Year-End Lists

Ty Burr: The Best Movies of 2021, the first 20 of which are organized into pairings of complementary films on his Substack

[see also 2024 • 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
2. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. Quo Vadis, Aida?
   Jasmila Žbanić
4. Parallel Mothers
   Pedro Almodóvar
5. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
   Questlove
6. The Beatles: Get Back
   Peter Jackson
7. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
8. The Lost Daughter
   Maggie Gyllenhaal
9. Spencer
   Pablo Larraín
10. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
11. West Side Story
    Steven Spielberg
12. In the Heights
    Jon M. Chu
13. The Velvet Underground
    Todd Haynes
14. The Sparks Brothers
    Edgar Wright
15. Flee
    Jonas Poher Rasmussen
16. The Mitchells vs. the Machines
    Mike Rianda
17. The Worst Person in the World
    Joachim Trier
18. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
19. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
20. Red Rocket
    Sean Baker

Alphabetical order from here

• Annette
  Leos Carax
• Bergman Island
  Mia Hansen-Løve
• Bo Burnham: Inside
  Bo Burnham
• The Last Duel
  Ridley Scott
• Licorice Pizza
  Paul Thomas Anderson
• Nine Days
  Edson Oda
• No Sudden Move
  Steven Soderbergh
• Passing
  Rebecca Hall
• Pig
  Michael Sarnoski
• The Power of the Dog
  Jane Campion
• Procession
  Robert Greene
• Riders of Justice
  Anders Thomas Jensen
• Shiva Baby
  Emma Seligman
• The Tender Bar
  George Clooney
• The Tragedy of Macbeth
  Joel Coen