When it comes to proclaiming that a movie is among the “best” in any given year, a lot can be taken into account. Is it expertly made by artists who have wielded their skillset at the highest level? Does it have something — ideas, visuals, dialogue, a performance — that burrows itself into some corner of your brain? Did it make you laugh? Or cry? Or send a string of messages to your group chat? Did it help you forget about whatever was going on IRL or even just offer two hours of fun?
Those were the questions we asked ourselves when it came time to pick our favorite films of 2024 anyway. And what we decided upon includes an Oscar frontrunner, a fantastical sequel that left us eager for more, a long-awaited musical that lived up to the hype, a coming-of-age film that will make you feel like you’re 17 again, and so much more. Read on to discover our full list of the year’s best movies (in no particular order).
Challengers
To say that Luca Guadagnino’s (Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria) Challengers was my most anticipated movie of the year would be a massive understatement — I’d been waiting to watch the sports romantic drama from the moment it was announced. And, boy, did it not disappoint.
The wait for Challengers was more than worth it. The flick stars Golden Globe-nominated Zendaya, Josh O’Connor (The Crown), and Mike Faist (West Side Story) as three rising tennis players named Tashi, Patrick, and Art. Tashi meets the two best friends during their teenage years, and the trio form a quite intimate relationship. Some years later, however, an injury-ridden Tashi has coached her now-husband Art to tennis fame, and Patrick is no longer in their lives. But when Art starts to slump into a losing streak, Tashi enters him into a challenger tournament that has him back on the court facing Patrick — who also happens to be Tashi’s ex.
This movie is sexy, thrillingly fast-paced (seriously: during the climactic tennis battle, my Apple Watch set off a high heart-rate alert), and it’s refreshingly difficult to predict what the characters will do — until the pieces all come together because the actors and filmmakers have crafted them so well. I’m not one to usually apply the word “delicious” to non-food related things, but there isn’t a more apt description for the athletic and interpersonal drama that unfolded in this film.
Love Lies Bleeding
I love movies that feature A) a performance by an actor that takes over the film and lets you, as the viewer, know you’re in good hands and B) a turn from an actor that immediately makes you want to watch more of their work. Love Lies Bleeding has both. Set in the ‘80s, the romantic crime thriller stars Kristen Stewart as isolated gym manager Lou and Katy O’Brian as aspiring bodybuilder Jackie. The two quickly fall for each other — and hard — but their obsessive love soon pulls them into the crosshairs of Lou’s twisted crime family and has deadly consequences. Stewart is twitchy and on edge, yet still totally charming, while O’Brian (known for smaller supporting roles in titles like Twisters, The Mandalorian, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) is unforgettable as Jackie, who starts out tough and ambitious but soon begins to unravel and lose control. And while Lou and Jackie may not have the most #goals-worthy relationship, the actors’ chemistry is palpable.
I’d be remiss not to also mention filmmaker Rose Glass (Saint Maud). In her hands, the film gets bizarro and gory without ever being offputting. And, as the movie is, in part, about bodybuilding, she uses her lens to capture women’s bodies with fascination, and power in a way that will stick with you long after viewing.
Wicked: Part One
Even if you’re not a big musical theater person, you probably know about Wicked — especially after the year-long press tour Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have just embarked on. Loosely adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel of the same name, which imagined the events before Dorothy clicked her heels in The Wizard of Oz, the Broadway show first debuted in 2003 starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth and has gone on to become one of the longest-running musicals — and one of only three musicals to make over $1 billion. This is storied stuff and means a lot to a lot of people (including Glee’s Rachel Berry, IYKYK). So it makes sense that they’ve finally created a film adaptation of the musical — if a bit surprising that it took this long to get made. (A stage-to-screen version has been talked about for years, but never came to fruition until now.)
But after years of anticipation, Wicked: Part One lived up to the hype. The story chronicles the lives of two witches in Oz, Elphaba and Glinda, tracking their friendship as one of them turns into the Wicked Witch of the West and the other becomes the Good Witch of the South. Those characters are played respectively by Erivo and Grande, it’s easy to understand why the pair were so emotional while promoting the film. The duo so completely embody their roles, making the two complicated witches feel authentic and tangible — and that’s before they use their powerhouse vocals to win viewers over.
