This year at the movies was an eclectic one, and quite a good one, if I do say so myself. But these 20 films stood out above the rest. Keep scrolling for my list of the best movies of 2024.
20. “My Old Ass”
Joni Mitchell said it best: “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” But “My Old Ass,” written and directed by Megan Park, takes that old adage and turns it on its head. There are ways in which you become wiser with age, but there are also things you lose that might better serve you down the road. Park’s movie isn’t just a coming of age story for teenaged Elliot (Maisy Stella), but for 39-year-old Elliot (Aubrey Plaza) as well.
19. “Twisters”
“Twisters” is a movie that had the potential to go horribly wrong – legacy sequels can be dicey, and there was never any guarantee that this one would work. But instead of banking on nostalgia, or getting bogged down in throwbacks to the 1996 film, director Lee Isaac Chung focused on capturing the singular, ridiculous magic of the 1990s blockbuster. And by God, did he succeed.
18. “Sugarcane”
The story of “Sugarcane” is two-fold. The documentary follows the Williams Lake First Nation’s investigation into the atrocities that took place at St. Joseph’s Mission, an Indian residential school in British Columbia where countless children were abused and sometimes killed. But it also follows the journey of one of the film’s directors, Julian Brave NoiseCat, as he attempts to reckon with the damage St. Joseph’s has caused to his family directly. What comes out of that combination is an incredibly unflinching, yet sensitive portrait of the lasting effects of trauma.
17. “Rebel Ridge”
Sometimes, actors pop from the first moment they appear on screen. But sometimes, it takes a moment for things to really click. Aaron Pierre had been in a number of projects before Jeremy Saulnier’s “Rebel Ridge” – sometimes, he was even the best part about those projects. But watching him in “Rebel Ridge” was like watching a movie star bloom in real time, his command and confidence on full display in this rich, tightly-wound thriller.
16. “The Brutalist”
“The Brutalist” is a film I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I saw it, and I still have a bit of trouble parsing through some of its finer points. Brady Corbet’s film follows László Tóth (Adrien Brody) a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who immigrates to the U.S. following World War II and goes into business with a wealthy businessman (Guy Pearce). “The Brutalist” is a thorny, all-encompassing story of the immigrant experience – from great ambition, to subjugation, and everything in between.
15. “Sing Sing”
If I told you that “Sing Sing” was a prison movie, you’d have a certain idea of what that looks like in your head – maybe “Cool Hand Luke,” or “The Shawshank Redemption.” But “Sing Sing” operates with a softer touch than so many of those movies. It’s interested in defiance, yes, but on more intimate level, exploring what it takes to simply exist in the world – especially when the world is intent on treating you as lesser than.
14. “Love Lies Bleeding”
With “Love Lies Bleeding,” co-writer/director Rose Glass flexes her genre muscles once again, and just like with “Saint Maud,” she more than delivers. Starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian, “Love Lies Bleeding” is a neo noir that’s all grueling physicality, brutal sensuality, and a ton of good, old-fashioned fun.
12. “Hit Man”
In “Hit Man,” performance is all in a day’s work. But it’s less about what the performance hides and more about what it reveals. Richard Linklater’s crime comedy gets really meta about acting in that way, its protagonists Maddy (Adria Arjona) and Gary (Glen Powell) trying to outperform each other at every turn, increasingly getting off on the thrill of the lie. It’s sexy, smart, funny, and downright charming – one of Linklater’s best.
13. “La chimera”
“You’re not made for human eyes.” This is a refrain that’s repeated often throughout “La chimera,” Alice Rohrwacher’s quiet, gorgeous meditation on memory, both the personal and collective. Arthur (Josh O’Connor), the leader of a group of tomb raiders who’s searching for his missing girlfriend, spends his days dwelling on the past – not just forgoing the present, but forgetting how one even starts to begin to live in it in the first place. O’Connor delivers a sublime performance, and the ending is a bittersweet knockout that left this critic in tears.
11. “Evil Does Not Exist”
After the critical success of “Drive My Car,” the anticipation around Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s next film was buzzing. However, there hasn’t been much of a movement behind “Evil Does Not Exist,” which is a real shame. Starring non-professional actors, Hamaguchi’s film focuses on the conflict between a rural village in Japan and the real estate company who wants to build a “glamping” vacation spot in their backyard. The tension between modernity and the natural world unfolds with quiet intensity, culminating in one of the most achingly sad endings of the year.
