Year-End Lists

Film Comment: Best Films of 2021, a poll of the magazine's contributors and colleagues

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

1. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. The Souvenir Part II
   Joanna Hogg
4. Annette
   Leos Carax
5. Days
   Tsai Ming-liang
6. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
7. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
8. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
   Aleksandre Koberidze
9. Benedetta
   Paul Verhoeven
10. Undine
    Christian Petzold
11. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
12. The Velvet Underground
    Todd Haynes
13. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
14. El Planeta
    Amalia Ulman
15. Licorice Pizza
    Paul Thomas Anderson
16. The Woman Who Ran
    Hong Sang-soo
17. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
18. The Inheritance
    Ephraim Asili
19. Parallel Mothers
    Pedro Almodóvar
20. Titane
    Julia Ducournau

This list summarizes other lists, including these:

• Film Comment Poll: Florence Almozini: Best Films of 2021

Screen Slate: Best Movies of 2021, as voted on by contributors, friends, and filmmakers. Also visit the site to check out their collection of first viewings and discoveries, submitted by contributors, friends, critics, and filmmakers.

[see also 2022 • 2020]

1. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
2. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
3. Benedetta
   Paul Verhoeven
4. Annette
   Leos Carax
5. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
   Radu Jude
6. The Souvenir Part II
   Joanna Hogg
7. Days
   Tsai Ming-liang
8. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
   Aleksandre Koberidze
9. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
10. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
11. Licorice Pizza
    Paul Thomas Anderson
12. France
    Bruno Dumont
13. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
14. About Endlessness
    Roy Andersson
15. El Planeta
    Amalia Ulman
16. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
17. Zola
    Janicza Bravo
18. Titane
    Julia Ducournau
19. Faya Dayi
    Jessica Beshir
20. The Velvet Underground
    Todd Haynes

This list summarizes other lists, including these:

• Screen Slate: Chloe Lizotte: Best Movies of 2021

Electric Lit: Favorite Poetry Collections of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022]

• Pilgrim Bell
  Kaveh Akbar
• The Renunciations
  Donika Kelly

Other favorites in alphabetical order

• The Wild Fox of Yemen
  Threa Almontaser
• Doppelgangbanger
  Cortney Lamar Charleston
• Hoarders
  Kate Durbin
• Sho
  Douglas Kearney
• My Darling from the Lions
  Rachel Long
• Black Girl, Call Home
  Jasmine Mans
• The Sunflower Cast a Spell To Save Us From The Void
  Jackie Wang
• How to Not Be Afraid of Everything
  Jane Wong

The Guardian: The 50 Best Albums of 2021

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

1. Prioritise Pleasure
   Self Esteem
2. Blue Weekend
   Wolf Alice
3. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
   Little Simz
4. Ignorance
   The Weather Station
5. Call Me If You Get Lost
   Tyler, The Creator
6. Nine
   Sault
7. New Long Leg
   Dry Cleaning
8. Sour
   Olivia Rodrigo
9. Collapsed in Sunbeams
   Arlo Parks
10. Afrique Victime
    Mdou Moctar
11. Seventeen Going Under
    Sam Fender
12. Heaux Tales
    Jazmine Sullivan
13. Jubilee
    Japanese Breakfast
14. Montero
    Lil Nas X
15. Carnage
    Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
16. Infinite Granite
    Deafheaven
17. Colourgrade
    Tirzah
18. Glow On
    Turnstile
19. We're All Alone in This Together
    Dave
20. Vulture Prince
    Arooj Aftab
21. Coral Island
    The Coral
22. Pink Noise
    Laura Mvula
23. Promises
    Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / London Symphony Orchestra
24. Happier Than Ever
    Billie Eilish
25. Sound Ancestors
    Madlib
26. As The Love Continues
    Mogwai
27. Daddy's Home
    St. Vincent
28. Star-Crossed
    Kacey Musgraves
29. Sling
    Clairo
30. Man Made
    Greentea Peng
31. Hey What
    Low
32. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
    Cassandra Jenkins
33. to hell with it
    PinkPantheress
34. I Don’t Live Here Anymore
    The War on Drugs
35. a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun
    Aly & AJ
36. im hole
    aya
37. Sensational
    Erika de Casier
38. On All Fours
    Goat Girl
39. Flowers for Vases / Descansos
    Hayley Williams
40. Chemtrails over the Country Club
    Lana Del Rey
41. Quivering In Time
    Eris Drew
42. Fortitude
    Gojira
43. Made Out Of Sound
    Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt
44. For the First Time
    Black Country, New Road
45. For Those I Love
    For Those I Love
46. Busy Guy
    Stephen Fretwell
47. WINK
    CHAI
48. Home Video
    Lucy Dacus
49. Diorama
    MØL
50. Magic Still Exists
    Agnes

Spencer Kornhaber: The 10 Best Albums of 2021, as published by The Atlantic

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2017]

1. New Long Leg
   Dry Cleaning
2. KicK iii
   Arca
3. Outside Child
   Allison Russell
4. Call Me If You Get Lost
   Tyler, The Creator
5. fishmonger
   underscores
6. Solar Power
   Lorde
7. SoulFly
   Rod Wave
8. True North (Deluxe)
   Ninajirachi & Kota Banks
9. Heaux Tales
   Jazmine Sullivan
10. My Parade
    ​iLoveMakonnen

