2024 has come to an end. It came to an end a month ago, but I’m writing this late because I didn’t want to leave out some critical titles. Maybe I’d have relented and put it out earlier as I have in past years before certain anticipated movies got to me if in all honesty it were a slightly better year for movies. The fact of this list shows it wasn’t a bad year by any means, but compared to 2022 and 2023, I felt fewer films this year struck me as powerfully, and more movies were just mediocre to bad. I could easily have done a “Worst 24 Movies of 2024” list, with probably a few dishonourable mentions -if I cared to do that sort of thing anymore.
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But the movies are still there, and still worth celebrating. It’s easy to forget at this stage, but earlier in the year there was a string of great mainstream blockbusters -not all of them successful (everyone apologize to Furiosa), but exemplary movies well-deserving of their breadth of expense and exposure. 2024 had its fair share of charming indie movies and international movies. We’ve seen directors like Luca Guadagnino, Denis Villeneuve, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jane Schoenbrun, and Sean Baker allowed to work at the peak of their independent creative and artistic craft -Francis Ford Coppola, whatever you thought of it, finally got to achieve his decades-long vision. We’ve seen actors come into their own, the likes of Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Glen Powell (soon to be Mikey Madison too) filling the void of movie stars left by the previous generation. There’s still plenty to appreciate about cinema in 2024, plenty of movies worth seeing if you haven’t already.
At time of writing, I myself have seen 125 movies from 2024, though with a few highly anticipated ones still left that haven’t made their way to me yet -namely Hard Truths, Nickel Boys, and I’m Still Here- and as usual will likely render this list obsolete by this time next month. There are also movies that I have seen but didn’t quite make the cut, though I would like to acknowledge anyway.
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This year’s honourable mentions are: Evil Does Not Exist (written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi), The Bikeriders (written and directed by Jeff Nichols), Kinds of Kindness (written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos), The Peasants (written and directed by DK and Hugh Welchman), Will & Harper (directed by Josh Greenbaum), A Quiet Place: Day One (written and directed by Michael Sarnoski), Flow (written by Gints Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža, directed by Gints Zilbalodis), Rumours (written and directed by Guy Maddin, Evan and Galen Johnson), A Real Pain (written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg), Queer (written by Justin Kuritzkes, directed by Luca Guadagnino), The Wild Robot (written and directed by Chris Sanders), and Conclave (written by Peter Straughan, directed by Edward Berger).
And now to properly count down the Top 24 Movies of 2024!:
24. His Three Daughters -written and directed by Azazel Jacobs
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A movie about the anticipation of death in the family, its grief and strange powers of reconciliation, His Three Daughters is a quiet film teeming with tension between estranged sisters caring for a father in his last days and preparing for the inevitable. A perfect showcase for Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, an outstanding Natasha Lyonne, and late in the film Jay O. Sanders, playing a dysfunctional family attempting to find grace with each other in a difficult time. The drama and motivations behind the sisters’ dynamic, their points of conflict and wells of understanding are curious and engaging, the nuances of their pain and prejudices easy to identify with as the movie presents a far from easy route towards healing. But writer-director Azazel Jacobs adamantly believes in it, and fills the movie out with touchstones of memory and sentiment for the sisters’ shared emotional strain. The film articulates incredibly well both the mood and anxiety of that uncertain yet mournful period waiting for the death of a loved one. And though earnestly resonant and naturalistic, it dips elegantly into magical realism before the end for the sake of catharsis. A catharsis it hopes you can feel too.
His Three Daughters is available to stream on Netflix.
23. A Different Man -written and directed by Aaron Schimberg
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For a movie that is so mean on its face, you don’t walk away from Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man feeling bad. Perhaps a part of that comes from Sebastian Stan’s character Edward not being a particularly likeable guy when his personality is revealed at its truest, and so his misfortune has the sense of some justice. This is a movie about the narratives we assign ourselves vs perceptions beyond them, and specifically what happens when one man, so used to seeing himself as a social outcast and victim of circumstance to be pitied, is confronted with the very visceral discrediting of his self-imposed limitations. Blaming his severe deformity for all of his miseries, only to find himself cured of it and then witness the content and fulfilling mirror life of another man in that situation, it is also a provocative exercise in ego and identity, that Stan alongside Renate Reinsve and especially a scene-stealing Adam Pearson have great fun with. It is an intrinsically sharp movie, examining through satirically direct ways the depiction of and issues around disability in media, making a solid and entertaining case to move beyond the narratives Edward has entrenched himself in.
A Different Man is available to stream on Crave, available to rent on VOD.
22. Hit Man -written by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell, directed by Richard Linklater
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We witnessed the ascendance of Glen Powell this year as one of our new great movie stars, but its peak came not from the sleeper hit rom-com nor the profitable disaster flick, but a movie that showcased both his range and charm better than either of those, courtesy of a great filmmaker whose known his talents for a while. It honestly took some consideration to bump this movie onto the list; in spite of my thorough enjoyment of it, it felt a little boilerplate for Richard Linklater. But I also couldn’t deny I enjoyed it more than most movies this year. In addition to Powell, this comedy about a curated fake hit man becoming romantically involved with a client, featured a stunning turn from Adria Arjona, hopefully soon to be a star in her own right too. The pair of them have a sizzling chemistry that is radiant and intoxicating, and Linklater knows best how to play into this sexiness while maintaining his trademark esoteric indie sensibility in the humour. And true to his usual intellectual curiosity, it offers another fascinating dissection of identity, as presentation informs authenticity and even personal growth between multiple characters applying different facades. Who is your Hit Man? Probably this one.
Hit Man is available to stream on Netflix, available to rent on VOD.
21. The Room Next Door -written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar
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Another sweet and sentimental movie about death, The Room Next Door has many of the usual charms of an Almodóvar movie -the gorgeous colour schemes, the esoteric language, the tender exploration of relationships between women, and a subtly potent political angle. It’s an endearing portrait of friendship between two women who are virtually strangers initially, but come to rely on one another as the cancer-stricken Martha depends on Ingrid to help her conscientiously take her own life. Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore are both tremendous, but Swinton especially conveys this alluring calm and certainty, and continued curiosity as she makes peace with the end. It is an image of contentment and wisdom so striking you are drawn to her in much the same way Moore is. Perhaps underplayed in my initial review is the humour of the movie too that disarms the relative difficulty of the subject matter. There is an air of amusement to how it pans out for Ingrid, what she has to do in the aftermath. It is a film of glorious affirmation, beautiful in composition and theme alike, and proof that Almodóvar’s touch can really transcend borders.
The Room Next Door is now playing in limited theatres.
20. Megalopolis -written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola
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A work like this I cannot ignore, much as so many have since it released last September. No other movie this year took the swings that Coppola did, and I will admit that not all of them were successful. But even where they faltered it was fascinating, and certainly entertaining. Coppola’s Megalopolis may well be a vanity project on some level -one that he’s been working at for decades and finally managed to complete on his own terms, something he has sought his entire career for. But in its unwieldy scope, its classical aesthetics, its sometimes bonkers choices, and its reams of metaphor, it is the most earnest expression of hope of any movie this year in the medium that Coppola more than anyone should have portentous feelings about. “Don’t let the now destroy the forever.” Work towards a better future, even if it can only be realized by generations coming after. The movie, which is political in nature too, expresses a vitality in intellectual curiosity, but also reckons with the relationship between figures of consequence and the public. Megalopolis is a mess in some places, and sides of its commentary are misguided, but the sentiment of its Utopian dream and the swath of creativity poured into the movie by Coppola and his cast makes for a thrilling, provocative spectacle.
Megalopolis not currently available in a digital format.
19. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes -written by Josh Friedman, directed by Wes Ball
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Perhaps the most unlikely franchise of the 2010s to prove surprisingly good returned this year with a gambit. The story of those previous movies concluded, their protagonist deceased, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had to virtually start over in terms of premise and audience investment. And not only did it gain back that audience it proved the series is still completely capable of being exciting and relevant. Set centuries after the last film, it deals in very compelling themes of mythology, and how interpretation of the deeds of great figures and times can be warped by opportunistic demagogues. And eschewing the usual man vs. ape moral conflict the franchise is built around in favour of a power structure much more obscure, it poses fascinating questions about human (and primate) nature. It’s also a hell of a lot of fun, an honestly compelling odyssey coloured by terrific organic world-building. And the visual effects and performances married to them are as strong as ever. Still one of the best modern film series, and I look forward to where it goes and what questions it asks next.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is available to stream on Disney+, available to rent on VOD.
