Keeping things this century, here are 18 incredible films from the 21st century you may have missed…
The New York Times recently ran an opinion poll from both 500 industry folk and its readers to compile a list of the 100 best films of the 21st century. Among those listed are a number of films that really did hit the public consciousness in a big way, including a number of big swinging Oscar winners. Parasite came top among the professionals and the readers. It was followed by Mulholland Drive in both respective pro and Joe Public lists, before veering into a very slight difference of opinion, but several crossovers. Needless to say, all are very well-known movies.
There’s a common feeling among cinephiles above a certain age. They don’t make ’em like they used to. If Parasite is indeed the best film of the 21st century, where does it rank in the grand cinematic pantheon? Even Bong Joon-ho himself will tell you, it’s no Citizen Kane. However, among the more snobbish of millennial (and older) film buffs, the idea that the 21st century is devoid of good cinema is also a myth. A top 100 of populist choices may go some way to proving that (and a few rarer nuggets have also made the list), but here at Flickering Myth, we’re gonna dig deeper. Here are 18 incredible films from the 21st century that you may have missed.
Super Happy Forever
Let’s start with one just hitting streaming now (on Mubi). After doing the rounds at fests last year, this nuanced, contemplative and intricately woven drama is a beautiful piece of work from Kohai Igarashi. Playing in two halves, it begins with Sano (Hiroki Sano) and his friend visiting the idyllic holiday resort where he met his (recently deceased) wife Nagi (Nairu Yamanoto) five years previously. Morose, apathetic and struggling to deal with his grief, Sano looks for connections to the past, from a long-lost red cap to a song Nagi loved. He’s becoming self-destructive, alienating his friend.
Then, we flip back to his chance meeting with his wife-to-be and their first days together with a more hopeful Sano and the endearingly ditzy and effervescent Nagi. Igarashi beautifully lays out ambiguous moments of meaning to Sano, which become clearer (to us) when we see the past and yet he ensures some ambiguity remains. It’s such a low-key and incredibly acted work, with simple yet gorgeous cinematography.
Loveless
Beginning with the disappearance of a boy, who can’t cope with the bitterness of his parents’ crumbling relationship, Loveless keeps you on edge, with the potential of a grim outcome. Rarely has a film so adeptly and authentically captured the innate flaws and selfishness of human beings, whilst retaining sympathy. This keeps teasing the prospect of dipping into the realms of missing person thriller but dances the line, instead becoming an intense character study.
The film is raw, powerful and exquisitely shot. Every frame is magnificent. Andrey Zvyagintsev’s masterful direction is matched by stunning performances from Maryana Spivek and Aleksey Rozin as the repressive and self-absorbed parents unable to accept responsibility for what has transpired. You will not forget the film in a hurry, nor its ability to hit you like a sledgehammer.
A Fantastic Woman
Sebastian Lelio’s acclaimed drama is another film that teeters on the line with thriller, building a feeling of discomfort. An ageing married man is having an affair with a trans woman (Daniela Vega). During one of their meetings, he has a heart attack, falls down the stairs and dies. From here on, Marina deals with the aftermath, the feeling of being kept at arm’s length and excluded from grieving, having suspicion fall upon her and dealing with being an outlier in society. From mere quiet micro-aggressions to genuine physical threats to her life, all whilst dealing with the loss of a man she loved. Vega’s performance is incredible, and Lelio shows off his master’s hand behind the camera.
There’s a Girl at My Door
After leaving her previous precinct under a cloud, Young-nam, a Detective (Doona Bae) takes a position in a remote Korean seaside village. Her sexuality becomes the focal point at every turn, having led to her being charged with misconduct previously. It once again becomes central when a local young girl, suspected of being abused by her parents, takes refuge with Young-nam. Once the rumour mill swirls and her sexuality becomes public knowledge once again, her relationship with the girl attracts sinister accusations, whilst she naively oversteps her duties.