Mary Ann Gwinn: The 5 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021, as published by The Los Angeles Times

[see also 2022]

• Empire of Pain

  The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
  Patrick Radden Keefe
• The Agitators

  Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women's Rights
  Dorothy Wickenden
• Facing the Mountain

  A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II
  Daniel James Brown
• Oscar Wilde

  A Life
  Matthew Sturgis
• The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden
  Peter L. Bergen

Mark Athitakis: The 5 Best Fiction Books of 2021, as published by The Los Angeles Times

[see also 2023 • 2022]

• Crossroads
  Jonathan Franzen
• Afterparties
  Anthony Veasna So
• Damnation Spring
  Ash Davidson
• Wayward
  Dana Spiotta
• Zorrie
  Laird Hunt

Barack Obama: Favorite Movies of 2021, as posted to Twitter

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

• Drive My Car
  Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
• Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
  Questlove
• West Side Story
  Steven Spielberg
• The Power of the Dog
  Jane Campion
• Pig
  Michael Sarnoski
• Passing
  Rebecca Hall
• The Card Counter
  Paul Schrader
• Judas and the Black Messiah
  Shaka King
• The Worst Person in the World
  Joachim Trier
• Old Henry
  Potsy Ponciroli
• The Last Duel
  Ridley Scott
• The Tragedy of Macbeth
  Joel Coen
• C'mon C'mon
  Mike Mills
• Quo Vadis, Aida?
  Jasmila Žbanić

Barack Obama: Favorite Books of 2021, as posted to Twitter

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

• Matrix
  Lauren Groff
• How the Word Is Passed

  A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
  Clint Smith
• The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
  Dawnie Walton
• The Lincoln Highway
  Amor Towles
• Invisible Child

  Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
  Andrea Elliott
• Harlem Shuffle
  Colson Whitehead
• Cloud Cuckoo Land
  Anthony Doerr
• These Precious Days
  Ann Patchett
• Crying in H Mart
  Michelle Zauner
• Aftershocks
  Nadia Owusu
• Crossroads
  Jonathan Franzen
• The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
  Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
• Beautiful Country
  Qian Julie Wang

Books I Recommended Earlier This Year

• At Night All Blood Is Black
  David Diop
• Land of Big Numbers
  Te-Ping Chen
• Empire of Pain

  The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
  Patrick Radden Keefe
• Project Hail Mary
  Andy Weir
• When We Cease to Understand the World
  Benjamin Labatut
• Under a White Sky

  The Nature of the Future
  Elizabeth Kolbert
• Things We Lost to the Water
  Eric Nguyen
• Leave the World Behind
  Rumaan Alam
• Klara and the Sun
  Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Sweetness of Water
  Nathan Harris
• Intimacies
  Katie Kitamura

Clash Magazine: Albums of the Year 2021

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

1. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
   Little Simz
2. We're All Alone in This Together
   Dave
3. Collapsed in Sunbeams
   Arlo Parks
4. Sensational
   Erika de Casier
5. Call Me If You Get Lost
   Tyler, The Creator
6. Jubilee
   Japanese Breakfast
7. For Those I Love
   For Those I Love
8. Sling
   Clairo
9. The House Is Burning
   Isaiah Rashad
10. still slipping vol. 1
    Joy Orbison
11. The Off-Season
    J. Cole
12. Heaux Tales
    Jazmine Sullivan
13. Conflict of Interest
    Ghetts
14. Bright Green Field
    Squid
15. Promises
    Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / London Symphony Orchestra
16. Deacon
    serpentwithfeet
17. Montero
    Lil Nas X
18. Play With the Changes
    Rochelle Jordan
19. Prioritise Pleasure
    Self Esteem
20. Happier Than Ever
    Billie Eilish
21. Skin
    Joy Crookes
22. Black Metal 2
    Dean Blunt
23. Siren Spine Sysex
    Proc Fiskal
24. Man Made
    Greentea Peng
25. Blue Weekend
    Wolf Alice
26. New Long Leg
    Dry Cleaning
27. Sour
    Olivia Rodrigo
28. Mother
    Cleo Sol
29. Honest Labour
    Space Afrika
30. Fatigue
    L'Rain
31. Provisional Licence
    M1llionz
32. Carnage
    Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
33. Nine
    Sault
34. Hushed and Grim
    Mastodon
35. Agor
    Koreless
36. Balance
    Children Of Zeus
37. Sound Ancestors
    Madlib
38. Hey What
    Low
39. Back of My Mind
    H.E.R.
40. 30
    Adele
41. Glow On
    Turnstile
42. Colourgrade
    Tirzah
43. Reflection
    Loraine James
44. Absolutely
    Dijon
45. Chemtrails over the Country Club
    Lana Del Rey
46. Ignorance
    The Weather Station
47. SHILOH: Lost For Words
    John Glacier
48. Talk Memory
    BADBADNOTGOOD
49. As The Love Continues
    Mogwai
50. Fell in Love in Brasil
    Jevon
51. Seventeen Going Under
    Sam Fender
52. An Evening with Silk Sonic
    Silk Sonic
53. Frame of a Fauna
    Ouri
54. Vince Staples
    Vince Staples
55. The Melodic Blue
    Baby Keem
56. Human Again
    Joy Anonymous
57. Still Over It
    Summer Walker
58. Quivering In Time
    Eris Drew
59. Utopian Ashes
    Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth
60. Friends That Break Your Heart
    James Blake