2024 was an odd year for film
With the film industry still reeling from the strikes, COVID, and everyone still figuring out how to make a profit from film, audiences are feeling a hit of Hollywood fatigue. By the end of 2024, the global box office total is 10% lower than last year and still 20% less than pre-pandemic. American blockbusters have been overrun by franchises, where in 2024 the highest grossing films of the year have been almost all sequels. Couple the overwrought sequels with the conveyor belt direct to streaming films, and it’s been a rough year. However, it hasn’t been all bad. There were some interesting, unique, and exciting voices were able to claw their way out of the franchise sludge.
Honorable Mentions include: Bad Shabbos, Slay, Hit Man, Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World, The Strike, Infested, The Brutalist, Spirit Riser, Nickel Boys, T-Blockers, and Conclave.
National Anthem
National Anthem radiates love. The film, following a construction worker tending to a queer ranch, feels like being invited to a party with people you want to hang out with. The film’s warm tones, loose narrative structure, and graceful pacing allow the film to easily wash over you. Even amongst the drama, every character feels likable and natural, and none of the melodrama is contrived. Aided by stunning direction and strong performances from actors like Eve Lindley and Mason Alexander Park, National Anthem stands tall as encapsulating the free spirit of Westerns tied with the LGBTQ community.
Late Night with the Devil
With analog horror bubbling under the cinematic surface, the genre catapulted with directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes’ fantastic Late Night with the Devil. The satanic cinematic tale is a lot of fun with how it combines classic Faustian themes with modern anxieties of relevancy and popularity. This film is probably going to be an annual Halloween watch for me. With cool scares an anchored by an astounding performance by David Dastmalchian, Late Night with the Devil marks itself as an exciting new entry into the Halloween cannon.
You can check out my full review here.
Red Rooms
I’m a true crime fan and love movies about snuff films (go watch 8mm and Sinister when you get the chance) so Red Rooms seemed tailor made for me. I wasn’t prepared though for how morbidly voyeuristic the film felt, and I loved every second of it. Focusing on Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy), a fashion model stalking a serial killer on trial while searching for a snuff film, Red Rooms takes its sweet time with a creeping build up as you observe how isolated and disturbed Kelly-Anne is. Gariépy’s cold and entrancing performance is astounding, and her disturbing fascinations and urges are entrancing. The film was very uncomfortable but not in a predictably graphic way. Red Rooms is easily one of the tensest movies of the year, check it out when you get the chance.
Robot Dreams
Sometimes there’s beauty in simplicity, and Robot Dreams captures that beauty. Director Pablo Uranga’s first animated film about the friendship between a dog and a robot in 1984 New York is vibrant and alive. New York feels resurrected in this film, as every frame feels like it contains stories I’d want to watch. I found myself getting lost in the world Uranga captured, even before the story really kicked in. But when the story did start getting more real and their relationship was getting tested, I was aw over how honest and heart wrenching the film got. Couple that with a fantastic “September” needle drop, and Robot Dreams primes itself as the best animated film of the year.
Longlegs
Nic Cage’s supremacy reigns as he loses himself in this deeply demented serial killer film. Following FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as she hunts for the occult serial killer Longlegs (Nicolas Cage), I was already hooked by the cool viral marketing campaign, and felt deeply rewarded by the final film. Longlegs feels dirty, like a beat-up VHS tape that the killer from Se7en would hide in a floorboard. Every frame of the film makes your skin crawl, and both Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage are powerhouses. It’s hard to measure up to Cage’s power as an actor and Monroe steps up as an intense, visceral actor, without sacrificing any vulnerability. Director Osgood Perkins has been making great horror films for a while like The Blackcoat’s Daughter or I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and it’s satisfying that Longlegs boosted him to the mainstream, and is also a masterpiece.
The Substance
Demi Moore gives one of the best performances of the year and reminds audiences that she’s a true powerhouse. The modern trend of female directed body horror films reached a fantastic peak with The Substance, as it’s a decaying, rotting, boiling flesh-pile of a film, and I loved it. Director Coralie Fargeat established herself as a masterful filmmaker with this and her previous film Revenge, as The Substance‘s gorgeous cinematography, oozing special effects, and fantastic story of fame, youth, and misogynistic beauty standards make for a timely and aggressive film. There’s so much rage and fun perfectly blended in this film, aided by an equally fantastic Margaret Qualley who keeps putting out banger performances in films like Drive Away Dolls, Kinds of Kindness, and Sanctuary. The Substance is a disgusting blast, and seriously, give Demi Moore an Oscar.
