The 50 Best Movies of 2021

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – January 5, 2022

Here is Metacritic's final list of the 50 best-reviewed movies of 2021, ranked by Metascore. This list only includes films receiving at least 7 reviews from professional critics.

All films released between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 in at least one U.S. theater or directly to streaming or VOD/digital services were eligible for inclusion. Short films and reissues are excluded, and so are any eight-hour Beatles movies that were screened as a TV miniseries. Titles are ranked by Metascore (a weighted average of scores from top professional critics) prior to rounding based on scores as of January 3, 2022.

Additional content by Keith Kimbell.

11 of 25 photo by Kirsty Griffin/Netflix

89 The Power of the Dog

(#13) Already one of the most heralded films of 2021, The Power of the Dog could also be Netflix's best chance at Oscar glory to date. It's also storied director Jane Campion's first film in a dozen years—and could be an opportunity for her to pick up her first directing Oscar (after becoming just the second woman ever nominated as a director, for 1993's The Piano). Here, Campion writes and directs an adaptation of the novel by Thomas Savage that chronicles a rift between two wealthy Montana rancher brothers in the 1920s after one of them sneaks off to get married. Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Frances Conroy, and Keith Carradine head the strong cast, while Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood provides the score (as he did for another 2021 film we'll get to in a moment, Licorice Pizza).

Watch it on Netflix

“It's a film which shimmers with intelligence, and if the plot isn't clear until the very last scene, well, it's worth the wait. When that scene arrives, the purpose of every previous scene snaps into sharp focus, leaving you with the urge to go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing again.” —Nicholas Barber, BBC

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