Best Movies of 2024 (#10 - #1)
Here it is: the top 10 best movies I saw in 2024. I often get asked how I can separate the best movies I see from my favorite movies, and I’ve seen people online debating this topic more the past year as well. Is there such a difference between best and favorite if a movie makes you feel something enough to care for it and call it your favorite movie? I don’t think there’s a right answer, so I’ll explain my POV as best I can.
My whole life I’ve been a fan of Marvel, from when I would sit at the Orland Park, IL public library and read Spider-Man or Fantastic Four comics on the floor. Deadpool & Wolverine came out this year and was one of my favorite movies. The nostalgia of seeing these characters and callbacks to Marvel movies past was a blast and was one of my favorite shared experiences in a theater this year. Now if I didn’t have that personal bias, would I ever call Deadpool & Wolverine one of the 10 best movies I saw this year? Of course not. My “Best List” tries to remove that personal bias as much as possible to focus on the craft and artistry of the movie. It leads to a more diverse list that hopefully whoever’s reading will find inspiration from to go and check out a film, even if it doesn’t align with my individual taste. All art is inherently subjective.
So, hopefully there’s a film you discover to align with your tastes or even revisit from these recommendations. As always, feel free to reach out and tell me all about how you agree or disagree. It was another great year at the movies!
(#10) La Chimera
Spoiler alert…this isn’t the last time you’ll see actor Josh O’Connor on this list. In La Chimera, Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro) directs O’Connor as a the leader of a ragtag group of grave-robbers who survive by looting Etruscan tombs. Rather than a globe-trotting adventure in the vein of something like Indiana Jones, however, La Chimera concerns itself much more with the personal journeys of its characters. O’Connor’s character, Arthur, still mourns the loss of his loved one and feels her presence in supernatural ways.
The methods in which Rohrwacher films Arthur’s connection to the after life are breathtaking. They’re ethereal moments in an otherwise grounded and gritty depiction of the Italian countryside. Rohrwacher also manages to sneak in some sillier moments for the other grave robbers, reminiscent of Italian directors like Federico Fellini. La Chimera’s tonal breadth, and managing to navigate it all, deserves a worthy spot on this Top 10.
Now streaming on Hulu/Disney+
(#9) Daughters
Daughters was the last movie I watched in 2024, and it’s also the best documentary I saw all year. The doc follows the “Date With Dad” program in a Washington D.C. jail, where incarcerated men and their daughters are given the rare opportunity to have a Daddy-Daughter dance. The men must first participate in sessions to open up about their feelings on fatherhood and prepare them for the emotions they and their child might face on the day of the dance. Filmmakers Chad Morris and Angela Patton (who started the program) cutting between both the families on the outside and the men inside the jail draw arresting parallels.
What elevates Daughters above just that unique description of this program is the film’s willingness to confront the realities of these relationships after the dance as well. The filmmakers take their time to stick with the families involved and delve into how their relationships evolve. It took a lot out of me not to tear up in the backseat of a road trip for this movie, so maybe it’s best to watch this one in the comfort of your own home.
Now streaming on Netflix
(#8) A Real Pain
A Real Pain features my favorite screenplay of the year. Written by, directed by, and starring Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), this film explores the complicated relationship between two cousins taking a tour through Poland after the passing of their grandmother. Their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, left the cousins money to learn more about their family history. Now based off that description you wouldn’t think A Real Pain is a comedy, but you would be wrong. The balance between the darkest subject matter and the funniest humor is a tightrope that Eisenberg walks with confidence. Made at the perfect time by the perfect people, it’s kind of a miracle that this movie works.
And it wouldn’t work half as well without the addition of Kieran Culkin (Succession) as cousin Benji. The boundless charisma of Benji serves as a great foil to Eisenberg’s David, who inhabits the walking personification of anxiety (as referred to by Culkin at a Q&A I attended). Culkin gives the best supporting performance of the year for the many complexities of his character that struggle to surface, but that you can always feel just another layer underneath.
