30 Criminally Underwatched And Underappreciated Movies From 2021
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I love movies! So, after another predictably slow year for theatergoing, it was a relief to see the box office successes of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Dune.
Summit Entertainment
(It was not a relief to discover their two hour-plus run times, but I'll save that for another post.)
There's clearly still an appetite for going to the movies. And this is great! But I still can't help but think about all the movies that didn't get their moment in the sun.
A24
I’m talking about indie films to the soon-to-be award winners! The festival darlings and the new classics! So, here are the best films that, like sand on Arrakis, might have slipped through your fingers during 2021. Now is your chance to stream them!
1.Bergman Island
You know when you wake up from a dream and you're not exactly sure what's real and what isn't? You think, "wait, did I really have a math test?" Or "did I actually go to a party with that person?" Bergman Island lives in those few seconds, balancing in the moments of twilight. Two married American filmmakers, Chris (Phantom Thread's Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth), travel to Fårö Island off the southeast coast of Sweden, where Ingmar Bergman shot the majority of his films. Once there, they both work on separate projects, hoping that the island itself will inspire them. However, when Chris starts writing a screenplay, the characters Amy (Mia Wasikowska) and Joseph (Anders Danielsen Lie) come to life, blurring the lines of fantasy and reality.
Watch it on Hulu.
2.Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry
On the one hand, the O'Connells are a typical American family. They live in a nice but modest house in Los Angeles. The brother and sister like making up songs in the brother's bedroom. On the other, those songs just happen to bring in millions (sometimes billions) of streams and amount to the mega-famous wunderkind known today as Billie Eilish. It all began (just as the doc does) with "Ocean Eyes," a song written by the brother-sister duo turned viral on SoundCloud when Billie was just 13, but the doc then refocuses most of its attention on the period between 2018-2020, as Billie and brother Finneas write and record Billie's debut album. The film shows everything from Eilish being dissatisfied with her Coachella performance to throwing her phone on the floor over a boy, unpeeling the layers of a superstar, and reminding the viewer that she is still human. Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry is shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature for the 2022 Academy Awards.
Watch it on Apple TV+.
3.CODA
With a compelling story, an ensemble of Oscar-worthy performances, and a feel-good, teary ending, Siân Heder’s coming-of-age film could easily be considered the most crowd-pleasing among this list. Further proof: It took home the Audience Award at Sundance last year before selling to Apple for $25 million (the largest sale to ever come out of Sundance). The story in this quietly history-making film centers on Ruby (Locke and Key star Emilia Jones), a teenage girl — and the only hearing member of her family — who must decide between pursuing her dreams of becoming a classically trained singer or staying back and helping with her family business. Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur, notably both deaf actors, round out this emotionally effective movie with measured, heart-tugging performances as her parents.
Watch it on Apple TV+.
4.The Card Counter
What if I told you a revenge thriller came out last year starring Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, and Willem Dafoe produced by Martin Scorsese and written and directed by Paul Schrader? Because it did! And Haddish's dramatic turn here should not be missed! The Card Counter follows Tell (Issac), who learned to count cards during a 10-year stint in a military prison. Tell lives a quiet life, to stay under the radar; he bets small and wins small at the casinos. When a young man named Cirk (Tye Sheridan) finds him and pleads with him to help take down the Colonel (Dafoe) in charge of putting both Tell and Cirk's father in prison, Tell feels compelled to help him. Tell sees it as an act of redemption, but assisting means facing Tell's biggest demons — the Colonel and himself. Isaac and Haddish were not a romantic pairing I saw coming, but their chemistry will charm you!
Rent it on Prime Video.
5.Concrete Cowboy
It can be hard for a child star, especially one we love, to jump from adorable kid to serious actor but that is exactly what Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin does in Concrete Cowboys. Films like this make me believe even more that there should be a Best Casting award at the Oscars because pairing McLaughlin and Idris Elba as father and son, was brilliant. Concrete Cowboys was inspired by the Fletcher Street Riders, a community of Black horse-riders throughout North Philadelphia. Cole (McLaughlin) is getting into trouble in school, so his mom sends him to Philadelphia for the summer to live with his estranged father Harp (Elba). When Cole walks into Harps's home for the first time, he is met with a horse in the living room. From there, Cole is caught between a life of crime and his connection with the horses and the community of Black cowboys.
Watch it on Netflix.
