Best Movies of 2020 and 2021
by ConnorTheGinger | created - 04 Sep 2020 | updated - 03 Feb 2022 | PublicMovies I'd recommend that came out in 2020 and 2021.
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1. Licorice Pizza (2021)
R | 133 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The story of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits
Votes: 140,282
2. Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)
101 min | Drama, History, War
Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp.
Director: Jasmila Zbanic | Stars: Jasna Djuricic, Izudin Bajrovic, Boris Ler, Dino Bajrovic
Votes: 38,199
3. I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
R | 134 min | Drama, Thriller
Full of misgivings, a young woman travels with her new boyfriend to his parents' secluded farm. Upon arriving, she comes to question everything she thought she knew about him, and herself.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, David Thewlis
Votes: 100,057
4. Minari (2020)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama
A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Director: Lee Isaac Chung | Stars: Steven Yeun, Han Yeri, Alan Kim, Noel Cho
Votes: 97,007
5. Spencer (2021)
R | 117 min | Biography, Drama
Diana Spencer, struggling with mental-health problems during her Christmas holidays with the Royal Family at their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, decides to end her decade-long marriage to Prince Charles.
Director: Pablo LarraÃn | Stars: Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, Jack Nielen
Votes: 76,601
6. Bo Burnham: Inside (2021 TV Special)
TV-MA | 87 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
A musical comedy special shot and performed by Bo Burnham, alone, over the course of a very unusual year.
Director: Bo Burnham | Star: Bo Burnham
Votes: 54,439
7. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
R | 126 min | Biography, Drama, History
Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.
Director: Shaka King | Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback
Votes: 91,470
8. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
PG-13 | 118 min | Documentary, History, Music
Documentary about the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African-American music and culture and promoted Black pride and unity.
Director: Questlove | Stars: Dorinda Drake, Barbara Bland-Acosta, Darryl Lewis, Ethel Beatty
Votes: 13,877
9. Compartment Number 6 (2021)
R | 107 min | Drama, Romance
As a train weaves its way up to the arctic circle, two strangers share a journey that will change their perspective on life.
Director: Juho Kuosmanen | Stars: Seidi Haarla, Yura Borisov, Dinara Drukarova, Yuliya Aug
Votes: 15,450
10. The Power of the Dog (2021)
R | 126 min | Drama, Western
Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Votes: 193,812
11. Red Rocket (2021)
R | 130 min | Comedy, Drama
Mikey Saber is a washed-up porn star who returns to his small Texas hometown, not that anyone really wants him back.
Director: Sean Baker | Stars: Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Suzanna Son, Brenda Deiss
Votes: 33,080
12. The Worst Person in the World (2021)
R | 128 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The chronicles of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.
Director: Joachim Trier | Stars: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum, Hans Olav Brenner
Votes: 97,470
13. West Side Story (2021)
PG-13 | 156 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
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: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez
Votes: 95,540
14. Shiva Baby (2020)
Not Rated | 77 min | Comedy, Drama
At a Jewish funeral service with her parents, a college student runs into her sugar daddy and ex girlfriend.
Director: Emma Seligman | Stars: Rachel Sennott, Danny Deferrari, Fred Melamed, Polly Draper
Votes: 33,222
15. Sound of Metal (2019)
R | 120 min | Drama, Music
A heavy metal drummer's life is turned upside down when he begins to lose his hearing and he must confront a future filled with silence.
Director: Darius Marder | Stars: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff
Votes: 150,336
16. Nomadland (2020)
R | 107 min | Drama
A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
Director: Chloé Zhao | Stars: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Gay DeForest
Votes: 183,416
17. The Suicide Squad (2021)
R | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker, and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.
Director: James Gunn | Stars: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman
Votes: 409,640 | Gross: $55.82M
18. Titane (2021)
R | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for ten years.
Director: Julia Ducournau | Stars: Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, Laïs Salameh
Votes: 56,146
19. The Rescue (2021)
PG | 107 min | Documentary, Action, Mystery
A chronicle of the enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | Stars: Bancha Duriyapunt, Apakorn Youkongkaew, Anan Surawan, Woranan Ratrawiphukkun
Votes: 20,613 | Gross: $1.06M
20. Dune (2021)
PG-13 | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac
Votes: 855,388 | Gross: $108.33M
21. In the Same Breath (2021)
95 min | Documentary
How did the Chinese government turn pandemic cover-ups in Wuhan into a triumph for the Communist party?
