Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Bergman Island’ on Hulu, a Deep Indie Drama in Which Vicky Krieps Finds Herself in the Voodoo of Ingmar Bergman’s Locations

]

You don’t have to be an Ingmar Bergman scholar to enjoy Bergman Island — now on Hulu, after landing on VOD in the fall of 2021 — but it might help. Mia Hansen-Love writes and directs this film about a filmmaking couple visiting a place where many great films were made, so they can focus on writing their own films. So yes, it has layers, and if the promise of thematic depth doesn’t entice you to watch this quiet little drama, maybe you’ll be drawn in by the thought of watching Vicky Krieps (who OWNED Phantom Thread) put on an acting masterclass.

BERGMAN ISLAND: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Chris (Krieps) doesn’t fly particularly well. A bandanna over her eyes, she lays her head in her husband Tony’s (Tim Roth) lap as their large-prop passenger plane lands in Sweden. They get in a car and drive to the ferry which takes them to Fårö Island, where influential director Ingmar Bergman lived and wrote and shot his movies. In our reality, Bergman wanted his home and workspaces to be open to other artists, and in Bergman Island‘s reality, Tony and Chris take advantage of that. A woman gives them a tour of the house where they’ll be staying, and the bedroom where they’ll sleep is the same bedroom where Bergman shot scenes from Scenes from a Marriage, “the movie that made millions of people divorce,” she points out. Then she takes Tony out to show him what to do about taking out the garbage, since Swedes are very serious about recycling.

Tony and Chris get out their pens with replaceable ink cartridges and notebooks and computers and get to screenwriting, separately, on their own projects. It’s very still and quiet and beautiful on the island. They watch a Bergman film in Bergman’s private 35 mm screening room, and ride bicycles. A touch of background: they have a young daughter named June, who’s back home with her grandmother. Tony is a director of enough renown, he participates in a screening of one his films and a Q&A with adoring fans. They’re supposed to take the Bergman Safari together — yes, a bus tour of locations from Bergman’s many dark, intimate dramas actually exists — but Tony ends up going alone while Chris enjoys an off-the-beaten path tour thanks to a friendly young student, Hampus (Hampus Nordenson), with whom she shares a bottle of cider and a not-quite-skinny dip.

Chris walks up to Tony’s desk when he isn’t around and flips through his notebook, getting an eyeful of sketches of women in submissive BDSM poses. We later learn this was a bit of a privacy violation, because he never shares his work with her, although he at least says his new script is about “the invisible things between a couple,” which is so very Bergman of him. However, she shares everything she writes with him, case in point, her current story, about Amy (Mia Wasikowska), who reconnects with a former lover, Joseph (Anders Danielsen Lie), when mutual friends get married right there on Fårö Island, which tells us Chris’ bride and groom characters are either not Bergman fans or are great irony fans. Bergman Island gets lost in the story of Amy, narrated by Chris, who hasn’t worked out an ending yet. Does it have one?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: All of the indie movies that remind you of Woody Allen movies that remind you of Ingmar Bergman movies.

Performance Worth Watching: Krieps is entrancing here, pensive and contemplative, earnest and open but still deeply immersed in rich subtext.

Memorable Dialogue: “Movies can be terribly sad. Tough. Violent. But in the end, they do you good.” — you said it, Chris

Sex and Skin: Female toplessness; equal-opportunity rear bottomlessness; some soft-R sex scenes.

Our Take: You’d be a fool not to examine Bergman Island in the context of Tony and Chris’ relationship. Werner Herzog calls it the “voodoo of location” — the perhaps inexpressible feeling one gets while in a setting that, for lack of a better word, is “haunted” by what previously happened there. But what if that location is the setting of fictional marital discord? Fictional marital discord that local legend dictates inspired nonfictional fractured relationships? Fictional marital discord that may have been inspired by Bergman’s real-life experience? Bergman trivia is part of the dialogue here: How he was married five times and divorced four, had nine children with six women; how he made 25 films by age 42 and was so in thrall to his work, he had no time for fatherhood; how one of his children didn’t even know he was their father for the first several years of their life.