6.Finch
Few actors can pull off the art of the one-hander. Tom Hanks has now done it three times with Cast Away, The Terminal, and now Finch. Finch tells the story of its namesake protagonist (Hanks) navigating life in the aftermath of a solar flare which has destroyed the ozone layer and rendered Earth largely uninhabitable. One of the few remaining survivors, Finch, lives alone with his dog Goodyear. Aware that he is dying, Finch creates a robot named Dewey to take care of his dog after he has gone. Together, they learn about friendship, love, caring for another, and the trust we must have to depend on others. While Finch doesn't quite reach the emotional heights of Cast Away, second- or even third-tier Tom Hanks is still better than most performances.
Watch it on Apple TV+.
7.The Guilty
"I loved it," Lady Gaga said to Jake Gyllenhaal in Variety's recent Actors on Actors series about his film The Guilty. Gaga adds, "The movie was extremely powerful... I was really struck by a true belief that he was in a tremendous amount of pain and he was so sad." Could you imagine Gaga praising your work? That's basically getting an Oscar! The Guilty is perhaps the most “everything is not what it seems” film on this list — starring Gyllenhaal as Joe, an LAPD officer, working as a 911 phone operator while awaiting a court hearing for an on-duty incident that occurred a few months prior. One night he gets a call from a scared woman Emily (Riley Keough), who’s been abducted. Emily is terrified and forced to hang up the phone. Joe tries everything to track her down, including getting in touch with her children and sending his former partner to check on them. From there, Joe’s only goal is to get her out alive, forcing him to reckon with his past. While you may see some of the twists coming, others I'm sure will surprise you!
Watch it on Netflix.
8.The Hand of God
The Hand of God is Italy’s official submission (recently shortlisted) for International Feature Film at the 2022 Academy Awards, and is being called writer-director Paolo Sorrentino's most personal film to date. (He previously won in the International Film category with The Great Beauty, though he remains best known to most American audiences for his work on HBO's The Young Pope and The New Pope.) The story is set in 1980s Naples, Italy, and follows Fabietto, an aimless teen whose life is unexpectedly turned on its head, and he must cope with the loss of his innocence and the harsh reality of coming of age. Despite what you might assume from its title, The Hand of God is not a film about religion — it's a reference to Diego Maradona’s arrival as a star player on the Naples football team. While The Hand of God is heavy at times, it is one of the most visually stunning films on the list, with breathtaking views of the Naples countryside.
Watch it on Netflix.
9.The Harder They Fall
I love a “dude, we’re getting the band back together” movie or, as it's better known, a revenge Western movie. And that's especially true with an A-list cast comprised of Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, Jonathan Majors, LaKeith Stanfield, and Danielle Deadwyler. The Harder They Fall tells the story of Nat Loe (Majors) finding out his enemy Rufus Buck (Elba) has been released from prison. He then reunites his gang to find him and seek revenge. The Harder They Fall is one of the few Westerns with an all-Black leading cast, and while the story is fiction it takes inspiration from the Black outlaws and Black cowboys of the 19th Century American West.
Watch it on Netflix.
10.The Humans
Based on the Tony-winning play of the same name written and directed by the play’s creator Stephen Karam, The Humans tells the story of one family over Thanksgiving night as they gather at the youngest daughter Brigid’s Chinatown apartment in Lower Manhattan. The Blake family is brought to life by some of the best actors working today: Erik (Richard Jenkins), Jayne (Deirdre Blake), Aimee (Amy Schumer), Brigid (Beanie Feldstein), Brigid’s boyfriend Richard (Steven Yeun), and Momo (June Squibb). Throughout the night, family members must face each other and uncover deep truths about themselves. Stuck in one location, the family has nowhere to run but back to each other, turning family dinner into a thriller of sorts. I have been thinking about Richard Jenkins saying, “Don’t you think it should cost less to be alive?” for days.
Watch it on Showtime.
11.In And Of Itself
The best way to see Derek DelGaudio’s In And Of Itself is to go in knowing absolutely nothing. For real. In And Of Itself is a Broadway show filmed in front of a live audience in 2018. It is a solo magic show but not in the way we’re accustomed to; this is not America's Got Talent. Rather, it’s a one-man, hour-and-a-half journey into truth and identity. What starts as a personal family fable becomes a way for everyone watching in the audience and at home to examine their own identity, and in that way, yes, it’s magic. This show truly took my breath away.
Watch it on Hulu.
12.In The Heights
If you've been on TikTok in the year 2021, you've undoubtedly seen a video synched to "Usnavi all night, you barely even danced with me. Don't make me laugh, I've been trying all night, you've been shaking your ass for like half of Heights." But, guys, there's like two whole more hours! And they're fantastic! This film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning musical In The Heights, is directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), and follows Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a bodega owner, as he reminisces and tells four children about his life growing up in Washington Heights. He tells them tales of love and friendship — everything from undocumented immigrants, the pressure of school, DACA, and dreams of winning the lottery. The film is beautifully shot with massive bright dance sequences. It’s truly a love letter to New York City.