10. “Red Rooms”
As a former true crime obsessive (who now feels like it’s slowly rotting our brains), I found “Red Rooms” to be a deeply unsettling portrait of a woman in the throws of obsession. But even that description feels a little too simple for Pascal Plante’s psychological thriller, and surely too simple for Juliette Gariépy’s performance. Gariépy is opaque, her motivations so difficult to pin down – that uncertainty gives everything she does, from the mundane to the profane, a sinister note.
9. “Longlegs”
If you didn’t see “Longlegs,” you might remember it for its killer marketing campaign, such as this spot detailing how much Maika Monroe’s heartbeat sped up the first time she saw Nicolas Cage in character. But I don’t think “Longlegs” is as traditionally scary as it is deeply unsettling and sad. Osgood Perkins’ script tackles the ways in which we fail our children – often times as a byproduct of our desire to protect them – in strangely profound fashion.
8. “Juror No. 2”
I’ll say this – I went into “Juror No. 2” hoping that I would like it (give me a reason to be angry with David Zaslav and I will take it). However, as not a huge fan of late-period Clint Eastwood, I never expected to love it quite as much as I did. Starring Nicholas Hoult as a juror who comes to believe he might have committed the crime he is currently tasked with deciding, “Juror No. 2” asks us to question our ethics, our preconceived notions, and our institutions in complex and compelling ways.
7. “Dune: Part Two”
In the months since it came out, “Dune: Part Two” feels a bit like it has gotten lost in the shuffle awards-wise. Awards aren’t everything, of course – but it would be a shame if the most seismic blockbuster of the year wasn’t recognized by the industry for its achievements. Sequels often have difficulty surpassing the greatness of the original, but Denis Villeneuve capitalizes on the opportunity, telling a story about authoritarianism, prophecy and power in awe-inspiring fashion.
6. “Nosferatu”
“Nosferatu” has been remade numerous times since the original 1922 film. But Robert Eggers is no stranger to bringing legends alive on the big screen, and “Nosferatu” is another grand achievement. Jarin Blaschke’s haunting cinematography and Lily-Rose Depp’s stellar central performance are the standouts here.
5. “Babygirl”
Eroticism had a real comeback at the movies in 2024, but Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl” takes the cake. Starring Nicole Kidman as a high-powered, uptight CEO and Harris Dickinson as the intern who sparks her interest, “Babygirl” excels at showing the intricacies and tensions that can arise between two people negotiating their boundaries in real time. Beautifully directed by Reijn, Kidman and Dickinson are mesmerizing to behold.
4. “A Different Man”
If you asked me to come up with the perfect occupation for the protagonist of a movie about the need to be perceived coming into direct conflict with abject self-loathing, I would say actor. And that’s just one of the many great decisions made in Adam Schimberg’s “A Different Man.” Sebastian Stan and co-star Adam Pearson go head-to-head in this caustically funny satire about theater and the ways in which we bend – and don’t – to the societal expectations of those around us.
3. “Challengers”
In “Challengers,” tennis is a relationship. And the movie itself is all about that same push and pull between its three actors: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist. The three move in tandem together throughout Luca Guadagnino’s erotic sports movie, taking power and ceding it at different points in time. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ thrumming techno score injects so much energy into the film throughout, culminating with a final match that makes you feel like you could run a marathon by its end.
2. “Anora”
Half “Pretty Woman,” half “After Hours,” and all Sean Baker – “Anora” feels like a culmination of the Sean Baker experience over the past decade or so, taking everything the filmmaker does well and escalating it to the nth degree. As Ani – a Russian-American stripper who embarks on a whirlwind romance with the son of a Russian oligarch – Mikey Madison is a hotbed of charm; exactly the type of girl you want to go on this journey with, rooting for her to come out on the other side as everything falls apart.
1. “Nickel Boys”
I love all of the movies on this list, and there were so many great films this year that didn’t make the 20-spot cut. But no film came close to giving me the same feeling I had while watching “Nickel Boys.” Based on Colson Whitehead’s novel about two boys who form a bond at an abusive reformatory school, “Nickel Boys” puts you directly in the perspectives of its young protagonists, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson). There’s an elation to watching director/co-writer RaMell Ross’ vision unfold that’s difficult to articulate, and one that mixes with anger, with empathy, with sadness over the paths these boys are forced down. It’s rare that a masterpiece comes along, especially from such a young voice, but this is one.
