My Favorite Movies of 2024: Top Tier, Part 3

I Saw the TV Glow

This strange, liminal, visually stunning and incredibly emotional movie has haunted me more than any other 2024 film I saw; the tale of two teenagers obsessed with a strange, unsettling television series turns into a meditation on so much more. And, in a year with some very high profile musicals, no film turned my heart inside out with its music as much as this one.

Kneecap

Fictionalized story of the formation of a real Irish hip-hop group with the group members all playing themselves; raucous, hilariously funny, sharply political and the music is banger after banger after banger.

Nosferatu

Eggers brings his signature unsettling stylings to this classically styled remake and its as rock solid as Orlok’s castle; great performances, a great score and Eggers’ great eye all combine to make a memorable, harrowing experience.

The Order

FBI Agent Jude Law pursues white supremacist leader Nicolas Hoult in one of the most underrated movies of the year; it’s a compelling thriller and it understands that its subject matter is disturbing enough that it doesn’t need to be sensationalized. Sobering and disturbing and Hoult’s performance is chilling.

The Outrun

Saorise Ronan plays a recovering alcoholic returning to her home in the Orkney Islands; the movie is stark, spare and unflinching and Ronan’s performance is the same. An often disorienting but ultimately moving story of hard-won redemption.

Smile 2

While I’ll always love the stripped down simplicity of the first film, this sequel expands into a larger discussion of celebrity and fame. Features a great lead performance from Naomi Scott, an atmosphere of creeping dread and some incredibly effective scares.

The Substance

Coralie Fargeat’s follow-up to the excellent Revenge gives Demi Moore the chance to go for absolute broke and she does it; a compellingly grotesquerie that I couldn’t look away from for a second. And just when you think the movie has gone for it, it goes for it again.  

Okay, man, lot of great movies this past year. Glad I got to see the ones I did.

My Favorite Movies of 2024: Top Tier, Part 2

Dune Part 2

Villeneuve keeps on owning the arena of artistic blockbusters with this chilling story of a fascist’s rise to power; visually overwhelming, but also compelling dramatically and beautifully acted by the entire ensemble.

Exhibiting Forgiveness

Character actor Andre Holland gets an all-too-rare leading role as a troubled African-American artist dealing with his estranged father; minimal, but deeply effecting performances anchor a beautiful, incredibly moving film.

The First Omen

A shockingly excellent prequel to a movie that actively shouldn’t have a prequel, this movie delivered on the atmosphere, the dread and the unsettling scares; a great lead performance from Nell Tiger Free. Damages the original film only slightly.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

I think it’s a fool’s errand to try to figure out whether this movie is “better” or “worse” than the also astounding Fury Road, so I’ll just say that this one keeps the stunning action sequences, broadens the story, slows the pace a bit and, ultimately, makes the first film better.

Godzilla Minus One

Caught up to this one last year after missing it in the theater and had to include it here; it’s a fantastic Godzilla movie and a fantastic movie about PTSD and survivor’s guilt at the same time. Thrilling and eye-popping special effects; Godzilla’s maybe never been scarier.

Good One

This quiet, documentary-esque story of a teenage girl, her father and her father’s friend going on a wilderness hike was one of the truest movies of the year, with not a single moment that feels like it was dramatized for the sake of being in a movie. Beautifully acted by all three leads, this one hides emotional depths beneath its placid surface.

Heretic

Hugh Grant just might be career best here as a quietly menacing yet charming householder that puts a couple of Mormon missionaries through some tests of faith. A great script and three great performances elevate this horror-thriller to the entertainment stratosphere. Some of the most fun I had all year at the movies.