Watch it on HBO Max.
13.I’m Your Man
Much like Belle in The Beauty and the Beast or Lady Mary in Downton Abbey, I, too, would absolutely risk it all for Dan Stevens. Zero questions asked. Or, maybe one: What if he was a humanoid robot named Tom designed to be my perfect match? Well, that would make things slightly complicated for hypothetical me, just as it does for Alma (Maren Eggert), a scientist at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. To get more money to fund her project, she agrees to be a test subject for part of the larger research goal to determine if the robots should be given human rights. She must spend three weeks with Tom (Stevens), her perfect match. Alma has no interest in a love life and cares only about her work. But, since Tom is her ideal match, she can’t help but be drawn to him, and again who wouldn’t be? I’m Your Man is Germany’s official submission and on the shortlist for International Feature Film at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Watch it on Hulu.
14.Language Lessons
Listen, I hear you. I, too, am sick of video calls, so I get that that might be a barrier of entry for some, but Language Lessons is made with so much love, it makes you forget the video call nature of the film. Adam's (Mark Duplass) husband gifts him one thousand Spanish lessons, sighting Adam's desire to learn Spanish. At first, Adam is unsure about it but has no choice when his video chat with Cariño (Natalie Morales), his Spanish teacher in Costa Rica, begins. At the start of their second lesson, Cariño sees that Adam is still in bed and learns of a tragedy in Adam's life. From there, the two begin to lean on each other, part friend, part therapist, part the most important person in each other's lives. The sessions get increasingly more personal, leading them to confront truths in their lives. The film is about 99% just Adam and Cariño on screen, yet their chemistry and relationship are captivating.
Rent it on Prime Video.
15.Mixtape
Mixtape is by far the most family-friendly film on the list, but hey, we could all use a little PG goodness in our lives. I found myself rooting for the protagonist Beverly Moody (Gemma Brooke Allen, a true one to watch) as much as any awards bait actor. In 1999, pre-teen Beverly finds a mixtape cassette from her late parents. Beverly, a loner at school constantly bullied by two classmates, lives with her grandmother, Gail (Julie Bowen). Beverly tries to listen to her parent's tape, but it gets eaten up by her Walkman. From there, she makes two new friends, and together go on a quest to find the songs. Beverly learns about herself, her grandma, and her parents in the process. Mixtape is full of fun '80s, and '90s needle drops from "Linda Linda" to "Teachers Pet."
Watch it on Netflix.
16.Moxie
Moxie is the story of budding teenage feminists, directed by Amy Poehler. When Vivien (Hadley Robinson), a teenage girl, finds out about her mother's (Poehler) rebellious past, she is inspired to start an anonymous zine calling out the sexism in her school. "Moxie," the zine, is meant to call out unfair behavior. The girls soon realize just how many issues they have to report, from being harshly ranked by the boys to harassment, to male athletes getting more attention than their female counterparts, to rape in high school. Moxie is filled with up-and-coming stars, including Josie Totah, Josephine Langford, and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
Watch it on Netflix.
17.The Night House
There are a lot of movies that are straight-up scary. And there are a lot of movies that show what grief can do to a person. Fewer weave the two concepts together, not losing either thread. The Night House stars Rebecca Hall (writer and director of another film on this list, Passing) in a pure psychological thriller. Beth (Hall) is reeling from the death of her husband Owen (Evan Jonigkeit) by suicide. She spends her days at their house, drinking and and not doing much else. When she finds Owen’s suicide note which reads, “You were right. There is nothing. Nothing is after you. You’re safe now.” Beth is unable to determine what the note means. Soon, at night, she starts experiencing supernatural events — ghosts, paranoia, hallucinations— and it’s impossible to tell what’s real and what’s grief.
Rent it on Prime Video.
18.Passing
Based on the novel of the same name, Passing tells the story of two childhood friends, Clare (Ruth Negga) and Irene (Tessa Thompson), who meet by chance later in their lives in 1920s New York. While both girls identified as Black growing up, Clare is now “passing” and living her life as a white woman, married to a white man (Alexander Skarsgård). However, after spending an afternoon with Irene, Clare realizes how much she misses her life as a Black woman and begins to spend more time with Irene and her family in Harlem. With the two women, once again in each other’s lives, old issues and insecurities resurface. Personally, I felt fortunate to be able to watch this film at home and rewind the last, shocking five minutes a few different times. Ruth Negga will certainly be one to look for in the best Supporting Actress category come Oscar nomination day.
