As much as theaters are humming right now, with 鈥淲icked鈥� and 鈥淢oana 2" , it's been a fairly bruising movie year.
In between the blockbusters, though, the challenge of not just capturing the attention of audiences but of simply getting to the screen feels more perilous than ever. The year was marked by filmmakers who wagered everything from a $120 million pile ( ) to their life (the dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof's 鈥淭he Seed of the Sacred Fig").
Considering the paths of the (about Donald Trump's rise in New York) or the Israeli occupation documentary (which still lacks a distributor), the question of what gets released was a common and chilling refrain.
That also made the movies that managed their way through 鈥� the ones that told urgent stories or dazzled with originality at a time of sequel stranglehold 鈥� all the more worth celebrating.
Here are The Associated Press鈥� Film Writers and picks for the best movies of 2024:
Jake Coyle's top movies of 2024
1. 鈥淎ll We Imagine As Light鈥�
Was this a great year for movies? The consensus seems to be no, and that may be true. But it did produce some stone-cold masterpieces, none more so than of three women in modern Mumbai. It鈥檚 a grittily real movie graced, in equally parts, by keen-eyed documentary and dreamy poetry. Beguilingly, 鈥淎ll We Imagine As Light鈥� grows more profound as it cleaves further from reality. In theaters.
2. 鈥淣ickel Boys鈥�
Like Kapadia, RaMell Ross started out in documentary before bringing a singular eye to narrative film. His adaptation of Colson Whitehead鈥檚 Pulitzer Prize鈥搘inning novel, about two Black teenagers at an abusive reform school in the Jim Crow South, is shot mostly from the two boys鈥� first-person perspective. The result is one of the most visually inventive American films of the decade and, just as certainly, one of the richest in empathy. Opens in theaters Dec. 13.
3. 鈥淎nora鈥�
So many of the reasons to go to the movies 鈥� to laugh at a clattering comic set piece, to witness the breakthrough of a young performer, to be devastated by something tragic 鈥� are contained within the thrillingly kitchen-sink 鈥淎nora.鈥� It鈥檚 a concoction that , let alone execute. (And, by the way, if you liked Yura Borisov鈥檚 performance alongside Mikey Madison, seek out 2021鈥檚 鈥淐ompartment No. 6.鈥�) In theaters.
4. 鈥淚 Saw the TV Glow鈥�
鈥� a dramatic leap forward for filmmaker and a transfixing trans parable 鈥� is a chilling 1990s coming of age in which a 鈥淏uffy the Vampire Slayer鈥�-like series called 鈥淭he Pink Opaque鈥� offers a possible portal out of drab suburban life and other suffocations. It feels chillingly, beautifully ripped out of Schoenbrun鈥檚 soul 鈥� and it鈥檚 got a killer soundtrack. Streaming on Max, available for digital rental.
5. 鈥淕reen Border鈥�
The fury of is suitably calibrated to the crisis. Along the Poland-Belarus border, a small band of migrants from Syria and Afghanistan are sent back and forth across a wooded borderland 鈥� sometimes they're even literally tossed 鈥� in a grim game of 鈥渘ot in my backyard.鈥� It鈥檚 not an easy movie to watch, nor should it be. To keep up with the times, more uncomfortable movies like this may be needed. Streaming on Kino Film Collection, available for digital rental.
6. 鈥淭he Fall Guy鈥�
We also need more big, fun movies with Ryan Gosling. manages to celebrate behind-the-scenes crew members while simultaneously being completely carried by two of our most winning movie stars in Gosling and Emily Blunt. The societal value of watching Gosling cry to Taylor Swift鈥檚 鈥淎ll Too Well鈥� should not be underestimated. Streaming on Peacock, available for digital rental.
7. 鈥淭he Seed of the Sacred Fig鈥�
The way the Iranian filmmaker who was forced into exile while editing this, condenses real-life social upheaval into a family drama makes this a uniquely disquieting film. Like Kurosawa鈥檚 鈥淪tray Dog,鈥� Rasoulof鈥檚 movie centers around a lost handgun. The subsequent search reveals just how deeply the Iranian government's policies have seeped into the most intimate relationships. In theaters.
8. 鈥淕hostlight鈥� and 鈥淪ing Sing鈥�
We had not one but two movies this year that captured the therapeutic properties of theater. Each, almost unbelievably, deftly eludes tipping into cliche thanks to abiding compassion and authenticity in the performances. Alex Thompson and Kelly O鈥橲ullivan鈥檚 鈥淕hostlight鈥� is about a grieving father, a construction worker (an exceptional Keith Kupferer), who reluctantly joins a local production of 鈥淩omeo and Juliet.鈥� dramatizes a real rehabilitation prison program. where many of its performers were once incarcerated, was easily the most moving moviegoing experience of the year for me. 鈥淕hostlight鈥� is available for digital rental. 鈥淪ing Sing鈥� returns to theaters Jan. 17.
