Year-End Lists

The Film Stage: Top 50 Films of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
2. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
3. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
4. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
5. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
6. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
7. West Side Story
   Steven Spielberg
8. The Card Counter
   Paul Schrader
9. Red Rocket
   Sean Baker
10. Annette
    Leos Carax
11. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
12. days
13. Petite Maman
    Céline Sciamma
14. Dune
    Denis Villeneuve
15. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
16. Titane
    Julia Ducournau
17. Spencer
    Pablo Larraín
18. Undine
    Christian Petzold
19. Parallel Mothers
    Pedro Almodóvar
20. The Last Duel
    Ridley Scott
21. The Matrix Resurrections
    Lana Wachowski
22. In the Heights
    Jon M. Chu
23. Zeros and Ones
    Abel Ferrara
24. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
    Aleksandre Koberidze
25. Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time
    various directors
26. The Beatles: Get Back
    Peter Jackson
27. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Questlove
28. Benedetta
    Paul Verhoeven
29. C'mon C'mon
    Mike Mills
30. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
31. Quo Vadis, Aida?
    Jasmila Žbanić
32. Mass
    Fran Kranz
33. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
    Josh Greenbaum
34. The Green Knight
    David Lowery
35. Shiva Baby
    Emma Seligman
36. The French Dispatch
    Wes Anderson
37. Wife of a Spy
    Kiyoshi Kurosawa
38. Slow Machine
    Joe DeNardo and Paul Felten
39. Passing
    Rebecca Hall
40. Cry Macho
    Clint Eastwood
41. All Light, Everywhere
    Theo Anthony
42. The Woman Who Ran
    Hong Sang-soo
43. Ema
    Pablo Larraín
44. The Tragedy of Macbeth
    Joel Coen
45. Test Pattern
    Shatara Michelle Ford
46. Flee
    Jonas Poher Rasmussen
47. Bad Trip
    Kitao Sakurai
48. CODA
    Sian Heder
49. Nine Days
    Edson Oda
50. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
    Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese