Since first becoming an editor for CinemaBlend nearly a decade-and-a-half ago, I have made a point of trying to see as many new releases as I can. My personal taste will always guide my opinions, but how can I critique a full 12 months-worth of features if I’ve only seen a dozen of them? I know I’ll never be able to watch everything, but I annually make it a goal to try and watch more films than I did the previous year. In 2023, I watched 138 movies. In 2024, I watched 140.
It’s a large number of titles to keep in consideration when considering the best of the best, but I’ve spent weeks reflecting on those that I found to be particularly excellent and those that really stuck with me. Ultimately, I found that my fifteen favorites easily stood out to be, and I’m very pleased to highlight them in my annual movie ranking.
15. Heretic
Horror movies about religious zealots are a dime a dozen, but extreme atheists? That’s a novel cinematic concept, and one that writer/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods execute brilliantly in their locked door thriller Heretic. Not only is the script built with perfect structure and stellar escalating tension (juxtaposed by the protagonists’ journey deeper and deeper into a nightmare), the film has terrific points to make about the history and power of organized religion – both good and bad.
Sophie Thatcher (one of my favorite up-and-coming stars) and Chloe East are tremendous as the pair of missionaries who find themselves caught in an elegantly designed spider web, but it’s Hugh Grant who makes Heretic special. He effectively weaponizes the stuttering charm and good will with audiences he’s earned with a filmography of beloved romantic comedies, and it’s quite a thing to see his charismatic demeanor removed as a mask.
14. Anora
One of the best things about watching Sean Baker’s Anora is that I never had a clear idea of where the film was going next. While I would say that the majority of the 140 movies I watched this year work with familiar story beats and structure, I was delighted to find that I could never mentally get ahead of this story about a New York sex worker (Mikey Madison) who finds herself entangled with the immature son of a wealthy Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). As you can tell from the feature’s inclusion on this list, it was a cinematic experience I greatly appreciated.
There are funny and over-the-top developments in the story that shock and entertain, but Anora is principally a grounded and nonjudgmental look into a unique world, and it’s greatly effective. Audiences can expect to see a whole lot of Mikey Madison in the coming years, as she is very clearly a star on the rise.
13. Nickel Boys
Rewatchability is a factor I always keep front of mind when it comes to constructing my annual movie ranking, as my favorite films are typically those I can watch over and over again – but I like to make some exceptions for features that really stung me emotionally, and in 2024, that film is RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys. The story shines a light on segregated reform schools and the montrous abuse that goes on behind closed doors.
It’s a powerful story that is told in a special visual language, as the movie not only shifts between the first person perspectives of protagonists Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson) during their experience at the school, but jumping forward in time as an adult Elwood (Daveed Diggs) personally investigates the institution. It’s a challenging work, but one put together with remarkable passion.
12. Civil War
Despite being an Alex Garland fan whose past end-of-year lists have prominently featured both Ex Machina and Annihilation, I’ll admit that I didn’t quite know what to expect from Civil War when promotion for the film started. I was lukewarm of the writer/director’s last film, 2022’s Men, and the general premise appeared to potentially be overly incendiary. In retrospect, I was totally off-base, as the movie has Garland back at the top of his game.
In addition to being a stunning depiction of war that makes one never want to see similar events play out in reality, Civil War is principally a love letter to journalists, and it does an excellent highlighting their extreme importance highlighting the value of the profession and their contributions to society. Kirsten Dunst delivers the best performance of her career, Cailee Spaeny further cements herself as one of Hollywood’s exceptionally talented young actors, and Jesse Plemons gives what will go down as one of the most amazing uncredited turns in cinema history.
11. The Wild Robot
Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot is a film that sold me with its maturity. It’s a four-quadrant release from one of the world’s biggest animation studios, and yet it’s not a movie that plays with kids gloves when it comes to stakes and the concept of death. This boldness, paired with the fact that it’s also hilarious and utterly gorgeous, secured the title with a place on my end of year list as soon as I witnessed it this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival.
One would have to have a heart of stone to not appreciate the incredible parent/child relationship between Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) and the fledgling runt gosling Brightbill (Kit Connor), as their journey together teaching the latter to fly installs a fireplace right in the middle of your chest. While you’re emotionally captivated, however, you’re also laughing your ass off, as the movie has a wicked comedic sensibility and an awesome cast including Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Mark Hamill and Matt Berry.
10. Hundreds Of Beavers
Let’s start here with this one: there was no film released in 2024 that had me laughing harder than Mike Cheslik’s Hundreds Of Beavers. It’s aesthetic and story conceit can be summed up as “What if an Oregon Trail-style video game were adapted as a movie during the Silent Era?” and if that concept even remotely intrigues you, you should make a point of seeking it out, as you will be bowled over by its execution.
The physical comedy will have you grabbing at your sides in hysterics as you witness the journey of Ryland Brickson Cole Tews’ Jean Kayak – who goes from being stranded naked in the snowy wilderness to becoming a talented fur trapper – but you’ll also marvel at the film’s inventiveness. Animals being represented by actors in mascot costumes is its own special thing, but the wild ways the protagonist goes about catching the creatures are ingenious.
9. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Is George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga as good as Mad Max: Fury Road? The answer is no – but one could make the argument that is a ridiculously high standard for the prequel to live up to, given that the 2015 movie stands as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of action cinema. Untethered from the albatross that is expectations and respected independently, the film is another masterclass in epic storytelling from one of the best to ever do it.
Witnessing the titular character’s origin story only makes me appreciate her journey in the 2015 blockbuster more, with Anya-Taylor Joy boldly stepping into Charlize Theron’s shoes to portray a younger version of the character and George Miller and co-writer Nico Lathouris adding awesome further depth to the apocalyptic wasteland. What will almost surely be recognized as the film’s greatest contribution to pop culture, however, is Chris Hemsworth’s despicable and hilarious turn as the villainous Dementus.
8. Kinds Of Kindness
It was on this day last year that I dubbed Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things as my favorite movie of 2023, and while I didn’t quite love his follow-up as much, Kinds Of Kindness is still more than terrific enough to place high in my 2024 rankings. It’s a wholly different cinematic experience being an anthology film with three distinct stories, but Lanthimos’ wonderfully odd auteur fingerprints are all over every second, and it’s both riotous and captivating.
Lanthimos’ works present wonderfully bizarre worlds with their own specific rules and attitudes, and Kinds Of Kindness is the filmmaker doing that in three different ways with strange stories about controlling relationships. The anthology features an ensemble of stars who portray a variety of characters in the triptych, but after it and Poor Things, I hope that the writer/director and Emma Stone keep working together for many, many more years to come.
7. Flow
I had a black cat with yellow eyes named Bobo that lived to the incredible age of 22, and even though Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow is an animated film, I felt as though I was watching Bobo on the big screen as I marveled at the extraordinary feature. A perfect understanding of animal body language is on display (not only for the cat, but also the dogs, the capybara and the rest of the menagerie featured), and it makes a deep impact paired with the dialogue-free narrative, as there is a commitment to reality with the ensemble of characters that makes the action all the more emotionally powerful.
The deep attachment you develop to the animals sneaks up on you, as your heart races when they experience real peril amid what appears to be a global flood, and the mature approach convinces you that none of the characters are totally safe. And just when you think that it couldn’t possibly be bolder or more beautiful, it hits you with doses of fantasy that take your breath away.
6. A Different Man
We all contemplate how our lives might be improved if we were able to eliminate what we perceive to be our greatest flaws… but what if you did, and then you discover a person with your abandoned flaw living a far superior life? It would drive you a bit batty, right? That’s the inspired central premise of writer/director Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, and it’s unforgettable.
Playing Edward Lemuel/Guy Moratz, Sebastian Stan delivers the best performance of his impressive career since 2017’s I, Tonya, as his downward spiral manages to be both dramatic and darkly comedic. Fittingly stealing the spotlight, however, is Adam Pearson as Oswald, who excels in life in all the ways that Edward/Guy fails.
