Best and Worst of 2021

The author’s considered best/worst in each category are listed in bold italics with an asterisk (*). The listed links will take you to more detailed reviews of each film.


The 10 Best Films

  1. Midnight Mass
  2. Don’t Look Up
  3. Station Eleven
  4. Where is Anne Frank
  5. Dune: Part One
  6. Finch
  7. Zack Snyder’s Justice League
  8. Annette
  9. Titane
  10. Silent Night

Worst Films

  1. Sharks of the Corn
  2. Apex Predators
  3. Cowgirls vs Pterodactyls
  4. Cosmic Sin
  5. Infinite

Best Director

Leos Carax – Annette
Guillermo Del Toro – Nightmare Alley
Mike Flanagan – Midnight Mass
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part One
Edgar Wright – Last Night in Soho (*)


Best Original Screenplay

Don’t Look Up
Free Guy
Midnight Mass (*)
Reminiscence
Silent Night


Best Adapted Screenplay

Dune: Part One
Lisey’s Story
Nightmare Alley
Old
Station Eleven (*)


Best Actor

Riz Ahmed – Encounter
Leonardo DiCaprio – Don’t Look Up
Zach Gilford – Midnight Mass
Tom Hanks – Finch (*)
Hamish Linklater – Midnight Mass


Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – Don’t Look Up and Nightmare Alley
Salma Hayek – Bliss
Jennifer Lawrence – Don’t Look Up
Agathe Rouselle – Titane
Meryl Streep – Don’t Look Up (*)


Best Supporting Actor

Roman Griffin Davis – Silent Night
Dane DeHaan – Lisey’s Story
Neil Patrick Harris – The Matrix Resurrections
Jonah Hill – Don’t Look Up
Vincent Lindon – Titane (*)


Best Supporting Actress

Joan Allen – Lisey’s Story
Danielle Deadwyler – Station Eleven
Kate Hudson – Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
Florence Pugh – Black Widow
Diana Rigg – Last Night in Soho
Samantha Sloyan – Midnight Mass (*)


Best Cinematography

The Feast
The Green Knight (*)
Lamb
Lisey’s Story
Nightmare Alley
Reminiscence


Best Special Effects

Dune: Part One
Finch
Godzilla vs. Kong (*)
The Tomorrow War
Venom: Let There Be Carnage


Best Production Design

Dune: Part One
Free Guy
Nightmare Alley (*)
Reminiscence
Station Eleven