Richard Whittaker's Top 10 Films of 2021
The Chronicle's Culture desk editor makes his list
By Richard Whittaker, 5:30PM, Mon. Dec. 20, 2021
In a year packed with incredible releases reviewed by my sterling team of critics in these very pages, it's sometimes been hard to select the very best movies that came out in 2021: but here's my choices.
1) Pig
Nicolas Cage as a man dealing with the last great loss of his life in an uncategorizable and beautiful tale.2) The Mitchells vs. The Machines
The Spider-Verse team drop this year’s most dysfunctional and loving family into a hilarious and chaotically wondrous robo-apocaylpse.3) Mass
Four parents, one room, one impossible tragedy. The American gun crisis stripped back to its emotional core.4) The Souvenir: Part II
Joanna Hogg’s semi-autobiographical sequel only enhances the first film.5) The Power of the Dog
Benedict Cumberbatch grasps the murky moral core of a broken man in Jane Campion’s chilling frontier drama.6) Minari
A welcome repost to the generic immigration story, overflowing with compassion for a family that struggles through.7) Dune
Denis Villeneuve takes the time to dismantle the white savior narrative that Frank Herbert didn’t subvert until his later books, an act that fits his SF epic.8) The Killing of Two Lovers
An Andrew Wyeth painting come to life, in a keening portrait of a man struggling to maintain his life.9) The Humans
Family as claustrophobia. Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his own Broadway smash melds Chekov, Beckett, and Roeg.10) Red Rocket
An object lesson in presenting a likable but despicable protagonist. Simon Rex is astounding as a vile but charming manchild.
Near Misses
Last Night in Soho, The Green Knight, CODA
Most Overrated
Titane, No Time to Die, Spencer
Most Underrated
The Killing of Two Lovers, CODA, Lapsis, The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Wild Card
As the sell-out and self-betraying Chef Derek Finway in Pig, David Knell showed that even the smallest supporting part can be impactful. His line delivery about Scotch Eggs is a lifetime of emotion.
Acting Kudos (Male)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog, Electrical Life of Louis Wain), Nic Cage (Pig), Stephen Yuen (Minari)
Acting Kudos (Female)
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog), Kathryn Hunter (The Tragedy of Macbeth)
Best Director
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Denis Villeneuve (Dune), Fran Kranz (Mass)
Best Original Screenplay
Pig, Mass, The Mitchells Vs. the Machines
Best Adapted Screenplay
Zola, The Green Knight, The Power of the Dog
TV Series/Event
WandaVision
Worst Film
Old. Boring, mean, with a veneer of technical competence that disguises all its horrible choices.
The Little Film That Could
Sator. The only thing wilder than Jordan Graham’s handmade, homemade and bizarrely personal family horror is the story of how he made it. Check both out.
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May 23, 2025
Top 10s, Top 10 Films of 2021, Top 10s 2021