Director: Nanfu Wang | Stars: Alex Azar, Bill de Blasio, Anthony Fauci, Xi Jinping
Votes: 1,842
22. Another Round (2020)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama
Four high-school teachers consume alcohol on a daily basis to see how it affects their social and professional lives.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, Lars Ranthe
Votes: 194,981
23. Nightmare Alley (2021)
R | 150 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A grifter working his way up from low-ranking carnival worker to lauded psychic medium matches wits with a psychologist bent on exposing him.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe
Votes: 165,340 | Gross: $11.34M
24. No Time to Die (2021)
PG-13 | 163 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux
Votes: 444,739 | Gross: $160.87M
25. Pieces of a Woman (2020)
R | 126 min | Drama
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 | Stars: Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn, Iliza Shlesinger
Votes: 56,253
26. Mass (2021)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama
The parents of both the shooter and one of the victims of a school shooting tragedy agree to meet and talk in an attempt to move forward.
Director: Fran Kranz | Stars: Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd, Reed Birney
Votes: 17,497
27. The French Dispatch (2021)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux
Votes: 150,607
28. The Green Knight (2021)
R | 130 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A fantasy retelling of the medieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Director: David Lowery | Stars: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury
Votes: 118,004
29. C'mon C'mon (2021)
R | 109 min | Drama
When his sister asks him to look after her son, a radio journalist embarks on a cross-country trip with his energetic nephew to show him life away from Los Angeles.
Director: Mike Mills | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman, Scoot McNairy
Votes: 38,905
*
30. Promising Young Woman (2020)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Nothing in Cassie's life is what it appears to be - she's wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she's living a secret double life. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs from the past.
Director: Emerald Fennell | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown
Votes: 211,711
*
31. All Light, Everywhere (2021)
Unrated | 105 min | Documentary
A far-ranging look at the biases in how we see things, focusing on the use of police body cameras.
Director: Theo Anthony | Stars: Theo Anthony, Keaver Brenai, Robert Cunniff, Ross McNutt
Votes: 882
*
32. Mank (2020)
R | 131 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
1930s Hollywood is re-evaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane (1941).
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tom Pelphrey
Votes: 82,739
*
33. Bad Education (2019)
TV-MA | 108 min | Biography, Comedy, Crime
The beloved superintendent of New York's Roslyn school district and his staff, friends and relatives become the prime suspects in the unfolding of the single largest public school embezzlement scandal in American history.
Director: Cory Finley | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Ray Romano, Welker White, Allison Janney
Votes: 43,494
34. Malignant (I) (2021)
R | 111 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White
Votes: 109,205 | Gross: $13.39M
35. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
With Spider-Man's identity now revealed, Peter asks Doctor Strange for help. When a spell goes wrong, dangerous foes from other worlds start to appear, forcing Peter to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Director: Jon Watts | Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon
Votes: 878,960 | Gross: $804.75M
36. Palm Springs (2020)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery
Stuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again.
Director: Max Barbakow | Stars: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons, Peter Gallagher
Votes: 182,709
*
37. Tenet (2020)
PG-13 | 150 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Armed with only the word "Tenet," and fighting for the survival of the entire world, CIA operative, The Protagonist, journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a global mission that unfolds beyond real time.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Juhan Ulfsak
Votes: 592,701 | Gross: $58.46M
*
38. The Last Duel (2021)
R | 152 min | Action, Drama, History
The Knight Jean de Carrouges must settle the dispute over his wife Marguerite by challenging his former friend to a duel to the death.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Harriet Walter
Votes: 182,100 | Gross: $10.85M
39. One Night in Miami... (2020)
R | 114 min | Drama
A fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s.
Director: Regina King | Stars: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.
Votes: 34,280
40. The Kid Detective (2020)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A once-celebrated kid detective, now 32, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity; until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.
Director: Evan Morgan | Stars: Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato, Adam Brody, Kaleb Horn, Wendy Crewson
Votes: 22,518
*
41. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
R | 95 min | Comedy
Borat returns to America from Kazakhstan to America, this time to reveal more about the American culture, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the political elections.
Director: Jason Woliner | Stars: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova, Tom Hanks, Dani Popescu
Votes: 153,729
*
42. The Father (I) (2020)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
Director: Florian Zeller | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams
Votes: 193,209
*
43. Pig (I) (2021)
R | 92 min | Drama, Mystery
A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregon wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped.
Director: Michael Sarnoski | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin, Cassandra Violet
Votes: 89,507
44. The Gentlemen (2019)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime