2021 Film Matching Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Novice

The title of this award-winning 2021 psychological sports drama could describe the director Lauren Hadaway or Alex Dall, the subject of the film. Alex Dall (portrayed by Isabelle Fuhrman) is an obsessively competitive student trying to succeed in competitive rowing to the detriment of her health.

There is no person driving her other than herself. For Lauren Hadaway, this was her debut feature film for which she also wrote the script, based in part on her own experiences as a college rower.

Answer: Mass

The history behind the award-winning 2021 American drama "Mass" is a high school shooting. The two sets of people were respectively the parents of the teenage shooter and the parents of one of his victim. The film takes place six years later after the public interest has waned.

The two sets of parents have agreed to meet and the film essentially documents this. This was American actor Fran Kranz's directing debut. He also wrote the script.

Answer: CODA

The initials CODA stand for child of deaf parents in the 2021 coming-of-age drama "CODA". It is an English-language remake of the 2014 Belgian film "La Famille Bélier". In the film, the hearing daughter Ruby Rossi is torn between working for the family's fishing company and pursuing her music interests. Deaf actors portray the deaf characters with the film receiving 39 awards from over 100 nominations, including three Oscars. One went to the director Siân Heder for the screenplay which she adapted. Troy Kotsur became the first deaf actor to win a BAFTA award and also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Answer: Judas and The Black Messiah

The 2021 biographical film "Judas and the Black Messiah" is about the killing of Fred Hampton, leader of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s as part of an illegal FBI counter-intelligence programme. One of the FBI's interventions is to recruit petty-criminal Bill O'Neal and have him infiltrate the Illinois chapter. Daniel Kaluuya took on the Fred Hampton role and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. LaKeith Stanfield took on the O'Neal/Judas role.

Answer: King Richard

Nothing to do with the British monarchy, this 2021 American biographical sports drama follows the Williams family as Serena and Venus learn their trade. The king in this case is their father Richard Williams who aspires to turn his two daughters into tennis professionals. Will Smith took the role of father and coach, winning an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance.

Answer: Don't Look Up

"Don't Look Up" is a 2021 political satire comedy film using an impending civilisation-destroying comet impact as a vehicle to poke fun at the general indifference to the climate crisis. The ensemble cast includes Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi who wrote the song "Just Look Up" for the film as well as contributing to the satire.

A key theme is science communication or, perhaps, the failure to communicate effectively. The observant may notice various easter eggs dotted throughout the film.

Answer: The Father

Earning himself his second Oscar, Anthony Hopkins portrays the titular character, an octogenarian Welshman with dementia. At 83 years of age, he became the oldest person to receive a Best Actor Oscar. Being Welsh and an octogenarian, Hopkins was probably a good choice by Florian Zeller in his directorial debut.

The film is based on Zeller's 2012 play "Le Père" and received high praise for its empathetic portrayal of dementia.

Answer: The Power of the Dog

Much praised, this 2021 Western psychological drama takes its name from and is based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel "The Power of the Dog". COVID-19 interrupted the filming which took place in New Zealand. The title is a reference to Psalm 22 of the Bible, which the character Peter is reading at the end of the film.

The implication is that the oppressive brother Phil (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) is the dog. It earned 12 Oscar nominations but only won one (for Best Director), equalling the record for 11 losses.

Answer: Pig

The truffle hunter in this 2021 drama is a pig, which is also the name of the film. It was director Michael Sarnoski's debut feature film, using a screenplay he wrote, and has a theme of loss. Nicolas Cage portrays the reclusive protagonist Rob Feld who is trying to find his stolen pig, roping in his young truffle buyer Amir to help. This takes Rob on a journey through his past.

Answer: Spider-Man: No Way Home

A sequel to "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017) and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (2019), the Marvel Comics Universe superhero film "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (2021) carries on from the public revelation in the 2019 film that Parker is Spider-Man. He wants his Parker anonymity back but his chosen method of achieving this ends up causing more problems.

The 2021 film also acts as a crossover film linking to those Spider-Man films directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb with several actors reprising their roles from the earlier films.

It was commercially very successful.