Like I said — layers. And obviously, Chris’ screenplay, the story within the story, adds further strata to Bergman Island, especially as the two narratives overlap, as Amy sure seems to be an extension of Chris, or maybe more accurately, a piece of her buried deep within. As Chris narrates the story to Tony, we can interpret the visual presentation we see — Wasikowska and Lie playing characters — as a reflection of her mind’s eye. Tony can’t see it, but we can. The level of intimacy we have with Chris suggests her deeper discontent with Tony, and casts earlier scenes — one where he barely responds to what’s clearly her sexual proposition, for example — in darker tones. Their partnership seems OK, with its spats and moments of caring and communicative issues, but here they are on hallowed Bergman ground, where the place’s legendary founder and creative cultivator would surely insist they burn it all down.

Hansen-Love shows extraordinary control of this complex material. She works in lockstep with a Krieps’ performance, achieving narrative clarity even as the primary story and the story within the story overlap visually and thematically during a subtly intense third act. And yet, the conclusion she reaches is tantalizingly suggestive; the collision of Bergman’s work within our reality with Chris’ fictional reality and Amy’s fiction-within-the-fictional reality is smeared and messy. Fear not, Bergman Island isn’t yet another grating movie about itself, an Ode to the Art of Filmmaking like the insular and indulgent Mank or The Artist (and far too many of their ilk) — and let’s face it, any overt references to Bergman’s films will only be caught by the film-buff niche. No, it’s too smart to be too meta. It examines the pains of the creative process, especially when it incorporates personal experiences like Chris’, and the fallout such art may have on both relationships and the self. Remember, in the movie of life, true resolution is a myth.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Bergman Island is a compelling and thoughtful drama fueled by strong writing and Krieps’ engaging performance.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Where to stream Bergman Island

New to Streaming: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Miklós Jancsó, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Italian Studies & More

]

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Ailey (Jamila Wignot)

Has any choreographer mattered more to American dance than Alvin Ailey? The documentary Ailey, directed by Jamila Wignot, makes a good case that there has not. Comprised of amazing archival footage, peer interviews, and choreographer Rennie Harris prepping a modern-day performance in honor of the artist, Wignot paints a full picture of a complicated man. Born in the middle of Texas during The Great Depression, old recordings of Ailey recount his picking cotton with his mother (his father was non-existent in his life), then later on seeing Katherine Dunham (and her male backup dancers) perform live. The shock of watching somebody that looked like him produce such wonderful art emboldened him to pursue the work himself. – Dan M. (full review)

Where to Stream: Hulu

Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve)

Mia Hansen-Løve’s Bergman Island is quite transparently a form of self-portrait: it’s about a filmmaker, played by the great Vicky Krieps, in a relationship with another filmmaker, just as Hansen-Løve was with Olivier Assayas. But much more than that. It’s a film about the pains of making personal art, but also its release as a way to reexamine times gone by. Bergman isn’t so much an influence on the film as he is a looming shadow for Krieps’s character, who seeks another―perhaps quieter, more optimistic, less extractive―way of making movies than the Swedish legend. – Orla S.

Where to Stream: Hulu

Black Bear (Lawrence Michael Levine)

Bifurcated into two distinct stories, Lawrence Michael Levine’s Black Bear is not only a showcase of Aubrey Plaza’s expressive range, which was always teased in previous projects, but a treatise on independent filmmaking and the relationship between life and art. Plaza, alongside Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon, moves into different roles as the movie switches from relationship drama to behind-the-scenes look at filmmaking, and Levine asks his audience to draw connections themselves, never fully explaining how these disparate narratives link (or even what the literal Black Bear symbolizes). As we grapple with the possibilities of film sans theaters, Levine’s project proves a riddle, demanding debate and conversation. – Christian G.

Where to Stream: Hulu

I’m Your Man (Maria Schrader)

Falling in love with a robot isn’t good news, as Her and Blade Runner (both 2019 and 2049) tell us. In I’m Your Man, unspooling in competition at Berlin, a forty-something museum director (Maren Eggert) is justifiably nervous—she’s in a film named after a Leonard Cohen track, which is only asking for trouble—when asked to try out a new romantic partner. That’s because this is a “humanoid robot,” Tom, algorithmically aligned to her romantic preferences and played by dashing English actor Dan Stevens in a performance in which he impressively speaks fluent German. – Ed F. (full review)

Where to Stream: Hulu

Italian Studies (Adam Leon)

See an exclusive clip above.

