Chris' Top 10 Films of 2024
It was another span of many very good films with no exceptional ones, though a diverse array of stories, styles and perspectives marked the year in cinema.
Was I disappointed in the movies of 2024? Not really, but like people eras of film boast innumerable variations.
Sometimes I’ll see two or three films I thought truly outstanding, and then the fall-off is dramatic after that. Other years, like this one, I saw dozens of very good movies and yet none that I would call true standouts heads and shoulders above the rest.
Only once in a blue moon, perhaps every 10 or 15 years, do we experience a year filled with films that will stand the test of time as true classics. 2015 was the last one, so it would seem we’re due for another soon.
Top 10 lists are really meaningless, but also essential. Rankings like this start conversations, stoke inquiry and get people jazzed about moving pictures. Plus, I think it behooves any critic worth their salt to put their stamp on things and take a stand — and thus risk pushback and even being proven wrong.
Critics who parse and pussyfoot, refuse to put grades on their reviews and write to hear the sound of their own (textual) voice are not ones I care to read, certainly not to be.
So here is my list for the year in film 2024. Or should I say, lists. Those familiar with my M.O. know that in addition to a top 10, I also provide a “best of the rest,” aka movies I considered for the 10. It can range from a handful to a couple of dozen.
I don’t do “worst of” lists, because making a crappy movie is its own punishment and I don’t care to pile on. Instead, I offer a list of films that on some level I had hopes for, and they left me disappointed.
The Top 10
Emilia Pérez — It’s not been faring well in critic awards, but this kaleidoscope of sound, music and fury was the most emotional experience I had at the cinema in 2024. Karla Sofía Gascón gives the performance of the year as a Mexican drug kingpin who chucks it all to disappear into a new form, emerging as a mysterious woman looking to mend old crimes. With an outstanding Zoe Saldana as her lawyer/collaborator/colleague. Seems weird and off-putting at first, but draws you in with its essential humanity.
Flow — The best animated movie of the year is the one you probably haven’t hear of, the wordless tale of a cat striving to escape a titanic flood and winds up creating a little family along the way. Simple, yet beautiful.
Conclave — I guess you could argue this isn’t the deepest film, as it’s essentially a crime procedural/political drama with the papacy in Rome as the backdrop. Great performances across the board, wonderful production values, and never sets a single step wrong. Works like a finely crafted mechanism.
Civil War — I fret that this movie coming out so early in this year is leading to it being forgotten by many, but it’s stayed with me like few other screen experiences. What makes it so haunting as the proposition of a red/blue dissolution of the United States is that it’s so damn plausible, and presented in stark contrast to the usual partisan puffery.
Nosferatu — I’m as surprised to see this on my list as you are. I went in thinking the whole endeavor was a waste of time, the umpteenth iteration of the tired old vampire mythology. But Robert Eggers and his cast and crew left me exhilarated, elated and drained. As horror lover from an early age, it’s hard for a movie to genuinely scare me… this did.
Los Frikis — This movie hasn’t gotten its release yet, but I’m hoping it will get attention when it does. It’s the based-on-true story of HIV-positive youngsters sent into isolation in 1990s Cuba, in some cases after intentionally infecting themselves, and create a little community that’s filled with chaos but also true affection.
Wicked: Part I — I went in as a true “Wicked” virgin, having not experienced anything of the stage version other than a song snippet or two. Interestingly, it seems to be the ardent fans who are less enamored with this adaptation of the musical that recasts the Wizard of Oz tale in a very different light. I thought it was magical and transportive. I do worry if there’s another 160 minutes worth of storytelling left for the sequel.
The Brutalist — A movie I expected to admire along with only a few others, and was pleased to see it getting some recognition. Adrien Brody is soulful as a Polish Jew immigrating to America after WWII who struggles to reckon with the American dream. It’s big, audacious and ambitious, doesn’t quite grasp its full potential but is mesmerizing in trying to get there.
A Complete Unknown — Another “I didn’t think I’d like this” entry. Perhaps like “Wicked,” it’s built more for casuals than hardcore fans of Bob Dylan. A terrifically entertaining mix of music and mythology.