Before long, Young-nam is ostracised in the village and must prove her innocence whilst protecting the troubled young girl. July Jung’s film wasn’t an easy subject to take on, but the protege of Lee Chang-dong directs with real assurance, and Bae is on top form too. As it is, it took entirely too long for Jung to get a follow-up film after such an assured first feature.
Burning
Speaking of Lee Chang-dong, his last film Burning, preceded Parasite by a year, but didn’t gather anything like the same buzz, even though it was greeted with similar widespread critical acclaim. Burning is a masterclass in crafting a multi-faceted, ambiguous story, laden with subtext. It’s got an evasive sense of mystery with the disappearance of Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-so) and a potential sociopathic villain in Ben (a superb Steven Yeun), but we’re left to follow the gaze of a flawed and unreliable protagonist in Jong-su.
Chang-dong brilliantly feeds us clues that contradict. Things that could mean everything, or simply nothing. If you vibe with the pace and the nuanced, complex performances, it’s a film that will stick its claws in and leave a permanent mark.
The Piano Teacher
Sure, Michael Haneke has a big reputation and some iconic movies, not least his dual versions of the brutal, Funny Games. The Piano Teacher isn’t quite as widely known, but it’s one of his most enthralling and subversive works, with an absolutely masterful performance from the inimitable Isabelle Huppert. She’s the uptight and fearsome teacher whose strict and unloving upbringing has imparted a need to exert power on her students.
She becomes particularly fascinated with Walter, a student who is attracted to her and whose blasé and undisciplined attitude to study intrigues and slowly allures her. She wields power over him, but it’s when the power dynamic shifts that Haneke’s film, and Huppert, really take off.
Boy
Before Jojo Rabbit and his dalliances with the God of Thunder, Taika Waititi’s quirky and irreverent humour was put to great use back in his homeland. Boy, one of his early features that is loosely based on his own life and upbringing. It’s funny, heartfelt and among the delightfully silly moments and its affable characters, Waititi still knows how to sucker punch you in the feels.
La Chimera
Alice Rohrwacher’s evocative and beautifully realised vision of early 1980s, rural Italy features a mesmerising Josh O’Connor as grave robbing Arthur, an Englishman displaced with no roots, pining for a lost love. Unafraid to skip into moments of magical realism and flights of fancy, there’s a real Earthiness to Rohrwacher’s melancholic tale that retains plenty of mystery. Carol Duarte is more than equal to O’Connor, and grounds the film with some humility, with Arthur having a tendency to lose himself to self-absorbed pity and moral obtuseness.
Teachers Lounge
Ilker Catak’s tense drama shows the power and consequence of an accusation made by the idealistic (immigrant) teacher, Carla Nowak. It deals with educational and social politics with deft skill, but as Nowak starts to feel the consequences of having accused a fellow staff member of theft, the film starts to build up a sense of palpable tension. It’s not a thriller, per se, but it sure does thrill, keeping a tight grip, almost never letting you up for air during the final act. Leonie Benesch gave one of the best performances of last year.
Personal Shopper
K-Stew (Kristen Stewart) takes on the job of a personal shopper for a rich fashionista, whilst also trying to connect with her late brother’s spirit in Paris. Olivier Assayas certainly has international recognition, and whilst this gained some attention as a K-Stew film so soon after the Twilight phenomenon would, this still remains a little unfairly beneath the radar. Slow, brooding and atmospheric it was also a welcome shift for Stewart to cleanse herself from a role that was hugely iconic, but commonly the subject of mirth for its artistic merits (and indeed the derision which accompanied her awkward performance as Bella). Here, no such issues; she’s totally compelling.
Joyland
A young man who can never find approval with his wife’s family has spent a lengthy spell unemployed. He finally finds work as a backup dancer for a burlesque show, where he meets a trans performer, Biba. Keeping his real job a secret, he grows infatuated with Biba. Inevitably, as Haider continues to mount up lies, worlds will collide and he’ll have to deal with the traditional attitudes of his extended family and the consequences of his secret life. A dazzling, colourful and often powerful film by Saim Sadiq.
