In this bumper special issue, we count down the 50 best films of 2021. How many have you seen?
Also inside: interviews with Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro, Joanna Hogg and Paolo Sorrentino; the best TV, books and discs of the year; obituaries and tributes to those who died in 2021; and a look forward to exciting new films coming in 2022
Though the year began dismally, with audiences confined to digital viewing at home, the film world has recovered much of its excitement – not just because cinemas have reopened and festivals have started up, but because of the sheer numbers of films, from astonishing arthouse visions to blockbusting franchises, now crowding back on to our screens.
Into our best of the year list we crammed 50 such titles, from raucous comedies to innovative animations, life-affirming documentaries to introspective art films. Our challenge to you: how many have you seen? And as if that wasn’t enough, nine special features round up the year in specialist cinemas.
Elsewhere in a packed issue, we speak to directors featured in our poll: Paolo Sorrentino, Julia Ducournau, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Joanna Hogg. And those films that were released just too late to make it into our list are represented by Paul Thomas Anderson, who describes his new film Licorice Pizza as a “not coming of age movie”, and Guillermo del Toro, who leads us into the hellish carnival that is Nightmare Alley.
Our other polls round up the top 10 TV series, film books and disc releases in 2021. Plus, we pay tribute to the filmmakers who died this year, preview the most exciting coming attractions of 2022 and review all the latest releases.
