Top 10 films of 2021 (so far)
We are almost a week into the Euros and we’re now past the midway point of June – so it is time to sit back and assess the first six months of the year in film.
For us all, it’s still a relativity new experience to be back in the cinema. But that doesn’t seem to have slowed down the release of new movies. In 2021, I’ve already seen around 100: many have been great, some okay, and there’s a few so bad I hope I never lay my eyes on them again!
Here is my top 10 films of the year so far, presented to you in the knowledge it is totally different from everyone’s list. But that is the joy of being a critic: we learn to agree to disagree – and are richer for it.
So, in no particular order, these are the outstanding movies I have seen since January…
Dear Comrads
This is based on a true story that took place in the USSR in 1962. As food prices increase yet again throughout the Soviet bloc, workers in a small industrial town go on strike in protest. The government moves quickly to quash the uprising and the ensuing massacre is seen through the eyes of a Party member. Filmed in stark black and white, this is a disturbing and unsettling look at a dark moment in history. Some of the images are still with me.
Quo Vadis Ada?
Another bleak film yes, but again an important slice of history. Ada is a translator for the United Nations as it seeks to bring peace in the 1990s Balkans conflict. But when the Serbian army overruns her town, she embarks on a desperate search to find her family. Have no doubts, this is a moving and shattering experience and a ‘must see’ film.
Identifying Features
A mother travels in the dangerous ‘badlands’ spanning the border between the US and Mexico as she looks for her son, who she has been told is dead. This is a compelling drama that had me hooked from the moment the titles started rolling.
The Dig
Ralph Fiennes, Lilly James and Carey Mulligan star in this delightful story of discovery, friendship and love as they set about discovering a long-buried Anglo-Saxon longship in 1930s Suffolk. For the history buffs among us, this is the true tale of the finding of the treasure known as the 'Sutton Hoo horde'.
Minari
I absolutely loved this Oscar-nominated film about a Korean family setting up a farm in Arkansas and the diverse bunch of characters the came across in the local community. Funny and moving, this is pure joy from start to finish.
Promising Young Woman
Another Oscar-nominated film, it’s a tale of revenge. Carey Mulligan (in another stellar role) is the young lady seeking to avenge those who wronged her in the past. It’s quite violent but great fun.
Cruella
This is the most ‘unDisney’ Disney film you will ever see! It’s manic, frantic, violent, sad, funny, and thoroughly entertaining. It has a killer soundtrack and Emma Stone delivers a tremendous performance in the title role (although Britain’s Emma Thomson steals the show as the evil Baroness).
Nobody
Talking of killer soundtracks, this film has the best use of You’ll Never Walk Alone in a film since Carousel. Bob Odenkirk (of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fame) is a mild-mannered bloke who goes on the rampage when a bunch of bad guys come after his family, unleashing the beast within. Basically, he’s a one-man A-team. Christopher Lloyd joins in and there is an awful lot of fun to be had watching Odenkirk going about his business.
After Love
This is notable for an incredible performance by Joanna Scanlan, who plays widowed Muslim woman who discovers her husband led a double life in France. I left the screening with ‘something in my eye’. It’s a simple story told superbly well.
A Quiet Place Part 2
This first lockdown delayed the original release of this film, but boy, it was worth the wait! Picking up where the first film left off, Emily Blunt and her family are still in hiding from the aliens who ‘see with their ears’… It’s scary, thrilling and exhilarating.
So that’s my top 10 of the year so far. Enjoy wading through them at your leisure.
Andy Godfrey is a film critic for Sorted and a member of the Mark Kermode Appreciation Society.