The Quiet Girl
An intelligent and quiet girl (yeah, clue’s in the title) lives with a neglectful family who constantly overlook and mistreat her. After acting out, she’s sent to live with foster parents for one summer. She experiences more love and caring there than at home, but uncovers truths about her new guardians. Her new home is fleeting, and as time runs down, it comes time for Caitlyn to return home to her possessive yet disinterested parents. The Quiet Girl is achingly melancholic, beautifully shot, and Catherine Clinch’s performance, with so little dialogue, is phenomenal.
A White White Day
No one does repression and brooding like the cinema of the Nordic territories. A White White Day, sees a widower struggling to deal with the loss of his late wife and resentment due to his suspicions that she was having an affair. Ingvar Sigurdsson really does bring that simmering inner turmoil to life brilliantly, and Hlynur Pálmason delivers cold, stark, and expansive frames bathed in Icelandic whites and greys. The film looks stunning with a deep sense of unease beneath the surface.
Shiva Baby
Emma Seligman (writer/director) and Rachel Sennott (star) combine to great effect with this often excruciatingly awkward tale of a somewhat socially difficult young woman, who attends a funeral that happens to have her (married) sugar daddy and ex-girlfriend in attendance. As Danielle struggles to maintain her facade and a constant array of mishaps and the fallout of two relationships, we’re left to laugh and wince in equal, brilliant measure.
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Bi Gan delivers a dreamy and languid journey into the night, which is a technical marvel. Luo returns to his hometown intent on finding a long-lost woman he once loved, but unable to recall her name. He finds Wan (Tang Wei), whom he becomes drawn to. Is she his lost love? Gan really does lure you into the setting wonderfully well, bringing the screen to life so vividly. The film looks incredible, and not least when the last half of the movie effectively ends with one long unending take that lasts just shy of an hour. However, the film’s biggest strength is the incomparable Tang Wei, who can say so much without words.
Holy Spider
A reporter faced with cultural and institutional misogyny begins to look deeply into the brutal murders of prostitutes in the dark corners of Mashad, the holy city in Iran. The male public sides with the killer, and as she puts herself into increasingly dangerous situations to uncover the culprit, apprehending him may just be the end of her (whether that’s her life or career). Prescient and powerful and, of course, controversial, Ali Abbasi’s film is gripping and absolutely harrowing at its most tense. When the killer is finally caught (this is based on a true story), he is worshipped as a hero by some, but his trial becomes a political cluster fudge that threatens to show the nation in a negative light overseas. All undoubted dramatic license aside, it’s thrilling, and Zahra Amir Ebrahimi is excellent. Mehdi Bajestini’s creepily vacuous and self-aggrandising killer completely gets under your skin. It’s a great performance.
Frailty
The late great Bill Paxton was a great character actor, always able to light up the screen. As 2001’s Frailty proved, he was also a skilled director. The film remains criminally underseen, but it really is a sensational work about generational trauma, undercut with a serial killer thriller. Paxton is also superb in front of the camera, as is Matthew McConaughey, revisiting the scene of his repressed and tragic past.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Shot in stunning black and white, Ana Lily Amirpour’s languid and idiosyncratic vampire film is one of the great (sub)genre subversions of the century. It didn’t get the wide audience of Let the Right One In, but it’s well deserving of more love. Sheila Vand is so enigmatic and magnetic as the vampire who struggles under the weight of her curse and loneliness. She meets Arash and the pair form a strange and unlikely bond.
There’s a reasonable amount of vampirish shenanigans, but this isn’t about the blood and gore. It really does strike a great vibe, laden with influences.
What’s your favourite 21st-century film? What hidden gems do you recommend from this century? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
