ALEX LAVINSON
Co-Managing Mosaic Editor
While 2024 may not have had the same cinematic starpower that we saw in previous years, like 2022 and 2023, it was still a year full of innovative and memorable movies. From “Dune: Part Two” and “Inside Out 2” to “Nosferatu” and “Wicked,” there was more than enough cinema to go around – so much so, that picking only 10 to highlight feels silly. But nevertheless, I have a list and am here to share it. Here are my 10 favorite films from 2024.
Disclaimer: Only movies that were first released theatrically in the United States in 2024.
10. “Anora” (dir. Sean Baker)
Over the last decade, Sean Baker has quietly established himself as one of the best contemporary directors. Only now, with “Anora,” a thrilling rom-com between the son of an oligarch and a sex worker from Brooklyn, has he received the due recognition for his work.
“Anora” brought home multiple awards at this year’s Oscars, and for good reason. The film is funny, empathetic and home to some of the year’s most riotous and cinematic moments. Not to mention Mikey Madison’s tour de force performance as the titular character, as well as all the infectious work from the four featured supporting actors.
9. “Hit Man” (dir. Richard Linklater)
Director Richard Linklater continues to add to his stacked catalog, this time with “Hit Man,” a humorous and winding story about the power of performance and the philosophy of self. It follows a quirky professor, Gary (Glen Powell), who part-times as a fake hit man, only to find himself dangerously invested in one of the false personas he creates. The result is a fun, energetic and consistently unpredictable film that never compromises its absurdist flair.
8. “The Brutalist” (dir. Brady Corbet)
I’ve been trying to come up with ways to describe “The Brutalist” for months now, and it hasn’t gotten any easier. Even after a second viewing, I find myself simultaneously in love with and perplexed by the film’s expansive yet tiresome nature. It might be a film about the immigrant experience, but that label only scratches the surface in regard to the film’s true intentions.
With gorgeous VistaVision visuals and a blaring, memorable score, “The Brutalist” is three-and-half hours of wonderfully ambitious storytelling. As we follow Jewish architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody) through his experience in coming to America post-World War II, we are left to make our own interpretations about freedom, capitalism and the cyclical nature of exploitation.
7. “La Cocina” (dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios)
The underappreciated, hidden gem of the year, “La Cocina” blends realistic drama with farcical comedy to tell the story of a chaotic New York kitchen and the workers whose lives are tethered to it. It’s the story of an engine powered by immigrants and blue-collar workers – those who work tirelessly and dream just as tirelessly, just to keep themselves at bay.
“La Cocina” is exciting, flagrant, melancholy, bittersweet and wildly entertaining. Its gorgeous black and white photography creates a dreary atmosphere that captures the characters and their dehumanizing lives. But, while the frames are colorless, the characters are anything but, holding onto hope with each passing disaster.
6. “The Substance” (dir. Coralie Fargeat)
Enduring “The Substance” is an experience unlike any other. It’s a long-winded, exhausting spectacle of a horror movie, and one that culminates in endless blood and guts. And yet, it’s one of the year’s most triumphant creations.
Everything from the set design to the shot selections, acting and carefully sprinkled satire has burned itself into the deepest corners of my memory, forever leaving me with the stunned impression that flowed throughout my body.
Check out my review of the film from earlier in the year here.
5. “I Saw the TV Glow” (dir. Jane Schoenbrun)
Completely original and utterly confounding, “I Saw the TV Glow,” a genre-defying, atmospheric horror film, is both a captivating account of detrimental repression and a messy collection of ideas and tones. But, as much as its flaws occasionally irk me, the film’s singular visual language is undeniably powerful.
From its eerie lighting to its colorful metaphors and creative exposition, the film exudes strong feelings of melancholy and despair: the feelings that come with the protagonist’s subdued sense of self. It’s terrifyingly bleak, and yet, hauntingly relevant to the ways in which we often bury ourselves within.
4. “The Beast” (dir. Bertrand Bonello)
The French art house scene has consistently provided some of the most creative and unorthodox visions in film, from the emotionally intoxicating “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (2019) to the sickening, intense and strangely wholesome “Titane” (2021) to, now, the expansive and genre-defying “The Beast.”
A centuries-spanning romance, “The Beast” follows Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux), a young woman seeking DNA purification through a futuristic machine that offers her a glimpse into her past lives, and the powerful emotions that she then encountered. The result is a consistently engaging yet elusive story about love and its relationship with fear; one that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since its conclusion.
3. “Queer” (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 was nothing short of astonishing. The Italian auteur released two fantastically refreshing, genre-bending movies, both of which are featured on the upper echelon of my year-end list.
The second film to release, “Queer,” a romantic drama following a gay drug addict struggling to understand his complicated relationship with a younger, ambiguous man, is easily the more bewildering of the two. Having tried to write about it on multiple occasions, I’ve found myself unable to conjure more than a vague paragraph of my initial reaction.
The film is so imaginative and scattered in its approach that it’s difficult to put into words. And yet, the more I think about it, the more I feel its resounding tenderness whittling away at my emotions. Watching the main character, William Lee (Daniel Craig), exhaust himself at the behest of Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), his alien-like love interest who continuously fails to reciprocate, is deeply disturbing and saddening. The film is dark, beautiful and one of the most visceral viewing experiences I’ve had all year.
2. “Challengers” (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Luca Guadagnino’s other movie is the sexy tennis drama, “Challengers,” a bold, confident and defining movie of 2024. It’s a film that jumps back and forth through time, following the relationships and interactions between three tennis players, Tashi (Zendaya), Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor).
As this trio comes together, falls apart and witnesses fractures within their relationships, we begin to understand more and more about the characters and their passionate desires. But, most importantly, the film is an absolute romp. The cinematography is ambitious and chaotic, the score is loud and overbearing and the humor is sensual and kinky.
It’s a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously, while still being engaging and believable. It’s two-plus hours of inconsequential romantic drama in its purest and most exciting form, and I love just about every second of it.
1. “A Different Man” (dir. Aaron Schimberg)
My favorite movie of 2024 is “A Different Man,” a film that was released into theaters briefly and quietly, accumulating just over a million dollars in the worldwide box office. The film follows Edward (Sebastian Stan), a disfigured and insecure man who undergoes treatment for his facial disfigurement, becoming handsome and successful in the aftermath. However, things take a turn when he’s abruptly upstaged by another, more confident man with his original condition.
It’s an elaborate joke of a film that makes fun of the ways in which we let our insecurities negatively impact us, even when they’re meaningless and trivial. As humans, we constantly over-analyze our appearances and expect others to judge us on behalf of them. This film captures the silliness of being uncomfortable in your own skin, while still feeling more understanding than critical and more tactful than cruel.
Honorable Mentions: “Evil Does Not Exist” (dir. Ryūsuke Hamaguchi), “Ghostlight” (dir. Alex Thompson and Kelly O’Sullivan), “Juror #2” (dir. Clint Eastwood), “Nickel Boys” (dir. RaMell Ross), “A Real Pain” (dir. Jesse Eisenberg)
