Year-End Lists

Richard Brody: The Best Movies of 2021, as published by The New Yorker

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2012 • 2011]

1. The French Dispatch
   Wes Anderson
2. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Zola
   Janicza Bravo
4. I Was a Simple Man
   Christopher Makoto Yogi
5. In the Same Breath
   Nanfu Wang
6. C'mon C'mon
   Mike Mills
7. Passing
   Rebecca Hall
8. Koozhangal
   P.S. Vinothraj
9. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
10. Procession
    Robert Greene
11. The Woman Who Ran
    Hong Sang-soo
12. The Disciple
    Chaitanya Tamhane
13. Being the Ricardos
    Aaron Sorkin
14. Parallel Mothers
    Pedro Almodóvar
15. The American Sector
    Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez
16. All Light, Everywhere
    Theo Anthony
17. A Cop Movie
    Alonso Ruizpalacios
18. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
    Jia Zhang-ke
19. Listening to Kenny G
    Penny Lane
20. Drive My Car
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
21. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
22. Uppercase Print
    Radu Jude
23. Little Girl
    Sébastien Lifshitz
24. Cry Macho
    Clint Eastwood
25. Exterminate All the Brutes
    Raoul Peck
26. Paris Calligrammes
    Ulrike Ottinger
27. The Year of the Everlasting Storm
    various artists
28. You Will Die at Twenty
    Amjad Abu Alala
29. France
    Bruno Dumont
30. Titane
    Julia Ducournau
31. Test Pattern
    Shatara Michelle Ford
32. No Ordinary Man
    Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt
33. Isabella
    Matías Piñeiro
34. There Is No Evil
    Mohammad Rasoulof
35. Wojnarowicz
    Chris McKim

IndieWire: The 25 Best Movies of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2015]

1. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
2. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
4. Flee
   Jonas Poher Rasmussen
5. Titane
   Julia Ducournau
6. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
   Questlove
7. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
8. The Card Counter
   Paul Schrader
9. The Green Knight
   David Lowery
10. Parallel Mothers
    Pedro Almodóvar
11. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
12. Passing
    Rebecca Hall
13. CODA
    Sian Heder
14. Red Rocket
    Sean Baker
15. Procession
    Robert Greene
16. The Worst Person in the World
    Joachim Trier
17. The Lost Daughter
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
18. Pig
    Michael Sarnoski
19. Zola
    Janicza Bravo
20. There Is No Evil
    Mohammad Rasoulof
21. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
22. West Side Story
    Steven Spielberg
23. Spencer
    Pablo Larraín
24. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
25. Test Pattern
    Shatara Michelle Ford

Richard Lawson: The 10 Best Movies of 2021, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

1. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
2. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
4. C'mon C'mon
   Mike Mills
5. Flee
   Jonas Poher Rasmussen
6. The Souvenir Part II
   Joanna Hogg
7. The Humans
   Stephen Karam
8. Mass
   Fran Kranz
9. The Green Knight
   David Lowery
10. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve

Marilou Duponchel: Top 10 Films of 2021, as published by Les Inrockuptibles

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. France
   Bruno Dumont
2. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. Anaïs in Love
   Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
4. Hold Me Tight
   Mathieu Amalric
5. All Hands on Deck
   Guillaume Brac
6. Bergman Island
   Mia Hansen-Løve
7. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
8. Guermantes
   Christophe Honoré
9. Aline
   Valérie Lemercier
10. There Will Be No More Night
    Éléonore Weber

This list contributes to:

• Les Inrocks: 20 Essential Films of 2021

Murielle Joudet: Top 6 Films of 2021, as published by Les Inrockuptibles

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. France
   Bruno Dumont
2. The Card Counter
   Paul Schrader
3. Parallel Mothers
   Pedro Almodóvar
4. Pleasure
   Ninja Thyberg
5. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
6. Cry Macho
   Clint Eastwood

This list contributes to:

• Les Inrocks: 20 Essential Films of 2021

Emily Barnett: Top 10 Films of 2021, as published by Les Inrockuptibles

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Titane
   Julia Ducournau
2. Annette
   Leos Carax
3. Aline
   Valérie Lemercier
4. Bergman Island
   Mia Hansen-Løve
5. Compartment Number 6
   Juho Kuosmanen
6. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
7. Happening
   Audrey Diwan
8. All Hands on Deck
   Guillaume Brac
9. Slalom
   Charlène Favier
10. Anaïs in Love
    Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
10. The Worst Person in the World
    Joachim Trier

This list contributes to:

• Les Inrocks: 20 Essential Films of 2021

Les Inrockuptibles: 20 Essential Films of 2021

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

1. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
2. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
3. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
4. Annette
   Leos Carax
5. France
   Bruno Dumont
6. Bergman Island
   Mia Hansen-Løve
7. Anaïs in Love
   Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
8. No Time to Die
   Cary Joji Fukunaga
9. Guermantes
   Christophe Honoré
10. Aline
    Valérie Lemercier
11. Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle
    Arthur Harari
12. Titane
    Julia Ducournau
13. Parallel Mothers
    Pedro Almodóvar
14. All Hands on Deck
    Guillaume Brac
15. The Tsugua Diaries
    Maureen Fazendeiro and Miguel Gomes
16. Old
    M. Night Shyamalan
17. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
18. Benedetta
    Paul Verhoeven
19. Memoria
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
20. Ahed's Knee
    Nadav Lapid

This list summarizes other lists, including these:

• Les Inrocks: Emily Barnett: Top 10 Films of 2021
• Les Inrocks: Marilou Duponchel: Top 10 Films of 2021
• Les Inrocks: Murielle Joudet: Top 6 Films of 2021

Cassie da Costa: Best Films of 2021, as published by Artforum

[see also 21 Most Underrated Movies of 2021 • 10 Best Films of 2020]

1. The Lost Daughter
   Maggie Gyllenhaal
2. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. All Light, Everywhere
   Theo Anthony
4. Working Girls
   Lizzie Borden
5. Zola
   Janicza Bravo
6. Mitski - Working for the Knife
   Zia Anger
7. The Card Counter
   Paul Schrader
8. Respect
   Liesl Tommy
9. The Inheritance
   Ephraim Asili
10. Annette
    Leos Carax

James Quandt: Best Films of 2021, as published by Artforum

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

1. Introduction
   Hong Sang-soo
2. In Front of Your Face
   Hong Sang-soo
3. The Round-Up
   Miklós Jancsó
4. Ahed's Knee
   Nadav Lapid
5. Il Buco
   Michelangelo Frammartino
6. Întregalde
   Radu Muntean
7. Flee
   Jonas Poher Rasmussen
8. Returning to Reims (Fragments)
   Jean-Gabriel Périot
9. Unclenching the Fists
   Kira Kovalenko
10. Dog Star Descending
    Aykan Safoğlu

J Hoberman: Best Films of 2021, as published by Artforum

[see also 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
   Radu Jude
2. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
3. Exterminate All the Brutes
   Raoul Peck
4. On the Royal Road: The Burgher King [book]
   Elfriede Jelinek
5. Undine
   Christian Petzold
6. Paris Calligrammes
   Ulrike Ottinger
7. Lower East Side Trilogy
   Ernie Gehr
8. Paths of Fire II
   Neelon Crawford
9. The Velvet Underground
   Todd Haynes
10. Fire Music
    Tom Surgal