Watch it on Netflix.
19.Pig
We are used to Nicolas Cage saving the world, stealing the Constitution, and generally giving larger-than-life performances. We are less used to him being intense and serene. Rob (Nicolas Cage) was once a Portland-based high-end chef. He is now living his life as a recluse truffle forager. Rob lives alone in a cabin in the woods of Oregon with his prized truffle-hunting pig. He makes a living selling the truffles to Amir (Alex Wolff), who sells luxury items to high-end restaurants. Unfortunately, Rob is attacked in his cabin in the middle of the night, and his pig is stolen. In a thriller-like turn, Rob returns to Portland and vows to hunt down and find the person who stole his pig. All the Oscar blogs I read (a cool past time, I know), seem to be waffling on whether Cage will get a nomination, but with so much intense emotion on display here, I do think there’s a case for this actor whose last nomination was nearly 20 years ago! Watch it on Hulu.
20.The Power Of The Dog
If I had to guess, I would say that The Power Of The Dog will be up for the most Oscars of any movie on this list — and yet, it's still not getting nearly enough eyeballs. (It saw a pretty quiet box office opening and fell off the Netflix Top 10 almost immediately after its premiere.) This slow-burning western is co-written and directed by Jane Campion, one of only seven women nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. It takes place in 1925, and follows the wealthy ranch hand brothers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons) who meet widow Ross (Kirstin Dunst) at a cattle auction. George is immediately taken by her. Soon George and Rose marry, and Rose and her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) move into the ranch. Phil mocks Peter relentlessly for his effeminate manner. Eventually, Phil teaches Peter about life on the ranch, but Rose grows worried over their new bond. The Power Of The Dog received seven Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Drama.
Watch it on Netflix.
21.Raya and the Last Dragon
Raya and the Last Dragon does what Disney does the absolute best — it gives both children and adults something to enjoy. It can be challenging for animated films without a “Let It Go” or “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” to pop, but Raya has as much heart as any musical. Long ago, in the Southeast Asian-inspired fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But now, 500 years later, an evil entity called the Druun is threatening the people. So it’s in the hands of Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), the daughter of a chief, to track down the last dragon (Awkwafina) and defeat the Druun for good. Additional voices include Gemma Chan, Ross Butler, Daniel Dae Kim, and Sandra Oh.
Watch it on Disney+.
22.Shiva Baby
It is impossible to give a better review of this film than this text from my best friend, which reads, "it gave me a panic attack but in a good way." Like Uncut Gems, another stressful tale about a neurotic Jew (I can say this, I am one), from the second Danielle (Rachel Sennott), a college senior, arrives at a shiva it's as if a timer starts loudly ticking to the moment everything (might) implode. Also at the shiva is Maya (Molly Gordon), Danielle's perfect girlfriend (she's going to law school), Danielle's sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari), his wife (Dianna Agron), and their crying baby — a baby and wife Danielle didn't know existed. The movie becomes increasingly claustrophobic (like Krisha, it unfolds almost entirely in one indoor space) and horror-like in its tension, as Danielle tries to keep the truth from spilling out.
Watch it on Hulu.
23.Single All The Way
Sometimes movies are allowed to be fun! I know it's a mind-blowing concept to many. (Don't even get me started on how the Oscars treat comedies.) Single All The Way is a pure delight. A gay rom-com, with a supporting cast, that includes Jennifer Coolidge and Kathy Najimy, yes, please. Single All The Way does not reinvent the rom-com genre, but it does have fun with it. It's Christmas time, and Peter (Younger's Michael Urie) doesn't want to go home single again, so he brings along his best friend Nick (newcomer Philemon Chambers). They're "just friends" — *wink.* Now, stuck in New Hampshire with his family, Peter agrees to go on a blind date his mom (Najimy) set up for him, which leads him to reevaluate his feelings for everything, including his best friend. As far as Netflix Christmas movies go, this one is #1.
Watch it on Netflix.
24.Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is a documentary film directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the drummer and joint frontman of The Roots. It covers six weeks in 1969 when thousands of people came to the Harlem Cultural Festival to celebrate Black history, culture, fashion, and music. Attending and performing at the festival were Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Sly and the Family Stone, and many others. The documentary explores why the festival, strangely, never made much of an imprint on popular culture. (And was never regarded by history books in the same way as Woodstock.) I found myself thinking over and over, how did I not know about this? Which I believe is precisely the point. This film is a must-see if you consider yourself a music lover or even a music liker. Summer of Soul premiered in 2021 at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for documentary. It's now been shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars.
Watch it on Hulu.
