Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
I’ve often measured the progress of my year by the movies I’ve seen. From the trashy B-movies in ‘dumpuary’ to the summer blockbuster and, eventually, the onslaught of ‘prestige fare’ and an overwhelming amount of screeners in December, movies have been a marker of time. I know, for example, that Halloween is coming up when my wife puts on Practical Magic or that Christmas is close when I make my yearly trip to Boston to see It’s a Wonderful Life with close friends. The same goes for my yearly panic when top-tens are due and I realize I have a pile of screeners begging for my attention.
This year was different. My time was less measured by the things I watched than what happened in my life when those things were on my television. It was a passive year, at least film-watching-wise. See, I had my second daughter in July, which meant that this year has simultaneously, and almost paradoxically, been slow going while also flying by. Thus, my year in film was defined by milestones outside of what was actually on the screen. My oldest, who’s almost three, took her first trip to the theaters to see Moana 2. It was, truthfully, an almost religious experience for a film that was kind of garbage. But, she danced and sang and ate her body weight in popcorn and I found myself reborn by the experience of the movie theater.
The same goes for a sleep-deprived post-birth decision to sit my five-hour-old daughter down to watch Madame Web on my laptop in the hospital. Why exactly did we choose that movie? No idea, but I’m now fundamentally tied to that Dakota Johnson abomination if only because it was her first movie ever and I barely watched a minute of it anyways. I may lie to her and say that her first movie was Twister, which is what we watched next, but my wife, the nurses, and I who kept coming in know the truth.
This could be depressing, but movies nevertheless punctuated the important moments in my life this year. I don’t know if I watched many quote-unquote good movies, but I know that the ones I did were meaningful and representative of moments that I’ll probably never forget. Further, there’s something to be said for watching something in stolen hours between bedtime and breakfast, when it was just the youngest and I. Also while I loved my theater experiences, they were also a bit in short supply. I’ve also never been more of an evangelist for home viewing. Shortened windows and the wonders of streaming kept me sane, and for that I’ll be appreciative (even if I openly wonder what will happen to theaters).
So, with that, my top is, as with last year, populist and perhaps a little idiosyncratic. But time is in short supply, and I like what I like. I’m sure I’ll be hearing from some annoyed friend, but that also goes with the territory. I also haven’t seen many/most of the films released this year, so we can blame the exclusion of The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, etc. on the fact that I haven’t seen them, not on quality. With that, let’s begin:
10. It’s What’s Inside (Greg Jardin)
Greg Jardin’s directorial debut, which is on Netflix, feels destined to be reclaimed by a cohort of Letterboxd users who, more than anything, love indie sci-fi. This movie was made for that person in your life who keeps telling you to watch Coherence or Primer. A body-swamp comedy dressed up like an Edgar Wright movie, it’s color-coded, a little confusing (but not too much), and mostly just a fun way to spend 90 minutes. Also, David Thompson, who plays Forbes, the man who brings the body-swapping suitcase, is a star. Look out for him!
9. I.S.S. (Gabriela Cowperthwaite)
Ariana Debose has spent the years since winning an Oscar for West Side Story making some incredibly questionable career choices. In addition to becoming this generation’s Neil Patrick Harris by hosting the Tony’s three years in a row, she also was in Argylle, House of Spoils, and Kraven the Hunter. That’s frankly an all-time low for someone coming off the industry’s highest honors. But, early in January she lent her ‘star’ power to I.S.S., a lean thriller about a standoff between Russian and American forces on the International Space Station. One may not remember a single thing about the plot, but I do recall that this movie absolutely ripped, was 90 minutes long, and would’ve killed it at the box office in 1998. Everyone that is talking about how Carry-On is a throwback needs to watch this.
8. Juror #2 (Clint Eastwood)
Speaking of movies that would’ve thrived on TNT, Clint Eastwood’s morality play is one of the best that he’s made in a while, and a reminder that good mainstream movies are out there, you just need enough social media-induced shame of a company’s CEO to get to watch them. Seriously, what did Warner Brothers/David Zazlov do to this movie? It features Nicholas Hoult’s best performance ever (in a year where he gives three damn good ones), and is maybe the swan song for Eastwood? It also has the best ending of the year, hands down (though, as I said above, I haven’t seen much). Also, do we really believe that Clint is retiring? That man got his legacy Oscar for Unforgiven in 1992 and kept making stuff; I think he’s got one more in him.
