"The 50 Best Films of 2021" by Walter Chaw

by Walter Chaw Writing these annual wrap-ups feels to me a little like this passage from Anne Sexton's "45 Mercy Street":

I walk, I walk
I hold matches at street signs
for it is dark,
as dark as the leathery dead

The annual best-of ritual is frustrating because one can never see all the great films in a year--but it's the kind of frustration that feels aspirational for a change in this, our time of social and environmental apocalypse. I'm thrilled to talk about things that are good for a change and the movies in 2021 were very good indeed. So good that while I feel like I could have made a list 100 strong, I know there are still more gems from this year left to see.