The Best Movies of 2024
Well, here we are. 2024 is a couple of days behind us now, and with the 94 new releases I saw this year at the time of publishing, they ranged from future classics to piles of crap to hidden gems, and everything in between. I can’t talk about every single movie I saw, and since this post isn’t ranked, you can follow this link to my Letterboxd list to see how all of these movies stack up. First, some honorable mentions…
Honorable Mentions:
The Bikeriders [dir. Jeff Nichols]
Conclave [dir. Edward Berger]
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga [dir. George Miller]
Longlegs [dir. Osgood Perkins]
The Peasants [dir. Hugh & DK Welchman]
The People’s Joker [dir. Vera Drew]
Rebel Ridge [dir. Jeremy Saulnier]
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band [dir. Thom Zimny]
Road House [dir. Doug Liman]
Terrifier 3 [dir. Damien Leone]
The 20 Best Movies of 2024 (in alphabetical order)
AGGRO DR1FT [dir. Harmony Korine]
This is probably the most singular theatrical experience I’ve had this year, maybe ever. A crime thriller about a hitman hunting down a crime lord shouldn’t be that insane, but just one look at AGGRO DR1FT should say the exact opposite. Director Harmony Korine had said that he wasn’t even trying to make a movie with this, and as much as I enjoyed watching AGGRO DR1FT, Korine might be going insane. He called IShowSpeed the new Andrei Tarkovsky, so he might be so off the deep end that I have to at least respect the take.
Still from AGGRO DR1FT
Challengers [dir. Luca Guadagnino]
Out of the whole year, this is probably the movie I’ve talked about the most with my friends. In Challengers, the movie where tennis is never just tennis, it’s a masterclass in writing, especially for someone that’s a first time screenwriter like Justin Kuritzkes. Nearly anyone can do well with a great script with only three characters, but it’s a miracle that Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist are the ones chosen. They’re all instantly magnetic in this twisted love(?) triangle, with some of the best character work of the year being all three characters. That doesn’t even include the throbbing, electronic, and the instantly iconic score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Simply put, the sexual tension between O’Connor and Faist makes watching Challengers worth it.
Mike Faist and Zendaya in Challengers
Deadpool & Wolverine [dir. Shawn Levy]
I’m fully aware that the placement of Deadpool & Wolverine on this list is purely driven by its fun factor and its nostalgia play. The scrappy feeling of the first two Deadpool films are long gone (mainly because of that Disney money), but as someone who’s really enjoyed both of those movies, the third entry in this R-rated franchise brought together two fan favorite characters for the first time in the movies. It’s bloody, funny, and everything that an R-rated action blockbuster should be. I’m not saying that Marvel is back or anything, but this is such a fun movie that I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t have this in my favorites of the year.
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine
A Different Man [dir. Aaron Schimberg]
This is the movie equivalent of an ego check. A Different Man is the closest thing I can think to that would somehow involve Nathan Fielder’s style of comedy, but instead, Fielder has nothing to do with it. Following an aspiring actor who undergoes an experimental procedure to change his appearance with unintended consequences, A Different Man is a pitch black comedy about impostor syndrome and how consuming art can be that it seems weird to laugh to how demented it becomes, but it has the intelligence to brush off any sort of glorification of it. Sebastian Stan gives the performance of his career here, who should be earning all sorts of awards for this. His co-stars, Renate Reinsve and the scene-stealing Adam Pearson, should be too, as well as writer/director Aaron Schimberg for his genius script. A hell of a movie.
Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan in A Different Man
Dune: Part Two [dir. Denis Villeneuve]
For most people, Dune: Part Two is the big cinematic event of the year. It’s SCI-FI in bolded capital letters, displayed on the biggest IMAX screen possible. I may personally prefer the first half of Frank Herbert’s novel brought to the silver screen, but I also know that I am very much in the minority on that. Part Two has a spectacle to it that the first didn’t truly have, and that’s what makes it such an event. If you didn’t before, it’s now impossible to deny how much of a movie star Timothée Chalamet is, his performance as Paul Atreides standing out among the cavalcade of the new talent (Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh) and seasoned vets (Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken) around him. Seeing this in theaters multiple times over felt like a treat, and it still holds up at home.