Adam Leon’s third feature, Italian Studies, follows Vanessa Kirby as Alina Reynolds, a woman who at times doesn’t know her own name. Call it amnesia or memory loss or even a blackout, but Kirby’s leading performance is built on a calm confusion. Leon’s story gives little context or background to how this woman came to have these spells, instead accompanying her over the course of a 24-hour period in New York City. – Michael F. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

The Last Duel (Ridley Scott)

The Last Duel is an incisive, biting reminder of the grotesque ways in which every pillar of society works in service of the patriarchy. The film’s Rashômon-esque accounts of the rivalry and rape at its center serve not to dispute the victim’s accuracy, but highlight how men attempt to rationalize such horrors and command the narrative. Somehow, Scott juggles tones menacing and playful with a cast in peak form, including an awe-inspiring Jodie Comer and delightfully hammy Ben Affleck. All of which culminates in one of the more brutal action set pieces in recent memory—the capstone on a perfectly crafted, nuanced piece of entertainment. – Conor O.

Where to Stream: HBO Max

Luzzu (Alex Camilleri)

Filmed and set in Malta, director Alex Camilleri’s debut Luzzu follows Jesmark, a fisherman and new father, in his attempt to find the money and resources to give his young family a good life. Set up by a simple premise and hyperrealist approach, the film pits dreams against pragmatism as Jesmark struggles to abandon his generational pull towards hitting the open sea in a tiny, hand-painted boat. As most audiences will find, we’re even less aware of Maltese life and this culture of fishing than we think. Camilleri, a Maltese-American, has spent the last decade working as an editor and assistant editor on a number of films, collaborating often with Iranian-American director Ramin Bahrani. Camilleri takes a naturalist path in his first film, edging on documentary fiction, his leading man (Jesmark Scicluna) with a hardened face and unwillingness to smile. – Michael F. (full review)

Where to Stream: MUBI (free for 30 days)

Miklós Jancsó Retrospective

One of the major restoration events of the last year is six remarkable films from Hungarian master Miklós Jancsó, who passed away in 2014. The 4K restorations by the Hungarian National Film Archives from the original 35mm camera negatives are now finally rolling out wider following screenings last year, including 1965’s The Round-Up at NYFF––where I had an introduction to Jancsó’s formally arresting masterwork. Thanks to Kino Lorber, the six Scorsese-approved films––which also include The Red and the White (1967), The Confrontation (1968), Winter Wind (1969), Red Psalm (1971), and Electra, My Love (1974)––are now available via Metrograph, both in theater and at home, before getting a wider bow this spring. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: Metrograph at Home

Our Time Will Come (Ann Hui)

In an early scene in Hong Kong New Wave pioneer Ann Hui’s historical war drama Our Time Will Come, a Chinese rebel accidentally drops a live grenade in the middle of a large crowd of civilians. A brief moment of chaos ensues as everyone ducks for cover; bullets are exchanged, tables and chairs are thrown up and ducked behind — and then quiet. They wait and wait, nothing happens, and the rebels get up and leave. If it wasn’t obvious up until then, this confirms Hui’s stiflingly quiet approach to World War II, a setting and a genre of film that generally characterizes itself with loudness and overblown heroics. The film, like its characters — civilians-turned-spies who must carry themselves as if nothing were wrong — exudes delicateness. The two most common words in the film, “Xiao Xin” — which translates to “Be Careful!” — become a formality, repeated incessantly in hushed whispers. – Jason O. (full review)

Where to Stream: OVID.tv

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen)

Joel Coen’s take on the Scottish play unfolds almost entirely on sets—sharply angled, streaked with shadows and shards of light. It’s an approach that marries theater’s immediacy with cinema’s narrative drive. More Dreyer than Bergman, more Welles than Olivier, this is the sharpest Shakespeare adaptation in years, a hurtling descent into madness with astonishing performances by Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, and Kathryn Hunter. Richly layered black-and-white cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel meshes wonderfully with Stefan Dechant’s spiky production design. – Daniel E.

