Yesterday, we released the RogerEbert.com consensus Top Ten Films of 2021, led by Jane Campion's "The Power of the Dog." Today, we dig deeper, presenting you with all submitted lists from our brilliant critics and independent contributors. There are over 200 films cited below as among the best of 2021, displaying both the diversity in quality at the cinema this year and the unique voices that cover it for our site. It's a huge collection of lists but it should give you an overall picture of the year in film, complete with dozens of links back to our reviews. Enjoy.
BRIAN TALLERICO
1. "The Power of the Dog"
2. "A Hero"
3. "Memoria"
4. "Licorice Pizza"
5. "Flee"
6. "The Green Knight"
7. "Petite Maman"
8. "The Worst Person in the World"
9. "The Lost Daughter"
10. "Pig" (2021)
Runners-up: "Bergman Island," "The Card Counter," "Drive My Car," "Nine Days," "No Sudden Move," "Procession," "Saint Maud," "Summer of Soul," "Test Pattern," and "West Side Story" (2021)
MATT ZOLLER SEITZ
1. "The Velvet Underground"
2. "Summer of Soul"
3. "Procession"
4. "Drive My Car"
5. "The French Dispatch"
6. "The Power of the Dog"
7. "Titane"
8. "The Harder They Fall"
9. "The Last Duel"
10. "Holler"
Runners-Up: "17 Blocks," "Annette," "Azor," "A Cop Movie," "A Film About a Father Who," "Godzilla vs Kong," "The Humans," "Mass," "M.C. Escher: Journey to Infinity," "The Night," "Pig," "Riders of Justice," "Wild Indian," "Wrath of Man," "Zack Snyder's Justice League," and "Zola"
CARLOS AGUILAR
1. "Identifying Features"
2. "The Souvenir, Part II"
3. "Flee"
4. "Drive My Car"
5. "Petite Maman"
6. "The Worst Person in the World"
7. "A Hero"
8. "Parallel Mothers"
9. "Limbo"
10. "Luca"
SIMON ABRAMS
1. "Just Don't Think I'll Scream"
2. "State Funeral"
3. "Wojnarowciz: F*ck You F*ggot F**ker"
4. "The Disciple"
5. "This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection"
6. "Days"
7. "Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy"
8. "The French Dispatch"
9. "Film About a Father Who"
10. "A Shape of Things to Come"
Some honorable mentions (more here): "Ailey"; "Azor"; "Devil Between the Legs"; "Eyimofe (This is My Desire)"; "The Fever"; "The Hand of God"; "In Balanchine's Classroom"; "Karen Dalton: In My Own Time"; "Labyrinth of Cinema"; "Some Kind of Heaven".
MATT FAGERHOLM
"Clara Sola"
"CODA"
"Drive My Car"
"In & Of Itself"
"In the Same Breath"
"Licorice Pizza"
"Mass"
"North by Current"
"Quo Vadis, Aida?"
"Shiva Baby"
Honorable Mentions: "Adrienne," "Boulevard!: A Hollywood Story," "A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks," "The Humans," "Pink Skies Ahead," "The Power of the Dog," "Procession," "Saint Maud," "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street," "Torn"
ODIE HENDERSON
1. "Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)"
2. "Summertime"
3. "In the Heights"
4. "The Harder They Fall"
5. "Procession"
6. "Passing"
7. "Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy"
8. "Flee"
9. "Parallel Mothers"
10. "MLK/FBI"
GLENN KENNY
"Days"
"Drive My Car"
"Fire Music"
"France"
"Memoria"
"The Salt of Tears"
"State Funeral"
"This is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection"
"Undine"
"The Village Detective"
ROBERT DANIELS
1. "The Power of the Dog"
2. "This is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection"
3. "Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time"
4. "Parallel Mothers"
5. "Titane"
6. "Spencer"
7. "The Gaze"
8. "Petite Maman"
9. "Drive My Car"
10. "Pig"
CHRISTY LEMIRE
1. "Licorice Pizza"
2. "The Power of the Dog"
3. "The Green Knight"
4. "Spencer"
5. "Summer of Soul"
6. "Titane"
7. "Bo Burnham: Inside"
8. "Pig"
9. "Riders of Justice"
10. "Saint Maud"
ROXANA HADADI
1. "The Green Knight"
2. "The Power of the Dog"
3. "A Hero"
4. "Parallel Mothers"
5. "Petite Maman"
6. "The Lost Daughter"
7. "Bergman Island"
8. "7 Prisoners"
9. "Sun Children"
10. "The Last Duel"
ISAAC FELDBERG
1. "This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection"
2. "Annette"
3. "The Green Knight"
4. "Drive My Car"
5. "Test Pattern"
6. "The Worst Person in the World"
7. "Passing"
8. "The Power of The Dog"
9. "Zola"
10. "The French Dispatch"
PETER SOBCZYNSKI
Note: Although I ultimately decided not to include it since it was actually made nearly a half-century, one of the most memorable moviegoing experiences of the year was getting to see George Romero's long-lost "The Amusement Park."
