Nat’s Top 10 Movies for 2021

The gritty crime thriller is still my favourite genre, taking out the number one spot for 2021.

This year has also been about soundtrack and not just music but the use of silence, drawing the audience in.

I’ve included movies with high exposure and many hidden gems that push the boundaries of cinema or simply warm the heart.  Enjoy!

10. High Ground

It’s bringing the land into the story that makes this film unique.

I am Gutjuk, meaning hawk.

The totem of the hawk a constant presence, a forever watchful eye.  High above, everything.

9. Alien On Stage

A light-hearted good fun documentary that delivers.

8.  White Lie

An absorbing psychological thriller.

7. Black Box (Boîte Noire)

A finely tuned and balanced suspense-thriller that had me hanging on every turn.

6. The Worst Person In The World

A journey that ended up in places unexpected – sexy, clever, sad and poetic.

If you’re not usually a fan of romance, this is one of the good ones.

5. Little Joe

It’s clever.  But the tone of film isn’t about being clever; it’s just different.  And interesting, with a subtle flavour of the disconcerting.

4. Dune

I was awed by this film, with mouth dropping open at the scenery, the use of light, the pattern of rock, the flowing yellow fabric of Lady Jessica’s dress in the desert wind, the explosive bombs dropping from spaceships, desecrating the landscape below and the story of betrayal, political play and intrigue.

3. A Quiet Place II

There’s that absolute silence that again invites the audience to lean in, to then jump (there are so many jumps!) with explosive action, the audience gasping and twittering as the monsters prowl, purr and claw people apart.

Jumping forward to Day 474.  It gets tense.

2. Those Who Wish Me Dead

Edge-of-your-seat suspense hits from the opening scene.

 

1. Deliver Us From Evil (Daman Ak-ehseo Guhasoseo)

If you’re a fan of a gritty crime-thriller, you’re in for a treat.

Black Box (Boîte Noire)

Rated: MBlack Box (Boîte Noire)

Directed and Written by: Yann Gozlan

Produced by: Wassim Béji, Thibault Gast, Mattias Weber

Starring: Pierre Niney, Lou de Laâge, André Dussollier, Sébastien Pouderoux, Oliver Rabourdin.

French with English Subtitles

“Make the CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) talk”, says Renier, head of BEA (Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety) (André Dussollier) to investigator Mathieu (Pierre Niney) after an Atrian 800 passenger plane goes down for, ‘Reasons unknown.’

Just starting to write this review you can already see there’s a lot of tech-speak in this film.  Which I enjoyed.  The analytics conducted by main character Mathieu just added another dimension to this suspenseful investigation of what really caused a brand new aircraft to crash during it’s flight from Dubai to Paris.

Mathieu specialises in acoustics.  He’s precise.  He can hear changes in black box recordings other investigators can’t.   But the price of his skill is not being able to stop hearing.

He’s always questioning, always listening, even when his team leader, Pollack (Rabourdin) tells him to stop.  Even when his wife, Noémie (Lou de Laâge) becomes afraid he’s hearing things that aren’t there.

The film invites the audience to listen as carefully as Mathieu as he investigates, literally pulling me to the edge of my seat, following the twists of this mystery as the story goes deeper.

I really don’t want to go into detail about the storyline or give anything away.  But to say I was completely absorbed into the film, the scenes flowing from one moment to the next, the layering of one moment so the first viewing is given a whole new perspective when replayed again later as Mathieu visualises the moments before the crash, like piecing together a puzzle, so we see how his mind works.

He’s, ‘Very clear and precise.’

‘Don’t get Pollack’s (Oliver Rabourdin) back up’, says Noémie.  ‘There’s more to a job than skill’.

To which Mathieu replies, ‘So I say nothing?’

He’s fearless in his need to find the truth, yet doesn’t need to wave a flag about it.

This is a finely tuned and balanced suspense-thriller that had me hanging on every turn.

Release part of the 32nd AF French Film Festival 2021

 

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