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Published by Film at Lincoln Center

Best Films of 2021: Individual Ballots

By Film Comment on December 16, 2021

The results are in for our 2021 poll of Film Comment's contributors and colleagues! On this page, you'll find a selection of the individual ballots submitted by our voters for the "Best Released Films of 2021" category, covering features that were released either theatrically or virtually in 2021 in the United States. To see which films came out on top, check out our Best Films of 2021 list, which features original appreciations from critics, as well as links to features, reviews, and interviews about these films and directors from across the year.

And for new films that our voters loved but which do not yet have stateside distribution, check out our Best Undistributed Films of 2021 list.

Peruse the poll results of yesteryear.

 

Jamsheed Akrami

  1. Drive My Car
  2. Parallel Mothers
  3. There Is No Evil
  4. Chess of the Wind
  5. Quo Vadis, Aida?
  6. Flee
  7. Lamb
  8. CODA
  9. Old Henry
  10. Passing
  11. I'm Your Man
  12. Two of Us
  13. Paper Spiders
  14. Mass
  15. Slalom
  16. C’mon C’mon
  17. Luzzu
  18. Hive

 

Julien Allen

  1. Cry Macho
  2. Days
  3. Bad Trip
  4. Acasa, My Home
  5. In The Heights
  6. The Green Knight
  7. Old
  8. Annette
  9. Nobody
  10. Days of the Bagnold Summer

 

Florence Almozini (Film at Lincoln Center)

  1. Drive My Car
  2. The Power of the Dog
  3. The Souvenir Part II
  4. Benedetta
  5. Bergman Island
  6. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  7. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  8. Memoria
  9. Annette
  10. Undine

 

Ina Archer

Candyman
Censor
In The Earth
NYC Epicenters 9/11→2021½
One Night in Miami
Passing
Saint Maud
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Zola

I spent more of 2021 in the back catalogue. A new old favorite: Der Golem!

 

Erika Balsom

Anne at 13,000 ft
Benedetta
Bulletproof
Days
Delphine's Prayers
Drive My Car
Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream
małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore
Memoria
Parallel Mothers
The Card Counter
The Inheritance
The Scary Of Sixty-First
The Two Sights
The Viewing Booth
The Woman Who Ran
Titane
Undine
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

 

Ela Bittencourt

Anne at 13,000 ft
Attica
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Beginning
El Planeta
Faya Dayi
Film About a Father Who
France
Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream
Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You.
Saint Maud
The Power of the Dog
The Viewing Booth
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?

 

Richard Brody (The New Yorker)

  1. The French Dispatch
  2. Licorice Pizza
  3. Zola
  4. I Was a Simple Man
  5. In the Same Breath
  6. C’mon C’mon
  7. Passing
  8. Procession
  9. The Woman Who Ran
  10. The Disciple
  11. Being the Ricardos
  12. Parallel Mothers
  13. The American Sector
  14. All Light, Everywhere
  15. A Cop Movie
  16. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
  17. Listening to Kenny G
  18. Drive My Car
  19. The Card Counter
  20. Uppercase Print

 

Monica Castillo

Cusp
C’mon C’mon
Drive My Car
El Planeta
I Carry You With Me
Identifying Features
Licorice Pizza
Parallel Mothers
Procession
Red Rocket
Shiva Baby
Test Pattern
The Card Counter
The Inheritance
The Power of the Dog
The Souvenir Part II
The Sparks Brothers
The Velvet Underground
The Village Detective: a song cycle
The Worst Person in the World

 

Phoebe Chen

Annette
Benedetta
Chess of the Wind
Days
Drive My Car
El Planeta
Faya Dayi
małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore
Memoria
The Woman Who Ran
Undine

 

Edo Choi (The Museum of the Moving Image)

  1. Memoria
  2. Days
  3. Annette
  4. Drive My Car
  5. Licorice Pizza
  6. The French Dispatch
  7. The Power of the Dog
  8. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  9. Notturno
  10. Malmkrog
  11. All About My Sisters
  12. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  13. The Salt of Tears
  14. Compartment No. 6
  15. Bergman Island
  16. Red Rocket
  17. The Tragedy of Macbeth
  18. Downstream to Kinshasa
  19. The Velvet Underground
  20. Undine

 

Jordan Cronk

  1. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  2. Memoria
  3. Days
  4. The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)
  5. Drive My Car
  6. The Woman Who Ran
  7. France
  8. Malmkrog
  9. State Funeral
  10. Benedetta
  11. Her Socialist Smile
  12. Beginning
  13. The Salt of Tears
  14. Annette
  15. Cry Macho
  16. Fauna
  17. The Card Counter
  18. Siberia
  19. Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream
  20. Licorice Pizza

