Year-End Lists

Jesse Hassenger: The Best Films of 2021, as published by The A.V. Club

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

1. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
2. The French Dispatch
   Wes Anderson
3. West Side Story
   Steven Spielberg
4. Red Rocket
   Sean Baker
5. Titane
   Julia Ducournau
6. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
7. In the Heights
   Jon M. Chu
8. No Sudden Move
   Steven Soderbergh
9. Spencer
   Pablo Larraín
10. The Green Knight
    David Lowery
11. Pig
    Michael Sarnoski
12. The Tragedy of Macbeth
    Joel Coen
13. Luca
    Enrico Casarosa
14. Werewolves Within
    Josh Ruben
15. Riders of Justice
    Anders Thomas Jensen

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: The Best Films of 2021

Caroline Siede: The Best Films of 2021, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2020 • 2019]

1. C'mon C'mon
   Mike Mills
2. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
   Questlove
3. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
4. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
5. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
6. Being the Ricardos
   Aaron Sorkin
7. The Tragedy of Macbeth
   Joel Coen
8. The Green Knight
   David Lowery
9. The Mitchells vs. the Machines
   Mike Rianda
10. The French Dispatch
    Wes Anderson
11. tick, tick... BOOM!
    Lin-Manuel Miranda
12. Together Together
    Nikole Beckwith
13. Petite Maman
    Céline Sciamma
14. The Eyes of Tammy Faye
    Michael Showalter
15. Flee
    Jonas Poher Rasmussen

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: The Best Films of 2021

Mike D’Angelo: The Best Films of 2021, as published by The A.V. Club

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

1. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2. Pig
   Michael Sarnoski
3. The Killing of Two Lovers
   Robert Machoian
4. French Exit
   Azazel Jacobs
5. Annette
   Leos Carax
6. Enemies of the State
   Sonia Kennebeck
7. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
8. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
9. A Hero
   Asghar Farhadi
10. No Sudden Move
    Steven Soderbergh
11. Passing
    Rebecca Hall
12. Cliff Walkers
    Zhang Yimou
13. About Endlessness
    Roy Andersson
14. I'm Your Man
    Maria Schrader
15. Anne at 13,000 ft
    Kazik Radwanski

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: The Best Films of 2021

Katie Rife: The Best Films of 2021, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
2. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
3. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
   Questlove
5. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
6. The Green Knight
   David Lowery
7. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
   Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
8. The Card Counter
   Paul Schrader
9. Zola
   Janicza Bravo
10. A Hero
    Asghar Farhadi
11. Red Rocket
    Sean Baker
12. Benedetta
    Paul Verhoeven
13. The Lost Daughter
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
14. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
    Josh Greenbaum
15. Titane
    Julia Ducournau

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: The Best Films of 2021

Charles Bramesco: The Best Films of 2021, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Bergman Island
   Mia Hansen-Løve
2. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
   Radu Jude
3. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
4. About Endlessness
   Roy Andersson
5. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
   Josh Greenbaum
6. Annette
   Leos Carax
7. The French Dispatch
   Wes Anderson
8. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
9. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
10. Zola
    Janicza Bravo
11. Days
    Tsai Ming-liang
12. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
13. Red Rocket
    Sean Baker
14. Procession
    Robert Greene
15. The Green Knight
    David Lowery

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: The Best Films of 2021

Carlos Aguilar: The Best Films of 2021, as published by The A.V. Club

1. Identifying Features
   Fernanda Valadez
2. The Souvenir Part II
   Joanna Hogg
3. Flee
   Jonas Poher Rasmussen
4. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
5. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
6. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
7. A Hero
   Asghar Farhadi
8. Parallel Mothers
   Pedro Almodóvar
9. Limbo
   Ben Sharrock
10. Luca
    Enrico Casarosa
11. About Endlessness
    Roy Andersson
12. Belle
    Mamoru Hosoda
13. The Green Knight
    David Lowery
14. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
    Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
15. Quo Vadis, Aida?
    Jasmila Žbanić

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: The Best Films of 2021
• RogerEbert.com: The Ten Best Films of 2021

A.A. Dowd: The Best Films of 2021, as published by The A.V. Club

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

1. The French Dispatch
   Wes Anderson
2. A Hero
   Asghar Farhadi
3. West Side Story
   Steven Spielberg
4. The Disciple
   Chaitanya Tamhane
5. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
6. Red Rocket
   Sean Baker
7. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
8. Procession
   Robert Greene
9. Violation
   Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli
10. Days
    Tsai Ming-liang
11. Quo Vadis, Aida?
    Jasmila Žbanić
12. The Killing of Two Lovers
    Robert Machoian
13. There Is No Evil
    Mohammad Rasoulof
14. Some Kind of Heaven
    Lance Oppenheim
15. I'm Your Man
    Maria Schrader

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: The Best Films of 2021

BuzzFeed: The 30 Best TV Shows of 2021, numbered as follows but seemingly in alphabetical order

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2010s]

1. Baking It
2. The Beatles: Get Back
3. Big Mouth
4. Bo Burnham: Inside
5. Clickbait
6. Dickinson
7. Hacks
8. Hawkeye
9. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
10. Made for Love
11. Mare of Easttown
12. McCartney 3,2,1
13. Midnight Mass
14. Only Murders in the Building
15. The Other Two
16. PEN15
17. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
18. Reservation Dogs
19. Scenes from a Marriage
20. Search Party
21. Squid Game
22. Starstruck
23. Succession
24. Survivor (season 41)
25. Ted Lasso
26. WandaVision
27. What We Do in the Shadows
28. The White Lotus
29. Yellowjackets
30. You

The Guardian: The 20 Best Podcasts of 2021

1. Sweet Bobby
2. Welcome to Your Fantasy
3. Comfort Eating with Grace Dent
4. Slow Burn
5. Day X
6. Unread
7. Grounded with Louis Theroux
8. The Daily
9. Things Fell Apart
10. The Witness: In His Own Words
11. The Battersea Poltergeist
12. The 33 ⅓ Podcast
13. Prison Break
14. The Line
15. Death at the Wing
16. Dear Me
17. Teach Me A Lesson
18. Pieces of Britney
19. The Bias Diagnosis
20. Harsh Reality: The Story of Miriam Rivera

The Atlantic: The 20 Best Books of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2019]

• Assembly
  Natasha Brown
• Always Crashing in the Same Car

  On Art, Crisis, and Los Angeles, California
  Matthew Specktor
• Intimacies
  Katie Kitamura
• The Right to Sex

  Feminism in the Twenty-First Century
  Amia Srinivasan
• Harrow
  Joy Williams
• Being a Human

  Adventures in Forty Thousand Years of Consciousness
  Charles Foster
• Afterparties
  Anthony Veasna So
• All That She Carried

  The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
  Tiya Miles
• Nervous System
  Lina Meruane
• Excavate!

  The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall
  Tessa Norton & Bob Stanley
• Klara and the Sun
  Kazuo Ishiguro
• What Noise Against the Cane
  Desiree C. Bailey
• Empire of Pain

  The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
  Patrick Radden Keefe
• Detransition, Baby
  Torrey Peters
• Crying in H Mart
  Michelle Zauner
• The Life of the Mind
  Christine Smallwood
• Invisible Child

  Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
  Andrea Elliott
• Milk Blood Heat
  Dantiel W. Moniz
• The Book of Difficult Fruit

  Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly
  Kate Lebo
• No One Is Talking About This
  Patricia Lockwood