For better or for worse, 2024 stands out as one of the most interesting years for film in recent memory. Even with the infamous strikes of 2023 delaying countless projects, this past year still offered plenty of films for audiences to enjoy. How well those films succeeded at that goal, however, is a huge sliding scale. Ignoring the best and worst films of the year that I have already reviewed, such as “Dune: Part Two” and “Megalopolis,” it is time to go over some of the films from this past year that really stood out, for better or worse.
“The Substance”
Of all genres, horror was one of the most mixed bags in 2024. On the one hand, the usual suspects such as Blumhouse provided their fair share of mediocrity such as “Night Swim,” “Imaginary” and “Afraid,” but we also had smaller studios giving us absolute masterpieces such as “Longlegs,” “Immaculate,” “I Saw The TV Glow” and even some mainstream hits like “Nosferatu” and “The First Omen.” Amidst all of these horror stories from the past 12 months, one of the smallest names out there provided one of the absolute greatest thrill rides in recent memory.
Produced and distributed by streaming producer MUBI, “The Substance” sees Demi Moore play her Golden Globe winning role of Elizabeth Sparkle, an aging actress who resorts to a bizarre black market chemical to create a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley) to get another shot at fame, with horrific results. Writer/director Coralie Fargeat takes the audience on a rollercoaster with this film, providing award worthy performances from Moore and Qualley—on top of Dennis Quaid obliterating the scenery as Sparkle’s cartoonishly misogynistic boss Harvey. This is all topped off by a killer, thumping score, outstanding cinematography and sharp editing, and above all else, genuinely terrifying body horror that would make David Cronenberg blush.
“Kinds of Kindness”
In 2023, Yorgos Lanthimos unleashed “Poor Things” to the masses, an adaptation of the utterly bizarre Alasdair Gray novel that saw Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a woman touring the world, discovering herself physically, emotionally and sexually and challenging gender roles in our society… with the mind of an infant. Right after the immense success of that film at the Oscars, Lanthimos returned to the screen with his next original feature, the anthology black dramedy “Kinds of Kindness.”As someone who had very mixed thoughts on “Poor Things” when I first saw it, it brings me a lot of joy to say that I adored “Kinds of Kindness.”
While it trades the fantasy setting of his previous film for our real world, “Kinds of Kindness” is strange, horrific and darkly hilarious. Lanthimos and co-writer Efthimis Filippou bring a trio of puzzling stories, largely starring the exact same cast, to life, with most of the crew from “Poor Things” returning, including cinematographer Robbie Ryan and composer Jerskin Fendrix. It is an absolute treat for the senses. Speaking of that cast, all of them deliver absolutely incredible performances here, with Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley stealing the show in particular. “Kinds of Kindness” was an absolute trip to experience, arguably even stranger than “Poor Things” despite its more realistic setting, and I would not trade that for anything.
“Joker: Folie à Deux”
From its very inception, I was against the idea of a sequel to 2019’s surprise runaway hit, “Joker.” Regardless of one’s thoughts on the film itself, it managed to tell a complete, largely satisfying and bleak story about how society treats the mentally ill, topped off with a killer performance from Joaquin Phoenix, an immediately iconic score and endless arguments about its heavy Scorsese influence. With every piece of news about its successor, from it being a musical to the casting of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn to its furiously divisive bow at the Venice Film Festival, the lead-up to this film was both suspenseful and dreadful.
On a strictly technical level, “Joker: Folie à Deux” is about as strong as the original, featuring amazing cinematography from Lawrence Sher, compelling music and two solid performances from Phoenix and Gaga. The writing and story, however, are where the film not only falters, but flatlines completely. From how it needlessly continues the story of Arthur Fleck and brings him right back to square one, to how it poorly balances being a jukebox musical romance and stale courtroom drama, to its borderline awful and almost offensive third act, “Folie à Deux” reads less like a desired continuation to a dark and tragic story, or even a cash-grab sequel from a major studio, but more like a statement of sheer spite and hatred from its creator: A creator who wishes nothing but the worst for fans of the source material, the fans of the original who idolized its tortured protagonist, and the critics who tore it to shreds and spread paranoia in its wake.
