Best films of 2021

These are the best films I watched that were released in the UK in 2021. There are some films that were technically out in 2020 but didn’t get a UK release until this year.

This list will also be in no particular order as I can’t make up my mind as to what the literal best film I watched last year was.

My Top Films of 2021

Undine directed by Christian Petzold

Perhaps my biggest film discovery of 2021 was the work of Christian Petzold, an arthouse director from Germany. I was utterly blown away by Undine which had its UK premiere in 2021 on Mubi (I swear I talk about this platform too much but it’s literally the best!). Alongside the film, they have a collection of his work called Phantoms Among Us: The Films of Christian Petzold and it was amazing to go through nearly all of the films he’s made, from short art pieces to full-blown masterpieces.

Undine is magical and has fast become one of my all-time faves due to its intoxicating mix of myth, architecture and romance. Sublime. Read my full review for Undine here.

Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve

I have mixed feelings about Dune. I enjoyed the book but it was a struggle to get through in places and in a similar way I found the movie enjoyable but also a little tough to get into. Sometimes it felt too big and hollow as personally, we didn’t get enough time to build up a connection with the characters, in this respect, a mammoth-like Dune would work better as a tv series, think 8 or 10 1 hour episodes. I also found that while the film is beautifully shot the colour palette was a little boring and later on in the movies in the scenes where the film flicks between broad daylight (dream) and darkness (reality), it really hurt my eyes.

Everything else was wonderful. I loved the casting. I will watch anything with Oscar Isaac in and Rebecca Ferguson played Jessica amazingly. Zendaya was in the film for the briefest moments but she was enchanting as Chani and Timothee Chalamet was the perfect choice for Paul. My only gripe with performances was that Dave Bautista was a bit too over the top but I can live with it.

The soundtrack was A+ ( I mean Hans Zimmer is always a winner) and the movie has made me want to continue reading the series so I guess that’s good too. I think I overhyped the movie because I love Villeneuve‘s work especially his Sci-fi stuff but I have to say I think a re-watch will make me love the movie more.

Spencer directed by Pablo Larrain

Like the ghost of Anne Boleyn haunts Diana in the movie this film is going to haunt my mind for a while. I was blown away by how emotionally raw it was and the fact that Kristen Stewart disappeared into the role perfectly, I suspect an Oscar might be on the horizon. The cinematography was perfection and the fuzziness of the film stock and colour palette felt dreamy and almost a little haunting in itself.

Don’t Look Up directed by Adam McKay

Satire at its best. The comet is obviously a metaphor for the climate crisis and it works really well. I can’t believe that the absurdity of this film is so close to reality but it most definitely is, and that’s quite scary. Probably the best comedy I watched in 2021. And finally, I would totally become unhinged if this happened in real life.

The Matrix: Resurrections directed by Lana Wachowski

Lana Wachowski, I love your mind. This was a brilliant sequel that was technically not needed and could have been a blatant studio cash in on 90’s nostalgia and the popularity of movie franchises - maybe it still is and maybe I’m one of the only people that really enjoyed this film, but tbh I don’t care. What Lana made Resurrections into was actually really beautiful. Born out of losing her parents (and the fear of the studio doing a sequel with or without her) she resurrected Neo and Trinity and she created a film all about love and the power it can have as a force of good.

I also loved how the film comments on the real world, especially through Neo aka Thomas Anderson being dosed up on blue pills to make him a ‘functioning’ member of society and the fact that Trinity aka Tiffany was made into a mother, perhaps out of expectation rather than a real desire to become one. There’s also a scene in an elevator where everyone is staring at a screen except for Anderson, people are willfully enslaved to tech and the Matrix has weaponised everything. Even memories are bent into ‘fiction’ to keep people oblivious. Genius.

If you’ve ever watched the sensational tv series Sense8 which was also created by Lana then you’ll also be delighted to see many familiar faces appearing in the movie. And thematically there’s a cross over too. Togetherness and love are weapons for good and in the 60 years after the events of the original trilogy, some machines and humans are working together, there is no us vs them anymore. and really Neo was never really ‘The One’, he was made whole by Trinity, so really together they are The One, and that’s just fucking beautiful.

