Ten Best Movies of 2021

Following moviegoing’s worst year in its history, during which many high-profile releases were postponed, 2021, you might have expected, would be an exceptionally strong follow-up. Alas, much-touted films originally slated for 2020, such as Dune, No Time to Die, and West Side Story fell short of expectations, but unexpected treasures turned up regularly. Here are my favorites:

10. C’mon C’mon. Mike Mills’s touching black-and-white road movie follows a middle-aged uncle (Joaquin Phoenix) and his young nephew (Woody Norman) across a malaise-infected, perpetually frightened iteration of the contemporary U.S. The kid’s inventive imagination and generally forward-looking personality suggest an antidote to the American gloom that Mills correctly diagnoses. (In theaters and video-on-demand).

Following moviegoing’s worst year in its history, during which many high-profile releases were postponed, 2021, you might have expected, would be an exceptionally strong follow-up. Alas, much-touted films originally slated for 2020, such as Dune, No Time to Die, and West Side Story fell short of expectations, but unexpected treasures turned up regularly. Here are my favorites:

10. C’mon C’mon. Mike Mills’s touching black-and-white road movie follows a middle-aged uncle (Joaquin Phoenix) and his young nephew (Woody Norman) across a malaise-infected, perpetually frightened iteration of the contemporary U.S. The kid’s inventive imagination and generally forward-looking personality suggest an antidote to the American gloom that Mills correctly diagnoses. (In theaters and video-on-demand).