“Wicked”
I have a confession to make, and one that will most certainly have me hung, drawn and quartered by audiences everywhere: I am not a fan of “Wicked.” I have not seen the original musical, and I had next to no desire to check out the first part of its new film adaptation. Not helping was how positively overrated and overhyped the film was in the build-up to its release, from its absurdly all-in marketing to audiences interrupting theaters by taking snapshots of the screens. To say I was unenthused by this film before sitting down to check it out would be an understatement, but now that I finally saw it, I can say that “Wicked” was, at least to me, an absolute mixed bag.
Do not misunderstand me, I genuinely do not hate the film, I just personally do not understand the hype, acclaim and awards presence whatsoever. The film is a decent enough prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” exploring the history of the Wicked Witch, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) and the impact they would start to leave on the land of Oz. Aside from personal disinterest, I found the film to be insanely poorly lit, with multiple scenes being either too dim or just drab to look at for such a colorful world, and a few of the songs really did not leave an impression on me. With that being said, the production design and costumes were immaculate, the whole cast did a good job (with Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero being my personal favorite of the lot), and just as many songs did stick out to me, including, of course, “Defying Gravity.” I really may not be looking forward to the second half of the story this November, but all I can say at this point is good on you, “Wicked” fans. Go enjoy the ride.
“Queer”
In the past couple of years, Luca Guadagnino has quickly become one of my all-time favorite directors working today. While I have not yet sat down to watch his adaptations of “Call Me By Your Name” and “Suspiria,” I was absolutely blown away by both “Bones and All” and “Challengers,” and Luca has become one of those directors where his name alone can easily sell me on a film. Such is the case with “Queer,” his adaptation of the unfinished book of the same name by William S. Burroughs, and while it is absolutely not the same kind of film as “Challengers” (despite sharing most of the same team) it was yet another bonafide hit from Guadagnino, and arguably one of last year’s most underrated films.
“Queer” drops audiences into a world that words could barely describe, a narrative that balances everything from gay romance to psychedelic drug trips, and while it can be really overwhelming at points, it really is amazing to watch unfold. The lead performances from Daniel Craig and North Carolina native Drew Starkey absolutely help the film, too, with the chemistry between Craig’s promiscuous and eccentric Lee and Starkey’s quiet, young and reserved Allerton bringing so much emotion to such a bizarre film. Added onto that is amazing cinematography from Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, yet another killer score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and a challenging and mature screenplay from Justin Kuritzkes. In the sea of films released in 2024, “Queer” stands out both as one of the most underappreciated and one of the absolute best.
“The Fall Guy”
On the other hand, when it comes to directors I do not consider myself a fan of, David Leitch would be pretty high up on the list. “Deadpool 2” was fun enough when it came out, and his uncredited contributions to “John Wick” are commendable, but “Hobbs and Shaw” was as cookie cutter and bland as it gets, and I am one of the few who outright hated “Bullet Train” back in 2022. All of this is to say I was not particularly looking forward to his newest film, an adaptation of the classic action series “The Fall Guy,” and I was just as unimpressed walking out of the theater as I was going in.
Leitch and writer Drew Pearce take the genuinely intriguing concept of paying respect to the unrecognized and undervalued stunt performers of the industry and turn it into a mindless and generic action flick with that promising concept as a crutch for its dime-a-dozen action set pieces. Ryan Gosling’s leading role as Colt Seavers feels like a hodgepodge of his previous roles as Holland March in “The Nice Guys” and Ken in “Barbie” and does little to stand out aside from his natural charisma. The technical elements are nothing special or standout, and the story itself is your typical mystery that had me nailing every twist long before it happened. The rest of the cast is perfectly fine, and its concept is promising, but “The Fall Guy” sadly does nothing else to stand out in a sea of action blockbusters.
“Transformers One”
Fans of the “Transformers” franchise really can’t catch a break. After a decade of live-action adaptations from Michael Bay that ranged from middling to atrocious, a serviceable Bumblebee spin-off that was followed up by the bog standard “Rise of the Beasts,” and tons of other plans that fell dead in the water, Paramount decided to top it all off by giving their upcoming animated feature, “Transformers One,” some of the worst marketing in recent memory. With two mediocre trailers that did little to grab people’s attention, and a complete lack of marketing or press otherwise, it is not a surprise that the film ended up becoming a massive box office disappointment, made only worse by the fact that the film itself is genuinely amazing.