 

Adrian Curry

  1. Beginning
  2. Drive My Car
  3. Lamb
  4. Malmkrog
  5. The Card Counter
  6. About Endlessness
  7. The Velvet Underground
  8. Annette
  9. There is No Evil
  10. The Power of the Dog
  11. The Rescue
  12. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  13. Judas and the Black Messiah
  14. The Souvenir Part II
  15. Identifying Features
  16. Wojnarowicz: : F**k You F*ggot F**ker
  17. Undine
  18. Acasa, My Home
  19. The Village Detective
  20. Stillwater

 

Nick Davis

  1. Notturno
  2. Days
  3. Prayers for the Stolen
  4. The Orphanage
  5. The Disciple
  6. What We Left Unfinished
  7. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
  8. Dear Comrades!
  9. Zola
  10. Drive My Car
  11. Sweat
  12. C’mon C’mon
  13. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  14. No Ordinary Man
  15. Quo Vadis, Aida?
  16. Memoria
  17. The Fever
  18. New Order
  19. The Killing of Two Lovers
  20. Dune

I wish I had spots for Test Pattern, Passing, MLK/FBI, Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, and The Woman Who Ran.

 

Courtney Duckworth

  1. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  2. Undine
  3. Benedetta
  4. The Woman Who Ran
  5. Drive My Car
  6. El Planeta
  7. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue

 

Jessica Dunn Rovinelli

Benedetta
Days
Ema
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
Isabella
Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You.
Old
The Power of the Dog
Titane
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair*

 

Nicholas Elliott

  1. France
  2. Memoria
  3. Days
  4. Benedetta
  5. Parallel Mothers
  6. Annette
  7. The Inheritance
  8. The Woman Who Ran
  9. Azor
  10. Licorice Pizza

Annette is in many ways a failure, but it's a miracle that it exists.

 

Matthew Eng

  1. The Souvenir Part II
  2. Drive My Car
  3. Days
  4. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  5. Quo Vadis, Aida?
  6. Passing
  7. Sweat
  8. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  9. Procession
  10. Licorice Pizza
  11. Bergman Island
  12. Eyimofe
  13. The Tragedy of Macbeth
  14. Red Rocket
  15. Parallel Mothers
  16. Zola
  17. The Power of the Dog
  18. C’mon C’mon
  19. Dune
  20. The Velvet Underground

 

Lawrence Garcia

  1. France
  2. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  3. The Disciple
  4. Her Socialist Smile
  5. The Woman Who Ran
  6. The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)
  7. Memoria
  8. El Planeta
  9. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn

 

Caden Mark Gardner

Annette
Drive My Car
The Woman Who Ran
Days
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
The Power of the Dog
The Lost Daughter
The Inheritance
Dune
Shiva Baby
Procession
All Light, Everywhere
The Velvet Underground
Anne at 13,000 ft
Test Pattern
Slow Machine
Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
The Worst Person in the World
Holler
Working Girls*

If restorations are qualifiers, then the works of Fred Halsted, including LA Plays Itself, Sextool, Sex Garage, and Truck It, are all as historically significant as these other mainstream films.

 

Devika Girish (Film Comment)

  1. Memoria
  2. Days
  3. Undine
  4. Annette
  5. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  6. The Inheritance
  7. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  8. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  9. Drive My Car
  10. Bergman Island
  11. The Souvenir Part II
  12. Uppercase Print
  13. Fauna
  14. The Monopoly of Violence
  15. The Velvet Underground
  16. About Endlessness
  17. Slow Machine
  18. Benedetta
  19. Azor
  20. Labyrinth of Cinema

New Old Pick(s): Punishment Park (Peter Watkins, 1971); Duvidha (Mani Kaul, 1973)

 

Leonardo Goi

  1. Drive My Car
  2. Memoria
  3. The Souvenir Part II
  4. The Power of the Dog
  5. Titane
  6. The Card Counter
  7. The Hand of God
  8. The Green Knight
  9. Dune
  10. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  11. The Scary of Sixty-First
  12. The Fever
  13. Take Me Somewhere Nice
  14. Slow Machine
  15. Red Rocket

 

Leo Goldsmith

  1. The Souvenir Part II
  2. Memoria
  3. Drive My Car
  4. The Power of the Dog
  5. What Do We See When We Look At the Sky?
  6. Benedetta
  7. The Two Sights
  8. Slow Machine
  9. Annette
  10. Godzilla vs Kong (4DX edition)

