I won’t lie; I thought 2021 was a pretty poor year for movies. Yes, a little thing called the Covid-19 pandemic has a large part to play but even still, the massive blockbusters and Oscar baits that got a theatrical release all fell pretty flat from where I was standing. I thoughtNo Time to Diewas an overstretched gimmick,Spencerwas made by people who seemed like they had never heard of Princess Diana before, and Marvel made Barry Keoghan say “me darlin” inEternals. As an Irish person, that’s pretty unforgivable.
But let’s not despair as there were, indeed, some movies that didn’t make me shed holy tears and lie awake at night worrying about the future of cinema! I was lucky enough to go to this year’s Cannes film festival, I caught some pretty great direct-to-digital pictures and of course, Netflix, our savior who rescued us from the bleak nothingness that all of us felt at some point during the last year, threw out some decent flicks.
Here are my official top ten movies of the year. Does that mean that you will definitely enjoy them? Not at all. But do I recommend you give them a chance if you haven’t already? Sure! These films made 2021 a not so grim year, reminding me that not all is lost in the cinema and between the reboots, reimaginings, and mass production of Disney+ shows, some true gems of movies were to be found spread out over the past 12 months.
Without further ado, I, Emma Kiely, who has no real authority to say whether a film is good or not but I’m going to anyway, present my top 10 films of 2021!
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10. Little Fish
We’re led to believe that the most precious thing to humans is life itself, and therefore, the biggest threat to us is death. Chad Hartigan’sLittle Fishbegs the question; what if there was something more precious than life? Like memory. Young couple, Emma (Olivia Cooke)and Jude (Jack O’Connell) are trying to lead a normal life. She’s a Brit who moved over to become a vet and wants to save every lost dog she sees. He’s a musician who is trying to get away from his past life of drugs and partying. When a new disease breaks out causing gradual memory loss, the couple starts to fear something that may be more frightening than death: forgetting each other and the life that they share.
The film places itself somewhere betweenEternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindandContagion. It’s a tragic love story, a pandemic thriller, and a shattering portrait of memory loss. The source of pain that the film tugs on is that the memory loss is not instant. People with the disease first forget their way home, then their mother’s name, until they are looking blankly at their partner’s face with no recognition. It is slow, painful suffering and the film does an effective job in showing the horrors and tragedy of losing one’s memory. Definitely one of the most underrated films of the year.
9. Red Rocket
I sawRed Rocketat Cannes without knowing much, and all I could think was “How didSimon Rexget himself into a Cannes movie?” Well, my answer was given within the first five minutes as Rex is the backbone of the film. His balance between desperation and confidence is what makes his character, Mikey, jump off the screen, despite him being a total piece of shit. He’s both sly and earnest and lies so much that he genuinely believes what he says. Mikey is a former porn star who has to return to his hometown in Texas to beg to move back in with his ex-wife, Lexi (Bree Elrod), and her mother as he has nowhere else to go.
Mikey has no ambitions other than to make money selling weed and have casual sex with Lexi until he meets Strawberry (Suzanna Son), the sweet and innocent 17-year-old donut shop worker. He convinces her that she’d be perfect for porn and gets ready to flee back to LA to restart his career, but nothing ever comes that easy. Director,Sean Baker(The Florida Project) excels at taking an area of the US not usually seen in movies and brings it to life not through touching stories, but by showing how desperate, conniving, and selfish humans can be. It’s a wild ride and it’s pretty fun, and oh boy, does Simon Rex have a huge..
8. Framing Britney Spears
Rarely would I consider documentaries amongst my favorite films, but theNew York Times’ expose on popstarBritney Spears’ conservatorship is without a doubt, the most eye-opening viewing experience I had not just this year but ever. The doc follows Spears' life from childhood. How her parents left her in the protection of another guardian and benefitted nicely from the money she made. It then continues into her years of huge success and then grimly into the press’ obsession with seeing her fall.
