20 Best Films Of 2021
1. The Power Of The Dog
Jane Campion's first film in 12 years is surely one of her best, a psychologically blistering portrait of toxic masculinity that teases out career-best performances from basically everyone involved.
Benedict Cumberbatch is absolutely searing as cruel rancher Phil Burbank, shedding his typically magnanimous screen presence to play a challenging, initially easy-to-loathe character whose secrets slowly unfurl over the course of the film.
Kirsten Dunst is also fantastic as Rose, the innkeeper who marries Phil's more easy-going brother George (a great Jesse Plemons), and Kodi Smit-McPhee is terrifically subdued as Rose's eccentric son Peter.
Beautifully filmed, richly atmospheric, and gradually unveiling a tantalising mystery that builds to a deeply gratifying payoff, The Power of the Dog is rightly a major contender for the Best Picture Oscar, and just might have what it takes to bring the gong home outright.