Timothée Chalamet in Dune: Part Two
The First Omen [dir. Arkasha Stevenson]
I know I watch a good amount of horror, but in terms of big studio horror, The First Omen might be the best it’s been in ages. The debut film from Arkasha Stevenson, which is also a prequel to the horror classic The Omen, is absolutely terrifying, weaving in religious horror with conspiracy theory thrillers like The Da Vinci Code with ease. Nell Tiger Free is fearless here, especially during a climactic scene that’s an homage to Isabelle Adjani’s iconic Possession moment. Not too much else to say, but I really hope that The First Omen becomes a high watermark for big studio horror like The Conjuring has become. If not, it easily deserves a cult classic status.
Nell Tiger Free in The First Omen
Hit Man [dir. Richard Linklater]
If there’s any breakout star in 2024, that has to be Glen Powell, and this is by far my favorite movie I’ve seen him in. Powell and director Richard Linklater have worked in the past before, but never in this capacity. In this genre mashup of rom-com, thriller, and a procedural drama, Hit Man might as well be called The Glen Powell Power Hour, which follows a college professor that works with the police to pose as a hitman and arrest people trying to hire him. Powell and Adria Arjona have incredible chemistry and really sold me on Powell as the next big leading man. The only downside is that it was released straight to Netflix, this would’ve burned down the theater.
Adria Arjona and Glen Powell in Hit Man
Hundreds of Beavers [dir. Mike Cheslik]
An easy contender for the most joyful movie of the year, Hundreds of Beavers is exactly as it sounds. A Chaplin-inspired slapstick comedy about an applejack salesman goes to war with hundreds of beavers (maybe thousands) to win the hand of the local merchant’s daughter, the newest collaboration between co-writers and director Mike Cheslik and star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews is filled to the brim with near-perfect sketches that feel pulled straight from Looney Tunes, and that’s all the film is: something to laugh a lot with for 100 minutes. Can’t wait to see what Cheslik cooks up next.
Two beavers in Hundreds of Beavers
I Saw the TV Glow [dir. Jane Schoenbrun]
I meant to watch this again before writing this, but I couldn’t fit it in. That doesn’t change how much I’ve thought about I Saw the TV Glow. I’m still not sure if I prefer this or Schoenbrun’s previous project, the lo-fi We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, but both projects live in the same world to me. While transness isn’t something I’ll ever experience in myself, it’s impossible to ignore that the movie is about that throughout, even when it’s about other things. The biggest theme I noticed is being stuck where you are in life, like you didn’t realize that you’ve been going down the wrong path. I don’t have to make the connection, but everyone knows that feeling. The lead performance from Justice Smith and the brilliant gut punch of an ending solidifies Schoenbrun as an immediate filmmaker to watch.
Ian Foreman in I Saw the TV Glow
In a Violent Nature [dir. Chris Nash]
In this next sentence, I can make or break a horror movie premise for you. Would you watch Terrence Malick direct a slasher movie? If so, In a Violent Nature is right up your alley. Taking the subgenre and gutting it open, In a Violent Nature is very much a tribute to the Friday the 13th premise. Teenagers go out to the woods to have sex and drink, and one of them accidentally unleashes an undead monster that stalks and eventually kills them. However, we pick up when this undead monster, Johnny, is awakened and follow every single step he takes. What he sees is what you see, the camera never leaving his sight. In a Violent Nature is a fascinating experiment, one that’s oddly calming whenever people aren’t being butchered. It’s striking, but really in a love it or hate it way. I’m on the love it side.
Still from In a Violent Nature
Juror #2 [dir. Clint Eastwood]
Taking the trolley question to the extreme, Juror #2 feels like the movies that they say we never get anymore. A contained drama about a family man who serves as a juror in a popular murder case, where he learns that he’s connected to the case to the point where he has the power to change the course of a possibly innocent man’s life? It’s delicious to watch, especially when paired with an actor like Nicholas Hoult, the first truly spectacular performance I’ve seen from him. This is a wonderful (and possibly final) film from the legendary Clint Eastwood, and it shouldn’t be missed.
