This article is published in our Top 11 series. You can read the rest of the Top 11 articles here.

11. “The Matrix Resurrections” (director: Lana Wachowski)

I’m beginning this review with a controversial pick. I wouldn’t be surprised if others considered “The Matrix Resurrections” one of the worst films of the year, and, while their opinion is entirely valid, I would like to make the case for one of the most surprising, revelatory, and interesting blockbuster films to release in the last few years. In the current age, a massive media company reviving dead IP to create a new money-grabbing installment is not anything new, but when the twenty-third IP on the chopping block is the Wachowski sisters’ “Matrix” trilogy, I had a faint shred of hope. What film other than “Matrix 4” could break this chain and combat the grim reaper that is corporate filmmaking? A film series so engulfed in anti-control sentiments and metacommentary on societal structures has all the firepower to deliver an actually good fourth film, and I truly believe that Lana Wachowski’s “The Matrix Resurrections” does just that. 

10. “Passing” (director: Rebecca Hall)

With her background as a blockbuster actress, Rebecca Hall’s entrance into the indie director scene with “Passing” is nothing short of impressive. But Hall’s story about the act of passing, in which Black men and women would disguise themselves as white in order to gain power is more than most actor-to-director features. “Passing” brings what many of these debuts do not: auteurism and authenticity. 

9. “Judas and the Black Messiah” (director: Shaka King)

“Judas and the Black Messiah” is quite simply powerful filmmaking. Recounting the events leading up to the assasination of the Black Panther chairman, Fred Hampton, by the FBI, “Judas” doesn’t hold back in being unapologetically honest in its subject matter. The film is more than political commentary – there’s a strong bearing on it being a movie. While maintaining an informal plot, “Judas” feels cinematic. King really wields the power of filmmaking well and uses it to its full extent. 

8. “The Green Knight” (director: David Lowery)

David Lowery’s goosebump-inducing, slow-burn, Arthurian fantasy film, “The Green Knight,” is not exactly an easily consumable ride. Much like his beautiful previous feature “A Ghost Story,” the film isn’t for everyone. But if you were on board for the five minute pie-eating scene in “A Ghost Story” or simply want to slowly have your mind blown to pieces, I encourage you to check out this film. 

7. “The French Dispatch” (director: Wes Anderson)

As time goes on and Wes Anderson continues to refine his reputation as one of the 21st century’s best directors, “The French Dispatch” will surely be one of his more underappreciated films. At first glance, it may seem like a mess. “Dispatch” boasts one of Anderson’s most impressive casts yet, with recurring members of his troupe including Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, and Tilda Swinton as well as Anderson newcomers Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Benicio del Toro, and Jeffrey Wright. Oh yeah, and also Willem Dafoe, Lea Seydoux, Steve Park, Elizabeth Moss, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Christoph Waltz, and Jason Schwartzman make an appearance. Okay, by far his most impressive cast list. Even with all these A-listers and the dauntingly massive three-part story covering three different time periods and three different narratives spanning art, politics, crime, love, and food, all contained within a single newspaper edition commemorating the death of the chief editor (another plotline), Wes pulls through like he always does. 

6. “Spencer” (director: Pablo Larrain)

From my earlier full review: The biopic is one of cinema’s most delicate genres. Bringing a figure with historical or cultural significance to the big screen is no easy task. It takes more than just a recounting of events in their lives, which many biopics only seem to do. The purpose of a biopic as it relates to cinema is to gain a deeper understanding of the human experience by relating it to the most visceral and emotional of all characters: the real person. I am more than happy to report that “Spencer” does just that. 

5. “Dune” (director: Denis Villenueve)

Although I’ve already written a full review of “Dune,” it is too big to condense into a simple description. If I’m being honest, there really isn’t much more to say about “Dune” that hasn’t already been said. It’s massive. It has sandworms. It subverts all expectations of a traditional sci-fi blockbuster. It is also likely the most easily recommendable film on this list. 

4. “Drive My Car” (Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

Although it is based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, “Drive My Car” is by no means a short story. Clocking in at a minute short of three hours, the film isn’t exactly easy to unpack. Luckily the film is relatively straightforward: a theater actor is confronted with the tragic death of his wife and briefly retires from the stage. He is called out of exile after two years to direct a play whose production involves various elements from his past, including grudges and vices that he isn’t ready to confront, with the troubling pre-production of the play being the main focus of the film. There are plenty of words to describe this miniature epic, but I believe the most meaningful would be “meditative.” “Drive My Car” is almost transcendental in that way. Not only do the characters reflect but so do you. 

3. “Titane” (director: Julia Ducournau)

Coming in HOT at number three is Julia Ducournau’s grotesque beast of a film that is “Titane.” If you have a bad stomach for gore or violence, do not watch this movie. While I haven’t delved into the deepest darkest depths of cinema, I have dabbled, and I am confident to say that “Titane” is the grossest movie I have ever seen. With a synopsis that alone is more graphic than many PG-13 movies, this film is not for all audiences. Is it a horror movie? A coming-of-age film? Maybe the darkest of dark comedies? Who can say, but what I can say is that “Titane” is an incredible movie. 

2. “C’mon C’mon” (director: Mike Mills)

The definitive optimist movie. Many so-called “positive” films that set out to make the audience happy blindly disregard plenty of societal or social factors that plague so many people, dancing around issues and idealizing with no genuine motivation, simply serving as cinematic sedative. “C’mon C’mon” directly acknowledges the problems of the world, reminds you of them over and over again but moves you to want to fight them with love and compassion in this beautiful reflection on life. 

1. “Licorice Pizza” (director: Paul Thomas Anderson)

Behind “Dune,” “Licorice Pizza” was my second most-anticipated movie going into 2021. Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest working directors, and his return to his roots in the San Fernando Valley was a surprise considering his recent spree in the past decade of ultra-serious dramas. “Licorice Pizza” takes the pizazz of “Boogie Nights,” the character variety of “Magnolia,” and the uncanniness of “Punch-Drunk Love” to meld into what I believe is PTA’s definitive Valley film.