Another Round directed by Thomas Vinterberg

Thomas Vintergberg and Mads Mikkelesen are a cinematic force to be reckoned with, The Hunt (<- click to read the review) is one of the best films I’ve ever seen and their 2nd collaboration is just as electric. I will watch anything Mads Mikkelesen is in, I have watched some absolute shit because he’s in it and tbh I will also watch anything Vinterberg makes because he’s a brilliant director, even that weird sci-fi film he made after Festen…I will watch it!

Another Round is funny, earnest and heartbreaking and looks at life in a very beautiful way and I think it’s the kind of film we all needed in 2021 because shit has been super dark these past 2 years. Also that final scene is a revelation and instantly iconic…what a life!!!

Passing directed by Rebecca Hall

Rebecca Hall’s first film as director, Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson in lead roles, beautiful black and white cinematography and a tinkling jazz motif. This film was amazing, and so dark and complex. Every cinematographic choice made is deliberate and works to function as a riff on the idea of passing and how limiting and restrictive society can be. I have as a result of watching Passing bought the book it was based on by Nella Larson because I just have to delve more into it.

The Green Knight directed by David Lowery

Yikes, this was a depressing film, but it was an absolute piece of art. Taking one of the most famous 14th-century chivalric romances and turning it into a dizzying cinematic journey of operatic proportions is just genius. This is the kind of film that only comes around every so often and it is something to behold, unfortunately in the UK we didn’t really get much of a cinematic release so I had to watch it at home, and I literally ended up watching it on new years eve as I was putting it off for a while out of annoyance. Also, on a side note, the fox was really cute and I would never have volunteered to face the Green Knight because I’m an absolute coward.

Did I cry? Yes, quite a few times actually. I don’t really know why but I think it’s because I’ve been feeling quite emotional recently and I’ve also been feeling really unwell all over the Christmas period and there’s also been a return to death-related panic attacks that I wrote about last year here.

Shiva Baby directed by Emma Seligman

Stressful to watch and sometimes feels like a horror movie, Shiva Baby has to be one of the most fascinating and darkly amusing films of 2021. The concept hooked me and Seligman certainly delivered. It’s funny, awkward and in parts rather unsettling, especially in certain moments when the cinematography creates an air of immense claustrophobia and the soundtrack becomes overpowering and completely discordant.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings directed by Destin Daniel Cretton

Was Shang-Chi kinda just the usual father-son conflict plot? For the most part yes, but was it infinitely better because the legend that is Tony Leung Chiu-wai played Shang-Chi’s father? Absolutely! I do kind of feel like Leung overshadowed Simu Liu’s main character slightly but it’s hard not to when he is such a compelling actor. I am still in awe of that dance-like fight between Xu Wenwu and Yi Ling! But I must admit the bus fight scene was epic too.

Most Disappointing film

The Eternals

While Eternals wasn’t the worst film I watched last year it was certainly the one that disappointed me the most which is perhaps my own fault for overhyping it!

Was the film beautiful to look at? Yes, Chloé Zhao shoots some of this film like its arthouse, especially the natural landscapes and I loved that. Was the cast ground-breaking? Yes, I loved the diversity of the characters on display, there are different races and cultures, and also the first gay and deaf superheroes in the MCU. Why didn’t I like it that much then? The plot. I didn’t feel like we had enough time with these characters, if anything maybe a mini-series would have served them better, or perhaps its on me and perhaps I should have read some of their comics before to get a taste for the characters.

There were characters I liked, for example the bond between Angelina Jolie’s Thena and Ma Dong-seok’s Gilgamesh (why did he have to die!) was beautiful and I loved how he stayed by her side through the centuries and protected her, I also loved Makkari, I thought she was a brilliant character and her relationship with Druig was endearing…in fact I think every other character was more interesting than Sersi and Ikaris - who are supposed to be the main anchors of the film! Even Kingo and his valet had more chemistry with each other! Also, half the film was exposition and I did find it hard to hear what Arishem was saying because I have tinnitus!