Nicholas Hoult in Juror #2
Late Night with the Devil [dir. Cameron & Colin Cairnes]
Indie horror really felt like it boomed in 2024, and a lot of that conversation went towards Late Night with the Devil, a unique take on found footage. Following a desperate late night host that creates a Halloween special to boost ratings and unwittingly releasing evil into the viewers’ homes, it oozes with style, perfectly recreating that almost-hokey 1970s, Johnny Carson-adjacent late night show. David Dastmalchian, an actor who I’ve been wanting to see take on a lead role after killing it in so many movies as a supporting player, knocks it out of the park as Jack Delroy, the late night host so out of his mind that he lets a seemingly possessed child onto his show. It may have a slow start, but once the horror begins, it doesn’t let up until the credits. Such a fun movie that deserves more attention in the mainstream.
David Dastmalchian in Late Night with the Devil
Love Lies Bleeding [dir. Rose Glass]
Five years after the great Saint Maud, Rose Glass returned early in 2024 with Love Lies Bleeding, a pulpy crime thriller/romance where a reclusive gym manager falls hard for an ambitious bodybuilder. Katy O’Brian is a star in the making, her performance literally towering over the movie. Kristen Stewart is incredible here too, some of her best work alongside Spencer is in this. Both Ed Harris and Dave Franco go all out for their roles too. It feels very much like a David Cronenberg project, who also isn’t a stranger to winding crime thrillers, as well as horror. Just be ready to be thrown off by the ending, which I certainly was. It’s still on the list, though, which is saying something to how much I enjoyed it.
Katy O’Brian in Love Lies Bleeding
My Hero Academia: You’re Next [dir. Tensai Okamura]
In a year that felt extra bleak for superhero movies, a franchise that I took a break from for a few years ended up coming back strong. You’re Next, the latest film spun off from the My Hero Academia anime, absolutely knocks it out of the park. Stripping away all of the fluff reveals a classic, straightly-played superhero story, one that feels right at home with the best of comic book movies from the 2000s and 2010s. This also has a fun flip on the Superman/Bizarro trope that I wasn’t expecting this franchise to dip into. Don’t let this being the fourth film in the franchise stop you from giving it a try. I don’t even think you need to know the series to watch this. You’re Next may not add anything new to the superhero movie canon, but this will probably be a dark horse for my personal favorites in recent memory.
Still from My Hero Academia: You’re Next
Queer [dir. Luca Guadagnino]
Luca Guadagnino went two-for-two this year. As if he couldn’t top Challengers, he came out swinging with Queer, an adaptation of William S. Burrough’s novella that’s been nearly two decades in the making. Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey might be my favorite pairing of actors this year. The whole movie would collapse under its weight without them, especially when it takes a wildly abstract turn during the final act. In terms of Craig specifically, I’ve mentioned in my review that this was the role I was waiting for when it came to him, and it’s wonderful that Queer ended up being the movie to finally launch him to Oscar contention (hopefully).
Daniel Craig in Queer
Saturday Night [dir. Jason Reitman]
A firecracker of a movie, Saturday Night feels like an explosion of up and coming talent. I’m a sucker for one of those real-time movies, where the runtime of the movie itself is how much time is covered in the events of the movie. What really holds the glue of Saturday Night together is, like SNL itself, the ensemble cast. Gabriel LaBelle, Cooper Hoffman, Rachel Sennott, and Cory Michael Smith are the big standouts there, with veterans Willem Dafoe and J.K. Simmons doing very well in their smaller roles. Not many movies on this list are on here simply because of the “energy” of it, but Saturday Night is one of them.
Gabriel LaBelle in Saturday Night
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 [dir. Jeff Fowler]
It may be the tiniest bit of bias, but I can’t deny how fun this is. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a family movie that has everything going for it: fun vibes, good action, a decent story, all of that. Getting Shadow, a fan favorite character, in there is a huge step, let alone getting none other than Keanu Reeves to voice him. The x-factor here, though, is Jim Carrey. His dual roles as Dr. Eggman and his grandfather is the special sauce that no other comedy has this year: an unhinged comedic performance. I’ve said that it felt like Carrey never left the 1990s when he was in the first two entries, but I really believe that his roles in Sonic 3 are some of the best of not only this year, but his whole career. For that alone, among just how fun Sonic 3 is, it deserves to be included as some of the best of the year.