The comedy does not really land, especially from Keegan-Michael Key’s B-127, but other than that, “Transformers One” is a genuinely great film and the near perfect “Transformers” adaptation fans have been waiting to see for decades. The animation is stunning throughout, the story is tight, captivating and shockingly mature, and the entire voice cast knocks it out of the park, with Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry standing out especially as Orion Pax and D-16, respectively.
“Anora”
Sean Baker is a director with an aesthetic unlike many others, delving straight into the lives of sex workers in America and the trials they face on a daily basis, big and small. His newest feature in this sort of subgenre, “Anora,” is utterly masterful and possibly his best film yet. Glitzy, yet grimy, profane and completely unpredictable from start to finish, this crude adult take on the typical “Cinderella” narrative sees an astonishing Mikey Madison as Ani, a stripper from New York who falls in love with Vanya (played by Mark Eydelshteyn), the brash and juvenile son of a famous Russian oligarch.
As someone who utterly adored “The Florida Project” and was highly looking forward to this film for months on end, I can confidently say it was more than worth the wait. Baker has a knack for showing us the more honest side of such a controversial lifestyle, both the highs and lows these people go through, and his writing and direction paired with Madison’s performance make “Anora” absolutely stand out and stick in your head. Add onto that an electric soundtrack, many other great performances including Eydelshteyn and Yura Borisov, and a surprisingly strong emotional core, and “Anora” really does stick out above the rest as one of the best films of the year.
“Deadpool and Wolverine”
It was the absolute biggest film of the year. One of the most anticipated comic book films in recent memory, stuffed to the brim with cameos that made the internet lose its collective mind and served as the singular saving grace of the comic book movie genre this past year. Yet, it was also immensely criticized as being a soulless, nostalgia baiting cash grab that tarnishes the legacy of the studio that came before it: 20th Century Fox, the studio that brought these characters to life that the film tries so hard to pay its respects to throughout.
The film was fine. It was perfectly average, and I have barely thought about it either way since first seeing it. If you are looking for a mindless, uncharacteristically gory and profane romp in the “Marvel Cinematic Universe,” one that sees Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool slaughter people to *NSYNC and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine finally don the yellow-and-blue suit and iconic cowl after all these years, then you will be more than pleased with the film. If not, this will most likely come off as just a more mindless product from Marvel Studios with a boatload of blood and cursing to try and spice things up. But who knows? With how outwardly desperate the MCU’s future seems to be looking, perhaps we should enjoy something this simple and inoffensive while we have it.
“Nosferatu”
Robert Eggers is a writer and director who never fails to blow me out of the water. “The Witch,” “The Lighthouse” and “The Northman” are three of my all time favorite films, and that is largely due to the sheer talent, care and style Eggers has as a visionary. At long last, after decades of slowly gestating in his, quite frankly, emersonian mind, his remake of the 1922 horror classic “Nosferatu” has finally released, and this time around, Eggers blew me not just out of the water, but practically out of the stratosphere.
To keep my thoughts brief, because this is a film that absolutely deserves its own article further down the line, “Nosferatu” is the sort of masterpiece that 2024—if not the 2020’s as a whole thus far—needed more than anything. Eggers creates an absolutely sickening, immaculate tale of unimaginable horrors, while also paying respect to the 102-year-old original in the process and sharing its story almost to a tee with his own spin on it. Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård are unreal as Ellen Hutter and Count Orlok, respectively, their twisted dynamic being the core of this gothic nightmare.
Jarin Blaschke cements himself as one of the finest cinematographers today with a film where every frame is akin to art. Robin Carolan creates a dreadful, yet somber score, the production design, lighting, costume design and editing are just as razor sharp as with all of Eggers’ films and Eggers himself writes this film like a scholar and directs it like a modern Hitchcock or Romero. “Nosferatu” is an absolute masterpiece, one that I feel even two viewings is nowhere near enough to fully appreciate, and I fully intend to sink my teeth into it more as time goes on.
Those are my thoughts on some of the films I either missed reviewing or needed to tell you about that came out this past year. In spite of everything, both the good and bad, 2024 was a wild year for film as a medium, and while there were just as many failures as successes, it was certainly a year worth remembering. So here’s to 2025, and here’s to hopefully yet another packed year at the movies.
