Ranking 2021
by daltonvalette | created - 30 Jan 2021 | updated - 26 Mar 2022 | PublicRanking the best to worst movies of 2021
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1. Drive My Car (2021)
Unrated | 179 min | Drama
A renowned stage actor and director learns to cope with a big personal loss when he receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima.
Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi | Stars: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima, Masaki Okada
Votes: 65,894
2. Dune (2021)
PG-13 | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac
Votes: 858,073 | Gross: $108.33M
3. The Last Duel (2021)
R | 152 min | Action, Drama, History
The Knight Jean de Carrouges must settle the dispute over his wife Marguerite by challenging his former friend to a duel to the death.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Harriet Walter
Votes: 182,318 | Gross: $10.85M
4. West Side Story (2021)
PG-13 | 156 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez
Votes: 95,633
5. Spencer (2021)
R | 117 min | Biography, Drama
Diana Spencer, struggling with mental-health problems during her Christmas holidays with the Royal Family at their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, decides to end her decade-long marriage to Prince Charles.
Director: Pablo Larraín | Stars: Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, Jack Nielen
Votes: 76,632
6. The Power of the Dog (2021)
R | 126 min | Drama, Western
Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Votes: 193,932
7. Mass (2021)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama
The parents of both the shooter and one of the victims of a school shooting tragedy agree to meet and talk in an attempt to move forward.
Director: Fran Kranz | Stars: Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd, Reed Birney
Votes: 17,507
8. Luca (2021)
PG | 95 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
On the Italian Riviera, an unlikely but strong friendship grows between a human being and a sea monster disguised as a human.
Director: Enrico Casarosa | Stars: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo
Votes: 194,524
9. Passing (I) (2021)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
"Passing" follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends, whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities.
Director: Rebecca Hall | Stars: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Bill Camp
Votes: 16,533
10. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
R | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power.
Director: Joel Coen | Stars: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Alex Hassell, Bertie Carvel
Votes: 39,738
11. The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)
R | 148 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Return to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.
Director: Lana Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jonathan Groff
Votes: 279,765
12. Pig (I) (2021)
R | 92 min | Drama, Mystery
A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregon wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped.
Director: Michael Sarnoski | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin, Cassandra Violet
Votes: 89,620
13. Flee (2021)
PG-13 | 89 min | Documentary, Animation, Biography
FLEE tells the extraordinary true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time.
Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen | Stars: Daniel Karimyar, Fardin Mijdzadeh, Milad Eskandari, Belal Faiz
Votes: 19,521
14. Licorice Pizza (2021)
R | 133 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The story of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits
Votes: 140,372
15. Belfast (2021)
PG-13 | 98 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A young boy and his working-class Belfast family experience the tumultuous late 1960s.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Jude Hill, Lewis McAskie, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan
Votes: 92,495
16. The Harder They Fall (2021)
R | 139 min | Action, Drama, Western
When an outlaw discovers his enemy is being released from prison, he reunites his gang to seek revenge.
Director: Jeymes Samuel | Stars: Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, RJ Cyler, Edi Gathegi
Votes: 71,245
17. The Dig (2021)
PG-13 | 112 min | Biography, Drama, History
An archaeologist embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938.
Director: Simon Stone | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, Johnny Flynn
Votes: 82,628
18. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
R | 126 min | Biography, Drama, History
Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.
Director: Shaka King | Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback
Votes: 91,527
19. Robin Robin (2021)
G | 32 min | Animation, Short, Adventure
In this stop-motion short film, a bird raised by mice begins to question where she belongs and sets off on a daring journey of self-discovery.
Directors: Daniel Ojari, Michael Please | Stars: Bronte Carmichael, Richard E. Grant, Gillian Anderson, Adeel Akhtar
Votes: 6,919
20. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
Director: Michael Showalter | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 38,970
21. Nightmare Alley (2021)
R | 150 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A grifter working his way up from low-ranking carnival worker to lauded psychic medium matches wits with a psychologist bent on exposing him.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe
Votes: 165,458 | Gross: $11.34M
22. No Time to Die (2021)
PG-13 | 163 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux
Votes: 444,985 | Gross: $160.87M
23. The Courier (2020)
PG-13 | 112 min | Drama, History, Mystery
Businessman Greville Wynne is asked by a Russian source to try to help put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Director: Dominic Cooke | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Vladimir Chuprikov
Votes: 73,678 | Gross: $6.61M
24. The King's Man (2021)
R | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
In the early years of the 20th century, the Kingsman agency is formed to stand against a cabal plotting a war to wipe out millions.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Harris Dickinson
Votes: 173,704 | Gross: $37.18M
25. In the Heights (2021)
PG-13 | 143 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In Washington Heights, a sympathetic New York bodega owner saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.
