Top 5: Unsung Films Of 2021
With more and more content becoming available, it’s easy for some excellent work to become buried amongst the litter. Since it’s so easy nowadays for smaller films to go by unnoticed, we wanted to to spotlight a few films from 2021 that we think deserve more praise and attention. These are films that aren’t quite good enough to grace an end-of-the-year best-of list, but don’t deserve to perish in obscurity either. Without further delay, these are the five films from last year that we feel are unsung, underrated, underappreciated, or under championed!
5: Agnes
With Agnes, Reece and his longtime writing collaborator, John Selvidge, break the habit of standard genre norms. Bursting with excellent performances, terrific dialogue, and sumptuous visuals, this genre hybrid subverts expectations in true Mickey Reece fashion, delivering a devilishly funny send-up of exorcism films that ambitiously delves much deeper than you’d initially suspect. It’s an exciting experience because you’re never really sure were this deliriously kooky, surprisingly tender character driven drama is going to go next. Just when you think you know which direction it’s headed, Reece takes a sharp left turn that wanders out of the horror/nunsploitation genre altogether. It’s another impressive and idiosyncratic piece of cinema from up-and-comer Mickey Reece, and we think it’s well worth your time.
The Beta Test, the third feature from indie darling Jim Cummings (who splits writing and directing duties with PJ McCabe here), masterfully balances a range of tones and takes you on a thrillingly unpredictable ride. It’s a beautifully shot, interestingly written erotic conspiracy thriller that features another excellent performance from Cummings. It’s a film about losing control, both of one’s life and career, and the consequences of being consumed by desire, and it explores its ideas with sure-handed precision. Thematically, it’s keenly focused on our modern times, but stylistically it harks back to the glossy thrillers of the 90s. You’ll find notes of Altman’s The Player, Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct, and Mary Harron’s American Psycho, with moments of tautly drawn Fincher-esque tension. What’s not to love?
3: Zola
Writer/director Janicza Bravo delivered a wildly entertaining sophomore feature with Zola. Based on a viral Twitter thread by Aziah "Zola" King (who also executive produced) and David Kushner’s piece in Rolling Stone, "Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted,” the film takes audiences on a darkly comedic and feverish thotyssey that captures the heart of this stranger-than-fiction tale and casts quite a spell. There’s a hypnotic dreaminess to the film’s tone and construction, which deceptively lures you into the unraveling nightmare. There’s a Wizard Of Oz vibe to it all, with The Mica Levi’s terrific score amplifying the dreamlike quality, creating a wonderful harmony with Bravo’s tone and lush visuals. a feverishly fun, hilarious hoot of a “hoe trip” with excellent performances and a mesmerizing mood.
Vili, one of the side characters in Samantha Rose, is a DIY winemaker — the kind that stomps on the grapes with his own two feet, which is exactly what writer/director Andrew Morgan and his cast and crew did off camera, behind the scenes. Born out of a burning need to create something in the wake of the global pandemic that forced many of us to waste away, Morgan and his team banded together to build their own little world in the Pacific Northwest and make something beautiful, lightly nostalgic, and warmly uplifting. With great care, tenderness, and compassion, Morgan and company stomp on their metaphorical grapes in hopes of making the kind of wine that’s good for the heart. The taste and potency of their quietly intoxicating concoction will vary based off an individual’s palette, but for our money, it is something deliciously life-affirming, joyously sweet, and well worth your time and attention.
1: Shiva Baby
Emma Seligman’s cleverly crafted debut feature, Shiva Baby — not to be confused with the Pam Grier vehicle, Sheba, Baby — is a delightfully squirmy, character-driven chamber piece with notes of Krisha, mother!, Rosemary’s Baby, and early Woody Allen. A brisk and breathless 77 minutes, Shiva Baby loads its simple premise with just the right amount of complexity, twisting and tangling its characters in awkward situations, which grow funnier and funnier with each new development. Seligman revels in the winding discomfort of the narrative, creating a palpable atmosphere of anxiety, tension, and claustrophobia that feed directly into the film’s awkward comedy, whilst successfully placing viewers squarely in the shoes of its protagonist. It fuses the clever, female-driven comedy of Booksmart with the anxiety-inducing tension and claustrophobic cinematography of the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time and Uncut Gems into a winning combination that illuminates two bright young talents on the rise.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!