In so many ways, the story of 2024 is one of struggles. As the century forces itself into the end of its first quarter, humanity struggles to come to terms with its own political, economic, and environmental crises, only to find that they will likely continue to struggle into the decades to come. 2024, to me, feels like the year that reminds us that while the past 20 or so years have felt like the end of history, nothing, in fact, is over. That is perhaps why my best films of 2024 feel like a concluding chapter that psyches you in the end – a quietly hopeful revelation that the struggle continues.
(Credit: Bloody Disgusting)
15. Oddity
In terms of the sheer quantity of good films, 2024 should be called the year of horror. So many horror films this year give me that feeling of a frightful roller coaster ride that defines what is so fun about this genre. I wouldn’t say most of these films are masterpieces, but their sincere goodness really gets me through the year. Longlegs, Strange Darling, even Smile 2: any of them could have taken this spot. But Oddity gave me the most satisfying story and the second-best final shot of the year. Mind you, it is best to go into this movie completely blind.
(Credit: Vulture)
14. All of Us Strangers
To the naked eye, All of Us Strangers will seem like a pessimistic film – almost indulging in self-punishment. But as one of the first films I’ve seen this year, Andrew Haigh’s adaptation of Taichi Yamada’s novel feels more like an affirmation of the purity of human emotions even in the face of defeat. It is an early warning shot that this is the year when complete sincerity will reign. Instead of dissecting sentimentality, Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal let it pour out to courageously devastating ends. Special shout out to Paul Mescal who has become the rising star to watch in 2024 following his impressive work in 2023’s Aftersun.
(Credit: Dune News Net)
13. Dune Part II
I have said before that Villeneuve’s Dune saga feels like the Western epic of the 2020s. Dune Part II confirms that by sticking to its post-modernist character, making us question the nature of history as the credit rolls. While this saga can sell itself on the spectacle alone, it is the thesis of the story that delivers the most impactful gut-punching message and that is the old stories of savors and righteous leaders that have comforted us through the modern era are, in fact, shams. This is the 2020s when modern narratives are doomed to crumble. It was Chani, the rebellious Fremen, who got it right in the opening of Dune Part I: the question is not who will be our savior, but who will be our next oppressors.
(Credit: SNACK Magazine)
12. Love Lies Bleeding
Rose Glass’ second feature continues her exploration into toxic relationships. While her debut film Saint Maud peers into the intimate relationship within oneself (or God), Glass expands her universe in Love Lies Bleeding. She digs into the toxicity inherent in all human relationships, exposing its often-neglected beauty. And yet, for a film about toxic relationships, Love Lies Bleeding finds surprising chemistry among its cast. The big names – Kristen Stewart, Ed Harris, Dave Franco – were great, but so were the lesser-knowns – Katy O’Brian, Anna Baryshnikov, Jeni Malone – who I felt were often given even more challenging roles. Perhaps that’s the ultimate message: a perfect blend can poison too.
(Credit: IGN Africa)
11. Rebel Ridge
If you’re looking for a self-contained thriller with a memorable protagonist, Rebel Ridge has got you covered. This story of a man trying very hard to fight from within a rigged system only to be pushed to fight without (and at times against) it, feels like a tale as old as time. It has the flavor of a classic Western set in the political context of the 2020s. Aaron Pierre is a revelation here, like Paul Mescal last year. And if the trajectory of Mescal’s career is any indication, 2025 is going to be Pierre’s to take.
(Credit: Variety)
10. The Wild Robot
This is, for me, the biggest surprise of the year. The Wild Robot had no business being as good as it was. But instead of making another passable ‘kids movie’, DreamWorks opted for lush landscapes and incredibly kinetic animations with details rivaling that of Studio Ghibli. It also opted for a post-humanist story that tackles the issue of mortality in ways that young children could grasp. Death, the film implicitly argues, reflects the tenacity of life. It is this underlying “real-ness” that gives its animated and non-human characters unbelievable humanity.
(Credit: Den of Geek)
9. The Substance
I am quite certain that if the Horror community were to deliberate on what film they will pick to make the genre’s long-awaited run at the prestigious award seasons, they would overwhelmingly pick Coralie Fargeat’s twisted body horror The Substance. Admittedly, this one was a grower for me. I initially ranked the film as ‘fine’ and it was not going to make this list at all. Then, I started thinking about it. A body horror about a celebrity creating another version of themselves to remain young in the limelight seems obvious, and yet Fargeat’s film is – as far as I know – one of the first. This premise is a gold mine for themes about gender, fame, image, drug abuse, impermanence, etc. Fargeat mined everything, creating a film that goes beyond the realm of shock, to one of profundity.
(Credit: Rotten Tomatoes)
8. Didi
As we progress deeper into the new century, the coming-of-age films of our era begin to reference the late 2000s and early 2010s. Didi was the first film that portrayed an era we were familiar with. This is why the film’s cringy moments were particularly visceral to us. Director Sean Wang likely counted on these kinds of reactions, as he cobbled scenes from his actual experiences into an impressively confessional debut feature. We loved the parts where Wang shared details of what it was like to grow up as an Asian in America, from having a bilingual conversation with his mother, lying that you're half-Asian to appear 'cooler' and that complicit silence when the girl you like said: "you're pretty cute... for an Asian." Wang explores his internalised racism with such brutal honesty that you cannot help but respect it.