I think I will watch it again when It arrives on Disney+ just to see if I was being too harsh and that maybe I was just in a weird mood as when I watched the trailer I felt like the film was going to be one of my faves in the MCU and it just didn’t hit me the way I thought it would!

However, I am super excited for Kit Harrington’s Black Knight because we got a voice cameo from none other than Blade!!! I loved the Wesley Snipes movies as a kid and I think Mahershala Ali is absolutely going to kill the role

Directors I Admire Part II

This blog post is a sequel to a post I wrote last year or the year before about film directors who inspire me (Check out Part I here). Naturally, I have discovered and watched many more “new” (only in the sense that I had not watched their films before) directors since that list, so I felt like it was time to revisit the concept. There will probably be a Part III so stay tuned for that whenever it drops lol.

Steve McQueen

Originally a video artist, McQueen broke into the film industry with his impressive feature-length debut Hunger, a harrowing tale of Bobby Sands a member of the IRA who went on a hunger strike and ultimately died while in prison. But for me, it was Shame that made me really take notice of his talent. Once again starring Michael Fassbender, Shame tells the story of a sex addict who’s meticulous lifestyle is interrupted by the reappearance of his bold and lively sister. And of course, it would be impossible to not mention 12 Years A Slave, which is honestly one of the most excruciating and powerful films I have ever watched.

I haven’t actually seen McQueen’s Small Axe anthology series which is available on BBC iPlayer (UK) and Amazon (Everywhere else?) but I’m sure I will shortly.

Thomas Vinterberg

Vinterberg is a Danish director and was responsible for co-creating the Dogma-95 movement alongside Lars Von Trier (another Danish auteur that I think is brilliant). The ten rules of Dogma were created to strip back filmmaking and make it simple and honest. Out of those rules, Vinterberg created his breakout film Festen (The Celebration) which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998 and many other awards. Vinterberg has since shed the dogma doctrine and has gone on to make some phenomenal films, but there is still that sense of purity that remains in his filmmaking which I think is one of the reasons why I like his films so much. It’s safe to say that I am very much looking forward to his next film Druk (Another Round) on which he reunites with his Jagten (The Hunt) lead actor Mads Mikkelsen (TBH I will watch anything Mads is in 😍but that’s beside the point as I think this film could be Vinterberg’s magnus opus!).

David Fincher

Fight Club is one of my favourite films and its one that you can return to over and over again. And despite being a complete bibliophile, I actually think the film is better than the book it was based on, sacrilege I know! I have watched most of Fincher’s other films and have enjoyed them, but Fight Club stands out from the rest of them, for me anyway.

Luca Guadagnino

Guadagnino creates gorgeous looking films just watch any of his most recent efforts: Call Me By Your Name, A Bigger Splash or Suspiria, and it’s obvious why he would inspire anyone. But for me, it was particularly CMBYN that made me really interested in his work, I love the mood he creates in the film, he shoots Italy most beautifully, and it makes me nostalgic for a time and place I never have and will never be.

Barry Jenkins

Barry Jenkins came onto my radar through his oscar-winning film Moonlight. It’s a powerful examination of a young man at different stages in his life coming to terms with his sexuality and what it means to be a black man in America. The film is based on a play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue (written by the co-writer of the film’s script) and Jenkins plays with this striking visual motif throughout the film by showing Chiron at his most vulnerable when he is in the moonlight. I am yet to watch If Beale Street Could Talk, but it is high up on my list, and I will be reading the James Baldwin novel it is based on before watching it.

Autumn de Wilde

Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. is a tour de force of aestheticism and pure literary joy. Wilde is a photographer turned director with currently only one film under her belt, which is what makes Emma. so great, it’s an artists film. Everything tells a story, from the costumes to the set design. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Wong Kar-Wai

Like with a lot of the directors on this list I have only watched one of Wong Kar-Wai’s films, however, I am utterly obsessed with it. In the Mood for Love is one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema I have ever watched and it has very quickly become one of my favourite films. The use of colour, the framing of shots, the soundtrack, the writing, the acting. The whole film is a masterpiece. I can’t wait to watch more from Wong and luckily I recently nabbed a copy of Chunking Express on eBay that wasn’t extortionately priced!