18. The Last Showgirl -written by Kate Gersten, directed by Gia Coppola
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That’s right, two movies from the Coppola family in this year’s Best list! But where Francis’s magnum opus is overflowing with ambition and grandiose themes, his granddaughter’s third feature is decidedly low-key and intimate, even as it tackles no less important subjects around the ways our cultural institutions devalue women of a certain age -especially if those institutions are bent around conventions of sex appeal. Pamela Anderson gives a career-best performance as a middle-aged showgirl struggling with her identity as such and the career confines it has placed on her, as well as the conflict between her own veneration of her work and how others perceive it. She is a flawed person who made some critical mistakes in her past, but Anderson’s honesty evokes a surprising depth of feeling for her and her situation -one that is quite easy to connect with. Coppola’s own respect is felt as well in bittersweet terms for the women of like professions, as she pronounces that tragedy through mood and music and a highly affecting ending. The Last Showgirl is a moving character study, and an examination of the ugly side of Vegas without being in any way ugly itself.
The Last Showgirl is not currently available in a digital format.
17. The Outrun -written by Nora Fingscheidt and Amy Liptrot, directed by Nora Fingscheidt
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With four Oscar nominations under her belt by the age of thirty, Saoirse Ronan has reached that stage in her career where she can dictate her own projects based on what stories and artistic challenges compel her. The Outrun would not have been a movie if her and her husband had not been so enticed by Amy Liptrot’s book, and Ronan it turns out is a good judge of what material motivates her best work. This film is not your average addiction drama drawn to the depths of alcoholism journeying towards sobriety; sobriety is the start of the story not the end, as this film explores the pressures and pitfalls in maintaining it. With the utmost dedication to the stress and pain of such a personal journey, Ronan also illustrates the wayward and depressed mental state that can only find some measure of relief in isolation in the Orkney Islands, their intensity of atmosphere and ancient history forming a bedrock upon which she has a hope of reinventing herself. Ronan and director Nora Fingscheidt relate such a dramatically gripping story of a person through much hopelessness, rescuing themselves. And it is a most affecting thing to witness.
The Outrun is available to rent on VOD.
16. Civil War -written and directed by Alex Garland
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The concept of this movie was probably not a helpful one, and certainly from this vantage point it seems especially grim -even as mere hypothetical. But Alex Garland's impression of a modern U.S. Civil War is concerned less with realistic geographic or political alignments and more with the horrifying effects on the ground as captured by war photojournalists. Transplanting the iconography of foreign conflicts in a U.S. context with precision, it deftly critiques the image American media cultivates of such campaigns, their complacency and that unique culture of violence, while replete with cautionary motifs of small towns monitored by snipers or a country gas station housing war crimes. Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeney are tremendous as the reporters risking their lives through this, as the movie acknowledges both the important role of the profession and its potentially dehumanizing effects -right up through a deeply troubling ending that reveals the real darkness of aestheticizing strife. And that scene with Jesse Plemons is still perhaps the most intense cinematic moment of the year, perhaps only more-so now. A movie for these times and an important one, whether we like it or not.
Civil War is available to stream on Amazon Prime, available to rent on VOD.
15. The Piano Lesson -written by Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington, directed by Malcolm Washington
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The work of August Wilson remains profound and powerful, not to mention exceptionally meaty for actors to take on, and Denzel Washington's initiative to turn each of his plays into movies is one of the more noble initiatives of a major Hollywood figure in recent years. The Piano Lesson, one of Wilson's most celebrated works, is here helmed by Denzel's son Malcolm, while his other son John David stars as the man trying to cash in on a family heirloom in symbolic revenge on those who enslaved his family, but at the cost of the meaning that heirloom still holds for his sister. Danielle Deadwyler is magnificent as this sister, as Washington gives his best performance yet too -each articulating with fervour the weight and emotion behind their alternating perspectives. Malcolm proves a steady hand with his intimate direction, letting the text speak for itself on the generational trauma of slavery and its inescapable pervasiveness, whether its descendants endeavour to honour or move past it. The Piano Lesson is naturally engaging in the manner of a great night at the theatre, stagey in the good ways and not in the bad. An absorbing experience.
The Piano Lesson is available to stream on Netflix.
