The 50 Best Movies of 2021
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.
(#30) 85 West Side Story
Musical, directed by Steven Spielberg
(#29) 85 Judas and the Black Messiah
Drama, directed by Shaka King
(#28) 85 The First Wave
Documentary, directed by Matthew Heineman
(#27) 86 The Rescue ![]()
Documentary, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
(#26) 86 Sabaya ![]()
Documentary, directed by Hogir Hirori
(#25) 86 The Inheritance
Drama, directed by Ephraim Asili
(#24) 86 Parallel Mothers
pictured above - Drama, directed by Pedro Almodóvar
(#23) 87 Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
Drama, directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
(#22) 87 Hope
Drama, directed by Maria Sødahl
(#21) 87 About Endlessness
Drama, directed by Roy Andersson