The first sequel of 2021 is this article. The 20 Asian films to watch in 2020 article was easily the most-read piece of the last 12 months. Even The Reel Bits gets thirsty for hits occasionally.
The year will start with a bang. No less than nine Lunar New Year films will ring in the Year of the Ox, including Endgame, Assassin in Red and several ones held over from last year. Indeed, it’s a mixed bag of delayed 2020 films, highly anticipated films, and what are sure to be festival favourites.
Of course, it’s always wise to keep an eye on the small screen. In addition to your favourite Korean dramas, Netflix deals with Japan and Korea ensure plenty of content throughout the year. Plus, China’s Zhang Yimou will be directing a TV show for the first time as he takes on an adaptation of The Star, the story of a Shaanxi opera performer.
Read more: Best Asian films of 2021 | 22 Asian films to watch in 2022
So, here’s 21 films for 2021 that intrigue. From blockbusters to indies, adaptations and anime, and re-workings of mythology, there’s a lot to look forward to this year.
Prisoners of the Ghostland (US/Japan, Dir: Sion Sono)
This was on my 2019 and 2020 lists, but this crazy combination of Japan’s Sion Sono and Nicolas Cage is finally debuting at Sundance 2021 later this month. The prolific director’s output has slowed down to 2 or 3 films a year, including two versions of Forest of Love on Netflix plus Red Post on Escher last year. This has been described as a “delirious mash-up of Western, samurai, and postapocalyptic thriller is a sly spoof of the mythical hero’s journey.” It stars Sofia Boutella, Ed Skrei, Bill Moseley, Young Dais and Tak Sakaguchi. Image courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Decision to Leave (South Korea, Dir: Park Chan-wook)
Park Chan-wook. The name alone should guarantee this attention. Especially when its been over 4 years since he graced us with The Handmaiden. The director of Oldboy and Stoker is currently working on a mystery for CJ Entertainment. It’s due to star Park Hae-il (Memories of Murder) as a detective who falls for China’s Tang Wei, the prime suspect in a murder case he is investigating. No date is currently set, but with any luck this could debut at Cannes 2021 or another festival later in the year.
Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time (Japan, Dir: Hideaki Anno)
Another long-delayed film that finally hits cinemas early this year, assuming the Fourth Impact doesn’t happen between now and then. It’s been ‘coming soon’ since 2012 when Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo was released. After a promised 2015 release, Hideaki Anno’s very public bouts with depression, the production of Shin Godzilla – and the June 2020 release canned due to the pandemic – the final chapter of the Rebuild of Evangelion series will drop in January 2021. We can (not) wait.
Belle (Japan, Dir: Mamoru Hosoda)
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Studio Chizu, director Mamoru Hosoda follows (*deep breath*) The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Boy and the Beast, Mirai with a new feature. The Japanese title of the film is Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime (The Dragon and the Freckled Princess) takes place in the massive online world of U, instantly recalling his background in Digimon and Summer Wars. It’s due in ‘summer 2021.’
Spectrum (South Korea, Dir: Kim Bo-ra)
Director Kim Bo-ra wowed world audiences in 2019 with her debut feature House of Hummingbird. Her follow-up, currently slated for a 2021 release, is an adaptation of Kim Cho-yeop’s sci-fi short story of the same name from the collection If We Cannot Move at the Speed of Light. It’s a sci-fi story set in a future where humans and aliens co-exist. Definitely sounds up our alley!
Assassin in Red/A Writer’s Odyssey (China, Dir: Lu Yang)
The first of the big Chinese blockbusters of the year, this worldwide release is one of the Lunar New Year releases that hits multiple shores at once. From the director of Brotherhood of Blades and last year’s The Sacrifice, it’s a multiversal story in which a desperate father agrees to kill a novelist in order to save his daughter, but the writer’s fictional world begins to impact the real one.
Masquerade Night (Japan, Dir: Masayuki Suzuki)
The sequel to the fun Masquerade Hotel reunites Takuya Kimura as Detective Kosuke Nitta and Masami Nagasawa as super hotel concierge Naomi Yamagishi. Another hotel related mystery arises and the dynamic duo are back on the case. This is sure to be an audience pleaser at the Japanese box office and international festivals this year.
Detective Chinatown 3 (China, Dir: Chen Sicheng)
While they may never make the top of critical lists, I have a massive soft spot for this delightful throwback series. Originally due out in early 2020, it was another one delayed by the pandemic. Following the events of 2018’s Detective Chinatown 2, self-proclaimed ‘Detective Chinatown’ Tang Ren (Wang Baoqiang) and his ‘distant relative’ Chin Feng (Liu Haoran) are off to Tokyo to investigate a new crime.