9. 鈥淗is Three Daughters鈥�
In Azazel Jacobs鈥� funny, tender and raw family drama, a flawless cast of , Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne play three sisters caring for their dying father. In close quarters and with death looming, it all comes out. Streaming on Netflix.
10. 鈥淢ade in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger鈥�
In between large, lengthy epics, has made some his most interesting and personal films. In this, Scorsese narrates for director David Hinton his the great filmmakers of 鈥淭he Red Shoes,鈥� and 鈥淏lack Narcissus.鈥� As an expression of movie love 鈥� of the power of film to transfix you, to change your life, to live alongside you as you grow older 鈥� 鈥淢ade in England鈥� could hardly be more effusive. Such insightful, passionate testimonies are an increasingly necessary lifeblood in a film culture where algorithms are typically blind to the treasures of cinema鈥檚 past. Streaming on WatchTCM and available for digital rental.
Also: 鈥淕rand Tour,鈥� 鈥淯niversal Language,鈥� 鈥淥n Becoming a Guinea Fowl,鈥�
Lindsey Bahr鈥檚 top movies of 2024
1. "Blitz"
Steve McQueen tells a different kind of World War II story in a powerful and clear-eyed odyssey through London during the German bombing raid. Structured around a 9-year-old boy (Elliott Heffernan) trying to make his way back to his mother (Saoirse Ronan), it is a sneakily revolutionary glimpse into and poignant elegy for worlds unexplored and stories untold. Streaming on Apple TV+.
2. "All We Imagine as Light"
Poetic and transportive, of a thrilling but brutally impersonal metropolis, the lives of three women in different stages and predicaments (forbidden love, loneliness, eviction) and delicacy of female friendships.
3. "Thelma"
Josh Margolin鈥檚 debut feature about a 90-something (played by the ) on a mission to get $10,000 back from a scammer is so modest in scope and effortlessly enjoyable that it鈥檚 easy to undervalue. This independent film feels as sharp and put-together as a yesteryear studio comedy. It鈥檚 pure joy and to anyone. Streaming on Hulu.
4. 鈥淎nora鈥�
It takes a special kind of movie to transcend the echo chamber of arthouse cinephelia and become a cultural moment, but did it. A classic in waiting, Baker and his star Mikey Madison, who lifts the streetwise stripper trope, take audiences on an unforgettable ride in this fairy tale that falls apart in spectacular fashion.
5. 鈥淣ickel Boys鈥�
Ross transforms Whitehead鈥檚 Pulitzer-winning novel about the abuses and generational trauma of a reform school in the Jim Crow South for the screen by employing first-person point-of-view. It鈥檚 a bold choice that pays off, transporting you into the heartbreaking reality of Elwood and Turner, two characters you won鈥檛 soon forget.
6. 鈥淥n Becoming a Guinea Fowl鈥�
A Zambian family says goodbye to their Uncle Fred in this remarkable, semicomic film from writer-director Rungano Nyoni. With an eye for the beautifully absurd and a keen understanding of generational trauma and toxic familial cycles, Nyoni has firmly established herself as a major talent. In theaters Dec. 13.
7. 鈥淒une: Part Two鈥�
Decades of dreaming about a film does not always seem to benefit said film, but Denis Villeneuve was able to into pure cinematic spectacle, and doom, about the rise of a leader. It鈥檚 a grand and thrilling adventure that could make sci-fi nerds out of us all. Streaming on MAX.
8. 鈥淎 Real Pain鈥�
Jesse Eisenberg grapples with modern and historical trauma in the disarmingly entertaining road trip film which he wrote, directed and stars in alongside Kieran Culkin as cousins on a Holocaust tour in Poland. In theaters.
9. 鈥淭he Outrun鈥�
Saoirse Ronan delivered as an alcoholic who goes further and further into seclusion in the Orkney Islands in an attempt to start life anew. Films about addiction are hardly novel, and yet Nora Fingscheidt captures the wild highs, lows and in-betweens of the human condition with unapologetic honesty. Available for digital rental.
10. 鈥淕ood One鈥�
It was a great year for first-time directors, including India Donaldson of a teenage girl on a camping trip with her dad and his friend resonates even a year later. Streaming on Apple TV+
Also: ; 鈥淕reen Border鈥�; ; 鈥�; 鈥淟a Cocina鈥�; 鈥淲ill & Harper鈥�; 鈥淓vil Does Not Exist鈥�; ; ; ; ; .
Jake Coyle And Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