Sing Sing — This film has kind of gotten lost in the mix. I reviewed it back in July for a limited theatrical release no one seemed to notice, and it’s continued to dribble out here and there in film fests and whatnot. Colman Domingo leads a terrific ensemble cast mostly made up of real graduates of the infamous prison’s theatrical troupe, who try to find redemption through art.
The Rest
(Listed alphabetically)
Babes — Ilana Glazer’s raunchy and wickedly smart take on motherhood and friendship.
Back to Black — A biopic of Amy Winehouse that’s absolutely terrific, and I don’t know why nobody saw it.
Better Man — Honestly, I didn’t even know who Robbie Williams was, and after this colorful, off-kilter biopic — voiced by Williams with a CGI chimpanzee body — I felt like I knew him.
His Three Daughters — A classic example of a play they made into a movie instead. Intimate and superbly acted.
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 — Repeating my theme of “I didn’t expect to like this so much.” Kevin Costner’s divergent Western seems both very old and very new at the same time, with multiple characters and storylines. With the first bombing, the second film’s release is in doubt as is the planned production of two more. Probably should have been a streaming series.
Hundreds of Beavers — Rude, crude, hilarious, inventive. At 10 minutes in I was like, “Is the whole movie going to be just this?” And by the end I kinda loved it.
Janet Planet — A marvelous debut film for playwright Annie Baker, an observational look at a mother/daughter relationship.
Longlegs — Another rare modern horror that genuinely creeped me the hell out; Nic Cage doesn’t have a lot of screen time but his performance grabs you by the throat.
Look Back — A very sensitive and heartrending animated look at two young manga artists and their divergent paths.
Love Lies Bleeding — Indiana actress Katy O’Brian makes a big impression in this tragic love story/noir centered on a female bodybuilder.
Memoir of a Snail — I love when animated movies are used to tell mature, interesting stories.
My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock — I learned more about the master’s filmmaking style in two hours of watching this documentary than a semester in film class at NYU.
The Piano Lesson — A searing story of family trauma stoked in racism with a tinge of the occult.
A Real Pain — This one from Jesse Eisenberg really grows on you.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin — A terrific documentary about a segment of the population, hardcore gamers, that rarely is acknowledged.
Saturday Night — After a few misfires, director Jason Reitman is back with this funny and illuminating look at the start of “Saturday Night Live.”
The Seed of the Sacred Fig — A hard-to-watch but illuminating look at a Iranian family gradually disintegrating under the strain of their tyrannical regime.
September 5 — A jarring and existential look at the broadcast journalists covering the 1972 Olympic hostage crisis in real time.
The Speedway Murders — Adam Kamien and Luke Rynderman’s atypical documentary look at the infamous Indianapolis crime, where the actors doing the reenacting of the victims pause to debate the true fate of their characters.
White Bird — Marc Forster’s harrowing and moving WWII story about a German boy hiding a Jewish girl. This one really got lost in the shuffle.
The Disappointments
A Different Man — Sebastian Stan plays a man with severe facial deformities who becomes handsome through science, and then the movie loses its way.
The Substance — Interesting and bold, but revels in prurient displays of female flesh to make a point about the objectification of women.
Nickel Boys — Terrific premise, based on the true story of Florida prison camps for boys, but the “look at me” direction ruins it.
Anora — Beloved by many critics, but not this one. I could not get invested in the story of a stripper who gets involved with the Russian mafia by marrying a spoiled son.
Challengers — Honestly, I was pretty bored by this pretentious tennis love triangle.
Queer — A beautiful-looking movie about terrible people you don’t care about.
I Saw the TV Glow — A lot of my fellow critics and chums love this, but to me it felt like it was chasing weirdness for weirdness’ sake.
Gladiator II — An audacious move to make this sequel, and then make it a pure sword-and-sandals action film with zero dramatic aspirations to the weighty original. Paul Mescal comes across as incredibly lightweight. Denzel Washington almost saves it.
Joker: Folie à Deux — A great example when filmmakers enjoy success and then get full of themselves.