Currently available to buy on VOD (Itunes, Amazon, etc.), likely streaming on Hulu in 2025
(#7) I Saw the TV Glow
As featured on the first part of my list with the documentary Will & Harper, and many other films this year, the trans experience was central to the story of 2024 at the movies. Where I Saw the TV Glow succeeds is in relating the trans experience of not feeling at home in your own body to anyone who has ever felt out of place in life. Director Jane Schoenbrun designs a film that truly feels “of its time” through its neon color palette, soundtrack featuring artists like Phoebe Bridgers, and the characters’ relationship to childhood TV shows.
Highlighting nostalgia, I Saw the TV Glow follows two classmates as they bond over their shared loved for a fictional TV show, “The Pink Opaque”. As they grow older, they begin to feel the show’s supernatural pull blurring the lines between fiction and reality. The horror in I Saw the TV Glow is not a jump-scare kind of terror, but it personifies the fear of being stuck in the same place - trying to run but being unable to move your feet.
Now streaming on Max
(#6) Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is slow cinema at its finest, which I realize may turn a lot of people off immediately. Just know, when done right, films like this are sometimes the most rewarding for your patience. After his sister-in-law dies in a motorcycle accident in Saigon, Thien travels with his young nephew to deliver the body back to their home in the countryside. Cinematography by Dinh Duy Hung is the best of the year, as the visuals of this film tell us most about what the filmmakers are trying to explore. Their trek through the beauty of rural Vietnam digs deep at one of my favorite themes in cinema: faith.
There’s magic in the unknown. Whether it’s a religious faith or faith that you’ll never understand the mystery, there’s a power in the fact that no one truly knows what happens at the end of our journey. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell burns slowly, but that makes its magical moments even more powerful as it unpacks our relationship with that great unknown.
Available to rent on VOD (Itunes, Amazon, etc.)
(#5) Challengers
If you were lucky enough to see Challengers in the theater this year, you’ll know what I mean when I say this was one of the most electric theater trips I had. Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) directs the hell out of this movie that’s about tennis…but is really about sex..but is really about tennis being sex. Following injured child prodigy, Tashi Donaldson, and her relationship with two fawning male tennis players vying for her attention, the tension exuding from the screen is palpable between all three leads.
Zendaya, Mike Faist (West Side Story), and Josh O’Connor (told you he’d be back) build up the chemistry that winds itself between these characters in shifting allegiances and relationships. Justin Kuritzkes’ screenplay has a complex structure that jumps around in time and encourages you to actively participate in the story to analyze where each character sits at in any given time. The score by Nine Inch Nails bandmates Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross uses synthy electronic beats to underline the frantic energy that comes from these moments both on and off the court. Pickleball be damned! The year belongs to tennis.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime
(#4) Hundreds of Beavers
Straight up comedies are so rarely given awards, and I’ll admit I even tend to neglect them on my end of the year lists. That ends today with Hundreds of Beavers - one of the most genius feats of filmmaking I have ever seen. Created on a micro-budget of $150,000, Director Mike Cheslik and the entire crew are forced into a corner at every turn and manage to wiggle themselves out in ways more hilarious than you could imagine. In Hundreds of Beavers, an alcoholic applejack salesman wages a war against hundreds, maybe thousands, of beavers who are really just actors in human-sized beaver costumes.
This nearly silent comedy is entirely focused on the goofs and gags, which come at a thousand miles a minute. It’s the closest live-action art has ever come to capturing the glory of Sunday morning cartoons like Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry. Star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews proves he’s a master of slapstick as he fights his way through hordes of these pesky beavers to win the love of a merchant’s daughter. Just when you think the movie can’t get any more outrageous, Hundreds of Beavers continues to up the ante.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime
(#3) Sing Sing
At maximum security prison, Sing Sing, in New York, the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program allows incarcerated men the opportunity to experience the healing power of theater performance. Colman Domingo (Euphoria, Rustin) plays Divine G, a man falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, who spends his time organizing this misfit troupe of players. Domingo’s performance is filled with such love for his fellow “beloved” as he calls them, but he holds onto the darkness of his situation. If I could give out a Best Actor Oscar this year, it would get in the hands of Domingo.