Jim Carrey and Jim Carrey in Sonic the Hedgehog 3
The Substance [dir. Coralie Fargeat]
Like on the worst year list when I said that Borderlands was the worst movie of the year, I can easily say that The Substance is my favorite movie of the year. As I was thinking about it, I can’t think of a movie that would come close to it. I haven’t seen any of writer/director/editor Coralie Fargeat’s other projects yet, but with The Substance being only her second film, I can’t imagine what she could have in store next. The back-and-forth performances from Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are career defining, both very deserving of awards. We can’t forget about Dennis Quaid either, who’s also putting in some of his best work ever. However, the script is also easily the best of the year. One of the only movies from 2024 that I just can’t think of any sort of flaws. Once in a generation movie.
Demi Moore in The Substance
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story [dir. Ian Bonhôte & Peter Ettedgui]
I’m not a big documentary watcher (something that’s changing for 2025), but since I watched all of the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman movies and fell in love with them this past summer, I felt obligated to watch the doc about Reeve and his life after the tragic horse-riding accident that paralyzed him. In terms of the actual documentary filmmaking, I really enjoyed the use of archival footage from both before and after Reeve’s tragic injury, alongside being mixed with interviews from Reeve’s children and his friends. Really powerful stuff, I’m glad I got to catch it in a theater.
Still from Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Trap [dir. M. Night Shyamalan]
When I realized that Joker: Folie à Deux wouldn’t be making the cut for this list, I realized something else at the same time: Trap would definitely be the most controversial inclusion on this list. And I have an even hotter take for you: Trap is M. Night Shyamalan’s best since Signs. The chunk of the movie set in the concert boils down a juicy, well-executed Hitman level, but it’s when the concert ends that it becomes a straight-up thriller, with both halves being held down by an incredible performance from Josh Hartnett, who I’ve sorely missed from modern movies. An absolute blast.
Josh Hartnett in Trap
As a bonus, here are 10 movies that weren’t new releases that I saw for the first time in 2024 that I adored:
Black Christmas [dir. Bob Clark]
Cure [dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa]
Dead Poets Society [dir. Peter Weir]
Julien Donkey-Boy [dir. Harmony Korine]
Marriage Story [dir. Noah Baumbach]
The Raid [dir. Gareth Evans]
Shin Godzilla [dir. Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi]
The Story of a Three-Day Pass [dir. Melvin Van Peebles]
Superman: The Movie [dir. Richard Donner]
True Stories [dir. David Byrne]
Honorable Mentions:
The Bikeriders [dir. Jeff Nichols]
Conclave [dir. Edward Berger]
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga [dir. George Miller]
Longlegs [dir. Osgood Perkins]
The Peasants [dir. Hugh & DK Welchman]
The People’s Joker [dir. Vera Drew]
Rebel Ridge [dir. Jeremy Saulnier]
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band [dir. Thom Zimny]
Road House [dir. Doug Liman]
Terrifier 3 [dir. Damien Leone]
The 20 Best Movies of 2024 (in alphabetical order)
AGGRO DR1FT [dir. Harmony Korine]
This is probably the most singular theatrical experience I’ve had this year, maybe ever. A crime thriller about a hitman hunting down a crime lord shouldn’t be that insane, but just one look at AGGRO DR1FT should say the exact opposite. Director Harmony Korine had said that he wasn’t even trying to make a movie with this, and as much as I enjoyed watching AGGRO DR1FT, Korine might be going insane. He called IShowSpeed the new Andrei Tarkovsky, so he might be so off the deep end that I have to at least respect the take.
Still from AGGRO DR1FT
Challengers [dir. Luca Guadagnino]
Out of the whole year, this is probably the movie I’ve talked about the most with my friends. In Challengers, the movie where tennis is never just tennis, it’s a masterclass in writing, especially for someone that’s a first time screenwriter like Justin Kuritzkes. Nearly anyone can do well with a great script with only three characters, but it’s a miracle that Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist are the ones chosen. They’re all instantly magnetic in this twisted love(?) triangle, with some of the best character work of the year being all three characters. That doesn’t even include the throbbing, electronic, and the instantly iconic score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Simply put, the sexual tension between O’Connor and Faist makes watching Challengers worth it.
