2024 is officially over, and with it comes time for everyone to put together their list of favorite things from the past year. For the world of movies, there were tons of incredible films to pick from, so with that being said, let’s take a look at what the best movies of 2024 have to offer.
Before we get to the top 10 for 2024, there are some honorable mentions that didn’t make the list but still deserve a shoutout for being one of the very best of the year. Sean Wang’s Didi is a perfect snapshot of growing up insecure in the 2000s, George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga somehow managed to capture the magic of Fury Road a decade later, Richard Linklater’s Hit Man was a criminally underrated action comedy gem, Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot might be one of the best animated movies of this generation, and Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap is arguably the best musical biopic of the year.
It’s also worth noting that, despite this being a “Best of 2024” list, there are some high-profile films I haven’t had the opportunity to see yet, unfortunately. Brady Corbet’s award-favorite drama, The Brutalist, hasn’t had a wide release just yet, nor has RaMell Ross’ critically acclaimed Nickel Boys.
With all that out of the way, here’s my top 10 movie list for 2024.
10. The Beast
At first glance, I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about The Beast. Bertrand Bonello’s sci-fi romantic drama feels disjointed at times, and as countless others pointed out, the movie felt almost David Lynch-ian, in all the good and bad ways a movie can be. However, the movie grew on me throughout the year, and its overarching theme of loneliness and search for love in a world that only seems to grow colder and colder is one that anyone can relate to. Léa Seydoux and George MacKay put on incredible performances here, with MacKay especially shining in the multiple roles he’s given to play.
9. Challengers
Luca Guadagnino is simply one of the best directors working right now, and Challengers is proof positive of why. After 2023’s Bones and All, a moody, romantic horror movie about cannibals, the director turned to the world of tennis for a chaotic romantic drama. The movie is simply just incredibly fun to watch and features all you could really ask for in a movie: great performances of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, some of the most interesting and visually pleasing sports sequences in a movie, and absolutely killer soundtrack from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
8. I Saw the TV Glow
I liked Jane Schoenbrun’s feature-length debut, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, quite a bit, but did not expect I Saw the TV Glow to stick with me the way it did. While the movie is at its heart an allegory for being transgender and the fear of coming out, I Saw the TV Glow perfectly captures what it’s like to feel like you’re living a life you never envisioned for yourself, in all the heartbreaking ways that come along with that. The final scene of the movie specifically is one of the best ends to a movie I’ve seen all year, and Justice Smith deserves a lot more praise for it than he received.
7. The Substance
Prior to watching The Substance, I had already seen the massive hype and praise the film was getting and thought there was no real way the film could actually live up to it. Boy, was I wrong. Coralie Fargeat’s body horror might have been a bit too on the nose with its satire at times, and the movie’s plot does have some holes here or there, but that doesn’t take away at all from what is one of the best movies of the year. Demi Moore puts on an all-time performance here as the world of ageism and commodification of women’s bodies is explored through the lens of some of the most visceral body horror of the last few decades.
6. Longlegs
Longlegs might be one of the most divisive movies of 2024, but for me, it was also one of the best. In the leadup to its release, the movie had probably some of the best marketing for any horror movie in recent memory, with Neon going above and beyond in building up hype to Osgood Perkins’ latest movie as being a once-in-a-generation terrifying film punctuated by Nicolas Cage playing a deranged serial killer. In reality, the movie is much more of a police procedural, pulling a lot more from movies like Se7en than something like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. For me, that worked entirely and still provided some genuinely scary moments from Cage’s role as Longlegs. Chilling, mysterious, beautifully shot, well thought out, and felt surprisingly uncompromised as far as vision goes, which is a rare feat in today’s day and age. The third act might turn some folks off, but everything came together excellently for me.
5. Sing Sing
Going into Sing Sing, I had not seen or heard anything about it outside of the fact Colman Domingo was one of its stars. At the film’s end, when it’s revealed that the majority of the movie is comprised of actual, real-life, formerly incarcerated men who were alumni of the prison’s theater program, I was completely shocked. Everyone in this is on their A-game, and while Domingo’s performance is certainly incredible, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin’s performance is what elevates the movie for me. Sing Sing can feel a bit plain at times, but the way it explores building (and tearing down) bonds between people and letting your true self finally be free makes it one of the most powerful movies of the year.
4. Anora
Sean Baker is quickly establishing himself as one of the best directors in Hollywood, and that only grows with Anora, which might be his best work yet to me. Not only is the movie incredibly sweet and heartfelt, but it is genuinely funny at times. The way the movie explores the world of sex work and how blurry the lines are between sex and emotion is rarely done in a movie as big as this one, and the way it was performed by Mikey Madison (who puts on one of the best performances of the year) is absolutely outstanding. The final scene, in particular, is one of the most powerful scenes of any movie in 2024 and brings every theme of the movie crashing down on you all at once.
3. The Taste of Things
This one might feel like cheating a bit, but hear me out. The Taste of Things was originally released in France in 2023 but didn’t get a wide theatrical release in the United States until the beginning of 2024. Because of that, it’s making the cut here, and regardless of when it releases, this is an absolute must-watch for anyone. Tran Anh Hung’s historical romantic drama explores love through the lens of food and does it beautifully. Every shot (and dish) in this movie is incredible to look at, and the movie is also sneakily one of the most romantic movies I think I’ve ever seen. Things can feel slow at times, but much like the food in the movie, that just makes things even sweeter.
2. Nosferatu
For me, there’s no better director in the world of horror in today’s day and age than Robert Eggers. When it was announced that he had been working on a Nosferatu remake years ago, it seemed almost too perfect of a match to be true, and all these years later, Eggers delivers on adapting one of the most legendary horror works of all time. His attention to detail and dedication to what the worlds of his films look like are on full display again, as the film’s set and overall look are top-notch.
Lily-Rose Depp also turns in an outstanding performance, one that shocked me, to be completely honest, and Bill Skarsgård’s performance as Count Orlok is one of the most transformational roles I’ve ever seen. The movie’s decision to portray it through the lens of a more “modern” woman being trapped in a stricter society worked really well here, too, and differentiated itself just enough to make this not a standard, 1:1 remake of the original.
1. Dune: Part Two
Oftentimes, “stunning” and “awe-inspiring” get thrown around about a lot of projects, but this is one that deserves both monikers and then some. Not only one of the best sci-fi films ever made, but one of the best sequels to a film ever made. Dune: Part Two really highlights Denis Villeneuve’s love and reverence for the Dune source material, and making “Dune” a two-part film was clearly the right choice. Not only does everything get to breathe in the movie, but things seem to “fit” perfectly from scene to scene.
Villeneuve’s ability to showcase the enormous scale of Arrakis is also on full display here, and there are some genuinely awe-inspiring moments in the movie, with the trip to Giedi Prime being the standout moment in a film full of standout scenes. Every performance here is incredible, too, but Timotheé Chalamet’s transformation from the Paul Atreides of the first movie to the eventual Lisan al Gaib is genuinely surprising. With Dune: Messiah already on the horizon, this is shaping up to be one of the greatest trilogies of films ever made.