5. September 5
While life is full of calamity and ineptitude, it can be a remarkably refreshing thing to witness movie characters demonstrate high levels of competence and ingenuity, and Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 hits that button. It’s dedication to period accuracy depicting the world of television broadcasting in the early 1970s ensconces you in the setting, and it’s a thrill to see the ABC Sports team perform a major pivot from covering the 1972 Olympic Games to providing live coverage of a dangerous hostage crisis.
It’s a treat to see John Magaro's Geoffrey Mason, Ben Chaplin's Marvin Bader and the other characters raise their game to the journalistic challenge put in front of them. But while we cheer on their broadcast wins, the film also doesn’t let you ignore what turn out to be dangerous consequence of their work, and with its devastating third act, it effectively holds a mirror up to today’s world and the serious problem with blending the line between news and entertainment.
4. Longlegs
This past summer, I felt compelled to go see Longlegs twice prior to its theatrical release. I was blown away by the terrifying, satanic horror film when I watched it the first time, and I went to go see it again a couple weeks later to see if the work’s radical and haunting atmosphere would still be as effective while knowing the twists and turns of the story. It was, and the Osgood Perkins movie cemented itself a place on by Best of 2024 list.
Longlegs executes a slow, creeping narrative, but it never for a moment allows you to feel safe, and the potent, persistent terror felt and expressed by Maika Monroe’s Lee Harker as she hunts the titular killer is palatable. And wholly committing to the part of said killer is Nicolas Cage, who delivers one of his career-best turns and intense fear as a grotesque, Satan-worshiping, doll-making madman who appears lost in a perpetual delirium.
3. Conclave
As I wrote about in my Toronto International Film Festival review of Edward Berger’s Conclave, I was seriously afraid of falling asleep as the lights went down and the movie started to roll. It was only 11:30am, but it was my second screening of the day, and I was exhausted from weeks of travel. That concern was proven unwarranted. After just 15 minutes, I was completely enthralled by the papal election thriller.
Veteran stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and more are at the top of their game, and it is all kinds of delicious to witness the politicking and backstabbing in the race to determine who should be the new leader of one of the world’s most powerful religious institutions. I love everything about Conclave, but I particularly love the phenomenal twist ending, which stands among the best finales in any 2024 film.
2. Dune: Part Two
I have been to Arrakis. I have ridden the great Shai-Hulud. Those were my thoughts in the immediate aftermath of witnessing Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two. I went into the blockbuster with exceptionally high expectations (Prisoners, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune: Part One all made my Top 10 lists in their respective years of release), and the film met every single one of them.
There is so much that is powerful about Dune: Part Two. It’s a stunning visceral experience that transports you to another universe with an epic vision (created in collaboration between Villeneuve, cinematographer Greig Fraser, production designer Patrice Vermette, costume designer Jacqueline West, and their remarkable teams). It presents staggering set pieces, from Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atredies riding a sandworm, to the black-and-white gladiator battle with Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha. It’s a deep and complex thriller that comments on the dangerous blend of religion and politics. And never forgetting the source material, it’s a jaw-dropping presentation of author Frank Herbert’s novel.
1. The Substance
There are a lot of indelible images that I witnessed on the big screen in 2024, but I don’t think anything tops the sight of the mutant Monstro Elisasue standing on stage at the recording of the big New Year’s Eve special and vomiting up a boob in front of a packed audience. It’s disgusting, horrific, and hysterical, and it sums up a lot of what I absolutely love about Carolie Fargeat’s The Substance.
The body horror masterpiece is an over-the-top satire about the ridiculous beauty standards that society imposes on women and the self-loathing that it ultimately inspires, and the message comes loud and clear through two of the best performances of the year: Demi Moore’s Elisabeth Sparkle, whose self-esteem plummets in the wake of her fiftieth birthday, and Margaret Qualley’s id-driven Sue, who is addicted to recapturing the glory of Elisabeth’s salad days. The Substance is sharp, disgusting, sexy, horrific and the best film of 2024.
Looking ahead, I’ve already mentally committed myself to seeing a minimum of 26 films on the big screen when they arrive in cinemas in 2025, but will I be able to hit my goal of surpassing 140 new releases? Check back with me a year from now.