Where to Stream: Apple TV+

The Whaler Boy (Philipp Yuryev)

To skin a quote from The Social Network, it’s probably better to be accused of necrophilia these days than to be accused of whaling. Less so in the world of The Whaler Boy—a new Russian film tantalizingly set in that vast nation’s furthest reaches—wherein a young lad contends with the hormones and boredoms of rural life while casting longing looks to the West (which sits, in this case, just 50 miles East). The subject of his longings is an American Camgirl with the handle HollySweet999. Oh, to be young and feel love’s keen sting. – Rory O. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD and Virtual Cinemas

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryūsuke Hamaguchi)

Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s first masterpiece of the year, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, is an endlessly playful and inventive triptych. Exploring the thorniness of love, sparks of connection, and mistaken identities across three stunning vignettes, Hamaguchi’s skill at writing dialogue that is as entertaining as it is moving has never been sharper. On any given day my preferred of the three shorts changes, but there’s certainly no funnier or surprising sequence in cinema this year than revenge gone awry between Nao (Mori Katsuki) and Professor Segawa (Shibukawa Kiyohiko). – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: VOD

Also New to Streaming

Amazon Prime

To the Wonder

HBO Max

In the Heat of the Night

The Criterion Channel

Karaoke Girl

MUBI (free for 30 days)

The Happiest Girl in the World

Jabberwocky

The Debut

A Woman Like Eve

The Cool Lakes of Death

Série noire

Mia Hansen-Løve’s ‘One Fine Morning’ sells to key international buyers (exclusive)

]

Les Films du Losange has sealed a raft of pre-sales on French director Mia Hansen-Løve’s upcoming intergenerational drama One Fine Morning, starring Léa Seydoux, Nicole Garcia, Melvil Poupaud and Pascal Greggory. The project was launched at the Cannes market last year.

It has sold to Spain (Elastica), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), South Korea (Challan), Australia and New Zealand (Palace Films), Greece (Weird Wave), Portugal (Alambique) and Taiwan (Andrews Film).

Seydoux plays a single mother living with her young daughter in Paris who bumps into a long-lost friend while navigating the labyrinthine process of trying to secure proper care for her father, who is suffering from a neurodegenerative disease. Although the old friend is in a relationship, they embark on a passionate affair.

Les Films du Losange has previously sold the film to Weltkino for Austria and Germany and a multi-territory deal to Mubi for the UK, Ireland, Turkey and India. Les Films du Losange has French rights.

The feature is lead produced by David Thion and Philippe Martin at Paris-based Les Films Pelléas with co-producers Arte France Cinema, Germany’s Razor Film and Mubi.

It is Hansen-Løve’s eighth feature after English-language debut Bergman Island, which world premiered in competition in Cannes in 2021.

Les Films du Losange is attending this week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris,(January 13)-16) with a slate that includes Alain Guiraudie’s Nobody’s Hero and feature animation Titina by Kajsa Næss.

New Movies + Shows to Watch this Weekend: ‘Peacemaker’ on HBO Max + More

]

Despite the fact that the holiday season just ended, we are already getting a three-day weekend this weekend thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday! Doesn’t help those still trying to jump back into the work mentality, but we can’t help but enjoy having another day to rest, relax and watch a whole bunch of entertaining TV. And whether you use Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or all of the above, your favorite streaming platforms are itching to fill that extra 24 hours with the best new movies and shows out there. The top new titles on streaming this weekend are impressive, but we advise checking out the freshest titles first. Here is what to watch this weekend and where to stream it.

New Movies and Shows to Stream This Weekend: Archive 81, Sex Appeal, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania and Peacemaker Season 1

Jumping right into the fun lineup is Peacemaker on HBO Max. It might have come out yesterday, but this original action-adventure series requires your complete attention: it follows John Cena’s hysterical character from James Gunn’s 2021 The Suicide Squad as he continues to bash heads and decimate buildings — all in the name of bringing peace to the world. Once you’ve binge-watched the entire first series on HBO Max, head over to Netflix for some darker, more psychologically-twisting fare in Archive 81. And if you are looking for some lighter content, check out the original teen comedy film Sex Appeal on Hulu and the newest installment of the Hotel Transylvania film series, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania on Amazon Prime Video. Loving these titles? Curious to find out more? Check out the rest of the hit titles new on streaming this weekend below:

New on Netflix January 14: Archive 81

Archive 81 is going to make an impact on your heart rate — and mind — this weekend! Inspired by the captivating fiction podcast series of the same name that started in 2018, this Netflix-original horror mystery-drama series centers on an archivist who has been hired to restore a collection of damaged tapes dating back to 1994. As he works on the collection, he discovers that he is reconstructing a filmmaker’s work investigating a dangerous cult, jump-starting an intense and desperate bid to save her from a horrifying fate. Hair-raising, heart-pounding and psychologically stimulating, Archive 81 is primed to be one of the best new shows on Netflix this month, and you can watch it now on Netflix this weekend.