7. The First Omen/Immaculate (Arkasha Stevenson/Michael Mohan)
A definite cheat. First, I know that I have two movies listed above. Second, The First Omen is an infinitely better movie than Immaculate. Anyone who watched Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block knows that Arkasha Stevenson has the stuff. Here, she takes wayward IP and elevates it into one of the best horror movies released this year. Seriously, The First Omen is, first and foremost, scary. It also has a star turn by Nell Tiger Free and is truly one of the best surprises to come out of this corporate focus on remakes and reboots.But, I also want to give a shout-out to The First Omen’s B-Side. Immaculate is kind of the same movie, just worse. But, of the things that Sydney Sweeney put out this year, it’s the most interesting by a mile. Further, I’m here for Michael Mohan trying to revive every B-genre possible with Sweeney. They started with the erotic thriller in The Voyeurs and moved on to nun-horror. Hopefully they keep the collaboration up.
6. Rebel Ridge (Jeremy Saulnier)
Jeremy Saulnier has a definite lane and he sticks to it. A throwback thriller that is so obviously modeled on First Blood that Stallone might want to talk about residuals, it’s also a massive comeback after the lethargic Hold the Dark. Here, Aaron Pierre proves himself a star as a former Marine just looking to do right by his cousin. It’s a movie that isn’t showy, but relies so much on its performances (including Don Johnson reminding everyone why he’s great and AnnaSophia Robb is what could’ve been a thankless role). Netflix often favors bland genre fare, but here it’s a reminder of what can be accomplished with a component filmmaker and newfound star.
5. Anora (Sean Baker)
As of this writing, Anora looks like the front-runner at the Oscars. We’ll see how that sentence ages but, even still, it’s borderline insane that a Sean Baker film about a sex worker and the horrors of capitalism is even being touted as a possible Best Picture contender. Anora is a weird Oscar movie, something that I fear might be lost amid the ‘award season’ discourse. Here we have a capitalistic critique, a slapstick comedy, and, ultimately, a tragedy about the chasm between the haves and have-nots. But it’s truly a stunning film; the best that Baker has ever made. Also, enough is going to be said about Mikey Madison’s performance that I don’t need to add more, other than to say that I’m sure she’s going to get some backlash because the award season is a hellscape, but give that woman an Oscar.
4. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
The most propulsive movie of the year. Luca Guadagnino’s tennis drama is less concerned with the sport than it is with how the matches’ serve as stand-ins for sex. It’s a love triangle where all three people are equally attracted to each other. I’ve always preferred Guadagnino when he lets his freak fly (see Suspiria) than when he goes for elevated awards bait. This film splits that difference. It features three standout performances that, I suspect, will cannibalize each other when it comes to awards. Yet, when we got to the final match, and when the camera started whizzing around the court as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score was thumping, I was cheering.
3. The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols)
When Jeff Nichols released Midnight Special and Loving in 2016, some critics accused him of being too prolific, sacrificing quantity for quality. Those people were wrong, as not only do both of those films hold up, but his return eight years later is stunning. An exploration of counter-cultural families and the in-fighting that goes along with them, it somehow flew under the radar upon its release. But, for anyone who’s accused Tom Hardy of phoning it in, here is where we see his return to absolutely weird roles (and accents) outside of Venom. Also, with this and Dune: Part Two, Austin Butler has shaken off Elvis. I watched this movie with a dear friend and my very pregnant wife (a week away from giving birth). As she paced back and forth in the back of the theater, unable to get comfortable, but still enraptured by the film and Jodie Comer’s loopy accent, I knew we were watching something special.
2. Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
Robert Eggers’ films have been hit-or-miss for me. I still think that his best work is his first feature The Witch, but a close second would be Nosferatu. It perfectly encapsulates Eggers’s formalist approach to directing. Everything here is painterly, each scene an almost perfectly framed composition. Yet, he also gives room to Lily-Rose Depp’s unbound and physical performance, as she writhes and twists in every direction. Some may say this remake is unnecessary or staid, but I can’t imagine a better use for Eggers to cash in on his A24 clout. Gothic horror has seemed to be in short supply recently, so I’m all for Eggers trying to revive the genre.
1. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Shoenbrun)
Jane Schoenbrun’s exploration of gender, sexuality, and the power of nostalgia is utterly transfixing and represents an impressive step up from their already excellent first feature We Are Going to the World’s Fair. Like Eggers, Schoenbrun uses genre as a portal into feelings of repression and isolation, but they do so here with such a culturally attuned sense of life in the nineties. “The Pink Opaque” could’ve been on right after Are You Afraid of the Dark. When Justice Smith’s character Owen rewatches the show on streaming, after many years, only to discover that its haunting power has been lost, replaced by a cheaply made kid’s show, I’ve never felt a clearer representation of how nostalgia twists our memories. I’m sure that my life experience couldn’t be further from Schoenbrun, but I nevertheless connected with their work in a way that only the movies allow for. It’s a film that’s stayed with me ever since I saw it almost 11 months ago.