25.Swan Song
What's better than one Mahershala Ali, you may ask? How about TWO Mahershala Ali's acting against each other. Mahershala Ali plays Cameron Turner, a husband and father in the not-so-distant future secretly dying of an incurable disease. When Cameron is approached by Dr. Scott, the Director of Human Cloning (Glenn Close), she presents a new option: to clone him and have the clone permanently take his place. The only catch is that his wife (Naomie Harris) can never find out. Now Turner must decide if it is worth it to spare the heartbreak for his family and replace himself or tell them the truth. Mahershala Ali was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2022 Golden Globes for this performance. Awkwafina turns in yet another great "musician-turned-actor" performance here as well.Watch it on Apple TV+.
26.Tick, Tick... Boom!
There seems to be some confusion on the internet about who wrote and who directed Tick, Tick... Boom!. I’m happy to clear it up for you. Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of Hamilton) made his directorial debut in the musical film Tick, Tick... Boom!. Miranda did not, nor never claimed, to write it. It was written by Jonathan Larson, most famous for having written Rent. Tick, Tick… Boom! is a semi-autobiographical musical about Larson’s life as a struggling, anxious writer trying to make it in New York City. Adding to his anxieties are his friends personally affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. You do not need to be a Rent fan to enjoy this musical but for Rent fans Tick, Tick... Boom! feels in a lot of ways like a natural prequel to what would become Larson’s biggest musical both in writing style and theme. Also starring are Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens, Bradley Whitford as Stephen Sondheim, and Broadway standouts Robin de Jesús and Joshua Henry.Watch it on Netflix.
27.Titane
Titane is not a film for the faint of heart. It is violent, electric, acid-toned, absurdist, and at times crassly funny. Titane is a French-Belgian co-production and tells the story of Alexis (a debut performance from Agathe Rousselle). As a child, she got into a horrific car accident and now has a titanium rod in her head. As an adult, she works as a showgirl dancer at a motor show where she dances and fornicates with a car. (Hey, I tried to warn you!) When a man follows her and forcibly kisses her, she kills him clean with a hairpin; from there, the film gets more extreme as we learn he’s not the first to have his life end at her hands. Titane won the Palme d’Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Rent it on Prime Video.
28.To All the Boys: Always and Forever
Nothing makes me feel older than scrolling through movies and thinking, “they just don’t make teen rom-coms like they used to.” Enter, To All The Boy’s I’ve Loved Before, a movie that perfectly breaks the spell. In the satisfying conclusion to the To All the Boys trilogy, Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) plan on staying together and attending Stanford University. Unfortunately, Lara Jean doesn't get in, leading to a slight miscommunication — Peter thinks she has. Her plan at first is to go to Berkeley – that way, they'll be close. But when a class trip to New York City has her head over heels in love with NYU, everything she thought she wanted gets turned on its head. Now she has to figure out what to do, follow her heart and stay near Peter or follow her heart and go to NYU 3,000 miles away from Peter. The movie also stars Lara Jean’s sisters (Anna Cathcart and Pretty Little Liar’s Janel Parrish) in Seoul, Korea, and it seems like the most fun three actors have ever had.
Watch it on Netflix.
29.Together Together
There’s a strange sort of melancholy you feel when a person’s not in your life the way they were before. It happens when your work bestie gets a new job or your roommate moves in with their partner. The person still exists, but the essence of what made you close is fundamentally altered. Matt (The Office’s Ed Helms) is a single man in his 40s who decides to have his child with an egg donor. He interviews and hires Anna (Shrill’s Patti Harrison) to be the carrier of his child. Both characters are self-described loners but find themselves coming together and enjoying the companionship and perhaps love the other provides and desperately craves. They’re more than friends, but not at all lovers – caught somewhere in between. Something like a family. They both worry about what will happen to their bond once the baby is born. Can a friendship remain when the thing that brought them together has changed?
Watch it on Hulu.
30.Zola
“Y’all wanna hear a story about why me and this bitch here fell out?” starts one of the most infamous viral Twitter threads of all time. From there, the Twitter thread turned inspiration for the film Zola gets wilder and wilder. Down the psychedelic rabbit hole we go. Zola (Taylour Paige) goes on a weekend trip with her brand new friend Stephani (Riley Keough) to an upscale strip club in Florida where Stephani swears they can earn $5,000 a night. From there, every time you think the story will zig, it zags, as the two begin a 48-hour sleepless bender, including a mysterious friend/pimp X (Colman Domingo) and boyfriend (America’s favorite cousin Nicholas Braun). Zola premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was a Grand Jury Prize nominee.
Watch it on Hulu.