Céline Sciamma

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is pure art; there is no denying it. I wrote a rather gushing review on the film after watching it because it blew me away so much and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, in fact, I still think about it now, what can I say I’m a sucker for unfulfilled romances. Films like this make me fall even deeper in love with cinema (if that’s even possible).

Yorgos Lanthimos

Lanthimos has quickly become synonymous with dark and quirky films thanks to The Favourite, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Dogtooth. It is clear that Lanthimos is a visionary and has a very specific film aesthetic, and I found that I was hooked on his films ever since watching The Lobster. Lanthimos is a huge inspiration for me as he started making films on practically no budget, and now is he is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. His most recent film is a short called Nimic and at 12 mins long it’s phenomenal and so freaking creepy!

Let me know in the comments section who your favourite directors are.

Danish Cinema: Festen (The Celebration or Dogme #1) Review

Festen is Thomas Vinterberg’s first and only film under the Dogme Manifesto. The manifesto of 10 rules that he and Lars Von Trier created was an experiment in filmmaking and a way to create purity within in the process. Dogme was also an anarchist movement against cinematic convention, a game if you will. They set themselves a challenge and found that great films could be made under strict limitations. However, Dogme became fashionable (there’s Dogme furniture in Denmark!) and no longer a rebellion, which is why Festen is Vinterberg’s first and only Dogme film.

Festen follows a family gathering that turns into chaos and darkness after the eldest son, Christian makes a speech that reveals that he was sexually abused as a child by his father. What makes Festen a compelling watch is how information is slowly drip-fed to the audience; it’s as if we are also guests at the party, learning the truth as events unfold. Moreover, the Dogme filming style furthers this feeling of being one of the guests. The lo-fi lighting and home movie quality of the footage allows us to experience the story as if it is real and that it is us behind the camera capturing the party as it spirals out of control.

Indeed, it is high praise if Bergman himself tells you that your film is a masterpiece, and that’s precisely what happened to Vinterberg. Funnily, Vinterberg then confessed that he had ‘stolen’ a scene from Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, the moment where all the guests dance through the house (Bergman then countered that he has stolen that from Visconti’s The Leopard). Personally, that is one of my favourite moments of Festen as it shows how chaotic family gatherings can be. Also, the fact that everyone is partaking in a family tradition while simultaneously trying to carry on as normal and ignore Christian’s shock confession is just so darkly comedic. In fact, because the father is so successful and influential, most people can’t believe the truth, and it is only later in the film in a powerful scene that everything is settled. Still, you are completely sucked into the film willing Christian to get through to people until that crucial moment. 

It should also not come as a surprise that Festen has become a successful stage play, having been performed in 15 different languages thus far. It’s easy to see why due to the compact cast and limited setting (the whole film was shot at Skjoldenæsholm Castle) and I personally would love to see how it translates onto the stage as films are often based on plays rather than becoming one later (to my knowledge that is).

Danish Cinema: Jagten (The Hunt) Review

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Mads Mikkelsen, Jagten tells the story of Lucas, a warm and kind-hearted school teacher ostracised by his small village, when a lie suggesting that he is a paedophile begins to circulate.

Interestingly (and worryingly), Jagten was inspired by many real-life cases in which false accusations have resulted in similar and far worse outcomes than those portrayed in the film. Also, in many ways, this film is almost a companion piece to, or as Vinterberg himself suggests, is an antithesis to Festen (The Celebration), his breakthrough film, which dealt with a similar issue of child abuse.

Vinterberg cleverly juxtaposes the close-knit charm of village life that Lucas is very much ingrained into at the beginning of the film with his sudden ostracization, and these seemingly nice villagers and close friends very quickly become cruel and violent towards him. It’s a study of how a man’s life and a community as a whole are torn apart by a lie.

