THE SKINNY
Best Films of 2021
December 2021 – Feature
Film
The history books will record 2021 as the year the movies bounced back from the brink, but the pandemic had little impact on the quality of work on our screens. Whether you saw these ten films in theatres or on your laptop, their artistry shone brightly 10. Shiva Baby (Emma Seligman) What happens when your sugar daddy, his wife and baby, your parents, your ex-girlfriend, and your overbearing relatives gather under one roof for a funeral service? Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby dares to ask that question, and the result is a queasy firecracker of a film, stuffed with knife-sharp wit and claustrophobia. Move along, Uncut Gems. [Xuanlin Tham]
shadows of stone halls, and creaking, constantly regrowing vines comprising the court’s mysterious Christmas visitor dominate The Green Knight’s visual and aural palette. Lowery’s film moves with impartial, relentless deliberateness; watching Dev Patel’s Gawain spend his journey – unwisely, but well – proves a haunting picture of youth. [Carmen Paddock]
9. The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson) Consensus says this is Wes Anderson’s most Wes Andersonian film, and where one falls on it certainly depends on how much one likes him in the first place. It’s nice to know the writers at The Skinny still love Anderson’s compulsive architectural symmetry, striking emotional openness, and the shuddering dynamic between the two; The French Dispatch displays the director at his best. [Thomas Atkinson]
4. Titane (Julia Ducournau) Julia Ducournau’s stomach-turning horror takes the French Extremity to its most extreme, inspiring walkouts at its premiere at Cannes but deservedly winning director Julia Ducournau the coveted Palme d’Or. With its visceral imagery, Titane uses serial murder, vehicular intercourse and buddy comedy to illustrate the bodily terror of being a woman. Like a roaring engine, it pumps motor oil, fear and pure adrenaline through the veins. [Iana Murray]
8. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Ahmir Khalib Thompson) Ahmir Khalib Thompson (AKA Questlove) has done the Lord’s work by unearthing footage from the 1969 Mount Morris Park Festival in Harlem. The archive is vibrant, overflowing with indelible performances – a hyperactive and fresh-faced Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone at their funkiest, Nina Simone in sun goddess mode – but it’s the way Thompson weaves the music with the history of African-American oppression and resilience that makes Summer of Soul truly sing. [Jamie Dunn]
3. First Cow (Kelly Reichardt) Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow might focus on the successful business venture of an American cook and a Chinese immigrant in 1820s Oregon, but it sits comfortably alongside her more contemporaneous studies of economic alienation. A loose adaptation of Jonathan Raymond’s novel The Half-Life, this offbeat exploration of friendship, capitalism and culinary ingenuity is a welcome recalibration of the American frontier myth. [Patrick Gamble] 2. Limbo (Ben Sharrock) The hostile environment takes on new and literal significance in this absurdist drama about a group of asylum seekers sent to a remote Scottish island for processing. This is filmmaking defined by breathtaking empathy: meticulously framing his characters in wide, grief-tinged landscapes, director Ben Sharrock locates tenderness in the most fraught of conditions, crafting a quiet yet unequivocal condemnation of the West’s response to the refugee crisis. [Anahit Behrooz]
7. Minari (Lee Isaac Chung) The tender Minari follows a Korean-American family who’ve moved to Arkansas, hoping to build a better life for themselves. The family’s high tensions are coupled with moments of humour and warmth, creating a true closeness, rare to see on film. In Minari, Lee Isaac Chung creates a story of love and resilience that moves through both its joy and pain. [Eilidh Akilade]
1. Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma) A profoundly moving fable which above all invites the viewer to ask themselves a simple question: What would it be like to be an eight-year-old, meeting your mother when she too was eight years old? Told with an otherworldly simplicity by director Céline Sciamma, with gorgeous music by her frequent collaborator Para One and tender, intelligent performances from twin leads Josephine and Gabrielle Sanz, this is a transcendent experience. [Ian Mantgani]
6. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ingenious adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short story is a piercing examination of grief and the mysteries of the heart. He uses long car rides and a production of Uncle Vanya to illuminate each character’s thoughts and emotions, and after three hours we feel we know them intimately. Drive My Car is as playful and intellectually stimulating as it is deeply moving, and the ensemble cast is perfect. [Philip Concannon] 5. The Green Knight (David Lowery) Arthuriana emerges from the ground in David Lowery’s vision. The rich moist earth, echoes and
Head to theskinny.co.uk/film to read our Film writers’ individual picks
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