5 Best movies in 2021 To Watch

The year 2020 was a strange one for cinema, but 2021 is — sort of — getting back to normal. Streaming services are still going strong, and the theater-going experience has slowly been coming back. As a result, an array of films from all sorts of genres have been lighting up websites and multiplexes the world over.

And despite the existential question of when moviegoing will truly be “back,” 2021 has still been filled with some truly remarkable works, from new animated classics and thrilling franchises entries to intimate dramas and even ridiculous comedies. So if you’re looking for the cream of the cinematic crop this year has to offer, here are the 30 best movies that have graced our screens in 2021

Here is the list of 5 best movies in 2021

• 1. Pig
• 2. Summer of Soul
• 3. In & Of Itself
• 4. In the Heights
• 5.Judas and the Black Messiah

1. Pig

When you hear the premise “Nicolas Cage tries to find his kidnapped pig,” best movies in 2021 a very particular kind of movie pops up in your brain. Whatever your mind comes up with, it’s guaranteed to not be the patient, meditative, graceful drama that is “Pig,” one of the most impressive debut films of the year from writer/director Michael Sarnoski. Nicolas Cage plays Rob, a reclusive chef living in the Oregonian woods, whose only companion is his precious truffle pig. But after the lovable swine’s kidnapping, Rob ventures into the city of Portland where he will stop at nothing to find his four-legged companion. What starts off as the beginnings of a revenge thriller morphs into a reflective story about grief and companionship, with Cage easily giving one of his most quiet and powerful performances in years, resulting in a can’t-miss piece of modern filmmaking.

• Starring: Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin
• Director: Michael Sarnoski
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 92 minutes
• Rating: R

2. Summer of Soul

After footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival was left unattended and unaired for over 50 years, best movies in 2021 the world is ready to bear witness to this once-in-a-lifetime cultural event in the jam-packed documentary “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised).” Directed with an unsurprisingly characteristic rhythm by Roots frontman Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, “Summer of Soul” takes this legendary festival — featuring brilliant performances by the likes of Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, and Stevie Wonder, among many others — and uses it to dissect where Black American culture stood in the late 1960s. From religion to haircare to mayoral politics to the Moon Landing (which happened during the festival), Thompson’s film acts as both literal cinematic document and socio-political treatise on Black America, all while celebrating the joyful artistry of the musicians of the day.

• Starring: Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson
• Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 117 minutes
• Rating: PG-13

3. In & Of Itself

Part magic show, part solo performance, part full-on reckoning with what it means to be human, Derek DelGaudio’s “In & Of Itself” best movies in 2021 is guaranteed to be unlike any movie you’ll ever watch, let alone this year. DelGaudio, a master of magic and showmanship, crafts a performance piece built around his own life story and his own desire to be understood in a world so ready to judge him so quickly. Through masterful illusions that must be seen to be believed and an emotionally gut-wrenching final illusion, “In & Of Itself” is a beautiful meditation on how you can’t truly judge a book by its cover.

 

• Starring: Derek DelGaudio
• Director: Frank Oz
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Rating: N/A

4. In the Heights

The movie musical made a triumphant comeback in 2021, with such varied stage-to-screen adaptations as “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Tick…Tick… Boom!,” and “West Side Story.” And the year got off to a triumphant start with director Jon M. Chu’s filmed adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “In the Heights.” From writers Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes, Chu’s film is an explosive and dynamic story of a Washington Heights community banding together when the forces of gentrification and economic peril come barreling their way. With magnetic performances, thrilling choreography, and some of the best staged musical numbers put on film in years, if you want a sense of what a great musical movie should look like, you’ve got to take a trip to “In the Heights.”

• Starring: Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace
• Director: Jon M. Chu
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 143 minutes
• Rating: PG-13

5.Judas and the Black Messiah

The bizarre and elongated Oscar season of 2020/2021 might make you forget that the award-winning “Judas and the Black Messiah” best movies in 2021 was in fact a 2021 release. And what a triumphant film to kick off the year it was, telling the story of Fred Hampton, the Black Panthers, and William O’Neal — the FBI informant tasked with taking the Panthers down. Buoyed by two otherworldly performances from LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya (in the performance that won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), “Judas and the Black Messiah” is a film about revolutionary politics told in a revolutionary fashion, and it still stands out as one of the most dramatically thrilling films of the year.

• Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
• Director: Shaka King
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 126 minutes
• Rating: R