2024 was an interesting year for movies. I don’t think there were as many movies that I was ready to slap 5 stars on, but the median was by far higher than it has been the past few years. I think there were more “really good movies” even if I didn’t walk away from as many “great movies”. Overall, I think that is a win. There seemed to be a more diverse market of genre films, high budget blockbusters, and low budget films. We seem to be living in a post-MCU world where I see people getting really excited about other tentpoles and individual filmmakers more than spandex costumes. I write that knowing that Deadpool and Wolverine was the highest grossing film of the year, but its great success shouldn’t overshadow all of the smaller success that released before and after it. I had a great year at the theater, so let’s get into it.

No, despite seeing Shrek 2 in theaters five times this year, it did not make this list.

Contenders I have yet to see:

• Challengers
• The Substance
• The Wild Robot
• Anora

Honorable Mentions

Late Night with the Devil

An homage to Late Night television and horror flicks of the 1970s. This is nothing you haven’t seen before, but it is done so well that I simply do not care if it’s familiar.

Saturday Night

Such a great way to celebrate SNL and its original stars and the only “fan service” movie that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

Conclave

A great movie, but I picked this screenshot just to show off Naboo. It’s a terrific dive into the tension running beneath a lot of our religious institutions and a refreshingly optimistic movie despite the cynicism of some of its more tense moments.

Longlegs

The most unsettled I’ve been in a theater this year. Longlegs is weird and disturbing in all the right ways.

Abigail

There’s a running joke among the MovieBabble staff about how my most anticipated list every year has at least one film starring Dracula. I love movies about the king of the vampires and Abigail is no exception.

10. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

There are few franchises as sacred to me as the Planet of the Apes franchise. I was nervous about watching this era of the franchise continue without Director Matt Reeves, but Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes assuaged my fears. This film isn’t perfect, but it reframes the world and takes the franchise into new directions that I am excited to explore further. It reboots without undoing and delivers on the grounded action that this franchise is known for.

9. Inside Out 2

Sequels are hard, especially when the first go round is so well done. Inside Out 2 doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor, but it digs beneath the surface to tell a really engaging and well rounded story. This movie grapples with anxiety, embarrassment, and all the related emotions in really inventive and heartfelt ways.

8. Nosferatu

The original Nosferatu practically invented the horror genre. I was curious to see a knock off rebooted, but I trusted Robert Eggers fully. This take on Count Orlok and co pays great homage to the German expressionist roots, while taking the story in its own grittier direction and delivering on a Dracula flick that both wows and surprises. Despite being a reboot of a knockoff, this is one of the most faithful adaptations of Bram Stoker’s novel to date and I appreciate that Jonathan Harker/Thomas Hutter was not done as dirty as most adaptations do him.

7. The Fall Guy

I am a David Leitch defender and The Fall Guy was the ammo I needed to get more people on board. This is a great “behind the scenes” exploration of how movies are made and everything that goes into stunt work. It’s also a loud, over the top action set piece that plays out on top of a really solid romance between Gosling and Blunt. It’s a shame this movie didn’t get a summer release, because blockbuster territory is definitely where it belongs.

6. One Life

One Life is a based on a true story tale of Nicholas Winton, a man who helped hundreds of children escape the Nazi’s when Hitler rolled into Czechoslovakia. It is a very emotional look into the work it took to get those children to safety, as well as the tragedy of how little resources they had to do so and what happened to those they could not. This film made me cry because despite all that tragedy it has such a bright optimism about mankind and our ability to lend a helping hand.

*Technically this is a 2023 release, but it made its worldwide debut in 2024

5. The Promised Land

The Promised Land is a fantastic period piece that almost nobody saw. Mads Mikkelsen is one of my favorite actors and he once again delivers a fantastic performance as a little known historical figure being eaten up by his own aspirations. This film also features a fantastically evil, irredeemable villain who opposes Mads’s attempts to prove his king wrong and make a name for himself. It’s a great battle between the nobility, the working class, and those who wish to move between the two groups.

*Technically this is also a 2023 release, but it too made its worldwide debut in 2024

4. The Book of Clarence

The Book of Clarence is likely to land itself on a lot of “Worst of” lists. It is made for such a small and weirdly specific audience that I completely understand why most people seemed to either dislike or be disappointed by this movie. It is the half-breed child of The Life of Brian and The Last Temptation of Christ, exploring the story of Jesus through the lens of a man pretending to be Him. This movie is unabashedly Christian but delivers its message through a lot of artistic means that Christians are taught to eschew in their art. It was hung out to dry in January and this is probably the last you’ll ever hear of it, but I definitely think it is worth checking out just for the sake of how uniquely interesting it is.

3. Dune: Part II

Dune: Part Two runs where its predecessor walked. This movie is so much larger in scale and message than the first one, delivering much deeper and much darker explorations of its central characters and themes. At the same time, it wows and dazzles under the distinct lens of Roger Deakins and artful direction of Denis Villeneuve. It is a spectacle that explores mature and uncomfortable themes inside the vessel of a crowd-pleasing blockbuster. It is an event film in the way that few films have been these past few decades.

2. A Real Pain

I always get a little nervous when a project is written by, directed by, and starring the same person. It is nothing short of miraculous when a passion project like that turns out okay, let alone really great. A Real Pain is Jesse Eisenberg’s baby, a neurotic and twitchy exploration of generational trauma, how we observe the horrific events our ancestors were shaped by, and how we struggle to struggle in comparison to the weight of what other people are or have been going through. It is part buddy comedy, part history lesson, part ethical contemplation; and an all around incredible film. This is my favorite drama of the year and despite coming in at #2; if I had to numerically score all the films on this list, this one would be the highest.

1. Twisters

I don’t like Twister. I think it is comically cheesy and unbelievable in all the wrong ways. My expectations for Twisters were incredibly low. I wasn’t ready for this movie to deliver everything I’d been missing in summer blockbusters this year. It is a heart-pounding disaster movie, bristling with star power in the form of Glen Powell. It represents the Midwest in this really sincere and heartfelt manner, while never losing sight of the fact that this is a movie about tornadoes ripping stuff to pieces. It is big, loud, and brutal in the best ways. There are certainly better movies on my 2024 list, but none of them excited me quite like this one. Twisters was the movie of the summer, and for me that was enough to clinch its place as my movie of the year.

2024 Films Ranked

For a rundown of all the 2024 movies I saw, check out my Letterboxd List.