The main thing I took away from this documentary is that Britney was mistreated her whole life not just by the press or those close to her, but by all of us. A particularly upsetting scene showsan episode ofFamily Feudand contestants joke about what the pop star has lost (her mind, family, etc.) It’s a haunting reminder of how we all laughed and got entertainment from a young woman’s mental decline.
The doc aims to understand how it got to such a disgusting point that a woman was forced into a toxic conservatorship for over a decade, having no control over her life, money, or evenreproductive rights. But when you peel back all the politics and psychology, it’s just a young mothertrying to find refuge in a LA restaurantwith hundreds of cameras snapping her terrified face. Watching it now may be a different experience as now, thankfully, Britney is free, but the images of paparazzi chasing the scared Spears will always be chilling to the bone.
7. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
It seems as though 2021 was short of decent comedies, which is exactly what the world needs right now: Escapism, fun, and laughter. This is exactly whatBarb and Star Go to Vista Del Mardelivers. Two wholesome, innocent, and sheltered best friends (Annie MumoloandKristen Wiigwho also wroteBridesmaids) who literally do everything together (they share a bedroom) get fired from their job because they can’t stop talking to each other and so to cheer themselves up, they book a trip to Florida. They meet an undercover agent, Edgar (Jamie Dornan) who catches both their eyes, but he’s in a crisis of his own.
This film does not try to make clever, witty remarks on the state of the world. It’s stupid at times, with Dornansinging about a seagulland Kristen Wiig double acting as a villain straight out of an SNL sketch. But at the center is a heart-warming and palpable bond between two friends and the spirit of Trish (one of the funniest running jokes of the film). Bizarre, chaotic, and painfully hilarious,Barb and Staris perfect viewing for just about any setting; friends, family, or alone and in need of a smile, let Wiig and Mumolo take you on the holiday of a lifetime!
6. Annette
I saw this after a long day of travel to Cannes for the 2021 film festival (I only flew from Dublin but I am still allowed to be tired), and I did really think I was hallucinating some of the scenes.Leos Carax’s musical-drama-I-guess-comedy-too stars everyone’s favorite big boy,Adam Driver,andMarion Cotillard. She’s a beloved opera singer, he’s a controversial comedian, and their love and passion result in Annette, a baby that is a doll that also becomes a pop star.
If you haven’t seen memes and jokes about baby Annette, then get on Twitter as they’re pretty funny. The film has received more mocking for its bizarre use of a fake child, but still, there is some merit in the plot. It’s purely unique, irreverent to current cinema trends, and makes room for itself in a hybrid of various genres. Simon Helberg proves his acting chops as a conductor and waves his way manically through one of the most beautiful scenes of 2021 as he addresses the camera in a 360 rotational shot. Electric performances, music fromSparks, and a doll instead of a human child; what more could you want?
5. Intrusion
Ok, it may seem as though this is the “trash” entry, but as far as Netflix thrillers go, this wasn’t half bad.David Fincherwill tell you, films about rich good-looking couples with sinister secrets sells. This is noGone Girlbut it’s one of the most entertaining and tense films of the year. Married couple, Meera (Freida Pinto) and Henry (Logan Marshall-Green) live in an isolated modern mansion. We soon start to see the façade of the perfect couple peel away when one night, their house is broken into but Henry defends them by shooting the intruders. This sets in motion a series of efforts from Meera to find out the truth behind the break-in and subsequently, the truth behind her husband and how it may relate to a local girl who has gone missing.
Yes, ok, it sounds laced with algorithm, but that doesn’t take away from how well-paced the story is, and how absolutely joyous it is to watch two extremely good-looking people roam around an outrageously gorgeous house. This is the “I enjoyed it but it may not be great cinema” pick of the list. With thrillers being churned out in mass-production for those who are too scared to watch horrors but like the thrill, this is a somewhat shiny diamond in the rough that ticks all the thriller boxes whilst still spinning something new on the genre.