Stream Archive 81 on Netflix

New on Hulu January 14: Sex Appeal

New on Hulu this weekend is Sex Appeal, an awkward and hysterical teen comedy film people of all (appropriate) ages will love. It centers on Avery (Mika Abdalla): a teenage perfectionist who enlists the help of her friend Larson (Jake Short) to help her prepare for her “first time” with her long-distance boyfriend. But as she commences her course of research and testing — wink wink — Avery is forced to learn that there is more to sex and love than mechanics and testimonials. In fact, relationships are truly a matter of the heart. Starring Abdalla, Short, Margaret Cho, Paris Jackson and more, Sex Appeal is a hilarious and heartfelt film that people looking for some levity will enjoy watching this weekend.

Stream Sex Appeal on Hulu

New on Amazon Prime Video January 14: Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

Dracula without fangs? The invisible man suddenly visible? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS? Dive into a monstrous topsy-turvy world in Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, the original animated film that is new on Amazon Prime Video this weekend. In this newest installment in the beloved animated Hotel Transylvania film series, Van Helsing’s (Jim Gaffigan) mysterious new invention transforms Dracula (now voiced by Brian Hull) and his supernatural friends into normal humans, while Johnny (Andy Samberg) turns into a monster! Unless the team can find a way to reverse this Freaky-Friday-style mismatch mania, the switches will remain permanent — forever! Featuring the voice acting talents of Selena Gomez, Fran Drescher, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, Keegan-Michael Key and David Spade, check out Hotel Transylvania: Transformania on Prime Video this weekend!

Stream Hotel Transylvania: Transformania on Amazon Prime Video

New on HBO Max January 13: Peacemaker Season 1

After watching James Gunn’s hysterical 20201 film, The Suicide Squad, fans called for more of John Cena’s hilarious and lion-hearted character, Peacemaker. Well, fans, your wish has been answered: new on HBO Max this weekend is an all-new original series titled… Peacemaker! This action-adventure comedy series revolves around the titular character and follows his story post-The Suicide Squad as he continues his crusade to bring peace to the world, no matter how many bones he has to break or violence he has to unleash to make it happen. Cena is also getting another star-studded team, including Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Freddie Stroma, Danielle Brooks (OITNB) and more!

Stream Peacemaker on HBO Max

Full List of New Movies and Shows on Streaming This Weekend

The options above only scratch the surface, so you know that this weekend’s full lineup will have amazing options for what to watch this weekend! For the full breakdown of the best movies and shows to stream now, or if you’re still undecided on what to stream this weekend, then check out the complete list below:

New on Netflix- Full List

Released Friday, January 14

After Life: Season 3 *NETFLIX SERIES

Archive 81 *NETFLIX SERIES

BLIPPI: ADVENTURES

BLIPPI’S SCHOOL SUPPLY SCAVENGER HUNT

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure *NETFLIX FAMILY

The House *NETFLIX SERIES

This Is Not a Comedy *NETFLIX FILM

Released Sunday, January 16

Phantom Thread

New on Hulu – Full List

Released Friday, January 14

Bergman Island (2021)

Sex Appeal (2022)

Released Saturday, January 15

Bad Rap (2016)

Dark Side of the Ring: Complete Season 3B

Main Street (2010)

Marjorie Prime (2017)

Rewind (2019)

Serious Moonlight (2009)

Sprinter (2018)

Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)

Zero Days (2016)

New on Amazon Prime Video – Full List

Released Friday, January 14

Do, Re & Mi: New Episodes *Amazon Original Series

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (2021) *Amazon Original Movie

New on HBO Max- Full List

Released Thursday, January 13

Diego, The Last Goodbye (Diego, el último adiós), Max Original Documentary

My Mom, Your Dad, Max Original Season 1 Premiere

Peacemaker, Max Original Season 1 Premiere

Station Eleven, Max Original Season Finale

Released Friday, January 14

Released Saturday, January 15

Fringe

Released Sunday, January 16

Somebody Somewhere Season Premiere (HBO)

New on Disney+ – Full List

Released Friday, January 14

Betty White Goes Wild!

