2021 Top Ten (Categories) - #4

4. Delightful Surprises

These were mostly movies I was ehhh about going in but ended up blowing me away. And I'm not sure if part of why I like them so much is that I had such low expectations or they just surprised me in some other way. 

Belfast

I thought this would be boring, eat-your-spinach-it’s-good-for-you Oscar bait. And maybe it is for a lot of people, but I liked it a lot. The story of a family’s experiences during The Troubles, seen through the eyes of a young boy, is surprisingly unstuffy and warm and not nearly as maudlin as I thought it would be. This is a semi-autobiographical film from Kenneth Branagh and it admits from the start – as the movie goes from color to black-and-white – that this is a nostalgia bomb. But there’s genuine stuff going on here, as you’d expect given the subject matter. I didn’t know much of anything about The Troubles before this, but it was impossible not to draw parallels to the modern world and see how close we might be to something like this happening in our own backyard. Not that this plays as a cautionary tale at all; it’s just there and I kind of couldn’t unsee it. Wonderful work from everyone, perhaps especially Jamie Dornan, and hurray for a child actor (Jude Hill) that can be cute without being cloying. I did wonder, however – what happens to Granny at the end? She just stayed there? I thought she and Pop lived with them. Anyway, lovely movie. (Still in some theaters.)

Belle

Anime is a genre I’m still struggling to get into, but I fell hard for this one. A Beauty and the Beast for the digital age, this was an amazing piece of storytelling. As someone who has spent a lot of time online, including several years in a huge fandom, there was so much in this movie that rang true to me. I will never be over the scene where the main character and her friend have to diffuse a rumor gone wild and it's the most hilarious and accurate thing I saw in a movie this year. There is so much excellent character work and an ending I did not expect, which is almost always a good thing. To describe it anymore would do it a disservice. Also, I'm sure opinions differ on this, but if there's a choice between dubbed and subbed, go with subbed. (In theaters.)

Bo Burnham: Inside

Technically television, I guess, but my number one in 2018 was a stand-up special, so what even are the rules? For all the cleverness of DON’T LOOK UP, nothing got to me more this year regarding the climate crisis than a line in Burnham’s song “All Eyes on Me” (“You say the ocean’s rising – like I give a shit. You say the whole world’s ending – honey, it already did.”). There’s lots of incredible material here, and even the silliest seeming songs have a surprising amount of pathos (“White Woman’s Instagram” took a hard left turn toward the end). I liked some of the songs and sketches more than others, but it’s impossible not to be amazed by what Burnham was able to do mostly (though not all) on his own in a single room. It was a perfect encapsulation of our collective isolation during the lockdowns. If I had one criticism it would be that people (not just Bo) should get over themselves about turning OMG THIRTY. It’s not the end of any kind of creative golden age; it’s an arbitrary, if round, number. (Streaming on Netflix.)

Dune

I was so scared I would be lost in this, but I knew I had to see it because so many people love the novels and there’s that weird awful(ly awesome?) 80s version and I felt like I would be left out of some zeitgeisty goodness if I ignored it. It is a gorgeous film and a textbook in worldbuilding, particularly of such a complicated and layered world. I loved getting to know this world and the characters in it. Yes, I wish it had been a bit less chilly and more (just a smidge more!) emotional – it had at least a couple of chances to give us some Gandalf-in-Moria-esque heart-tugging. And it is definitely in need of a Part 2. But it is a tremendous cinematic experience and I’m glad I saw it on the hugest screen I could – even if I was crammed in with a huge crowd and scared someone would give me the plague. (Still in some theaters and available to rent -- not cheaply -- on streaming services.)

