13 Dec 2021 3 min read

Best of the Year in Film 2021

My ballot for BOFCA and some additional recommendations

The Green Knight, A24

Last week, I shared some of my favorite animated films of 2021. Now I wanted to share my overall selections for the major categories. I voted in two different lists this year—The Playlist and BOFCA—and while there were some slight differences, they mostly ended up the same. Remember that these lists are by no means final and by the time John Gilpatrick and I do our top ten lists in January on the podcast, the films could shift again.

2021 was a fantastic year for movies.

Maybe it was because there were some holdovers that didn’t release during the 2020 season due to COVID-19. Certainly, Dune, The French Dispatch, and West Side Story were delayed, but have since excited audiences and critics alike. But even then, plenty of new films entered the fray. First-time directors made a big impact, with movies The Lost Daughter, Passing, Pig, and Shiva Baby earning plenty of praise. The year was so impressive I could easily have done a list of 25. If you are interested in the full list, click the link to my Letterboxd where I have roughly ranked all 103 films I watched from the year 2021. Below you’ll find my selections in the actor and actress categories as well, and beyond the paywall is all my other selections. I hope that you’ll find some of these selections entertaining and informative. If there is a particular movie you might be interested I suggest the free website JustWatch to see where the movie might be available.