Catch That Kid

New on Starz – Full List

Released Friday, January 14

10 Items Or Less

A Brilliant Young Mind

A Cowgirl’s Story

Act Of Valor

A Knight’s Tale

Alien Nation

Alvarez Kelly

American Son

Apache Ambush

Bats

Blow Dry

Born to Be Wild

Dead Birds

Dean Spanley

Desolation Canyon

Elephant Kingdom

Enemy Mine

Explorers

Frankie & Johnny

In Good Company

Jesse James

Joe Dakota

Joy Ride

L!fe Happens

Laurel Canyon

Little Manhattan

LOL

Love Stinks

Love, Rosie

Made In Dagenham

Major Dundee

Mean Dreams

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day

Monkey Trouble

My Bloody Valentine

Nobel Son

One Day

One Fine Day

Parkland

Phat Girlz

Prince Of Darkness

Raising Cain

She’s Having A Baby

Slither

So Undercover

Someone Like You

Stay Cool

The Adventures Of Pluto Nash

The Evil That Men Do

The Cable Guy

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid

The Great White Hype

The Hunted

The Last House On The Left

The Last Posse

The Night Listener

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

There Be Dragons

The Romantics

The Skeleton Key

Youth In Oregon

Released Sunday, January 16

Power Book II: Ghost – Episode 207

New on Showtime – Full List

Released Friday, January 14

Ray Donovan: The Movie

Released Saturday, January 15

Ema

Saving Flora

New on BritBox – Full List

Released Friday, January 14

24 Hours in Police Custody: S9 | North American Premiere, BritBox Exclusive | 6 X 60

Jordan Raup’s Top 10 Films of 2021

]

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2021, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

After over 14 months of no cinema-going, 2021 finally marked a return to theaters. The first film back––something every cinephile will forever have etched in their memory––was not a movie I heavily anticipated but one that thoroughly entertained: Guy Ritchie’s delightfully nasty B-movie Wrath of Man.

While the rest of the movie-going year had its ups (seeing nearly 40 films at the 59th New York Film Festival, being amongst a crowd never more thrilled to collectively experience cinema once again) and downs (the uncertain future of the arthouse marketplace as they attempt to find a footing in Disneyfied world), 2021’s cinematic output certainly wasn’t lacking for quality.

Looking back at the new releases, there’s a number of films that narrowly missed my top 15, including The French Dispatch, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, Days, The Beatles: Get Back, Annette, West Side Story, Siberia, Procession, The Power of the Dog, The Inheritance—the list goes on. When it comes to my favorite first-time viewings, here’s a list of my favorites, topped by a tie between the perfect double feature of Olivier Assayas’ Demonlover and Abel Ferrara’s New Rose Hotel.

Without further ado, one can see my top 15 below and if you wade in the list-heavy waters of Letterboxd, here are my ranking of all 2021 films viewed and an early look at 2022.

Honorable Mentions: Wrath of Man, Malmkrog, Memoria, Red Rocket, About Endlessness

The Matrix Resurrections (Lana Wachowski)

Defiantly and lovingly upturning some expectations that a fourth Matrix film would simply be another legacyquel that rides on the coattails of what came before, Lana Wachowski’s Resurrections is as bold and exuberant as a blockbuster can be in today’s age. Tracing a beautiful throughline from the romance of the 1999 original to reach swelling new heights here, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss deliver some of the year’s most affecting performances, trapped in a Dougie Jones-esque state of monotony with profound love being the only way out. Any Sense8 obsessive knew this wasn’t going to be a run-of-the-mill sequel, yet Wachowski managed to further surprise with a meta reckoning of the state of tentpoles and if she even wants to be involved in what the game of Hollywood has become at all.

Her Socialist Smile (John Gianvito)

It always feels a bit strange to select a film I haven’t viewed since the prior year, but John Gianvito’s Her Socialist Smile was one of my favorite discoveries from New York Film Festival’s hybrid edition in 2020. The director eschews documentary conventions, stripping away expected sensory elements to deliver an informative, moving chronicle of an oft-unheralded side of Helen Keller. Rewriting a sand-papered history of Keller as found in textbooks, the documentary paints a picture of her revolutionary spirit and decisive actions towards social equality. By approaching the form more akin to a book, the documentary doubles as a corrective to perceived history, letting Keller’s radical views speak independently, free of misconstrued commentary.

Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve) and The Souvenir Part II (Joanna Hogg)

Seven movies in, it’s increasingly clear Mia Hansen-Løve will likely never make a film I fail to appreciate. The introspective, heartbreaking, beautifully acted Bergman Island pairs wonderfully with another intricate look at the process of filmmaking as-it-happens, Joanna Hogg’s quietly stunning sequel The Souvenir Part II. While, in the former, Vicky Krieps and Tim Roth’s characters have more of a footing in the industry, they are still struck with the same creative frustrations and quandaries as Honor Swinton-Byrne’s burgeoning film-school student in the latter. Both feature formal and structural gambles that nearly made me gasp in admiration, somehow eschewing every cliché about creative process.

