The Best Films of 2024
A 'best of' 2024 list that'll keep evolving up until Oscar night (March 2, 2025)
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Another year goes by like a lightning strike, and I am left with that familiar, inescapable void that is all the 2024 releases I’ve yet to see. There are too many, always too many. So, with that obstruction in mind, I’m doing things a little differently this year.
In many ways, the 2024 season isn’t truly over until the final curtain drops at the Academy Awards after some washed up Hollywood icon proclaims the winner of the Best Picture for 2024. It’s an easy argument to make, so I’m making it to give myself more time to catch up.1 I’ll be using the prolonged awards season to my advantage (and as an excuse) to tinker with my list right up until March 2, 2025, the night of the Oscars.
I’m also simplifying the qualification rules. Without overthinking the whole theatrical release vs. festival run, any movie that first saw the light of day in that year, whether in a festival, a theatre or a streaming platform, is eligible. Sadly, that means films that were released theatrically to the public in 2024 but had their festival runs in 2023 - e.g. The Bikeriders, About Dry Grasses, The Beast and Close Your Eyes (to name but a few that would’ve most likely found their way to my list) - won’t be here.
With that said, onwards and upwards to the best films of 2024…
The Top 20 Films of 2024 (as of January 3, 2025)
20. Savages
An animated fable that avoids the pitfalls of political correctness to tell a heart-warming story of identity and family history. Features the cutest monkey of the year. Capsule review from LFF.
19. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Can’t keep up with the kinetic brilliance of Mad Max: Fury Road, but then again, what film can? As an appendix to George Miller’s iconic dystopian franchise, Furiosa was perhaps unnecessary but it’s still a thrilling cinematic ride that spikes the adrenaline.
18. When the Light Breaks
An emotional Icelandic heavyweight about loss and grief, where mourning is done in secret and all the things left unsaid hang heavy in the air. Beautiful soundtrack too. Capsule review from LFF.
17. Conclave
A stately look at power plays and politics through the veil of Catholicism, featuring the year’s best score and a superb Ralph Fiennes at its centre. Never fully thaws, but likely to remain the most dignified film of the year.
16. Nosferatu
Horrific in all the right ways, Robert Eggers’ passion project is a technical marvel and a stroke of visual mastery - with certain shots and montages rivaling the brilliance of the previous Herzog and Murnau versions. An emotively stunted, visually transcendent slice of gothic.
15. The Substance
Stylistically intoxicating tale of toxic femininity featuring a star re-making turn by Demi Moore. Elevates the grotesque to new levels. Full review.
14. The Wild Robot
Pulls at the heart strings and jerks the tears by design, but so technically impressive it’s impossible to forget. A beautiful story, beautifully told. Capsule review from LFF.
13. Vermiglio
All senses are activated by this most gorgeously shot film of the year. A quietly captivating off-Italian behemoth that gives birth to a new kind of war film. Capsule review from LFF.
12. Caught by the Tides
A personal Jia Zhangke experiment made from love and restlessness, whose existence is only possible on film. A total wonder. Capsule review from LFF.
11. I’m Still Here
A riveting true story of resilience and perseverance carried by an Oscar-worthy Fernanda Torres. Features one of the most haunting endings of the year. Capsule review from LFF.
10. No Other Land
No other film puts the outside world into clearer, more devastating perspective. An Israeli-Palestinian documentary about the forced evacuation of West Bank villagers that grounds you, and then grinds you into dust.
9. Longlegs
A near-perfectly constructed crime horror story, with the most unsettling Nicholas Cage performance (and make up) in the iconic actor’s career. I still have nightmares.
8. A Different Man
Tackles the core existential question of internal v. external self-perception in a profoundly thought-provoking way. More theatrical than cinematic, but no less powerful for it.
7. Challengers
Soap opera is rarely disguised so well in this sexy dance (or is it rave?) of passion and ambition. We finally have a worthy tennis film.
6. All We Imagine As Light
A story about Mumbai and three women that’s all the more brilliant for its universal proportions. Mature, measured, serious and sophisticated. Capsule review from LFF.
5. Flow
Hits all the right notes without needing a single word. A celebratory tour de force of community, teamwork and Mother Nature. Gorgeous in every way. Capsule review from LFF.
4. Hard Truths
Mike Leigh’s triumphant return to the kitchen sink chamber drama features the best performance of the year from Marianne Jean-Baptiste. A haunting psychological excavation of debilitating loneliness. Capsule review from LFF.
3. Grand Tour
Portugal’s filmmaker-poet Miguel Gomes is back at his near best with another love letter to the magic of cinema and all its alluring inventions. A slice of cinephile heaven. Capsule review from LFF.
2. Dune Part II
The second part to one of the most spectacular sci fi adventures of all time. The LOTR of space operas, a monumental adaptation of a monumental epic. Event cinema at its finest and most breathtaking. Full review.
1. Anora
One of those rare miracles - a deserving Palme d’Or winner. Sean Baker’s masterpiece pulsates with youthful exuberance and unstacks with the nuanced complexity of a Russian doll. Extraordinary, hilarious and life-affirming.
Major films that I need to catch up on: The Brutalist, A Real Pain, A Complete Unknown, Nickel Boys, September 5, Babygirl, Kneecap, Black Dog, Memoir of a Snail, The Bibi Files, I Saw the TV Glow, Love Lies Bleeding, Dahomey, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, April, Between the Temples, Good One, The Bibi Files, Daughters.