How do you top a year that gave us Oppenheimer, Killers Of The Flower Moon and Tár?
2024 had the answer.
Fears that 2024’s crop of films would see a dip as a result of Hollywood’s dual actor and writer strike taking months to resolve went unfounded.
We start the list with some films that just missed out on a spot in our 10: German comedy-drama The Teacher’s Longue, the noble failure of Megaopolis, Oscar-winning Poor Things, the heart-breaking All Of Us Strangers, terrifying Longlegs, the inspired Robot Dreams and the maniacal Hundreds Of Beavers all would have made our list in any other year – all of these films are worth your time.
With that preamble out of the way, let’s get down to business; here are our picks for the 10 best films of 2024.
10) Conclave (Dir. Edward Berger)
20 years ago, we would have taken a film like Conclave for granted because Hollywood used to put out movies like this at a steady clip.
In the era of streaming bloat, a well-made populist thriller is just what the doctor ordered.
Conclave knows exactly what it is and is unapologetic about being a straight-down-the-middle thriller that can appeal to the college date night crowd or a screening at the local nursing home.
Ralph Fiennes gives a career-best performance as the man tasked with helping the catholic church pick a new pope, with a brilliant supporting cast of Isabella Rossellini, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and scene-stealers Carlos Diehz and Sergio Castellitto making the film teem with life.
Filled with enough twists and turns to fill a box set, Conclave was a last-minute addition to the list but is fully worthy of a spot on our 10.
9) The Iron Claw (Dir. Sean Durkin)
The Iron Claw manages to do the impossible; it takes a universal human emotion like grief and somehow finds a different angle.
Based on the devastating true story of the Von Erich wrestling family, director Sean Baker weaves a film that is a heartbreaking deconstruction of the family unit and how it unravels in the face of unimaginable tragedy.
As we said in our review last February, this film is going to develop a reputation like The Shawshank Redemption or Zodiac, overlooked by audiences and the Oscars at the time, but will take on a life of its own; it’s really that good and deserves to be held in that esteem.
8) A Different Man (Dir. Aaron Schimberg)
Speaking of originality being at a premium and audiences not caring about it, A Different Man was shamefully overlooked by the masses when it was released in October.
The premise – a man with a skin condition undergoes experimental treatment, bins his old identity and acts in a play based on his own life – is a hard sell but there is a biting edge to A Different Man that makes it worth seeking out.
Sebastian Stan turned in two terrific performances this year between this and The Apprentice and proved that just because you’re known for a franchise it doesn’t mean you can’t let your freak flag fly every once in a while.
Adam Pearson’s performance in this is similar to Charles Melton in May/December last year; he comes into the film and totally flips it on its head.
A Different Man is worth seeing for its clever, darkly funny script but Pearson’s performance makes this unmissable.
7) Challengers (Dir. Luca Guadagnino)
There is something about tennis that makes it thrilling to watch in film form, so Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino adds a healthy dash of homoerotic tension to make Challengers a winning dish.
The three leads – Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor – all give spirited performances (O’Connor, in particular, is the standout) and the three leads are very clearly on Guadagnino’s wavelength.
Challengers benefits from incredible cinematography by Thai cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross that sounds like an undiscovered New Order album.
In isolation, all these parts would be the best parts of another film, when you add them all together like Challengers, you get one of the best films of the year.
6) Anora (Dir. Sean Baker)
It turns out that a movie that wins the Palme d’Or is really good.
Sean Baker’s Madcap comedy is about a young sex worker having a whirlwind romance with the son of a Russian billionaire.
Midnight Cowboy did it in 1969, Sex, Lies and Videotape did it in 1989 and Baker captures similar lightning in a bottle; there is a punk attitude to Anora that very few films have.
With an inspired lead performance from Mikey Madison complimented by the the best bumbling idiot gangsters this side of a Coen Brothers flick, Anora feels like the movie that best represents 2024; stressful, a lot of shouting, but the occasional sweet moment makes it worthwhile.