Filling out the remainder of the cast are actual former members of the RTA program who hold their own against the weight of the movie. First time actor Clarence Maclin especially shows the world his acting strengths as a new member of the group resistant to its methods. Maclin channels all of his experiences from his time as an inmate at Sing Sing into an initially angry performance, that lets the arts soften his tough exterior.
Sing Sing teaches us opening yourself up to vulnerability will help you better understand your fellow man. Every single actor in this film gives one of the most honest performances I’ve ever seen on screen. It’s not a prison movie. It’s a humanity movie. So make sure you gather your beloved to share this one with.
Coming soon to Apple TV+
(#2) Dune: Part Two
With Dune: Part Two, director Denis Villeneuve has solidified himself in my eyes as the greatest science-fiction director in the history of the genre. Films like Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, the first Dune, and now its sequel are all masterpieces in their own right, but Dune: Part Two is Villeneuve’s crowning achievement. You feel as though you’re looking through a telescope at another universe for the level of detail and authenticity put into every aspect of the universe of Dune. Hans Zimmer’s score transcends and invents a new audio language for the otherworldly themes of the film. His piece, “A Time of Quiet Between the Storms” might be the most beautiful piece of film score for the decade, if not this century.
Timothée Chalamet, whose performance I praised on my previous list for A Complete Unknown, is even better here. At just 29 years old, he commands Dune: Part Two with a leading performance for the history books. Paul Atreides’ innocence from the first film fades as his path leads to darker futures that plague his visions, but that he can’t escape. The standout of this chapter, however, is Rebecca Ferguson as Paul’s mother, Jessica. Dune: Part Two interrogates how religious fervor can breed conflict, and Ferguson’s performance as an enabler of these sentiments will make your hairs stand on end.
In 2021, Dune was the best movie of the year, and Dune: Part Two surpasses it in every way. Walking out of the theater, I was thinking about how generational of an event seeing Dune: Part Two was, and how people will tell stories of seeing this on the big screen like they did with Star Wars. So, how is this film not the best movie of 2024?
Now streaming on Max
(#1) The Brutalist
The only movie that could beat Dune, Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist is the best movie of 2024. It’s old school filmmaking that reminds me most of films like The Godfather, and that I’m shocked are able to be made in this current movie climate. Shot with VistaVision (35mm film cameras used mostly on movies from the 50s), featuring an intermission halfway through its 3 1/2 hour runtime, and tackling lofty themes like the American Dream and the immigrant experience, The Brutalist feels timeless.
The film follows a Jewish architect, László Tóth, played by Adrien Brody (The Pianist), who flees to America following the war in 1947. After trouble landing on his feet, László is contacted by a wealthy client, played by Guy Pearce (Memento), for a mysterious new project. Brody and Pearce are mesmerizing as their visions for this build and their cultural backgrounds erupt, clashing against each other. Central to The Brutalist, more than any other theme, is the sacrifices artists are forced to make for their work and fighting back against that repression.
Both maximalist and minimalist in its sweeping filmmaking, The Brutalist doesn’t shy away from its brutal depiction of the artistic process and those who would seek to control it. It’s poignant to see a film like this get made at all, especially as uncompromising as it was “allowed” to be, at a time where the arts are under attack on multiple fronts. A.I. threatens to take artists out of the creative process of animation and screenwriting, the public cries for something that’s “too woke” or “not woke enough”, and artists are caught in the crossfire who just want to make something personal that speaks to them. Because The Brutalist speaks to what makes going to the movies so special, I can’t imagine any other film taking the top spot this year.
In theaters wide January 2025