“Rebel Girl, Rebel Girl!!”. Films about women coming into their own are usually shown through the sensible and civilized prism of period dramas.Saoirse RonanorKeira Knightleyrefusing to get married but then succumbing to the dark horse in a massive country field. Although these films are inarguably excellent, it feels as though that coming-of-age female films have lost their place in the modern day. EnterAmy Poehler’sMoxie. A female rage epic chronicling the feminist uprising in a US high school led by frustrated teenager, Vivian (Hadley Robinson) after she finds out about her mother’s (Poehler) activist past.
This is cinema in such pure form. It’s angry, frustrating, fun, aggressive; everything that women feel when talking about the feminist movement. The group of girls stands against unfair principles in high school like girls being reprimanded over dress codes whilst ale students may roam freely in whatever outfits they like. Female sports teams receive less funding and very gently, the film also crosses over into rape and sexual assault territory.Moxieis infuriating, empowering, and feel-good, and every young teenager, whatever their gender, should watch and feel all the emotions, good and bad, that surround fighting for justice and equality.
3. Malignant
Oh boy, when I left the cinema after seeing this, I felt sick to my stomach and thought I would never look at the world the same again. After some broken sleep, I woke up to the realization thatJames Wanreally is a genius. If I could ask you to do one thing, it’s to go intoMalignanttotally blind. I did not watch the trailer or googleanythingand I am so glad I didn’t.Anabelle Wallisplays Madison, a victim of domestic abuse who loses her partner and unborn child in one night. After being slammed into a wall by her abusive partner, something seems to awaken. She starts to be transported to the scenes of murders of victims who seem connected to her past. This is horror in true form. Tense, terrifying, twisty and eventually, streaming into body horror. With choreographed fight scenes to rival Marvel, truly touching and fleshed-out relationships, and a twist ending that will haunt you for time immemorial,Malignantis one of the most assured, thrilling and completely bizarre (in a good way) horror films in recent years. Gabriel 4 life!
2. The Souvenir Part II
Screening in the Directors' Fortnight category at this year’s Cannes film festival, Joanna Hogg brought the second part to her autobiographic saga. The first film documented the toxic relationship between Julie (Honor Swinton-Byrne), a film student living in London, and her drug-addict boyfriend, Anthony (Tom Burke). The first film was a sobering and painfully honest portrait of a relationship that was cursed from the start. But Hogg doesn’t feel the need to continue the potent pain of the first film.
In the second part, we get to see Julie come into her own as a filmmaker. She learns about love and grief, she kisses other boys but still thinks about Anthony. The film does an effective job of making itself entirely it’s own without abandoning its first part. With an assured leading performance accompanied by the woman who can never do anything wrong (Tilda Swinton), Joanna Hogg gives us another triumph and reason to marvel at her as an artist. Any young person aiming to make something of themselves whilst trying to reckon with their past will identify with Julie’s story. All hail the Hogg!
1. PVT Chat
And we are at the top spot! If we have learned anything from theSafdie Brothers, it’s thatJulia Fox, who starred in their 2019 filmUncut Gems, is a star in every sense of the world.Ben Hozie’s cyber-thriller documents the online relationship between loner gambler, Jack (Peter Vack) and dominatrix camgirl, Scarlett (Fox). Taking a documentary-style approach to the camera work, the film immediately surrounds you as you launch into Jack’s world, never breaking the entrancing intimacy and tension until the last second. His conversations with Scarlett grow more personal and Jack becomes more and more attached. But does she feel the same way? Fox never gives the game away. When the two start to form a close bond; is she just doing it to extort more money? Or does she actually care for him? Jack edges closer to finding out when he sees her on the streets of New York one night.
The film never feels exploitative of Fox or Vack and the vulnerability that is required of them, but it truly seethes its teeth into the online camgirl world and begs the question; can online relationships be translated into real life? Blending together romance, thriller, and documentary,PVT Chatis undoubtedly one of the most underrated films of the year. Both Vack and Fox shine with their unapologetically personal performances, offering one of the most enthralling voyages into online relationships in cinema to date. You could have easily missed this gem as it was released direct-to-digital, but it is more than deserving of some love and recognition.