Mike Faist and Zendaya in Challengers
Deadpool & Wolverine [dir. Shawn Levy]
I’m fully aware that the placement of Deadpool & Wolverine on this list is purely driven by its fun factor and its nostalgia play. The scrappy feeling of the first two Deadpool films are long gone (mainly because of that Disney money), but as someone who’s really enjoyed both of those movies, the third entry in this R-rated franchise brought together two fan favorite characters for the first time in the movies. It’s bloody, funny, and everything that an R-rated action blockbuster should be. I’m not saying that Marvel is back or anything, but this is such a fun movie that I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t have this in my favorites of the year.
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine
A Different Man [dir. Aaron Schimberg]
This is the movie equivalent of an ego check. A Different Man is the closest thing I can think to that would somehow involve Nathan Fielder’s style of comedy, but instead, Fielder has nothing to do with it. Following an aspiring actor who undergoes an experimental procedure to change his appearance with unintended consequences, A Different Man is a pitch black comedy about impostor syndrome and how consuming art can be that it seems weird to laugh to how demented it becomes, but it has the intelligence to brush off any sort of glorification of it. Sebastian Stan gives the performance of his career here, who should be earning all sorts of awards for this. His co-stars, Renate Reinsve and the scene-stealing Adam Pearson, should be too, as well as writer/director Aaron Schimberg for his genius script. A hell of a movie.
Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan in A Different Man
Dune: Part Two [dir. Denis Villeneuve]
For most people, Dune: Part Two is the big cinematic event of the year. It’s SCI-FI in bolded capital letters, displayed on the biggest IMAX screen possible. I may personally prefer the first half of Frank Herbert’s novel brought to the silver screen, but I also know that I am very much in the minority on that. Part Two has a spectacle to it that the first didn’t truly have, and that’s what makes it such an event. If you didn’t before, it’s now impossible to deny how much of a movie star Timothée Chalamet is, his performance as Paul Atreides standing out among the cavalcade of the new talent (Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh) and seasoned vets (Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken) around him. Seeing this in theaters multiple times over felt like a treat, and it still holds up at home.
Timothée Chalamet in Dune: Part Two
The First Omen [dir. Arkasha Stevenson]
I know I watch a good amount of horror, but in terms of big studio horror, The First Omen might be the best it’s been in ages. The debut film from Arkasha Stevenson, which is also a prequel to the horror classic The Omen, is absolutely terrifying, weaving in religious horror with conspiracy theory thrillers like The Da Vinci Code with ease. Nell Tiger Free is fearless here, especially during a climactic scene that’s an homage to Isabelle Adjani’s iconic Possession moment. Not too much else to say, but I really hope that The First Omen becomes a high watermark for big studio horror like The Conjuring has become. If not, it easily deserves a cult classic status.
Nell Tiger Free in The First Omen
Hit Man [dir. Richard Linklater]
If there’s any breakout star in 2024, that has to be Glen Powell, and this is by far my favorite movie I’ve seen him in. Powell and director Richard Linklater have worked in the past before, but never in this capacity. In this genre mashup of rom-com, thriller, and a procedural drama, Hit Man might as well be called The Glen Powell Power Hour, which follows a college professor that works with the police to pose as a hitman and arrest people trying to hire him. Powell and Adria Arjona have incredible chemistry and really sold me on Powell as the next big leading man. The only downside is that it was released straight to Netflix, this would’ve burned down the theater.
Adria Arjona and Glen Powell in Hit Man
Hundreds of Beavers [dir. Mike Cheslik]
An easy contender for the most joyful movie of the year, Hundreds of Beavers is exactly as it sounds. A Chaplin-inspired slapstick comedy about an applejack salesman goes to war with hundreds of beavers (maybe thousands) to win the hand of the local merchant’s daughter, the newest collaboration between co-writers and director Mike Cheslik and star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews is filled to the brim with near-perfect sketches that feel pulled straight from Looney Tunes, and that’s all the film is: something to laugh a lot with for 100 minutes. Can’t wait to see what Cheslik cooks up next.
Two beavers in Hundreds of Beavers
I Saw the TV Glow [dir. Jane Schoenbrun]
I meant to watch this again before writing this, but I couldn’t fit it in. That doesn’t change how much I’ve thought about I Saw the TV Glow. I’m still not sure if I prefer this or Schoenbrun’s previous project, the lo-fi We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, but both projects live in the same world to me. While transness isn’t something I’ll ever experience in myself, it’s impossible to ignore that the movie is about that throughout, even when it’s about other things. The biggest theme I noticed is being stuck where you are in life, like you didn’t realize that you’ve been going down the wrong path. I don’t have to make the connection, but everyone knows that feeling. The lead performance from Justice Smith and the brilliant gut punch of an ending solidifies Schoenbrun as an immediate filmmaker to watch.
