Adam wraps up his 2024 with the Films that defined the year that was for him.
I’m not going to preamble for long. We could spend an entire article talking about the year that was. You and I would rather not. Better to just get to the good stuff. The best films of 2024.
A few caveats for my list…
I didn’t get to everything I wanted to. That’s okay. I’m at a point in my life as a critic that these lists represent to me more of a temporary one. If we’re all honest with ourselves, we won’t know the true greatness of these films for at least another half decade or even longer. Plus, a certain sector of critics feel like this is just a piece of gamesmanship of who can pronounce the best the quickest. So, take my list as you do with other lists … take it with a grain.
Additionally, at this point, I don’t know when I’ll see The Brutalist. The film that many a critic seems to want to anoint the film of the year/decade/century. This is only if you’re wondering why the film isn’t on my list. That goes for any other film. Ethier A.) Haven’t Seen it. Or B.) Have Seen it and didn’t care for it. I just wanted to say that upfront.
Lastly, the list like in years prior is in Alphabetical Order except for the top film of the year. Everything else could switch positions at any given moment. So, without further ado.
Honorable Mentions (in Alphabetical Order):
Thelma (Dir. Josh Margolin)
From the opening moments of a grandson patiently helping his grandmother with her computer, I knew I was going to fall head over heels for Thelma – both the character and the film. For anyone who knows me, I have a deeply felt relationship with my wife’s grandparents. This moment in fact brought me to tears because I’ve been in this very situation with Fran (my Thelma). It’s those knowing moments that Writer/Director Josh Margolin gets right, along with the bigger comedic and action beats, that make Thelma such an utter delight. As much an ode to those older folks that many underestimate the film is as much a love letter to why we love action films.
Super / Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Dir. Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui)
Damn.
Nosferatu (Dir. Robert Eggers)
Visually impressive. Tonally perfect. Acting is superb.
I do appreciate that Eggers laid the groundwork for Lily Rose Depp to decimate in her performance as a woman having to come to terms with her past of being terrorized by a pedophile who groomed and assaulted when she was a child. Then men’s continual rejection of her claims, then gaslighting her into another sexual encounter with said pedophile groomer. All for the sake of the good of a crumbling patriarchal society.
Made in England: The films of Powell and Pressburger (Dir. David Hinton)
For years I resisted the urge to want a single Powell & Pressburger film. I knew of Scorsese’s obsessions with them. I just didn’t see what all of this “stoggy English Stiff Upper Lip Tweed Suit” nonsense had to do with Scorsese’s Casino or Taxi Driver.
Was I ever wrong.
Juror #2 (Dir. Clint Eastwood)
Eastwood’s final film did not deserve to go out like it did. This is the kind of morality tale dressed as a thriller you promote and champion. It’s a best final film from a director we could ever hope for. For shame WB. For shame.
I Saw the Glow of the TV (Dir. Jane Schoenbrun)
There’s that joke, that’s becoming a reality, that we are all going to work through the apocalypse … that’s encapsulated perfectly in this film. One generations stranglehold on the younger ones and the opiate of TV (or any other medium) as its means to do so.
Immaculate (Dir. Michael Mohan)
Director Michael Mohan’s Immaculate could have gone into Nunsploitation territory. It decidedly takes the harder turn into dread and true transgressive horror with Star and producer Sydney Sweeney continuing her ascent to superstardom in a performance worthy of the great Horror Film Star Turns. Yes, we can invoke Rosemary’s Baby in the same breath. Yes, Immaculate is that good.
Kneecap (Dir. Rich Peppiatt)
I was not expecting this one. Like The Commitments before it … its use of music to express the plight of the Irish is as piercing as a klaxon horn. It’s funny too. Obscenely funny.
Didi (Dir. Sean Wang)
Being young is awkwardly painful. Gaining friends. Loosing friends. The yearning of a first love. Finding your place. It’s all wrapped up beautifully in a film running around 90 minutes.
All My Love (Dir. Spike Jonze)
Niagara Falls.
The Top Ten (in Alphabetical Order except the top film)
Wicked (dir. Jon M. Chu)
No notes. Wicked is big-budget studio filmmaking at its finest.
A Samurai in Time (dir. Junichi Yasuda)
Few films are as softly humorous and entertaining as A Samurai in Time that you’ll see in 2024. The movie makes adroit choices that create a fun different time travel film, one that will surprise in its low-key charm and humanity.
Red Rooms (dir. Pascal Plante)
Red Rooms the fourth feature film from writer/director Pascal Plante is the kind of film that many filmmakers spend their entire careers chasing. Visually astute, tauntly written, superbly acted, and utterly terrifying. In a year of uncommonly unique horror films, Red Rooms stands head and shoulders above even the very best.
Rebel Ridge (dir. Jeremy Saulnier)
Damn.
First off, it’s not an action film. Let’s get that out of the way right now. This is a true blue honest THRILLER. This is the kind of elite-level studio-produced thriller that THE FUGITIVE was. Yeah, it’s that good. It’s constructed as tight as any film of recent memory and it weighs in at a hefty 131 minutes.
Longlegs (dir. Osgood Perkins)
Longlegs is the kind of adroit horror mashup that plays it as straight and lowkey with its horror and dread as any film. The result is a slow-burn descent into the hellish landscape of a killer’s mind and beyond. Few films in 2024 will leave you haunted the way Longlegs will.
Inside Out 2 (dir. Kelsey Mann)
This is not a kid’s movie. This is a movie with a kid in it but damn if they didn’t nail down the complexities of emotions and how anxiety grips you until it’s all you have. Anxiety has never been portrayed on screen better … in less than 100 minutes.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (dir. George Miller)
I was stunned by the sheer force of will of the entire film. Miller continues to be the best living Director working today. There isn’t a need to compare both this and Fury Road. Because essentially this is the setup for Fury Road’s payoff. The film never feels like a setup but rather the story of Furiosa and the Wastelands literally up until Fury Road begins proper. The action set pieces are amazing and unique to itself. Needless to say, there’s one scene that literally I said “how the fuck…” in the middle of the theater before I began to laugh with glee.
The Count of Monte Cristo (dir. Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière)
The recent wonderful French produced The Three Musketeer two-part adaptation breathed new life into the often-adapted tale of swashbuckling adventure. The primary reason was the adroit adaptation by screenwriters Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière. Delaporte and de La Patellière have transitioned to the director’s chair with another Dumas adaptation, The Count of Monte Cristo. The duo has made a smashing debut with the epic adventure tale of betrayal and justice giving us a modern adaptation that moves faster than most films half its runtime.
Conclave (dir. Edward Berger)
This movie rocks. Man, does it rock. Everyone eats in this film. Part melodrama. Part thriller. Altogether it’s a great throwback to the smoke-filled room thrillers of the 1970s.
Now, drum roll for the best film of 2024:
There is something unexpected to everything in writer/director Sean Baker’s newest film Anora. Part humanist drama. Part ticking clock anti-thriller. All screwball comedy. At the center of this whirlwind of a film is Mikey Madison in a star-making performance. It’s Baker’s refusal to fit anyone into a stereotype or archetype that makes this a gem of a film.