1. "Annette"
2. "Licorice Pizza"
3. "Petite Maman"
4. "The Souvenir, Part II"
5. "The Scary of Sixty-First"
6. "The Card Counter"
7. "Pig"
8. "Titane"
9. "Drive My Car"
10. "Shiva Baby"
MONICA CASTILLO
1. "The Worst Person in the World"
2. "The Power of the Dog"
3. "The Souvenir, Part II"
4. "Licorice Pizza"
5. "Drive My Car"
6. "C'mon C'mon"
7. "Identifying Features"
8. "Procession"
9. "The Inheritance"
10. "Shiva Baby"
GODFREY CHESHIRE
1. "Drive My Car"
2. "Chess of the Wind"
3. "The Father"
4. "The Worst Person in the World"
5. "The Tragedy of Macbeth"
6. "Licorice Pizza"
7. "Gunda"
8. "Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn"
9. "Hope"
10. "The Rescue"
NELL MINOW
"Belfast"
"The Card Counter"
"Cyrano"
"C'mon C'mon"
"Don't Look Up"
"Nine Days"
"The Outside Story"
"Passing"
"Summer of Soul"
"The Tragedy of Macbeth"
More of the best of the year: "King Richard," "West Side Story," "Raya and the Last Dragon," "Encanto," "CODA," "The Green Knight," "Jockey," "The Mitchells vs. the Machines," "Mass," "Come From Away," "Count Me In," "The Tender Bar"
NICK ALLEN
1. "All Light, Everywhere"
2. "The Disciple"
3. "Power of the Dog"
4. "In the Same Breath"
5. "Titane"
6. "Bad Trip"
7. "Summer of Soul"
8. "C'mon C'mon"
9. "The Sparks Brothers"
10. "Test Pattern"
TOMRIS LAFFLY
1. "Drive My Car"
2. "The Power of the Dog"
3. "The Lost Daughter"
4. "Summer of Soul"
5. "Judas & The Black Messiah"
6. "Licorice Pizza"
7. "Stray"
8. "Bergman Island"
9. "Red Rocket"
10. "Nightmare Alley"
SHEILA O'MALLEY
"Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn"
"The Card Counter"
"Drive My Car"
"Licorice Pizza"
"The Lost Daughter"
"Parallel Mothers"
"The Power of the Dog"
"Procession"
"The Souvenir, Part II"
"The Velvet Underground"
MICHAL OLESZCZYK
1. "Saint Maud"
2. "The Dig"
3. "King Richard"
4. "Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn"
5. "Nomadland"
6. "The Power of the Dog"
7. "The White Lotus"
8. "Passing"
9. "Titane"
10. "One Night in Miami"
SUSAN WLOSZCZYNA
1. "Licorice Pizza"
2. "tick, tick … Boom!"
3. "West Side Story"
4. "CODA"
5. "The Power of the Dog"
6. "The Sparks Brothers"
7. "Mass"
8. "Summer of Soul"
9. "The Humans"
10. "Passing"
SERGIO MIMS
1. "West Side Story"
2. "Nightmare Alley"
3. "Red Rocket"
4. "No Time to Die"
5. "The Harder They Fall"
6. "Licorice Pizza"
7. "Benedetta"
8. "Attica"
9. "The Card Counter"
10. "King Richard"
SCOUT TAFOYA
Disclaimer: This is a unique list for this site, because I want to highlight movies I haven't had a chance to elsewhere
1. "The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)"
2. "Old"
3. "Procession"
4. "Zeros and Ones"
5. "The Village Detective: A Song Cycle"
6. "The World To Come"
7. "Oxygen"
8. "El Planeta"
9. "All Light, Everywhere"
10. "A Crime on The Bayou"
KRISTY PUCHKO
1. "The Power of the Dog"
2. "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar"
3. "Titane"
4. "West Side Story"
5. "Swan Song"
6. "The Last Duel"
7. "Shiva Baby"
8. "Fear Street Trilogy"
9. "The French Dispatch"
10. "I'm Your Man"
COLLIN SOUTER
1. "The Green Knight"
2. "Petite Maman"
3. "Belle"
4. "West Side Story"
5. "Licorice Pizza"
6. "Drive My Car"
7. "The Harder They Fall"
8. "The Lost Daughter"
9. "The Worst Person In the World"
10. "Red Rocket"
JONAH KOSLOFSKY
1. "Licorice Pizza"
2. "The Worst Person in the World"
3. "Red Rocket"
4. "The Souvenir, Part 2"
5. "Judas and the Black Messiah"
6. "The Last Duel"
7. "The Green Knight"
8. "Dune"
9. "Bad Trip"
10. "The Suicide Squad"
MARYA E. GATES
1. "Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time" - The best film I've ever seen about the horror of falling in love.
