Here is a list of twenty movies that everyone should have seen by the end of 2021. Some were very appreciated, some have been anticipated for a long time, and others consist of underrated gems that need more recognition. All information and plot summaries about the movies are retrieved from IMDb.
Movies that already came out
- Promising Young Woman
- Synopsis: A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.
- Director: Emerald Fennell
- Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
- Synopsis: Chicago, 1927. A recording session. Tensions rise between Ma Rainey, her ambitious horn player and the white management determined to control the uncontrollable “Mother of the Blues”. Based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play.
- Director: George C. Wolfe
- Starring: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman
- The Trial of the Chicago 7
- Synopsis: The story of 7 people on trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
- Director: Aaron Sorkin
- Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron-Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
- Da 5 Bloods
- Synopsis: Four African-American vets battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.
- Director: Spike Lee
- Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors
- On the Rocks
- Synopsis: A young mother reconnects with her larger-than-life playboy father on an adventure through New York.
- Director: Sofia Coppola
- Starring: Bill Murray, Rashida Jones, Marlon Wayans
- Pieces of a Woman
- Synopsis: When a young mother’s home birth ends in unfathomable tragedy, she begins a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in this deeply personal story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.
- Director: Kornél Mundruczó
- Starring: Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn
- Sound of Metal
- Synopsis: A heavy-metal drummer’s life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing.
- Director: Darius Marder
- Starring: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci
- Ammonite
- Synopsis: 1840s England, acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.
- Director: Francis Lee
- Starring: Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Jones
- Palm Springs
- Synopsis: When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honor Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated as they are unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other.
- Director: Max Barbakow
- Starring: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons
- Hillbilly Elegy
- Synopsis: An urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future.
- Director: Ron Howard
- Starring: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso
Movies coming out in 2021 worth checking out
- Malcom and Marry
- Synopsis: A director and his girlfriend’s relationship is tested after they return home from his movie premiere and await critics’ responses.
- Director: Sam Levinson
- Starring: Zendaya, John David Washington
- Cherry
- Synopsis: An Army medic suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder becomes a serial bank robber after an addiction to drugs puts him in debt.
- Director: Joe and Anthony Russo
- Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Jack Reynor
- Death on the Nile
- Synopsis: While on vacation on the Nile, Hercule Poirot must investigate the murder of a young heiress. Based upon the novel by Agatha Christie.
- Director: Kenneth Branagh
- Starring: Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot, Emma Mackey
- Dune
- Synopsis: Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel, about the son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.
- Director: Denis Villeneuve
- Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac
- West Side Story
- Synopsis: An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
- Director: Stephen Spielberg
- Starring: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose
- Judas and the Black Messiah
- Synopsis: The story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his fateful betrayal by FBI informant William O’Neal.
- Director: Shaka King
- Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
- Chaos walking
- Synopsis: A dystopian world where there are no women and all living creatures can hear each other’s thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds called Noise.
- Director: Doug Liman
- Starring: Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen
- Nomadland
- Synopsis: After losing everything in the Great Recession, a woman embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
- Director: Chloé Zhao
- Starring: Frances McDorman, David Strathairn, Linda May
- Last Night in Soho
- Synopsis: A young girl, passionate about fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.
- Director: Edgar Wright
- Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Diana Rigg, Thomasin McKenzie
- Black Widow
- Synopsis: A film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War.
- Director: Cate Shortland
- Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour
References
All information is retrieved directly from IMDb.