 

Jessica Green (Houston Cinema Arts Society)

  1. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  2. Memoria
  3. El Planeta
  4. In Our Mothers' Gardens
  5. Mogul Mowgli
  6. MLK/FBI
  7. The Inheritance
  8. Bad Trip
  9. North By Current
  10. Red Rocket
  11. Beans
  12. Eyimofe
  13. Summer of Soul
  14. She Had a Dream
  15. Coming 2 America
  16. Night of the King
  17. The Woman Who Ran
  18. Tina
  19. I Was a Simple Man
  20. Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It

 

Molly Haskell

Benedetta
Drive My Car
Licorice Pizza
Memoria
The Hand of God
The Humans
The Souvenir Part II
The Worst Person in the World
Undine
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky

 

Kaleem Hawa

  1. Days
  2. Drive My Car
  3. Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream
  4. The Souvenir Part II
  5. Memoria
  6. Farha
  7. A Hero
  8. Souad
  9. Parallel Mothers
  10. Gaza Mon Amour
  11. We’re All Going To The World’s Fair*
  12. About Endlessness
  13. małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore
  14. The Father
  15. The Velvet Underground

 

Eugene Hernandez (Film at Lincoln Center)

  1. Summer of Soul
  2. Parallel Mothers
  3. Flee
  4. The Power of the Dog
  5. The Velvet Underground
  6. Memoria
  7. The Souvenir Part II
  8. Licorice Pizza
  9. El Planeta
  10. Bergman Island
  11. Drive My Car
  12. Ascension
  13. Days
  14. The Tragedy of Macbeth
  15. A Cop Movie
  16. The Worst Person in the World
  17. The Rescue
  18. Judas and the Black Messiah
  19. Titane
  20. Annette

 

J. Hoberman

  1. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  2. Memoria
  3. The Monopoly of Violence
  4. Undine
  5. Paris Calligrammes
  6. The Velvet Underground
  7. Red Rocket
  8. Fire Music: The Story of Free Jazz
  9. Karen Dalton: In My Own Time
  10. The Meaning of Hitler

 

Eric Hynes (The Museum of the Moving Image)

  1. The Viewing Booth
  2. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  3. This is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
  4. Procession
  5. Drive My Car
  6. Memoria
  7. Annette
  8. Downstream To Kinshasa
  9. Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
  10. Notturno
  11. Benedetta
  12. The French Dispatch
  13. Nina Wu
  14. Undine
  15. State Funeral
  16. Ascension
  17. Atlantis
  18. Summer of Soul
  19. El Planeta
  20. Red Rocket

 

Azadeh Jafari

  1. Drive My Car
  2. Benedetta
  3. The Power of the Dog
  4. The World to Come
  5. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  6. Memoria
  7. Days
  8. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  9. Undine
  10. Annette
  11. Lamb
  12. Wife of a Spy

 

Clinton Krute (Film Comment)

  1. Memoria
  2. Annette
  3. Titane
  4. Days
  5. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  6. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  7. Drive My Car
  8. The Velvet Underground
  9. The Disciple
  10. Slow Machine
  11. Benedetta
  12. The Souvenir Part II
  13. Isabella
  14. The Woman Who Ran
  15. The Inheritance
  16. The Beatles: Get Back
  17. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  18. Bergman Island
  19. Anne at 13,000 ft
  20. El Planeta

New Old Picks: Duvidha (Mani Kaul, 1973), Attica (Cinda Firestone, 1974), Naissance (Robert Kramer, 1982), and Barbarosa (Fred Schepisi, 1982).

 

Dennis Lim (Film at Lincoln Center)

  1. Drive My Car
  2. Memoria
  3. Days
  4. Annette
  5. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn 
  6. The Souvenir Part II 
  7. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  8. Benedetta
  9. The Woman Who Ran
  10. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky
  11. The Works and Days
  12. Undine
  13. The Power of the Dog 
  14. Bergman Island
  15. Fauna
  16. France
  17. The Inheritance
  18. All About My Sisters
  19. Isabella
  20. The Two Sights 

 

Chloe Lizotte

  1. Drive My Car
  2. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  3. The Souvenir Part II
  4. Memoria
  5. Annette
  6. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  7. El Planeta
  8. Slow Machine
  9. małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore
  10. Bolt Driver

 

Beatrice Loayza (The Criterion Collection)