(Credit: IFFR)
7. Rivulet of Universe
This year’s youngest director, 25-year-old Possathorn Watcharapanit made a debut feature that confronts the nature of memory, history, and time, contributing to a growing oeuvre of Thai films tackling the contentious issue of collective memory and history. Rivulet of Universe shows us intertwining stories of people young and old as they confront their past and their future. Their mundane dilemmas echo myths and legends. Watcharapanit contrasts historical objects with modern humans, meditating on the fact that we live in a web of meaning that erodes and changes over time. He weaves together themes of race, ethnicity, and gender, only to deconstruct them into patches upon which he asks us to project what we see.
(Credit: Cinema Nova)
6. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Moving from an arthouse film contemplating the nature of time, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is what I would call pure vibes. It seems that Ariane Louis-Seize and her co-writer Christine Doyon were looking (and no doubt struggling) with the state of the world today. It appears that they then started to think: what would happen if a vampire that cannot kill meets a human that wishes to die? Then, they go from there. This is a treatise on the meaning of life cloaked in a quirky love story. The enjoyment I feel watching is just about the purest I’ve felt all year.
(Credit: The Arts Fuse)
5. Anora
Much like Sean Baker’s previous films, Anora is the story of the American underclass. His past films such as The Florida Project have sought to grasp a level of dramatic realism unforeseen in any contemporary American film. Anora went in a different direction, diving deep into absurdity. But in that absurdity of a screwball comedy about a stripper marrying a young Russian oligarch’s son only to be chased around the city by the oligarch’s underling, we find a kernel of truth. In the way Baker wrote the final scene in the film, and in Mikey Madison’s life-changing performance, we find a tragedy universal to all living in the contemporary time.
(Credit: The Hollywood Reporter)
4. All We Imagine as Light
According to the jury selected to pick India’s submission for the best foreign language film category at the Oscar, Payal Kapadia’s soulful pairing of a love story and a ‘lone story’ was not chosen because it felt like “a European film taking place in India”. This is a bit reductive. All We Imagine as Light borrows tools and techniques, not to create smokes and mirrors but to convey the universal truth of human experiences. Its use of light as metaphor for example, is cliched but so sincere that it touches you every time. Everyone in the cast is perfect, but Kani Kusruti would be my pick for best female performance of 2024. She is the soul of a film that channels the human pleas for connection and a cure for the disease of loneliness. If I had the power, I would pick this as this year’s Best Picture at the Oscars.
(Credit: The New Yorker)
3. Evil Does Not Exist
In 2021, I named Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car the best film of the year. The fact that this film was at one point slated to top this 2024 list is a testament to his enigmatic power. Evil Does Not Exist begins with tranquility and ends with mystery – the kind of mystery that you’re meant to ponder about without ever arriving at an answer. Hamaguchi harnesses that power to quietly question the established narratives of progress and counter-progress and simply watches those narratives crumble. The dichotomy between humanity and nature was brutally deconstructed in scene after scene which left me in absolute awe. I was practically punch-drunk by the end. It took weeks for me to come to terms with the film and its brilliant message about our modern epoch.
(Credit: Thir.st)
2. Inside Out 2
Judging by my out-of-cinema reaction, Inside Out 2 felt at that moment like it was my favorite film of the year. It is also the best illustration of the effect of watching the right film at the right time. Don’t get me wrong – Inside Out 2 is excellent regardless of when you watch it. It is smart, sensitive, and as intensely emotional as a Pixar film can ever be. But it is my specific experience that puts it so high on this list. At a time when I was seeing bad news after bad news, the experience of sitting in that cinema, hearing kids asking their parents about the implication of being anxious, hearing parents stifling tears towards the end of the film, and having conversations with people about what emotions we think to control each of us. That is what makes this Pixar sequel a staple in my 2024 memory.
(Credit: Dogwoof Documentaries)
Black Box Diaries
In 2015, journalist intern Shiori Ito went out for dinner and drinks with former Washington Post bureau chief of Tokyo Noriyuki Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi proceeded to rape her. Ito tried to report what happened to the police, but her case never advanced. Ito did not stop. She spoke out in public, wrote a book, and made this documentary. Her fight would spark the #MeToo movement in a country long dominated by patriarchy and conservative political institutions.
Black Box Diaries broke me and then inspired me. As its title suggests, this is essentially a diary. So, while the story carries the weight and impact of 2015’s Spotlight, we are painfully aware that we are watching actual footage of Ito herself, not someone else playing her. Adding to that layer, she made the film herself. This imbues the documentary not with realism but with an emotional truthfulness that goes beyond facts. Ito has compared editing the film to exposure therapy. The earnestness comes through in the final product, which seems to transcend the medium of cinema to reach peak humanness, showing us, by example, that a fight can never end as long as “I’m still here.”
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