Sing Sing
Few films really blew me away with their resilience and power like Sing Sing. Coleman Domingo shines in the finest performance of his career as Divine G, as his fight to maintain his passion and humanity in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility was captivating to behold. He’s not the only one, as Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin is a real discovery. I want to see Maclin in more movies and plays, he’s an incredible actor who deserves more chances to show what he can do. Sing Sing is tremendously powerful film and I hope we see more from Maclin soon.
You can check out my full review here.
The Monk and the Gun
Pawo Choyning Dorji made news with his empathetic and beautiful film Lunana a Yak in the Classroom, but with The Monk and The Gun, he goes in a more challenging direction. Following a mock election held in Bhutan’s newly forged democracy, Dorji elegantly dives into how this political change impacts the villagers on an interpersonal level. Whether it’s newfound prejudices, excitement of newfound voices, uncomfortable relationships with capitalism, Dorji explores Bhutan’s social change organically, without taking sides and just letting the village and its people breath. Despite the foreboding atmosphere and tension, there’s still a softness that comes from the direction take its time, making it easier to just sit with the ideas Dorji presents. The Monk and the Gun is one of those films that just sits with you for hours, even days after watching it. It’s a fascinating film well worth exploring.
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is a literary epic that has been told and retold dozens of times. While most may be familiar with the cheese-tastic 2002 adaptation, or the excellent anime sci-fi version Gankutsuou, this retelling from Matthew Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière truly captures the scale and scope of the original novel. It is a gorgeous film, with an unmatched epic scale both in its direction and emotional stakes. Pierre Niney is an impassioned Edmund Dantes who’s transformation is breathtaking as he takes on a near-swashbuckling vigilante aesthetic. The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) is not only the most faithful adaptation of the original story, but the best at capturing its power and glory.
Nosferatu
In a year of great horror, Nosferatu felt the most, for lack of a better word, corrupting. Nosferatu feels sinful, barbaric, and ancient, like timeless vampire stories. As Nosferatu is one of the most recognizable vampire stories in the world, director Robert Eggers was successful at capturing the age of the story, while still feeling timely and relevant. Eggers’ films seem larger in scale with each film he makes, but Nosferatu shows he can still be haunting even in a sprawling epic.
Civil War
Francois Truffaut famously said it’s impossible to make an anti-war film since the medium of film can make war bombastic and exciting. Alex Garland must’ve heard this and took it as a challenge because Civil War is one of the most disturbing war films ever made. It was horrifying watching familiar looking shopping centers, suburbs, and farms torn apart and decimated in disturbing fashions. The movie felt like watching newsreels of a war on the cusp of happening, as Garland brilliantly captured the destruction division can cause. While I know audiences were disappointed in the lack of political clarity for what caused the war itself, I liked that examining division and conflict itself was more of a focus. Civil War is a devastating film and presented war as its meant to be presented, horrifying.
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In
I adore martial arts films and while wuxia will always have a place in my heart, it was wonderful watching a down and dirty classic martial arts throwback, but with an interesting neo-noir twist. Director Soi Cheang’s story of warring gangs in the walled city of Kowloon is a fast paced genre bending powerhouse. The fight scenes are fantastic, the gangster drama and power plays are well told, and it’s frankly just cool to see Sammo Hung kicking ass. The characters are all fun and memorable but the best part of Twilight of the Warriors is Kowloon itself. The city looked lived in, with each corner or pathway presenting its own stories and history, almost like a video game setting. The unique architecture also allows for some incredibly inventive fight choreography, all of which is visceral and wild. Twilight of the Warriors is an excellent martial arts film, showing how the genre is still going strong.
The Promised Land
I’m using the more familiar English title, The Promised Land, but the Dutch title, The Bastard, is both a better title and better reflection of the film. The film testosterone fueled head butting with the sprawling direction of a John Ford film. The films rivalry between Mads Mikkelsen’s war vet farmer and a foppishly evil magistrate, is stubborn, intense, and brutal, as these two push each other to their breaking point. Every obstacle is met with so much force and passion that you start to feel your body ache as if you’re working on this farm. The Promised Land is an emotional triathalon that frankly deserves another theatrical run, because this is meant to be watched on the largest screen possible.