The only downside? You’ll notice that the film is, in fact, called Wicked: Part One, meaning the musical has been split into two parts for the big screen. And, after finally getting to see the first part, it’s safe to say that the full year until Wicked: For Good will feel like a much longer intermission break than you’d find on Broadway.
My Old Ass
No matter how old I get, I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age story. Maybe I’m haunted by memories. Or maybe I, a 35-year-old, am still striving for the triumphant personal growth that this YA genre celebrates.
For me, My Old Ass cements its place as this year’s coming-of-age film that deserves a watch (or rewatch) no matter what age you are. Eighteen-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) is ready to leave her family’s cranberry farm, but before she heads to the big city, in this case Toronto, for college, she has one final summer in the country. When she and her friends trip on shrooms, her future 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza) appears and warns her to not fall in love with a guy named Chad (Percy Hynes White). Elliot is sure she’ll have no problem heeding “her old ass’” advice — until she meets him.
The semi-time travel spin aside, My Old Ass, the second feature film from writer-director Megan Park, is incredibly relatable and will have you chuckling for all the right reasons. Maisy Stella, best known for playing Connie Britton’s younger daughter in Nashville, has a breakout performance as Elliot displays Gen Z’s most admirable qualities — curious, free-spirited, and reflective — something that’s often missing in today’s cultural conversation. But even if you aren’t of this generation, the slight tweaks to the familiar coming-of-age formula make the film fresh enough that you’ll walk away feeling a bit more profound when you inevitably find yourself reflecting on the simpler days of youth.
Anora
Oscar season is well underway, and there’s one name on the top of every Hollywood insider’s list: Anora. The latest from filmmaker Sean Baker (The Florida Project), the movie stars Mikey Madison (Better Things) as a sex worker in NYC named Anora. While on the job, Anora meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch, the two become enraptured with each other, and they quickly elope. From there, the movie depicts their tumultuous relationship, which only gets more complicated when Vanya’s parents arrive in the city determined to end their marriage. Anora made waves earlier this year when it won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival (the first American movie to do so since 2011’s Tree of Life), and has since picked up five Golden Globe noms. And considering that you’ll be hard-pressed to find a performance more compelling than the one Madison — who completely transforms and transfixes viewers — it’s no wonder that she has been pegged as a potential Oscar frontrunner.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
I’ll be real: Furiosa — both a spin-off and prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road — was not better than the 2015 film that came before it. But, in fairness, the George Miller action film, which follows the origin story of the fearless renegade (originally played by a shorn Charlize Theron, and this time by the great Anya Taylor-Joy), had huge shoes to fill.
And guess what? Even with that admission, Furiosa still counts as one of my favorite films of the year. Set nearly two decades before the events of Fury Road, the sweeping tale follows Furiosa from childhood, when she is kidnapped and dragged across the Australian desert wasteland by tyrannical biker gang leader Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), and into young adulthood as she fights to make her way back to her oasis-like home. In true George Miller fashion, the action sequences are breathtaking and logic-defying. Hemsworth is gleefully hammy as the OTT villain, while Taylor-Joy can do more eyes than seems humanly possible. Add in a story that’s more nuanced and emotional than you’d expect based on the synopsis alone, and you’ve got a fantastic entry to an iconic film franchise.
The Idea Of You
I love a good 2000s romcom, but IMHO there just haven’t been that many solid entries in the last decade. The Idea Of You, though, hits that craving for a simple, sweet girl-meets-boy story that proves, despite extenuating circumstances, love can triumph.
Based on the novel of the same name, The Idea Of You chronicles how a chance encounter at Coachella between 40-year-old mom and art gallery owner Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway) and 24-year-old boy band singer Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitizine) leads to a whirlwind romance. But while it’s nice to fantasize about such an unlikely series of events, we obviously live in a society of double standards and social media mobbing, a fact that the film takes on as the couple navigates the realities of a significant age gap in a highly publicized relationship.