  1. Bergman Island
  2. Annette
  3. Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
  4. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  5. The Inheritance
  6. Undine
  7. El Planeta
  8. The Souvenir Part II
  9. Malmkrog
  10. The French Dispatch
  11. małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore
  12. France
  13. Slow Machine
  14. The Woman Who Ran
  15. Days
  16. Drive My Car
  17. Fauna
  18. The Macaluso Sisters
  19. Old
  20. The Witches of the Orient

 

Dessane Lopez Cassell

  1. All Light, Everywhere
  2. El Planeta
  3. Faya Dayi
  4. Titane
  5. Memoria
  6. Summer of 85
  7. Summer of Soul
  8. 499
  9. Eyimofe
  10. Night of The Kings

 

Violet Lucca (Harper’s Magazine)

Alia’s Birth
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Benedetta
Bergman Island
Chess of the Wind
Drive My Car
Dune
Eyimofe
Faya Dayi
France
Licorice Pizza
Memoria
Prism
The Card Counter
The Green Knight
The Inheritance
The Last Duel
The Pink Cloud
The Power of the Dog
The Souvenir Part II

It’s been overwhelming to get two years’ worth of films at once.

 

Mackenzie Lukenbill (Film Comment)

  1. El Planeta
  2. Slow Machine
  3. The Souvenir Part II
  4. Bergman Island
  5. North By Current
  6. Test Pattern
  7. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  8. Film About a Father Who
  9. Undine
  10. The Velvet Underground
  11. Ema
  12. The American Sector
  13. Paris Calligrammes

 

Willow Catelyn Maclay

  1. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
  2. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  3. Annette
  4. Spencer
  5. Memoria
  6. Preparations To Be Together For an Unknown Period of Time
  7. The Woman Who Ran
  8. The Last Duel
  9. Test Pattern
  10. Old
  11. The French Dispatch
  12. Holler
  13. Pig
  14. Little Girl

 

Steven Mears (Film Comment)

  1. Pig
  2. The Father
  3. Red Rocket
  4. The Lost Daughter
  5. The Power of the Dog
  6. The Souvenir Part II
  7. Identifying Features
  8. Judas and the Black Messiah
  9. Quo Vadis, Aida?
  10. The Amusement Park
  11. Gunda
  12. Slow Machine
  13. Night of The Kings
  14. The Green Knight
  15. Summer of Soul
  16. Nine Days
  17. CODA
  18. The Sparks Brothers
  19. Zola
  20. Mass

This is more of a "best of what was accessible in Virginia in the first 11 months of 2021" list.

 

Olaf Möller

Army of the Dead
Benedetta
Castle Falls
Cry Macho
Cryptozoo
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
Gunpowder Milkshake
Halloween Kills
Hell Hath No Fury
Her Socialist Smile
Malignant
Malik
Old Henry
Rocky IV: Rocky vs Drago - The Ultimate Director's Cut
Sentinelle
The Green Knight
The Spine of Night
The Witches of the Orient
The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)
Zack Snyder’s Justice League

 

Adam Nayman (The Ringer)

  1. Drive My Car
  2. Benedetta
  3. Azor
  4. Licorice Pizza
  5. The Inheritance
  6. Annette
  7. Old
  8. Wife of a Spy
  9. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
  10. Saint Maud
  11. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  12. Malignant
  13. The Power of the Dog
  14. Bad Trip
  15. Anne at 13,000 ft
  16. Procession
  17. Dune
  18. Undine
  19. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
  20. No Sudden Move

 

Max Nelson

  1. Days
  2. Faya Dayi
  3. Memoria
  4. State Funeral
  5. The Souvenir Part II
  6. Labyrinth of Cinema
  7. The Inheritance
  8. Chess of the Wind
  9. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  10. Paris Calligrammes

 

Christina Newland

  1. The Power of the Dog
  2. The Card Counter
  3. The Green Knight
  4. Annette
  5. The Velvet Underground
  6. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  7. Drive My Car
  8. The Lost Daughter
  9. Red Rocket
  10. Zola

 

Ruun Nuur (No Evil Eye Cinema)

All Light, Everywhere
Faya Dayi
Passing
Prism
Spencer
Test Pattern
The Killing of Two Lovers
The Village Detective
This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection

 

Sheila O'Malley (RogerEbert.com)

Annette
Bergman Island
Drive My Car
Faya Dayi
Hero
Hive
Licorice Pizza
Mass
Parallel Mothers
Passing
Procession
Shiva Baby
State Funeral
Summer of Soul
Test Pattern
The Card Counter
The Disciple
The Power of the Dog
The Souvenir Part II
The Velvet Underground


