It’s been a pretty good year for cinema in 2021, but that doesn’t mean we’ve escaped the usual collection of misfits, duds and self righteous, pretentious rubbish. Here are some of our least favourites from this year…

5. Chaos Walking

Tom Holland’s had a pretty good year with his latest outing as ‘Spider-Man‘ absolutely smashing it at the box office, but he’ll want to forget ‘Chaos Walking‘, a pretty terrible movie that was slunk out earlier this year after sitting on a shelf for a couple of years. It’s a sci-fi movie based on a popular series of books, but it’s hindered by a central concept that just doesn’t transfer well from the page to the screen and that makes this borderline unwatchable.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/chaos-walking

4. Music

This is a bad movie, cringeworthy in the extreme, and verging on offensive in its portrayal of autism through one of its central characters. It is essentially a series of discarded Sia music videos, with a movie plot cobbled together around it, with the conceit to explain this being that the music interludes are how the character ‘Music’ (yes this film has bad character names too) experiences the world through her autism. Sia is a good singer, but a filmmaker she ain’t.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/music-2021

3. Spencer

It may surprise many to see this film on the list, given it’s been lauded in most quarters, largely down to Kristen Stewart who is admittedly brilliant as Diana. My problems with ‘Spencer‘ went far beyond that and I thought this was a vapid, indulgent fabrication and a hatchet job on both Diana and the Royal Family.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/spencer

2. Ammonite

Possibly the dullest movie of the year, ‘Ammonite‘ is another disingenuous biopic that imagines a romantic relationship between paleontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) and Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan). Beyond the fact there is no evidence that Anning had relationships with woman, there is a distinct lack of chemistry between Winslet and Ronan that stunts the film and it feels like a blatant rip off of the outstanding French drama ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire‘ from last year (granted this was in production prior to its release). Watch that instead.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/ammonite

Where to watch ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire‘: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire

1. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

There’s been some rubbish films this year, but none moreso than this absolutely dreadful, unfunny comedy movie. It has the feeling of a ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch extended out to feature length, with possibly the two most annoying lead characters (Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo) in any film I’ve came across in quite some time. Avoid at all costs!

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/barb-and-star-go-to-vista-del-mar

Narrowly avoiding this list: Blithe Spirit, Time, Creation Stories