All Light, Everywhere (Theo Anthony)

Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere casts a wider focus than his wholly original debut Rat Film while retaining the same unique vision as he explores how technological breakthroughs (and pitfalls) in filmmaking have reverberated throughout history to both embolden and trick our perceptions of perspective. To thread these strands and see its modern-day effects, his film primarily looks at the engineering behind police body cameras, the extensive use of those devices and other surveillance equipment to support officers in cases where evidence might otherwise come down to only verbal testimonies. Staggering in its expressive yet concise ability to explore a topic as urgent as rampant police violence and excessive surveillance from strictly technological perspectives, All Light forces viewers to question the veracity of everything that crosses their eyes. Read my full review.

Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma)

A masterclass in simplicity, Céline Sciamma’s finest work yet follows an eight-year-old girl who embarks on a brief stay at the childhood home of her mothers, following her grandmother’s passing. While any additional plot details arebest left hidden, Petite Maman emerges as a tender inquiry into the fleeting experiences of youth and how the process of adulthood can shatter a sense of wonder about the world. Before viewing, one may think Sciamma can’t possibly break your heart in a scant 72 minutes, but the effect is quite the opposite as she makes every precious second count, culminating in one of the most affecting finales of the year.

Undine (Christian Petzold)

After a stellar body of early work, Christian Petzold earned greater attention with Phoenix and Transit, and his latest, Undine, finds him at the height of his powers to immediately whisk his audience away on a spell-binding journey. In this mythological melodrama, the German master’s touch is orchestrated to a pitch-perfect degree, imbuing each note with the ideal amount of strange mystery. There was no more romantic scene in a film this year than Paula Beer in a negligee rehearsing a speech about urban development to a dotingly transfixed Franz Rogowski in his underwear.

The Worst Person the World (Joachim Trier)

As Hollywood relegates the rom-com to cheaply made Netflix productions, leave it to Norwegian director Joachim Trier to reinvent the genre with an immense deal of warmth and inventiveness, along with a requisite streak of despair. Led by Renate Reinsve in a breakthrough performance for the ages, The Worst Person in the World charts her character’s wayward romantic adventures through 12 chapters, a prologue, and an epilogue. Far from the potentially cumbersome experience that structure suggests, Trier exudes a wistful, charming vision through each section, from an endlessly endearing meet-cute all the way to a devastating, relatable look at how one’s daily obsessions can end up seeming trivial with a new perspective on life. It’s a lovely, magical movie and one that reaffirms the promise Trier showed in his first few features.

Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

After admiring his work since 2015’s 5.5-hour Happy Hour, it’s still a touch surreal that Ryusuke Hamaguchi has skyrocketed to such widespread levels of acclaim over the past few months. While he’s only become a more adept filmmaker, one might not have guessed a relatively quiet, three-hour Haruki Murakami adaptation would be a consensus pick for the year’s best film. Nonetheless it’s a delight that expectations have been upended: Drive My Car is a staggering work, scaling the full spectrum of human emotion in the story of a widower’s regrets, memories, and artistic drive in mounting a new adaptation of Uncle Vanya. Hamaguchi and co-writer Takamasa Oe eloquently expand Murakami’s short story, which is less than 40 pages, retaining its poetry and finding an enrapturing rhythm to let the naturalistic drama play out. It’s rare for a film of such magnitude to never strike a false note, but Hamaguchi achieves such an achievement once again.

Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Paul Thomas Anderson has the uncanny ability to make every moment of his films feel completely unexpected yet still carry a lucid emotional current through it all. Returning to a more episodic structure akin to his career-best work, Inherent Vice, Licorice Pizza is perhaps the finest example of this quality, telling the rollicking story of a summertime crush that surprises at every turn. An uninhibited comedy on the surface, there’s unsettling darkness layered throughout of varying levels––from misogyny and racism to forging a bond made out of desperation, where one shuns societal norms to settle with the only person who seems to make you happy. A brilliant, daring work that, like the recent streak of PTA films, I expect will only be more rewarding in future viewings.

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryūsuke Hamaguchi)

Explore our complete best of 2021 coverage.