Ian Foreman in I Saw the TV Glow
In a Violent Nature [dir. Chris Nash]
In this next sentence, I can make or break a horror movie premise for you. Would you watch Terrence Malick direct a slasher movie? If so, In a Violent Nature is right up your alley. Taking the subgenre and gutting it open, In a Violent Nature is very much a tribute to the Friday the 13th premise. Teenagers go out to the woods to have sex and drink, and one of them accidentally unleashes an undead monster that stalks and eventually kills them. However, we pick up when this undead monster, Johnny, is awakened and follow every single step he takes. What he sees is what you see, the camera never leaving his sight. In a Violent Nature is a fascinating experiment, one that’s oddly calming whenever people aren’t being butchered. It’s striking, but really in a love it or hate it way. I’m on the love it side.
Still from In a Violent Nature
Juror #2 [dir. Clint Eastwood]
Taking the trolley question to the extreme, Juror #2 feels like the movies that they say we never get anymore. A contained drama about a family man who serves as a juror in a popular murder case, where he learns that he’s connected to the case to the point where he has the power to change the course of a possibly innocent man’s life? It’s delicious to watch, especially when paired with an actor like Nicholas Hoult, the first truly spectacular performance I’ve seen from him. This is a wonderful (and possibly final) film from the legendary Clint Eastwood, and it shouldn’t be missed.
Nicholas Hoult in Juror #2
Late Night with the Devil [dir. Cameron & Colin Cairnes]
Indie horror really felt like it boomed in 2024, and a lot of that conversation went towards Late Night with the Devil, a unique take on found footage. Following a desperate late night host that creates a Halloween special to boost ratings and unwittingly releasing evil into the viewers’ homes, it oozes with style, perfectly recreating that almost-hokey 1970s, Johnny Carson-adjacent late night show. David Dastmalchian, an actor who I’ve been wanting to see take on a lead role after killing it in so many movies as a supporting player, knocks it out of the park as Jack Delroy, the late night host so out of his mind that he lets a seemingly possessed child onto his show. It may have a slow start, but once the horror begins, it doesn’t let up until the credits. Such a fun movie that deserves more attention in the mainstream.
David Dastmalchian in Late Night with the Devil
Love Lies Bleeding [dir. Rose Glass]
Five years after the great Saint Maud, Rose Glass returned early in 2024 with Love Lies Bleeding, a pulpy crime thriller/romance where a reclusive gym manager falls hard for an ambitious bodybuilder. Katy O’Brian is a star in the making, her performance literally towering over the movie. Kristen Stewart is incredible here too, some of her best work alongside Spencer is in this. Both Ed Harris and Dave Franco go all out for their roles too. It feels very much like a David Cronenberg project, who also isn’t a stranger to winding crime thrillers, as well as horror. Just be ready to be thrown off by the ending, which I certainly was. It’s still on the list, though, which is saying something to how much I enjoyed it.
Katy O’Brian in Love Lies Bleeding
My Hero Academia: You’re Next [dir. Tensai Okamura]
In a year that felt extra bleak for superhero movies, a franchise that I took a break from for a few years ended up coming back strong. You’re Next, the latest film spun off from the My Hero Academia anime, absolutely knocks it out of the park. Stripping away all of the fluff reveals a classic, straightly-played superhero story, one that feels right at home with the best of comic book movies from the 2000s and 2010s. This also has a fun flip on the Superman/Bizarro trope that I wasn’t expecting this franchise to dip into. Don’t let this being the fourth film in the franchise stop you from giving it a try. I don’t even think you need to know the series to watch this. You’re Next may not add anything new to the superhero movie canon, but this will probably be a dark horse for my personal favorites in recent memory.
