5. The Lost Daughter
As directorial debuts go, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter is as ambitious as it is intimately contained. An adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel, the film gives viewers a look into a middle-aged woman’s beach vacation gone slightly awry. This is no romp, though, as distant memories and an obnoxious, possibly threatening family take up residence nearby. Flashbacks to Leda’s (an unforgettable Olivia Colman) earlier life as a young mother connect her past with her present in revealing, dramatic ways, and uncomfortable truths rear their head — uncomfortable, but honest and not deserving of judgment. Not everyone’s cut out for parenthood.
4. Riders of Justice (Denmark)
Some movies are exactly as advertised, while others hold secrets well beyond what’s been marketed. Riders of Justice is one of the latter, but it’s less an issue of plot turns than it is a marketing department unsure how to advertise it. Is it a movie about Mads Mikkelsen seeking vengeance for the death of his wife? Yes, but it’s also a very funny black comedy, a suspenseful action film, and a surprisingly touching look at family, friendship, and grief. Director/writer Anders Thomas Jensen and frequent collaborator Mikkelsen deliver an atypical revenge tale that plays havoc with genre expectations and the idea of catharsis. It’s not what you’re expecting — it’s far better.
3. The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt are Norwegian filmmakers and collaborators who’ve collectively gifted film-lovers with numerous masterpieces, including Reprise (2006), Oslo August 31st (2011), Blind (2014), and Thelma (2017), and their latest continues that trend. Director/co-writer Trier and co-writer Vogt craft something as wonderfully entertaining as it is painfully personal. Not all viewers will feel that connection, but adults who’ve lived, loved, and made tough choices — with both personal gain and collateral damage — will be hit with humor, nostalgia, and heartache. Renate Reinsve takes the lead (she’s the worst!) and is joined by Anders Danielsen Lie, and both are terrific.
2. Mass
The subject of school shootings is as charged a topic as you’ll find in America today, and movies about them are guaranteed to turn off some viewers. Writer/director Fran Kranz — yes, the same Fran Kranz who plays the pothead in The Cabin in the Woods (2011) — takes a tact with his story that wisely avoids images or scenes of the tragedy itself. Instead, we sit down with two couples who meet in the back room of a church a few years after such an event has occurred. What follows is a pitch-perfect four-hander — Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, and Martha Plimpton play the four leads — tackling grief, guilt, rage, and redemption through emotionally charged conversations. It’s a thing of beauty.
1. Petite Maman (France)
In a year filled with discourse about excessive running times, it’s perhaps fitting that the number one spot goes to a movie that clocks in at only seventy-two minutes. Easily the shortest film to make the cut, Céline Sciamma’s follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) once again employs a female perspective. But rather than follow two women who find love, Petite Maman features a young girl who finds peace saying goodbye. It will leave you a puddle, but while there’s sadness in grief and letting go, the tears here come as much from human connection, raw sweetness, and incredibly touching performances by young Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz. Sciamma understands the innocence and yearning of youth, and she’ll make you remember it too.
Read more of our 2021 Rewind here.
Related Topics: 2021 Rewind