Andréa Picard (Toronto International Film Festival)

  1. Memoria
  2. The Souvenir Part II
  3. Days
  4. Drive My Car
  5. The Woman Who Ran
  6. Malmkrog
  7. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  8. Undine
  9. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  10. Bergman Island
  11. Annette
  12. Anne at 13,000 ft
  13. Isabella
  14. Notturno
  15. State Funeral
  16. Le Navire Night*
  17. The Power of the Dog
  18. The Inheritance
  19. France
  20. Licorice Pizza

 

Matías Piñeiro

Annette
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Benedetta
Drive My Car
Memoria
The Woman Who Ran
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
Wife of a Spy



Jordan Raup (The Film Stage)

  1. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  2. Licorice Pizza
  3. Undine
  4. The Worst Person in the World
  5. Drive My Car
  6. Petite Maman*
  7. All Light, Everywhere
  8. Her Socialist Smile
  9. Bergman Island
  10. The Souvenir Part II
  11. Malmkrog
  12. About Endlessness
  13. Wrath of Man
  14. Memoria
  15. The French Dispatch
  16. Days
  17. Red Rocket
  18. The Power of the Dog
  19. Annette
  20. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?

 

Jeff Reichert (Reverse Shot)

  1. The Power of the Dog
  2. Days
  3. Labyrinth of Cinema
  4. The Year of the Discovery
  5. The Viewing Booth
  6. Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
  7. Bergman Island
  8. Isabella
  9. Identifying Features
  10. The American Sector
  11. Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream
  12. Paris Calligrammes
  13. The Woman Who Ran
  14. Eyimofe
  15. The Two Sights
  16. The Inheritance
  17. małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore
  18. Circumstantial Pleasures
  19. Wife of a Spy
  20. Cry Macho

 

Vadim Rizov (Filmmaker Magazine)

  1. The Souvenir Part II
  2. Licorice Pizza
  3. Red Rocket
  4. Bergman Island
  5. Days
  6. El Planeta
  7. The French Dispatch
  8. The Inheritance
  9. Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream
  10. Slow Machine
  11. Isabella
  12. małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore
  13. Notturno
  14. Short Vacation
  15. Undine
  16. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  17. The Velvet Underground
  18. The Woman Who Ran
  19. Atlantis
  20. Shiva Baby

 

Jonathan Romney

  1. A Cop Movie
  2. The Disciple
  3. Gunda
  4. Drive My Car
  5. New Order
  6. The Velvet Underground
  7. The Souvenir Part II
  8. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  9. State Funeral
  10. The Card Counter
  11. Night of the Kings
  12. Undine
  13. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  14. The Beatles: Get Back
  15. Summer of Soul
  16. Memoria
  17. Moffie
  18. You Will Die at 20
  19. About Endlessness
  20. Titane

 

Nicholas Russell

  1. Dune
  2. Zola
  3. The Green Knight
  4. All Light, Everywhere
  5. The Last Duel
  6. Riders of Justice
  7. No Time To Die
  8. Together Together
  9. The Woman Who Ran
  10. Saint Maud
  11. Censor
  12. Summer of Soul
  13. The Night House
  14. Together Together
  15. Bo Burnham: Inside

 

Isabel Sandoval

  1. Titane
  2. The Souvenir Part II
  3. Benedetta
  4. Spencer
  5. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  6. The Power of The Dog
  7. Memoria
  8. The Card Counter
  9. The Hand of God
  10. Faya Dayi
  11. El Planeta
  12. Intregalde
  13. La Chiara
  14. Passing
  15. Cow
  16. Sundown

 

Chris Shields

  1. Annette
  2. Nina Wu
  3. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
  4. Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts
  5. About Endlessness
  6. Film About a Father Who
  7. Beginning
  8. Raging Fire

 

Gavin Smith

  1. Spoor
  2. Dune
  3. New Order
  4. Undine
  5. Licorice Pizza
  6. The Macaluso Sisters
  7. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  8. Drive My Car
  9. Eyimofe
  10. The Power of the Dog
  11. Summer of Soul
  12. Kate
  13. A Hero
  14. Old Henry
  15. Isabella
  16. There Is No Evil
  17. The Suicide Squad
  18. Copshop
  19. Cry Macho
  20. The Souvenir Part II

 

Isabel Stevens (Sight & Sound)

Azor
Beginning
Benedetta
Bergman Island
Drive My Car
Eyimofe
Flee
Gunda
Licorice Pizza
Memoria
Nightmare Alley
Parallel Mothers
Red Rocket
Shiva Baby
Summit of the Gods
The French Dispatch
The Nest
The Power of the Dog
The Souvenir Part II
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?