The Hunt is a hard film to watch as we know Lucas is completely innocent, and this makes it so frustrating to see him subjected to such relentless viciousness. But this is also where the genius of the film lies because people in real life would act in that way, they would attack or be verbally violent towards someone they wholeheartedly believe to be a child molester; it’s wrong but somehow acceptable behaviour.

Vinterberg also makes it very clear that there are no villains in the film, from the innocent Klara, to the best friend and to Lucas himself. They are simply a group of people who have a massive amount of love for each other and are trying to navigate this inexplicable trauma.

Mads Mikkelsen’s portrayal of Lucas is simply perfect. For anyone only familiar with his work in Casino Royale or Hannibal, where he plays calculating villains, this role may seem rather surprising, but Mikkelsen is such a diverse and truthful performer, and naturally, his best performances are often in Danish productions.

Here in Jagten, he demonstrates a stubborn restraint that is really quite moving as he is just a man desperate for his life to go back to normal. As the tension builds through the film, Mikkelsen’s performance becomes more and more compelling, and one of the best scenes of the film takes place in a church on Christmas Eve, and it’s really quite an excruciating moment to watch.

To bring out the realness of the film’s narrative, cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen uses a handheld camera, and as a result, the audience views the action of the film through an almost documentary-like lens. This, coupled with an abundance of close-up shots, lets the performances drive the film, and that is something that recurs throughout Vinterberg’s filmography (a leftover from his Dogme 95 days, no doubt) which showcases the actors inhabiting their roles completely and a search for authentic fragility.

There are also moments of natural beauty, specifically shots of deer sprinting through woodlands while being hunted, an allusion no doubt to the film’s discussion on predators and prey and the witch hunt that threatens to destroy Lucas’ life.

But more than that it also leans into the idea of masculinity; the annual hunt is a big part of the community; it’s a ritual and a time and place for male bonding. Moreover, Lucas’ son Marcus is given a rifle after turning 16, it’s a symbol of him becoming a man, and perhaps Lucas is symbolically nearly shot at the close of the film to symbolise his loss of masculine power and his lingering ostracisation from his fellow hunters.

In conclusion, I feel like The Hunt is perhaps one of the best films made in the 2010s because of its complex and dynamic story that is both important (in a socio-political sense) and compelling to watch. It features sublime cinematography and a career-best performance from Denmark’s greatest actor working today. This is Vinterberg’s masterpiece.

Danish Cinema: Elsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts) film review

Elsker dig for evigt (lit translates to Love you Forever) is Susanne Bier’s first and only film under the Dogme 95 manifesto. It follows two couples in the aftermath of a car accident that changes their lives irrevocably.

The film’s narrative is simple but effective; Cecilie and Joachim, who are engaged to be married, have their lives thrown into chaos when Joachim is paralysed by a car accident. During his rehabilitation in the hospital, Cecile meets Niels, a doctor who also happens to be the husband of the woman responsible for Joachim’s accident.

The drama and intrigue of this film stem from the complex interlinking of these individuals and how love heals and destroys people.

Due to the very nature of this film being a Dogme 95 film, it is very lo-fi, but that only adds to the absorption of the narrative. The natural lighting and handheld camera cinematography bring you closer to the story; it’s as if real lives are unfolding in front of you.

As always, Mads Mikkelsen stands out, there is just something about his acting that is so compelling, and his performance as a man torn between his family and a forbidden romance is fascinating.

With this film being my first foray into the Dogme 95 movement, it was jarring at first to see low lighting, almost student film-like footage, but I was soon hooked by the performances and story.

Dogme 95 is fascinating because the idea is to strip back the filmmaking process, to cast away the superficialities of the genre, special effects and post-production. It’s raw filmmaking at its best, and I am really intrigued to check out Vinterberg’s Festen (Celebration), which was the first official Dogme 95 film to be made and Von Trier’s Idioterne (The Idiots) because, well, it’s Von Trier, I am kinda fascinated by his filmography.

And maybe I will end up checking out the full roster of Dogme 95 films, there being 35 in total. Also, I feel quite inspired to make movies when I watch films like this because it shows that a low-budget film can be utterly compelling if done well.