Year-End Lists

Nick Schager: The Best Movies of 2021, as published by Esquire

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. The Tragedy of Macbeth
   Joel Coen
2. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
3. About Endlessness
   Roy Andersson
4. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
5. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
6. Identifying Features
   Fernanda Valadez
7. Quo Vadis, Aida?
   Jasmila Žbanić
8. All Light, Everywhere
   Theo Anthony
9. State Funeral
   Sergei Loznitsa
10. Riders of Justice
    Anders Thomas Jensen
11. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
12. Procession
    Robert Greene
13. Pig
    Michael Sarnoski
14. The Village Detective: a song cycle
    Bill Morrison
15. No Sudden Move
    Steven Soderbergh
16. Memoria
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
17. Passing
    Rebecca Hall
18. Petite Maman
    Céline Sciamma
19. Come True
    Anthony Scott Burns
20. Saint Maud
    Rose Glass
21. The Green Knight
    David Lowery
22. A Glitch in the Matrix
    Rodney Ascher
23. The Beta Test
    Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe
24. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
25. The Disciple
    Chaitanya Tamhane
26. Sabaya
    Hogir Hirori
27. Undine
    Christian Petzold
28. In the Earth
    Ben Wheatley
29. Dune
    Denis Villeneuve
30. Siberia
    Abel Ferrara
31. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
32. No Ordinary Man
    Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt
33. Beginning
    Déa Kulumbegashvili
34. 17 Blocks
    Davy Rothbart
35. The Amusement Park
    George A. Romero
36. The Velvet Underground
    Todd Haynes
37. Acasa, My Home
    Radu Ciorniciuc
38. The French Dispatch
    Wes Anderson
39. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
40. Night of the Kings
    Philippe Lacôte
41. Lapsis
    Noah Hutton
42. Wojnarowicz
    Chris McKim
43. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
    Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
44. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
45. Benedetta
    Paul Verhoeven
46. The Sparks Brothers
    Edgar Wright
47. Ema
    Pablo Larraín
48. The Last Duel
    Ridley Scott
49. The Killing of Two Lovers
    Robert Machoian
50. The Lost Daughter
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
51. The Power of the Dog
    Jane Campion
52. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
    Jia Zhang-ke
53. The Night House
    David Bruckner
54. Last Night in Soho
    Edgar Wright
55. Land
    Robert Wright
56. Nobody
    Ilya Naishuller
57. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Questlove
58. The Mitchells vs. the Machines
    Mike Rianda
59. Plan B
    Natalie Morales
60. I Carry You with Me
    Heidi Ewing
61. Cry Macho
    Clint Eastwood
62. The Vigil
    Keith Thomas
63. Cliff Walkers
    Zhang Yimou
64. Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters
    Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz
65. Honeydew
    Devereux Milburn