Adaptations are what connect non-readers to the beautiful world of literature. It is also the way readers are able to see their favorite characters come to life. With the immense power adaptations have, they also have the issue of being compared. The story can easily be disliked due to the inconsistent nature of the adaptation to the book. At the same time, it is equally easy to become loved by the community. With 2021 coming to an end, we have compiled a list of adaptations that were by far the best of the year. The top ten adaptations of 2021 are-
- Dune
Anything about this film and this book are less. Frank Herbert and Denis Villeneuve are both genius storytellers and their works are proof. Denis made an adaptation that many have failed to do. With a cast like Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Jason Momoa, Villeneuve was able to bring his 14-year-old’s dream to a reality. The adaptation was just the first part of the novel and has already gathered everyone’s interest.
- Shadow and Bone
The series easily gets the number 1 position in series and falls just short of Dune. With an extremely on-point cast to merging the two different Grishaverse series, Netflix cracked the code of fan-favorite adaptations. Written by Leigh Bardugo and brought to life by Lee Toland Krieger, Mairzee Almas, Dan Liu, and Jeremy Webb, the series was released on Netflix in April. One of the best things about the show is how Ben Barnes was cast as the Darkling. He was fan cast by readers long before and Barnes showed the producers edits of him as Darkling and convinced them to give him this role. It also stars, Jessie Mei Li, Freddy Carter, and Archie Renaux
- Tick Tick…Boom!
The movie starring Andrew Garfield, Robin de Jesus, Alexandra Shipp and produced by the musical mastermind, Lin Manuel Miranda is based on the autobiographical play of Jonathan Larson. It is about a young playwright in New York who is trying to make his play a success. He has been working on it for 8 years and is so consumed by it that his entire life revolves around it. The movie is a great depiction of the struggle Larson was feeling with all his relationships, rejections, and turning 30.
- The Pursuit of Love
Nancy Miltford had published the book, The Pursuit of Love back in 1945. Only in 2021 did an adaptation be made of this glitzy book. Starring Lily James, Andrew Scott, and Emily Beecham, the Amazon Prime miniseries was a trip back to the 1940s. It took the viewers to a very glamourous life of the rich and did a fantastic job of making the characters relatable even 80 years after they were written.
- Cherry
Tom Holland had a wild 2021. Starring in the pandemic’s first 1 billion turnout movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, the young actor also starred in Cherry. Based on the autofiction novel by Nico Walker, the movie also sees Robert Pattison. It is about an army medic who struggles with a heroin addiction after coming back from the Iraq War. He suffers from undiagnosed PTSD which leads him to rob banks. The movie is as dark and as chilling as the book and the actors did a wonderful job.
- House of Gucci
Anything that has Lady Gaga in is bound to be great, take A Star Is Born as an example. Thus, it is no surprise that she starred in another banger named The House of Gucci along with The Marriage Story star, Adam Driver. Written by Sara Gay Forden it is about the infamous murder of Gucci and the fashion family. Lady Gaga had mentioned that she had the accent for a long time and she had used method acting to channel Patrizia.
- Nomadland
An Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland won multiple awards including Best Director. Based on Jessica Bruder’s book of the same name, the movie stars the phenomenal actor, Frances McDormand. She plays a widow who travels across the United States as a nomad.
- The White Tiger
This Hindi-English Indian Netflix series is the adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s Brooker Prize-winning book, The White Tiger. Starring Priyanka Chopra, Adarsh Gourav, and Rajkumar Rao, the film is a commentary on society. It has the dynamics between an ambitious young boy and a wealthy, selfish family.
- The Last Letter From Your Lover
Movies that include time as a factor are often playing on extremely thin ice. Felicity Jones’s starring movie, The Last Letter From Your Lover nails it perfectly. Jojo Moyes wrote a heart-touching book about two star-crossed lovers whose letters were discovered years later. She writes two romances that left all viewers in love and tears.
- Fatherhood
When you think of Kevin Hart, you may end up holding your stomach with laughter. In Fatherhood he makes you doubt his typecasting as the movie is an absolute tearjerker. It is based on Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love. About the life of a single father who is coping with his wife’s death and raising a daughter, the movie was shockingly good.
Adaptations are a tricky ground but sometimes movies get it just right and some are just really bad. If you want to immerse in a land of stories but are unfortunately not readers, do check out these movies. On the other hand fellow readers, get lost in the perfect worlds of the books and their fantastic adaptations of 2021.