Are you looking for drama? Here’s the right place with our inaugural Top 5 Drama Films list. Starting with the latest adaptation of a sci-fi classic, an original thriller, and a stage play comes to life.

Here are our picks for the Best Drama Films of 2021.

5.) CODA (dir: Sian Heder)

In CODA, Emily Jones plays Ruby, a Child of Deaf Adults. Her brother is also deaf, leaving Ruby to communicate for their fishing business and other appointments. The family has stuck tightly, and they move as a unit, but when Emily wants to follow her dreams of singing, her family struggles to understand why — both out of not being able to appreciate her singing skills and out of fear. CODA is a heartfelt drama with plenty of tear-jerking moments and some phenomenal performances all around.

– Dylan Blight

4.) Dune (dir: Denis Villeneuve)

After a couple of mixed adaptations, we finally have a Dune film that captures the scale and epicness fan of the book desired. Denis Villeneuve managed to bring the story of House Atreides coming to Arrakis to life with amazing practical effects, an epic score by Hans Zimmer and a star-studded cast, led by Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson providing some of their best work to date. One of the most ambitious films of the year delivered on its promise and we all wait with anticipation while they make the sequel.

– Ashley Hobley

3.) The Matrix Resurrections (dir: Lana Wachowski)

The Matrix Resurrections may not have been the sequel many were expecting, but it was the one we needed. Taking place many years after the events of The Matrix Revolutions, Neo is back in the Matrix, believing he is still Thomas Anderson and that his life is Neo is just something he imagined. The tale that Lana Wachowski and her collaborators have told with this film is amazing, weaving in metacommentary on the film industry and the contestant stream of remakes and reboots, touching on mental health issues while also, at its core, being a love story. A multi-layered marvel that I look forward to revisiting many times in the future to learn new things about it.

– Ashley Hobley

2.) The Father (dir: Florian Zeller)

The first time I got asked about The Father, I described it as a horror movie, and I’ll stand by that remark. It’s not, of course, it’s a drama, but the themes of dementia and growing old certainly shook me to the core. The film is filled with prestigious performances, most prominently from Olivia Coleman and Anthony Hopkins, who won an Oscar for his work as, fittingly, the character is named Anthony. The film takes place almost entirely in one location, having been adapted from a stage play. Still, director Florian Zeller continually makes the camera exciting and alive, and the performances do the rest.

– Dylan Blight

1.) Promising Young Women (dir: Emerald Fennell)

Sitting in the cinema watching Promising Young Women for the first time, I wasn’t sure if it was about to turn into a horror film with Carey Mulligan going on an act of violent revenge. The cusp and simmering tension that’s building in the back of the film leaves questions about just how far the character of Cassandra will go to cope with what happened to her in the past. Carey Mulligan gives a phenomenal performance under the direction and original script from Emerald Fennell. It’s a film that’ll have you talking for days following your viewing.

– Dylan Blight

Dylan Blight and Ashley Hobley compiled this Top 5 list. The movies nominated must have had a theatrical release in a cinema, VOD or on a streaming platform within December 27th 2020 – December 27th 2021.