14. The Seed of the Sacred Fig -written and directed by Mohammed Rasoulof
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Sometimes the most valuable movies are those that are acts of rebellion. Mohammed Rasoulof is in exile from his country of Iran for making The Seed of the Sacred Fig, a film that dares to criticize its regime, especially in relation to the predominantly youth-led protests of 2022 that nearly toppled it. It is a movie that flagrantly challenges authority, depicting those upholding it as blind traditionalists at best, violent and vindictive government stooges at worst. The protests themselves and the much-censored police violence against the innocent is depicted through real footage captured of the movement, while the movie’s reality merely alludes to it, albeit in striking and uncomfortable ways. Rasoulof gives credence to the perspective of the younger liberal daughters in the household of a man appointed to be a government judge -merely passing out death sentences to the arbitrarily detained; and examines the lived experiences that harden them in this direction. As paranoia grips the patriarch, the film becomes extraordinarily intense, and the metaphor that underlines so much of the movie comes to a boiling point in the last act. This film casts a spotlight on coordinated oppression in practice; and the courage of Rasoulof and his collaborators -several of whom are still trapped in Iran- to expose it to the world is venerable. A critical, chilling movie.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig is not currently available in a digital format.
13. Love Lies Bleeding -written by Rose Glass and Weronika Tofilska, directed by Rose Glass
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A propulsive concoction of sensuality and grit, Love Lies Bleeding is an exquisite revenge thriller. Proudly queer and stylish, its distinct and thoroughly underground perspective of female bodybuilding and its relationship to the feminine image is fresh, intense, and provocative, finding beauty in the same aesthetics the commodification of which it critiques. Glass explores the depths of these themes, the obsessive chase of an ideal body image and the particular desirability that comes with it, through the boisterously surreal lens of a drugged-out psychology. These trips stand in relief to the grungy atmosphere of a decrepit desert town, and its gnarly crime lord played by Ed Harris. Kristen Stewart and an especially outstanding Katy O'Brian are more than a match though, their raw sexual chemistry immediately palpable and exciting. It is a gut romance, felt viscerally as they through their contrasts motivate one another, even where it is most difficult. As the story of their crime, its cover-up and consequences grows into a desperate plan of escape, and their relationship becomes more symbolic of their demanded freedom writ large, the movie develops into a singularly powerful, exhilarating ride.
Love Lies Bleeding is available to stream on Amazon Prime, available to rent on VOD.
12. Dídi -written and directed by Sean Wang
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I haven't seen a movie that has more accurately depicted the time and the culture of my particular generation in youth as well as Sean Wang's humble semi-autobiographical film about growing up a Taiwanese immigrant in 2000s suburban California. Dídi indulges itself in both the iconography of the time -plenty of scenes set on early YouTube and AOL message boards- as well as the specific chaotic personality quirks bred by coming of age in a simmering internet age. Wang looks back with some charm and fondness, evident in a kinetic style that hearkens to the pre-teen sensibilities of a kid obsessed with making cool YouTube videos. But there's just as much bad nostalgia baked in, an important footnote to any era of childhood. But for his avatar Chris, those insecurities and impulses are tinged by the effect of racialization in his life. His crush tells him he's cute ...for an Asian; he tries hard to segregate his family and social lives in ways that prove harmful to both. And Chris can't articulate the frustration that Wang himself now vividly understands. Joan Chen as his concerned mother, under severe pressure of her own, is a standout. An encompassing yet intimate movie with a distinct and salient perspective.
Dídi is available to stream on Amazon Prime, available to rent on VOD.
11. Furiosa -written by George Miller and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller
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Nine years after George Miller's modern genre-defining Mad Max: Fury Road, he finally completed the prequel he has promised for years. And though Furiosa may not pack the same punch for the sheer fact that its amplified style is no longer a novelty, it is still a bold and captivating experience with no equal apart from Fury Road. Immersed in the lavish language, structure, and thematic grandiosity of myth, it tells the story of the former film's breakout character with appropriate directness and weight -wasting no time on the tragedy that comes to define her existence, the seed of the fury that motivates her even in its inability to satiate her trauma. Drawing on classicism as well as the visual language of silent cinema, Biblical epics, and samurai films, but processed through Miller's own flavour of eye-popping, high-saturated colour, the world is more vivid and fully-formed than any in years. Anya Taylor-Joy fits its contours well in a highly demanding performance while Chris Hemsworth, more liberated than he's ever been, plays up his villain's charisma and menace. The failure of Furiosa is perhaps the great cinematic tragedy of 2024 -the sensational feast of the year!
Furiosa is available to stream on Crave, available to rent on VOD.
And tomorrow, the Top Ten of the Year!
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