5) Sing Sing (Dir. Greg Kwedar)
Fittingly for a film released 30 years after the Shawshank Redemption, this prison drama may well end up with the same cultural legacy.
Based on the true story of prisoners adapting to life inside prison walls through the healing properties of theatre, Sing Sing is a triumph of empathy.
A film like this flying under the radar despite strong reviews yet boilerplate franchises rule the roost is maddening; there is enough imagination and soul in Sing Sing to fill 20 films.
Colman Domingo’s regal performance is one of the best performances we’ve seen in quite some time and will be in contention come awards season.
Sing Sing demonstrates just how important the arts are to culture; regardless of your circumstances, you can make something beautiful.
4) The Holdovers (Dir. Alexander Payne)
What can we say about The Holdovers that we didn’t say in our review in January 2024? It’s a warm hug of a film from a friend you haven’t seen in years.
An instant Christmas classic, Paul Giamatti was incredibly unlucky to come up against Cillian Murphy at the Oscars – he would have won in any other year for his hysterical performance here.
The Holdovers already has a reputation as a new Christmas classic but the film is fantastic outside the festive setting.
Newcomer Dominic Sessa plays the bratty Holden Caulfield-style troubled teen with panache while Da’Vine Joy Randolph ran away with the Oscar for her brilliant turn as the school cook.
There is a Mike Nichols or Hal Ashby quality to The Holdovers – it could have been made in 1974 but we are lucky enough to live in the world where it came out in 2024 instead.
3) The Substance (Dir. Coralie Fargeat)
The Substance has become the rare horror film accepted by cult and mainstream audiences alike, just like Get Out or Silence Of The Lambs before it.
French director Coralie Fargeat created the role of a lifetime for Demi Moore in this bloody brilliant horror comedy that is not for the squeamish.
Moore comes back after a few years on the sidelines with a performance that ranks as her very best with Margaret Qualley also announcing herself as a talent in her own right.
Throw in a hysterical supporting turn from Dennis Quaid and you have one of the most unforgettable films of the decade.
Just when you think it’s written itself into a corner, The Substance just keeps going and going until it reaches a crescendo we wouldn’t dream of spoiling here.
Thanks for setting the bar impossibly high for all other horror films, The Substance.
2) Perfect Days (Dir. Wim Wenders)
When you make your best film over 50 years into your career, you are something special.
German auteur Wim Wenders turned in his best film to date with the meditative yet deeply rewarding Perfect Days.
The premise – a look at the daily life of a toilet cleaner in Tokyo – sounds like ponderous arthouse nonsense that your hip friend recommends but there is a quiet dignity and beauty to Perfect Days that makes it a film that anyone could watch and enjoy.
1) The Zone Of Interest (Dir. Jonathan Glazer)
If a film can reduce you to a husk by the end through sheer unrelenting dread, all while communicating it solely through sound and visual shorthand, it has done its job well.
British director Jonathan Glazer made the 2024’s best film with this loose adaptation of the Maritn Amis novel, with his pitch of “Big Brother in Auschwitz” making for a film that is more akin to a museum installation than a traditional cinema experience.
Anyone who has been to places like Auschwitz, Breslau or Dachau can attest to a singular haunted feeling in the air, as if evil itself still lingers, and Glazer, somehow, manages to convey this in film form.
Billy Wilder was once quoted as saying “the best director is the one you don’t see” and that maxim can be applied here.
The Zone Of Interest is purely a sound-based film with some visual flourishes and that is a tribute to Jonathan Glazer for making his presence non-obtrusive.
The subsequent reaction to the film – and Glazer’s outspokenness being vindicated – means this film will live on in much the same way Schindler’s List or Shoah.
The truly great films are both historical documents with real world sub-text inserted; on those grounds, The Zone Of Interest had to be our pick for the best film of the year.