Director: Jon M. Chu | Stars: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera
Votes: 52,147
26. Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)
R | 100 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by twin assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert tasked with protecting him -- and a forest fire threatening to consume them all.
Director: Taylor Sheridan | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Hoult, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal
Votes: 72,705
27. King Richard (2021)
PG-13 | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A look at how tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams became who they are after the coaching from their father Richard.
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green | Stars: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Saniyya Sidney
Votes: 136,705
28. Misha and the Wolves (2021)
PG-13 | 90 min | Documentary, Drama
Misha and the Wolves is the dramatic tale of a woman whose holocaust memoir took the world by storm, but a fallout with her publisher - who turned detective - revealed an audacious deception created to hide a darker truth.
Director: Sam Hobkinson | Stars: Misha Defonseca, Karen Schulman, Jane Daniel, Joni Soffron
Votes: 3,345
29. Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
R | 242 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Determined to ensure that Superman's ultimate sacrifice wasn't in vain, Bruce Wayne recruits a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams
Votes: 438,632
30. A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path.
Director: John Krasinski | Stars: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski
Votes: 273,161 | Gross: $160.07M
31. Operation Varsity Blues (2021)
R | 100 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
Reenactments drive this documentary investigating the mastermind behind a scam to sneak the kids of rich and famous families into top US universities.
Director: Chris Smith | Stars: Matthew Modine, Roger Rignack, Jillian Peterson, Courtney Rackley
Votes: 8,997
32. I Care a Lot (2020)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears.
Director: J Blakeson | Stars: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 146,207
33. The Suicide Squad (2021)
R | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker, and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.
Director: James Gunn | Stars: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman
Votes: 409,995 | Gross: $55.82M
34. Parallel Mothers (2021)
R | 123 min | Drama
The story of two mothers who bond in unexpected way after giving birth the same day.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Votes: 36,038
35. House of Gucci (2021)
R | 158 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel their legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately...murder.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 159,975 | Gross: $53.81M
36. Being the Ricardos (2021)
R | 131 min | Biography, Drama
Follows Lucy and Desi as they face a crisis that could end their careers--and another that could end their marriage.
Director: Aaron Sorkin | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda
Votes: 44,703
37. The French Dispatch (2021)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux
Votes: 150,724
38. CODA (2021)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her passion at Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
Director: Sian Heder | Stars: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant
Votes: 165,082
39. tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.
Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesus, Vanessa Hudgens
Votes: 119,692
40. The Lost Daughter (2021)
R | 121 min | Drama
A woman's beach vacation takes a dark turn when she begins to confront the troubles of her past.
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal | Stars: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris
Votes: 75,164
41. The Windshield Wiper (2021)
15 min | Animation, Short, Fantasy
Inside a cafe while smoking a whole pack of cigarettes, a man poses an ambitious question: "What is Love?". A collection of vignettes and situations will lead the man to the desired conclusion.
Director: Alberto Mielgo | Stars: Eboni Adams, Kara Dyan Whitfield, Fanny Rosen, Charlie Bean
Votes: 2,943
42. Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against each other--the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong--with humanity caught in the balance.
Director: Adam Wingard | Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry
Votes: 241,779 | Gross: $100.92M
43. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Arne Cheyenne Johnson stabs and murders his landlord, claiming to be under demonic possession while Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate the case and try to prove his innocence.
Director: Michael Chaves | Stars: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O'Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook
Votes: 139,126 | Gross: $65.63M
44. Army of the Dead (2021)
R | 148 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Omari Hardwick
Votes: 188,354 | Gross: $1.00M
45. Reminiscence (2021)
PG-13 | 116 min | Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
Nick Bannister, a private investigator of the mind, navigates the alluring world of the past when his life is changed by new client Mae. A simple case becomes an obsession after she disappears and he fights to learn the truth about her.
Director: Lisa Joy | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 65,528 | Gross: $3.90M
46. The Woman in the Window (2021)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbors; only to witness a disturbing act of violence.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Fred Hechinger
Votes: 83,059
47. The Green Knight (2021)
R | 130 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A fantasy retelling of the medieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Director: David Lowery | Stars: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury
Votes: 118,121
48. Don't Look Up (2021)
R | 138 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn humankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth.
Director: Adam McKay | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 602,176
49. Affairs of the Art (2021)
16 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Beryl's back in "Affairs of the Art", which showcases one family's eccentric yet endearing obsessions with everything from drawing to screw threads and pet taxidermy.
Director: Joanna Quinn | Stars: Menna Trussler, Brendan Charleson, Joanna Quinn, Mali Ann Rees
Votes: 1,523
50. The Little Things (2021)
R | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon is sent to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city.
Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer
Votes: 126,532
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