Best Films of 2021

4-minute read
Drew Stinnett

These are all new films I watched over the last year. To qualify, the film had to be new-to-me, and pretty close to being released in 2021.

Top 5 In-Theater Films

best-in-theater-films

  • Pig - Best Nic Cage movie of the year, and contender for best film of the year. Not quite what I was expecting to see, but super beautiful and touching all the way through.
  • In the Heights - First solo movie trip of the year. Love this, it was super fun, the music was great, all of the actors were awesome…and the music was sooo good. Also my most re-watched new movie of the year.
  • The Green Knight - Not really what the trailer led us to believe it would be, but really cool and all around weird mood and setting.
  • Lamb - Another weird movie that relied on the strange setting. Not gonna lie, sometimes I feel like we treat the cats the way the couple treats the lamb here.
  • Halloween Kills - People seem to generally hate this one, but I loved it. The dialogue was awful, but the characters were great. I loved how they put time in to building each character up before brutally killing them.

Full List of movies we saw in the theater

Top 5 Foreign Language Films

Ok, there are only 4, and that’s stretching it.

best-foreign-films

  • Titane - Another best overall this year. I love how when I tell people what the plot of this thing is, they look at me like I’m a crazy person.
  • Lamb - One good way to keep me watching a foreign language film is to have minimal dialogue, this movie gets that.
  • Benedetta - Super weird Verhoeven movie about a nun who is literally in love with Jesus (I think?). Very French, but still a great movie.
  • Wrath of Man - Jason Statham being all cool. I know it’s technically still English, but the accents are pretty heavy, so it counts.

Top 5 Horror Films

Rearranged this a little to get some duplicates out

best-horror-films

  • Psycho Goreman - Weird alien horror comedy about a couple kids who can command a weird ancient alien to do their bidding. Ready for more things in this universe!
  • Bloody Hell - Strange schlocky B-movie that didn’t really leave a long term impression, but loved it immediatly after watching.
  • Wrong Turn - Reboot of the beloved Wrong Turn series. Objectively probably a pretty bad movie overall, but it had some cool twists, and I loved the setting in the Virginia mountains.
  • In the Earth - Favorite Ben Wheatley movie of the past few years. Films during quarantine with a small cast and smaller setting, had some really creepy moments and a couple really gross parts that had me holding my hands over my eyes.
  • Candyman - Great movie, but it got a little spoiled in the previews. Overall loved it, great acting, great writing, really cool way to re-imagine the whole Candyman lore, but keep it true to the first film.

Honorable mention to Halloween Kills, Malignant and Fear Street: 1994

Top 5 Documentaries

All y’all thinking I only watch Horror…guess what, there’s a bunch of documentaries too!

best-documentaries

  • In Search of Darkeness: Part II - Part 2 of a 3 part series on 80’s horror. Really goes in depth into lots of films.
  • Val - Lots of footage of Val Kilmer through the years, documenting his rise to fame, sickness, and current state. Lots of sadness, but also lots of happiness.
  • Yung Lean: In My Head - Interesting portrait of the Swedish Rapper, living a compressed rockstar lifestyle before he turns 20, and how he survived.
  • Feels Good Man - Artist trying to get his Pepe creation back from the alt-right crazies.
  • The Dissident - Jamal Khashoggi doc. 😪

Worst 5

Not counting low budget horror that just didn’t connect, these are the worst films of the year that had a good budget, but awful execution.

worst