Still from My Hero Academia: You’re Next
Queer [dir. Luca Guadagnino]
Luca Guadagnino went two-for-two this year. As if he couldn’t top Challengers, he came out swinging with Queer, an adaptation of William S. Burrough’s novella that’s been nearly two decades in the making. Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey might be my favorite pairing of actors this year. The whole movie would collapse under its weight without them, especially when it takes a wildly abstract turn during the final act. In terms of Craig specifically, I’ve mentioned in my review that this was the role I was waiting for when it came to him, and it’s wonderful that Queer ended up being the movie to finally launch him to Oscar contention (hopefully).
Daniel Craig in Queer
Saturday Night [dir. Jason Reitman]
A firecracker of a movie, Saturday Night feels like an explosion of up and coming talent. I’m a sucker for one of those real-time movies, where the runtime of the movie itself is how much time is covered in the events of the movie. What really holds the glue of Saturday Night together is, like SNL itself, the ensemble cast. Gabriel LaBelle, Cooper Hoffman, Rachel Sennott, and Cory Michael Smith are the big standouts there, with veterans Willem Dafoe and J.K. Simmons doing very well in their smaller roles. Not many movies on this list are on here simply because of the “energy” of it, but Saturday Night is one of them.
Gabriel LaBelle in Saturday Night
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 [dir. Jeff Fowler]
It may be the tiniest bit of bias, but I can’t deny how fun this is. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a family movie that has everything going for it: fun vibes, good action, a decent story, all of that. Getting Shadow, a fan favorite character, in there is a huge step, let alone getting none other than Keanu Reeves to voice him. The x-factor here, though, is Jim Carrey. His dual roles as Dr. Eggman and his grandfather is the special sauce that no other comedy has this year: an unhinged comedic performance. I’ve said that it felt like Carrey never left the 1990s when he was in the first two entries, but I really believe that his roles in Sonic 3 are some of the best of not only this year, but his whole career. For that alone, among just how fun Sonic 3 is, it deserves to be included as some of the best of the year.
Jim Carrey and Jim Carrey in Sonic the Hedgehog 3
The Substance [dir. Coralie Fargeat]
Like on the worst year list when I said that Borderlands was the worst movie of the year, I can easily say that The Substance is my favorite movie of the year. As I was thinking about it, I can’t think of a movie that would come close to it. I haven’t seen any of writer/director/editor Coralie Fargeat’s other projects yet, but with The Substance being only her second film, I can’t imagine what she could have in store next. The back-and-forth performances from Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are career defining, both very deserving of awards. We can’t forget about Dennis Quaid either, who’s also putting in some of his best work ever. However, the script is also easily the best of the year. One of the only movies from 2024 that I just can’t think of any sort of flaws. Once in a generation movie.
Demi Moore in The Substance
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story [dir. Ian Bonhôte & Peter Ettedgui]
I’m not a big documentary watcher (something that’s changing for 2025), but since I watched all of the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman movies and fell in love with them this past summer, I felt obligated to watch the doc about Reeve and his life after the tragic horse-riding accident that paralyzed him. In terms of the actual documentary filmmaking, I really enjoyed the use of archival footage from both before and after Reeve’s tragic injury, alongside being mixed with interviews from Reeve’s children and his friends. Really powerful stuff, I’m glad I got to catch it in a theater.
Still from Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Trap [dir. M. Night Shyamalan]
When I realized that Joker: Folie à Deux wouldn’t be making the cut for this list, I realized something else at the same time: Trap would definitely be the most controversial inclusion on this list. And I have an even hotter take for you: Trap is M. Night Shyamalan’s best since Signs. The chunk of the movie set in the concert boils down a juicy, well-executed Hitman level, but it’s when the concert ends that it becomes a straight-up thriller, with both halves being held down by an incredible performance from Josh Hartnett, who I’ve sorely missed from modern movies. An absolute blast.
Josh Hartnett in Trap
As a bonus, here are 10 movies that weren’t new releases that I saw for the first time in 2024 that I adored:
Black Christmas [dir. Bob Clark]
Cure [dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa]
Dead Poets Society [dir. Peter Weir]
Julien Donkey-Boy [dir. Harmony Korine]
Marriage Story [dir. Noah Baumbach]
The Raid [dir. Gareth Evans]
Shin Godzilla [dir. Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi]
The Story of a Three-Day Pass [dir. Melvin Van Peebles]
Superman: The Movie [dir. Richard Donner]
True Stories [dir. David Byrne]
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