Flee

It’s a non-cutesy animated film, a foreign film, and a documentary – three things that on their own (much less together) would make me lean away from this if something more easily digestible were available. Not that I have anything against any of those media/genres, but I’m usually slow to get excited about them and I tend to hold off on seeing them until I feel I “have” to. This was amazing, and compelling from start to finish. The animation is not just a style choice; it is a necessity to protect the film’s subject, who goes by the pseudonym Amin Nawabi and who escaped Afghanistan and fled to Denmark, as did his family. Seeing him take down the walls he’s had to build up over the years and trust someone with his story (he’s had to lie about the fate of his family members ever since he left) is incredible, and seeing what people have to go through to escape an unsustainable life in their home country, even to get to a country that is friendlier to refugees than ours, gives some much needed perspective. (In theaters.)

The Harder They Fall

An all-Black western could have felt a lot like a gimmick (especially in a white director's hands), but this is a great example of what can happen when Black stories are told by Black filmmakers. There’s no reference to slavery (that I recall), there’s no suffering at the hands of bigots to make white viewers feel better about how far we’ve supposedly come, and in fact there are barely any white people at all in this and the ones there are have no impact on the story. That shouldn’t be refreshing, but it is. And most of the characters here are real historical figures, showing that – shocker! – there are period stories about Black people that have nothing to do with subjugation. This was so good and I am so here for the Moment that Jonathan Majors is having right now. And I’m definitely all about a story using one of my favorite tropes – Enemies Working Together for a Common Cause. (Streaming on Netflix.)

Luca

It’s CALL ME BY YOUR NAME for kids and you won’t convince me otherwise. You might call this Lesser Pixar because it’s not high-concept and doesn’t have big-name voice talent or easy merch possibilities. But I love every second of this. It’s just a great story told well with animation as beautiful as anything the studio has produced (seriously, put this up next to FINDING NEMO any day). The setting is incredible, with the backgrounds looking almost photo-real, and the characters are great (I mean, screw that Ercole guy, but tell me you’ve never met one of those). And there’s a lovely, if on the nose, message about accepting people who are different. If this is one of Pixar’s “off” movies, I’ll take it. I’ll certainly take a mostly original story like this over another Pixar franchise sequel. Silencio Bruno! (Streaming on Disney+ and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

Shiva Baby

I usually have a hard time enjoying a movie where I’m cringing so hard and feel so uncomfortable for the main character, but this was a pleasant exception. I don’t have a lot in common with Danielle on the surface, but wow the awkward family and social dynamics are painfully relatable. It’s very hard to watch Danielle for much of the movie, as she’s gotten herself into such situations that it’s difficult to see her continually bump up against her choices and the kind of mythology she's built up around herself to seem more acceptable to others. I was so in her corner because I’ve been in so many rooms like that – funerals, weddings, Thanksgiving dinners – where everyone means well, but they just can’t understand lives that are not like theirs. (Streaming on HBOMax and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

There’s Someone Inside Your House

I love me some old-school slashers, but it’s been a while since a non-80s slasher tickled my fancy (probably since SCREAM). Now, this is no SCREAM, but it’s still quite good and has a lot of surprises. Cutting to the chase, the ending is a bit of a letdown. I found myself going “really??” but then the characters in the movie had the exact same reaction, so maybe that was the idea. I do love the idea of not just murdering ill-behaved teens (so forty years ago!) but using their deepest secrets against them, so they’re not just running from the killer but their own mistakes. And having the killer wear a mask of their victims’ faces – as if to say “you’ve done this to yourself” – is a clever stroke. (Available on Netflix.)

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched

A three-plus-hour documentary about folk horror might seem a bit much, even if you love folk horror (as I do). But what started as a DVD special feature that was supposed to be a half-hour long grew into this massive endeavor and I learned so much about this subgenre and it made me really happy. I loved the connections made to films we don’t normally think of as folk horror but share a lot of its DNA, particularly in the conflicts between the “old ways” and a new kind of society (frequently represented by Christianity). Director Kier-La Janisse starts with the big three – THE WICKER MAN, BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW and WITCHFINDER GENERAL – and draws an elaborate family tree that includes more than 200 films, not just from America and Britain but also Asia, Australia and Europe. Really fascinating. (Available Jan. 10 on Shudder and for rent on other streaming platforms now.)