As 2021 comes to an end, it’s time to list the best movies released during the year! As always, I’m listing the best ones I’ve seen, but I’m aware that there are more movies that I simply haven’t been able to watch yet.

Even though I love musicals, I was not expecting to have this many musicals on my list! There are also spy movies and very intense dramas. I hope there are more good comedies next year! We sure could use them!

15 – The Courier

A movie about spies during the Cold War? Yes, please! Based on a true story, The Courier follows Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), a regular businessman, as he’s recruited by MI6 and the CIA to serve as a contact person to Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), a source in the Soviet government. The movie has the right amount of tension and a great pacing, not to mention a fantastic cast.

14 – In the Heights

Despite disappointing at the box office over the summer, In the Heights is one of the most fun experiences I had going to the movies in 2021. As I mentioned in my review, it does feel a bit long halfway through it, but it picks up the pace again and it ends on a high note. Olga Merediz and Anthony Ramos are the highlights of the movie and I still listen to “96,000” on a regular basis!

13 – Stillwater

Stillwater was a surprise, since I wasn’t really expecting to get so involved with the story. Matt Damon does a great job as Bill Baker, an oil worker who travels to France to try to prove his convicted daughter’s (Abigail Breslin) innocence. The movie shifts tones in the third act, but it’s still a compelling story with interesting developments.

12 – Worth

Released 20 years after the September 11th, 2001 attacks, Worth focuses on what happened after the tragedy: how can one calculate how much each victim was worth in order for the families to get financial compensation? That’s the origin of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and Michael Keaton plays Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who was appointed as the Fund’s Special Master. As expected, the story is deeply sad and moving, but it is a well-made movie with great performances by the whole cast.

11 – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is the movie The Prom tried to be and failed. The songs in Jamie are way more exciting, the cast is great, and the story is developed in a much better way. Max Hardwood excels in the leading role and Richard E. Grant delights as his mentor and former drag queen. It’s worth watching!

10 – No Time to Die

No Time to Die was easily my most anticipated movie of the year. So it’s no surprise that it made it to my list. It has some problems with the story itself, but the pacing, the locations, the characters, the action, and that ending made it a rollercoaster ride of emotions and an incredible ending to Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond. You can read my full review here.

9 – Mass

Mass is probably the movie with the best acting I’ve seen in 2021. It feels like a play, since almost the whole film is set in a room with four people sitting around a table and having an extremely tense conversation. It tells the story of the parents of a victim of a school shooting (Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton) as they meet face-to-face with the parents of the perpetrator (Reed Birney and Ann Dowd). The four of them are superb and the film is a heartbreaking experience.

8 – A Mouthful of Air

I saw A Mouthful of Air at an empty theater (there was only one other guest at that screening) and I felt sorry for the movie. It starts with a trigger warning explaining the film might be too intense for some viewers and I can definitely see why. Amanda Seyfried plays a young mother who’s coping with anxiety and postpartum depression. It reminded me a little bit of Tully, even though A Mouthful of Air is way sadder. It’s a shame that not many people saw it because it’s probably one of Amanda Seyfried’s best performances.

7 – The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

I wasn’t familiar with Louis Wain and his work before watching this movie, nor am I a cat person. However, I found it extremely entertaining and moving at the same time. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Louis Wain from early in his career as an illustrator until the end of his life. The story moves fast, just like his brain, and we witness his highs and lows, especially when he meets Emily Richardson (Claire Foy), a governess to his younger sisters. It’s a sweet love story and a good biopic.

6 – Tick, tick… Boom!

Based on Jonathan Larson’s semi-autobiographical musical, Tick, Tick… Boom! it has a slightly similar structure to Cabaret and Chicago, with the story unfolding and being intertwined with songs performed on a stage. In this case, it is Jonathan (Andrew Garfield) who tells the story as a monologue at the New York Theater Workshop, the famous theater for experimental plays in lower Manhattan. Andrew Garfield is electrifying as the aspiring songwriter obsessed with his work. There are numerous guest appearances by Broadway personalities, most of whom appear during the song “Sunday” (which pays homage to Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Sunday in the Park with George”). The musical itself actually is clearly aimed at a very specific audience, so I’m not sure it’s going to be very successful on Netflix. A pity, because it’s very well done and worth seeing!

5 – The Power of the Dog

I’m usually not a fan of Westerns, but The Power of the Dog has a psychological drama aspect, which made it way more interesting. Out of the three movies starring Benedict Cumberbatch on this list, his best performance is as Phil Burbank, an obnoxious ranch owner who makes everyone’s lives a living hell. That’s until Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee, outstanding) arrives and changes the dynamic. It starts a bit slow but, as you reach the end, you realize every single action shown before was necessary to reach to that conclusion.  

4 – Raya and the Last Dragon

Raya and the Last Dragon was my first trip back to theaters after a year of shutdown due to COVID and it was an excellent coincidence! The animation is spectacular, bringing Disney to a whole new level of realism. The details of Raya’s hair, for example, are phenomenal. The fight sequences are equally breathtaking. It is also even more remarkable when we remember that most of the animation was done remotely, since the pandemic forced all animators to work from home in 2020. You can read my full review here.

3 – Cruella

Okay, I know Cruella isn’t probably going to be on many lists as one of the year’s best movies but I had a blast seeing it in theaters! Emma Stone and Emma Thompson have so much chemistry together that it’s impossible not to have fun every time they interact in Cruella. The main thing that caught my attention is how the whole movie is a great analysis of the never-ending discussion between “nurture” and “nature.” How much of our personalities comes from our birth and how much of it comes from how we are raised. You can read my full review here.

2 – West Side Story

It’s a shame that West Side Story is doing badly at the box office. Without a doubt, it’s one of the best films of the year and an excellent work by Steven Spielberg. Released 60 years after the original film, this new version updates a few points (mainly the cast, now made up of actors of Latin origin), but it keeps the songs and emotions of the story. The best part, by far, is Ariana DeBose, who plays Anita. She had a big responsibility, as Rita Moreno, who won the Oscar for this role, is also in this version of the film, albeit playing a different character. You can read my full review here.

1 – Encanto

“We don’t talk about Bruno” but we can talk about Encanto! Disney’s 60th animated feature is set in Colombia and tells the story of the Madrigal family. All of its members receive a special magical gift – with the exception of Mirabel, the protagonist. In addition to being an important step for Disney in showing the diversity among its characters, Encanto has a great message about self-acceptance and about family. You can read my full review here.

That’s it for movies in 2021! There are still a few that need to be released that will probably be nominated for the Oscars, but I’ll probably get to them in 2022. Let’s hope we get more movies next year!