Femme
A lot of modern erotic thrillers are either skimping on the “erotic” or are so proper that they aren’t truly “thrilling”. Femme, is not one of those films, it’s a truly brutal tantalizing erotic thriller, and I loved every second of it. The film focuses on a drag queen who’s attacked by a closeted gangster, so the drag queen tries to seduce the gangster so she can out him via revenge porn. I couldn’t look away no matter how wrong the film got, as Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay have pyroclastic chemistry with each other. Your allegiance with all of these characters will twist like a roller coster through this sexual odyssey, as Femme is easily one of the most thrilling experiences of the year.
Dune: Part Two
I adored Dune: Part 1 but was hesitant to say it’s a favorite because it’s only one half of a whole movie. Denis Villeneuve had matched major expectations, and with the final half of Dune, he killed it. As a whole movie, Dune matches the sheer scale and size of the book. The political intrigue, the religious fervor, and Timothée Chalamet’s charismatic and powerful performance as Paul Atreides are all masterfully told. While Timothée Chalamet has definitely been all over the place lately, his performance as Paul Atreides is easily one of his best and most interesting roles to date, as his transformation from an average kid to reluctant leader to religious demagogue is seamless and haunting to behold. If you’re looking for a subversion of the “chosen one” narrative combined with an old school Hollywood style sprawling epic, watch Dune.
The Seed and the Sacred Fig
Mohammad Rasoulof shot the film in secret, stitched in real footage of the 2022–2023 protests in Iran that were suppressed by the Iranian authorities, was sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging, and successfully fled to Europe to attend his film’s premiere at Cannes. Rasoulof filmmaking story alone is incredible, let alone that his film, The Seed and the Sacred Fig, came out as a deeply powerful cinematic experience. The film follows an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who’s paranoia amongst the backdrop of nationwide protests and changing societal norms drives him mad and destroys his family life. All of the performances, Missagh Zareh as the judge and Soheila Golestani as his wife, are heartbreakingly emotional, as you helplessly observe how the system they’re caught up in reinforce and manipulate their personalities and values to corrupt their family life. You see them transform and warp as their faith in the system, their values, and each other all come to blows. The Seed and the Sacred Fig is a powder keg building to a heart-wrenching burst.
Anora
Sean Baker continues to be one of the most fascinating and empathetic voices in film today, and with Anora, achieves his best character work. Ani Mikheeva (Mikey Madison) and her whirlwind romance with Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn) is so maddeningly authentic that I don’t want there story to end. It’s one of those films where I feel like I can still picture where these characters go after the final scene, and I’d want to watch it. Whether I like the characters or not frankly doesn’t matter, it’s just so joyful to see a movie with characters this real and messy on screen. The whole movie feels like a crazy story I heard from someone at a bar, and I loved it.
I Saw The TV Glow
I still remember the lingering dread I felt after watching I Saw The TV Glow in the theater. In addition to Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine giving an unnerving concoction of subdued and visceral performances, I Saw The TV Glow‘s dreamlike atmosphere makes it’s nostalgic themes feel all the more cloistering. The seamlessly swift pace of the film makes it so easy to lose yourself, perfectly reflecting how easily Justice Smith’s life is slipping away. The idea of just loosing yourself in your nostalgia, isolation, and safety is presented so easily, making the film all the more cunning and monstrous. I Saw The TV Glow is the most horrifying film I’ve seen all year. I don’t know when I’ll watch it again, but I am excited for whatever writer/director Jane Schoenbrun makes next.
The People’s Joker
As American cinema has gotten so algorithmic and data driven, we needed The People’s Joker. This adult swim charged chaotically passionate gut punch is the right disruption cinema needed in 2024. Director/writer/star Vera Drew’s voice is so raw and powerful, that it bleeds right through the screen. The film’s madness contains enough heart and personality to maintain a relatable story. Frankly, The People’s Joker does a better job showing the meaningful relationship between fans and pop culture than most comic book movies. I don’t know what Vera Drew plans on doing next, but I’ll be buying a ticket immediately.
You can read my full review here.
Perfect Days
No film this year captures the beauty of “the moment” like Perfect Days. Wim Wenders’ film about a janitor’s day is beautiful, meditative, and mindful. Kōji Yakusho’s lead performance is so full of personality that even him just appreciating the sunlight through the trees or a relaxing spa is captivating to behold. Every scene feels like inhaling and exhaling one massive breath. Wenders’ mixing in of humor, frustration, and pathos kept the film from feeling empty and more like a true lived experience. Watching Perfect Days really stuck with me, it was unlike any other moviegoing experience I had this year, and I look forward to the next time I watch the film.