Asakusa Kid (Japan, Dir: Hitori Gekidan)
Polymath and deadset legend Takeshi Kitano gets his own story told by the equally prolific Hitori Gekidan (A Bolt from the Blue). Adapting Kitano’s 1988 autobiographical novel, previously shot by Makoto Shinozaki in 2002, Yuya Yagira plays Kitano as a university dropout who enters the performance theatre Asakusa France Za and apprentices under Senzaburo Fukami (Yo Oizumi).
In Those Days + On the Street (Japan, Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi)
Is it cheating to include two films in one entry? Rikiya Imaizumi (Little Nights, Little Love, His) has been averaging about two films a year, and they’re all gold. In Those Days sees Tori Matsuzaka playing Mikito Tsurugi in a film based on the latter’s autobiographical comic essay. In On the Street, Aoi Arakawa (Ryuya Wakaba) lives the easy life in a secondhand clothing store until he gets involved with four women. The original release date for film was 22 May 2020 in Japan, but was postponed due to the COVID19 outbreak.
Space Sweepers (South Korea, Dir: Jo Sung-hee)
One of several Korean films releasing exclusively to Netflix – along with the comedy What Happened to Mr. Cha? – it’s a sci-fi film set in 2092. Earth has become a bleak planet which will soon be uninhabitable. Spaceship Victory is one of the many that live off salvaging space debris. From director Jo Sung-hee (A Werewolf Boy, Phantom Detective), it stars Song Joong-ki (Descendants of the Sun, A Werewolf Boy), Kim Tae-ri (Mr. Sunshine, The Handmaiden), Jin Sun-kyu (Kingdom, Extreme Job) and Yoo Hai-jin (Confidential Assignment, A Taxi Driver).
Sexual Drive (Japan, Dir: Yoshida Koda)
A film about sex and food sounds like the perfect way to kick off 2021. Koda’s film is divided into three parts – Natto, Mapo and Ramen – it’s been described as erotic without being explicit. Comparing it favourably with the classic Tampopo, IFFR site describes an “orgiastically, natto-eating Masumi.” If they can make natto sexy, then this might be the cult erotic film of the year.
Hero (South Korea, Dir: Yoon Je-kyoon)
Originally planned for summer 2020, Yoon Je-kyoon (Sex is Zero) gets back in the director’s chair for the first time since 2014’s Ode to My Father. The musical film, and adaptation of the stage production, follows the true story of independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun (Jung Sung-Hwa), who assassinated Prince Ito Hirobumi of the Japanese Empire in 1909. It also stars Kim Go-Eun.
Dead & Beautiful (Taiwan/Netherlands, Dir: David Verbeek)
This one is really intriguing. Dutch filmmaker David Verbeek’s explores Taipei’s nightlife as you’ve never seen it before: with vampires! After a weird night, five bored, super-rich friends find out they are vampires. It makes its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in February.
As We Like It (Taiwan, Dir: Chen Hung-i, Muni Wei)
The only thing that seems to be as versatile and adaptable as Shakespeare is new Taiwanese cinema. Adapting the Bard’s works, it follows the romance of Orlando and Rosalind, who is disguised as a man. Directors Chen Hung-i and Muni Wei (2019’s Always Miss You) have an all-female cast in a film that promises that it “upends the binary world.” This hits so many intersections, it shoots straight to the top of our must-see lists for 2021.
New Gods: Ne Zha Reborn (China, Dir: Ji Zhao)
As it turns out, not the third part in the Fengshen Cinematic Universe (Ne Zha, Jiang Ziya). It’s actually a contemporary retelling of the same legend from the producers of the excellent White Snake. Beijing’s Light Chaser Animation Studios are teaming with giant online video platform Bilibili to bring Ji Zhao’s animation to life.
Bipolar (China, Dir: Queena Li)
Shot in crisp black and white, Queena Li’s debut feature reimagines the myth of Orpheus in Tibet’s capital, Lhasa. A road-movie western set in the contemporary world, it follows a pilgrim who arrives in this place and sets forth on a dreamlike journey that she hopes will lead her back to the real world.
The Edge of Daybreak (Thailand, Dir: Taiki Sakpisit)
Following a decade of experimental shorts and art projects, including the short film The Mental Traveller, Sakpisit’s debut comes with a bit of critical expectation. Set against the student uprisings of the 1970s and the 2006 military coup in Thailand, this monochromatic saga explores the shared trauma of a family interwoven with that of a nation.
Drifting (Hong Kong, Dir: Jun Li)
Starring three Golden Horse Awards winner Francis Ng, Loletta Lee and Kwan-ho Tse, Jun Li’s (The Secret Board) film examines Hong Kong’s homeless as they fight for their rights in the face of ever-expanding high-rises. While not shown, it’s interesting to note that this was shot during a period of intense protest on the streets of Hong Kong.
Election 3 (Hong Kong, Dir: Johnnie To)
Because hope always springs eternal. After all, we kind of willed Prisoners of the Ghostland into existence.
Read more coverage of Asian cinema from the silent era to festivals and other contemporary releases in our dedicated section called Asia in Focus.
