Best Limited Release Movies 2021

Critics Consensus: Like the animal itself, Pig defies the hogwash of expectations with a beautiful odyssey of loss and love anchored by Nicolas Cage's affectingly raw performance.

Synopsis: A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin, Nina Belforte

Directed By: Michael Sarnoski

Critics Consensus: A ruefully funny calling card for debuting director Emma Seligman, Shiva Baby transcends its sitcom setup with strong performances and satisfying insights.

Synopsis: While at a Jewish funeral service with her parents, a college student has an awkward encounter with her sugar daddy and her ex-girlfriend.

Starring: Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon, Polly Draper, Danny Deferrari

Directed By: Emma Seligman

Critics Consensus: The Truffle Hunters explores a world most viewers will know nothing about -- with delightfully savory results.

Synopsis: A handful of men search for rare, expensive and delicious white Alba truffles deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy.

Starring: Enrico Crippa, Carlo Gondola, Piero Botto, Sergio Cauda

Directed By: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw

Critics Consensus: Quo Vadis, Aida? uses one woman's heartbreaking conflict to offer a searing account of war's devastating human toll.

Synopsis: Bosnia, July 11th 1995. Aida is a translator for the United Nations in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jasna Đuričić, Izudin Bajrovic, Boris Ler, Dino Bajrovic

Directed By: Jasmila Zbanic

Critics Consensus: Led by Noée Abita's outstanding central performance, Slalom offers a moving account of oppression and abuse in the guise of mentorship.

Synopsis: This riveting, Cannes-selected #MeToo drama from debut filmmaker Charlène Favier follows the relationship between a teenage ski prodigy and her predatory instructor, played by frequent... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Noée Abita, Jérémie Renier, Marie Denarnaud, Muriel Combeau

Directed By: Charlène Favier

Critics Consensus: Drive My Car's imposing runtime holds a rich, patiently engrossing drama that reckons with self-acceptance and regret.

Synopsis: Two years after his wife's unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a renowned stage actor and director, receives an offer to direct a production of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toko Miura, Reika Kirishima, Yoo-rim Park

Directed By: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Critics Consensus: Their albums may be cult favorites, but this Edgar Wright-directed documentary offers an introduction to Sparks that has something for everyone.

Synopsis: How can one rock band be successful, underrated, hugely influential, and criminally overlooked all at the same time? Edgar Wright's debut documentary THE SPARKS BROTHERS,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Edgar Wright, Flea

Directed By: Edgar Wright

Critics Consensus: A brilliant forum for Penélope Cruz's talent, Parallel Mothers reaffirms the familiar pleasures of Almodóvar's filmmaking while proving he's still capable of growth.

Synopsis: Two women, Janis and Ana, coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and became pregnant by accident.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Penélope Cruz, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde

Directed By: Pedro Almodóvar

Critics Consensus: A strikingly assured debut for writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter unites a brilliant cast in service of a daringly ambitious story.

Synopsis: Alone on a seaside vacation, Leda becomes consumed with a young mother and daughter as she watches them on the beach. Unnerved by their compelling... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley

Directed By: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Critics Consensus: A remarkable feature debut for director/co-writer Filippo Meneghetti, Two of Us tells a deceptively complex love story while presenting a rich acting showcase for its three leads.

Synopsis: Two retired women, Nina and Madeleine, have been secretly in love for decades. Everybody, including Madeleine’s family, thinks they are simply neighbors, sharing the top... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Barbara Sukowa, Martine Chevallier, Léa Drucker, Muriel Benazeraf

Directed By: Filippo Meneghetti

Critics Consensus: Mass requires a lot of its audience, but rewards that emotional labor with a raw look at grief that establishes writer-director Fran Kranz as a filmmaker of tremendous promise.

Synopsis: Years after an unspeakable tragedy tore their lives apart, two sets of parents (Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton, Reed Birney and Ann Dowd) agree to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton

Directed By: Fran Kranz

Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and emotionally impactful, Luzzu uses one man's story to capture the struggles of a region at a cultural crossroads.

Synopsis: A hardworking Maltese fisherman, Jesmark is faced with an agonizing choice. He can repair his leaky luzzu -- a traditional, multicolored wooden fishing boat --... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jesmark Scicluna, Michela Farrugia, David Scicluna, Frida Cauchi

Directed By: Alex Camilleri

Critics Consensus: Acasa, My Home presents a powerful documentary portrait of one family's odyssey that illustrates bittersweet truths about freedom and society.

Synopsis: A rural Romanian couple and their nine children must learn to live in the big city.

Directed By: Radu Ciorniciuc

Critics Consensus: Sabaya presents a scary and sobering look at human suffering -- and the efforts of those dedicated to ending it.

Synopsis: Members of a group risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls who are being held as sex slaves in the most dangerous... View Full Synopsis

Directed By: Hogir Hirori

Critics Consensus: Narratively slight yet cumulatively absorbing, The Woman Who Ran finds writer-director Hong Sang-soo continuing to work in a beguilingly minor key.

Synopsis: The 24th feature from Hong Sangsoo, THE WOMAN WHO RAN follows Gamhee (Kim Minhee), who has three separate encounters with friends while her husband is... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kim Min-hee, Seo Young-hwa, Sae-Byuk Kim, Kwon Hae-hyo

Directed By: Hong Sang-soo

Critics Consensus: Anchored by Yllka Gashi's outstanding performance, Hive leads viewers on one woman's fact-based quest for self-determination in a patriarchal society.

Synopsis: HIVE is a searing drama based on the true story of Fahrije (Yllka Gashi), who, like many of the other women in her patriarchal village,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Yllka Gashi, Çun Lajçi, Aurita Agushi, Kumrije Hoxha

Directed By: Blerta Basholli

Critics Consensus: An uncommonly patient thriller, Azor elegantly slips the viewer into its cool grasp and never lets go.

Synopsis: Argentina, the late 1970s. Private banker Yvan (Fabrizio Rongione) arrives from Geneva with his wife Ines (Stéphanie Cléau) to replace a colleague who has mysteriously... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Fabrizio Rongione, Stéphanie Cléau, Elli Medeiros, Alexandre Trocki

Directed By: Andreas Fontana

Critics Consensus: Gunda takes an absorbingly meditative look at farm life from the animals' perspective, tacitly posing questions about our relationship to food along the way.

Synopsis: Experiential cinema in its purest form, GUNDA chronicles the unfiltered lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with... View Full Synopsis

Directed By: Victor Kossakovsky

Critics Consensus: A darkly humorous revenge thriller with satisfying depth and a dash of savory quirk, Riders of Justice makes another compelling case for Mads Mikkelsen as an all-purpose leading man.

Synopsis: RIDERS OF JUSTICE follows recently-deployed Markus (Mads Mikkelsen), who is forced to return home to care for his teenage daughter after his wife is killed... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Andrea Heick Gadeberg, Lars Brygmann

Directed By: Anders Thomas Jensen