A Place Called Today (1972)

Zombie apocalypses have been metaphors for late-stage predatory capitalism, but never a system disrupter that brings about freedom.

In 1971, when discussions about how to integrate their school system break down, the community of Durham, North Carolina agrees to bring in Bill Riddick(Babou Ceesay) to conduct a series of summits(charrettes) to help them move forward with desegregation.

'Motherless Brooklyn' is a 1950s whodunit made by its star, Edward Norton. Like most detective films in this setting, the cast is mostly white males (with a few notable exceptions).

Netflix’s Shadow and Bone has a complicated relationship with race. It has a diverse cast, but not without its problems. Based on Leigh Bardugo’s two book series, the show features characters from the Shadow and Bone trilogy, which is very straight and white, and the Six of Crows duology, which is much more diverse. When bringing together a cast and writing about these characters, the team behind the show expanded upon some of the representation missing from the first trilogy, then seemed to take away representation from the duology. Shadow and Bone seems to play a bit of a push and pull game when it comes to portraying diversity onscreen.

An impressive narrative structure, a perfect use of the continuous shot technique, and great interpretations make "Boiling Point" one of the best films of 2021.