 

R. Emmet Sweeney

  1. Karnan
  2. Annette
  3. Ready Mix
  4. Bad Trip
  5. Red Moon Tide
  6. About Endlessness
  7. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
  8. The American Sector
  9. The Two Sights
  10. Cry Macho
  11. Red Post on Escher Street
  12. Hell Hath No Fury
  13. Undine
  14. The Marksman
  15. Dune
  16. Sentinelle

 

Amy Taubin

  1. The Power of the Dog
  2. AGHDRA
  3. The Velvet Underground
  4. Summer of Soul
  5. Memoria
  6. Azor
  7. Petite Maman*
  8. Drive My Car
  9. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  10. In the Same Breath
  11. Bring Your Own Brigade
  12. Prayers for the Stolen
  13. Annette
  14. No Sudden Move
  15. The First Wave
  16. The Hand of God
  17. Hive
  18. Cryptozoo
  19. President
  20. Writing With Fire

 

Carlos Valladares

  1. Drive My Car
  2. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  3. Annette
  4. Memoria
  5. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  6. Days
  7. Minamata Mandala
  8. Licorice Pizza
  9. Zeros and Ones
  10. About Endlessness
  11. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  12. Benedetta
  13. So Late So Soon
  14. Test Pattern
  15. The Card Counter

 

Tom Waibel (Austrian Film Museum)

  1. Benedetta
  2. Shock Wave 2
  3. The Sparks Brothers
  4. The Velvet Underground
  5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
  6. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
  7. The Amusement Park
  8. Crimson Gold*
  9. The Card Counter
  10. Judas and the Black Messiah
  11. Val
  12. Undine
  13. Tina
  14. My Zoe
  15. Zeros and Ones
  16. Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never
  17. The United States vs. Billie Holiday
  18. Titane
  19. Cry Macho
  20. Summer of Soul

 

K. F. Watanabe

  1. Labyrinth of Cinema
  2. Benedetta
  3. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
  4. Memoria
  5. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  6. Dune
  7. Wife of a Spy
  8. Drive My Car
  9. The Beatles: Get Back
  10. The Real Thing
  11. Procession
  12. Licorice Pizza
  13. Annette
  14. Bad Trip
  15. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

 

James Wham (Film Comment)

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Benedetta
Days
Drive My Car
Dune
France
Isabella
Memoria
The Souvenir Part II
Undine

 

Madeline Whittle (Film at Lincoln Center)

  1. Anne at 13,000 ft
  2. The Power of the Dog
  3. The Worst Person in the World
  4. Memoria
  5. Bergman Island
  6. The Inheritance
  7. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
  8. The Souvenir Part II
  9. Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream
  10. About Endlessness
  11. Benedetta
  12. Licorice Pizza
  13. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
  14. Undine
  15. Red Rocket
  16. Annette
  17. The Lost Daughter
  18. Procession
  19. Isabella
  20. Zola

 

Tyler Wilson (Film at Lincoln Center)

All About My Sisters
All Light, Everywhere
Benedetta
Bergman Island
Days
Drive My Car
Eyimofe
Faya Dayi
France
Isabella
Malignant
MLK/FBI
Old
The Last Duel
The Nest
The Power of the Dog
The Souvenir Part II
The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)
Undine
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?

 

Manu Yáñez-Murillo

  1. Memoria
  2. Days
  3. Benedetta
  4. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  5. The Card Counter
  6. Parallel Mothers
  7. The French Dispatch
  8. Undine
  9. All Light, Everywhere
  10. State Funeral
  11. Drive My Car
  12. Annette
  13. Last Night in Soho
  14. About Endlessness
  15. Wife of a Spy
  16. The Velvet Underground
  17. El Planeta
  18. Mandibles
  19. Cry Macho
  20. The Power of the Dog

 

C. Spencer Yeh

Boiling Point
Censor
Dune
Knights of Newgate
Malignant
Saint Maud
Settlers
The Towel Man
Titane

 

Genevieve Yue

  1. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
  2. State Funeral
  3. Benedetta
  4. The Velvet Underground
  5. Flee
  6. The American Sector

*These titles did not qualify in the Best Films of 2021 poll because they are restorations of older films or have not yet received a theatrical release in the U.S.