The film drips in fanfic fantasy — it’s hard not to think about One Direction and, more specifically, Harry Styles — but there are very real core issues at the heart of the film. Anne Hathaway convincingly gets you to root for the guarded divorcee who’s willing to take that chance for herself, and Nicholas Galitizine perfectly rides the line between the boyish celebrity and the confident man in his singular pursuit of an older woman.
The movie isn’t a completely faithful adaptation, which the most devout Moonhead readers will probably find satisfying given the book’s controversial ending. Instead, it’s a realistic fairytale that honestly is what we need more of these days.
Twisters
I do not live in an area that is prone to tornadoes, yet I am still deeply terrified of them. That said, there are fewer things I find more enjoyable than a big, loud, kind of dumb (in a good way), purely entertaining summer blockbuster. Enter Twisters, a stand-alone sequel to the hit 1996 film Twister that evokes the natural disaster movie trend of that era. Like the OG, this one follows a group of daredevil, often reckless storm chasers as they try to capture the biggest twisters during an intense tornado season.
Even better, the flick is directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the filmmaker behind the lovely and moving award-winning 2020 drama Minari. It also stars Anthony Ramos, Sasha Lane, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Glen Powell — who, thanks to his run from Top Gun: Maverick to Anyone But You and Hit Man, is an actor who has proven he has the talent and charisma to make just about anything work. Twisters may not be the most prestigious of films, but it makes the most of its well-trodden formula, resulting in the most fun movie-watching experience I had in all of 2024. And it’s just as fun upon rewatch — even as I was yelling at my screen in disbelief that the movie doesn’t end with the two leads kissing like it so obviously should have.
Dune: Part 2
In my estimation, there were two major issues with the first Dune film, which was, overall, a breathtaking movie. It didn’t really feel like a complete story (something that felt inevitable with the “Part One” subtitle), and there was nowhere near enough of Zendaya on screen. Dune: Part Two rectified both of these problems.
Once again directed and co-written by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, the sci-fi epic continues the story of Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 novel. Exiled nobleman Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is still caught up in war on the desert planet Arrakis and is seeking revenge against the people who killed his family. Now, he’s joined forces with Chani (Zendaya) and her overlooked people, the Fremen, but soon may be faced with saving the universe or protecting his newfound love. Florence Pugh and Austin Butler are also among the new cast members.
Villenueve (whose other films include Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival) has already proven that he can create transportive images and sweeping narratives — you know, the kind of movie you want to see on the biggest screen possible — and that’s exactly what he delivered here. I’d argue that Dune: Part 2 is better than Part 1 in every way: it’s a bigger spectacle, more immersive, and, seemingly, made with more confidence. And the ending? I won’t completely spoil it, but it lands a devastating gut-punch that has me counting down the days until Villeneuve brings us back into this world.
We Live In Time
Romance stories — whether they’re dramatic or comedic — live and die by the chemistry between the two leads. And while it’s not exactly a huge surprise to discover that Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield ooze on-screen chemistry (fans of either or both actors will recognize they have a similar charisma and uncanny ability to convey the most nuanced of emotions with the smallest movement in their faces), but it is a relief — and delight — to see it in action in their new movie We Live in Time.
Pugh and Garfield are *the* reason the British romantic drama is so compelling. Bouncing across different timelines, the film chronicles the heart-tugging relationship between ambitious chef Almut (Pugh) and recent divorcé Tobias (Garfield), tracking them through a memorable meet-cute (she hits him with her car, then stays with him in the hospital), falling in love, deciding to start a family, and facing a devastating medical diagnosis together. Pugh and Garfield effortlessly pull you into the intimate story — their relationship — making you fall in love as their characters do and breaking your heart as Almut and Tobias navigate their own pain. The film is tender and will resonate; Almut and Tobias could be anyone. And as the credits roll and you’re trying to pretend you’re not sniffling over the ending, the next thing you’ll want to do is pick up your phone and call the people you love most.
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This article was originally published on refinery29.com.