
  Davy Rothbart
• Citizen Ashe
  Rex Miller and Sam Pollard
• Cyrano
  Joe Wright
• I Blame Society
  Gillian Wallace Horvat
• Julia
• Luzzu
  Alex Camilleri
• The Most Beautiful Boy in the World
  Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri
• Operation Hyacinth
  Piotr Domalewski
• The Outside Story
  Casimir Nozkowski
• Procession
  Robert Greene
• Swan Song
  Todd Stephens
• Raging Fire
  Benny Chan

This list contributes to:

• RogerEbert.com: The Ten Best Films of 2021