2. "The Power of the Dog" - Once again Jane Campion proves herself to be the best at exploring the complexities of emotional violence, the tragic toll of toxic masculinity, and never-ending resilience of women.
3. "Shiva Baby" - Emma Seligman's deliriously hilarious comedy of manners is calibrated like a horror film and features the breakout performance of the year from Rachel Sennott.
4. "Parallel Mothers" - In his most political film to date, Pedro Almodóvar re-teams with his muse Penélope Cruz for an exploration of motherhood, unexpected attractions, and Spain's need for reckoning with its own dark past.
5. "Passing" - Rebecca Hall's directorial debut featuring sizzling chemistry from its stars Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga in a film that examines race, queerness, and the tension between our innate desire for both comfort and freedom.
6. "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" - Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Tom Hardy as Venom are this year's cinematic power couple.
7. "Spencer" - A biopic filmed like a manic nightmare, Kristen Stewart gives the best performance of her career as Princess Diana on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
8. "True Mothers" - Naomi Kawase's emotional saga teems with empathy as it follows a married couple whose dreams of family are fulfilled through adoption, while also showing the lingering trauma felt by the teenage girl who had to give him up years earlier.
9. "Titane" - Julia Ducournau's Palme d'Or-winning body horror about a serial-killing model with a titanium plate in her head and an erotic complusion for vehicular copulation is also the most tender film about the power of chosen family I've seen all year.
10. "Pig" - Bless director Michael Sarnoski for giving us a Nicolas Cage role worthy of his immense talent.
MARK DUJSIK
1. "Nine Days"
2. "The Power of the Dog"
3. "Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)"
4. "Procession"
5. "Judas and the Black Messiah"
6. "Quo Vadis, Aida?"
7. "The Green Knight"
8. "Identifying Features"
9. "In the Heights"
10. "Silent Night"
SEONGYONG CHO
1. "The Disciple"
2. "The Green Knight"
3. "The Power of the Dog"
4. "Drive My Car"
5. "Pig"
6. "Petite Maman"
7. "Limbo"
8. "Quo Vadis, Aida?"
9. "Riders of Justice"
10. "Nine Days"
Runners-up (In alphabetical order): "The Amusement Park," "The Card Counter," "The French Dispatch," "Herself," "Holler," "Night of the Kings," "7 Prisoners," "Shiva Baby," "Titane," "Two of Us"
Documentary (In alphabetical order): "In the Same Breath," "Procession," "The Rescue," "Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)", and "The Velvet Underground"
Animation (In alphabetical order): "Encanto," "Luca," "The Mitchells vs. the Machines," "Raya and the Last Dragon," and "The Summits of Gods"
ABBY OLCESE
1. "West Side Story"
2. "Petite Maman"
3. "The Tragedy of Macbeth"
4. "The Power of the Dog"
5. "Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar"
6. "F9: The Fast Saga"
7. "Pig"
8. "The Worst Person in the World"
9. "Procession"
10. "Candyman"
Honorable mentions: "Raya and the Last Dragon," "The Lost Daughter," "The Sparks Brothers," "The Mitchells vs. The Machines," "Summer of Soul," "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," "Shiva Baby," "Nightmare Alley," "The Last Duel"
BEN KENIGSBERG
1. "Memoria"
2. "Drive My Car"
3. "Malmkrog"
4. "Red Rocket"
5. "Annette"
6. "Licorice Pizza"
7. "The Power of the Dog"
8. "Pig"
9. "Lost Course"
10. "West Side Story"
JANA MONJI
1. "Belfast"
2. "Drive My Car"
3. "Flee"
4. "Free Guy"
5. "I'm Your Man"
6. "In the Same Breath"/"The First Wave"
7. "Lily Topples the World"
8. "The Power of the Dog"
9. "tick, tick ... BOOM!"
10. "Writing with Fire"
KYLE TURNER
1. "The Woman in the Window"
2. "The Voyeurs"
3. "Zola"
4. "This American Wife"
5. "Memoria"
6. "The Power of the Dog"
7. "Listening to Kenny G"
8. "Days"
9. "House of Gucci"
10. "Cryptozoo"
MARY BETH MCANDREWS
1. "Violation"
2. "The Wanting Mare"
3. "Titane"
4. "Pig"
5. "The Medium"
6. "The Feast"
7. "We're All Going To The World's Fair"
8. "Sator"
9. "Shiva Baby"
10. "Censor"
JASON GORBER (read more here)
1. "Summer of Soul"
2. "Mass"
3. "Benedetta"
4. "The French Dispatch"
5. "Dune"
6. "The Last Duel"
7. "Red Rocket"
8. "West Side Story"
9. "Luzzu"
10. "Passing"
Special Mentions: "Riders of Justice," "The Tragedy of Macbeth," "Licorice Pizza," "After Yang"