10 Best Movies of 2024

With the year 2024 coming to an end, now is as good of a time as any to look back on the films that were released throughout the year. While there were plenty of incredible releases, here is a list of the 10 best movies of 2024.

Before delving into this list, it’s important to keep in mind that this is an entirely subjective opinion. Moreover, some films that have entered the conversation late into the year and received attention on end-of-year lists, such as The Brutalist or Nickel Boys, have yet to receive a wide-release date, making them some of a few that weren’t able to be experienced this year for most audiences.

A Complete Unknown

James Mangold’s Bob Dylan Biopic is a film that, on the surface, looks like it would be a formulaic and relatively safe movie. However, A Complete Uknown manages to enrapture audiences with the story of famed musician Bob Dylan and the first five years of his career. While some creative liberties are taken with the story (as with any movie to keep it compelling), everything essential to the man the film is based on is given staggering amounts of observation and detail.

More than just capturing the essence of one man, Mangold perfectly encapsulates the early 1960s and the civil unrest at the time due to a myriad of societal and racial problems in the country, seen through the specific lens of Bob Dylan’s life and music. What cements this film even further as one of the best of the year is the phenomenal performances from Timothée Chalamet, Monica Barbaro, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, and Boyd Holbrook, who each embody their real-life counterparts astonishingly well.

Anora

Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winning film is probably the director’s most ambitious film to date, both in scope and character work. The titular character, played with beautiful and manic humanity by Mikey Madison, helps carry this highly comedic film that doesn’t sacrifice any tragedy and drama at the center of its story in exchange for easy jokes. Instead, Baker shows audiences the humor that can be found in the most absurd circumstances that happen in life while also dealing with the harsh reality and consequences that can follow.

The supporting cast does an incredible job in managing the delicate tonal balance of the film, with Yuriy Borisov as the henchman Igor being one of the clear standouts, as the soft-spoken man of few words makes every single line delivery count. Karren Kragulian provides so many laughs as Toros, the ill-fated handler of Mark Eidelstein’s character Vanya, the wealthy man-child who gets Anora to marry him. The New York-centered odyssey of love and other drugs ends on a surprisingly somber note, making Baker’s newest film one of the best of the year.

Challengers

Luca Guadagnino delivered two compelling films that couldn’t be farther apart in tone and storytelling technique, making this entry in the list all the more impressive. Centered on a relationship between three professional tennis players, Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), Patrick Zweig (Josh 0’Connor), and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), Challengers intricately and sensually explores themes of ambition and rivalry. Zendaya leads the charge with a subdued performance, while Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist play opposite each other as two athletes vying for her affection.

Challengers features some of the year’s most tense and memorable scenes, especially in the unique way that Guadagnino and cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom capture tennis matches. Driven by an electric score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, every match has emotional weight behind it that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The pulse-pounding final set in the film’s last few minutes will leave your jaw on the floor.

Civil War

Alex Garland’s vision of a divided America may have initially been polarizing to audiences. However, the film is still a powerful testament to the power of wartime photography and its dehumanization, only set in a landscape that is uncomfortably familiar to North American audiences. The struggles on this scale of bloodshed and carnage have always been viewed from a safe distance, and with Civil War, Garland brings that type of warfare to the American front. Featuring stunning and visceral cinematography from Rob Hardy, the film showcases brutal and realistic warfare as well as quieter character moments that make this film one of the most profound blockbusters of the year.

Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson all provide empathetic performances as journalists on a road trip across a war-torn America. The film’s entire emotional arc depended on the chemistry between the leading cast, and none of them disappoint. With a depressing and morbid final shot, Civil War cemented itself as one of the best films of 2024.

Dune: Part Two

Denis Villeneuve’s continuation of his ambitious adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel manages to stick the landing, proving the “unadaptable” adaptable. Together with Greg Fraiser’s breathtaking Cinematography and Hans Zimmer’s epic score, Villeneuve seamlessly continues the story started in Part One and carefully balances an entirely new supporting cast and exotic new planets as viewers witness Paul Atreide’s (Timothee Chalamet) ascension to a religious figure that ignites a holy war.

Zendaya, while only prominent in the last few minutes of the first Dune, takes the spotlight as Chani alongside Chalamet’s Paul in a touching romantic story within the sci-fi epic. Striking imagery translates the visions and psychedelic prose in the book to cinematic form flawlessly while adding a level of spectacle that makes Dune: Part Two one of the most impressive of the year.

Related: The Best Action Movies of 2024

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

George Miller’s latest entry in the Mad Max Saga adds a new layer of mythmaking to the Wasteland as the story of Furiosa and her upbringing is brought to life on a biblical scale. Taking place 20 years before Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is everything that a prequel should be: a new take on the character from a younger actor in the form of Anya Taylor Joy, an expansion on the mythos and rules of the Wasteland, and critical character work and stakes that works separately from and also enhances Fury Road, making it one of the 10 best movies of 2024.

Featuring bright cinematography that gleefully captures all the chaos and destruction of the wasteland, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga also has an all-time Mad Max villain in the form of Dementus, who is brought to life by Chris Hemsworth, whose stature and prosthetics along with a twisted performance make him almost recognizable. The film uses the high-octane action that the series has become well-known for to deliver a tale of revenge and redemption that teases the deliverance and paradigm shift that would come later in the story with Fury Road. It’s a bombastic film celebrating vehicular carnage and the power of myths and storytelling.

Nosferatu

Robert Eggers’ relatively small filmography feels like it had been leading up to Nosferatu. The film stays mostly faithful to the original story that was told via silent film 102 years ago while also expanding upon the character’s mythology. Eggers takes everything he learned from his past three films regarding period-accurate production design and dedication to staying accurate to the folklore of the time to craft a twisted and macabre fairy tale. Lily-Rose Depp gives one of the best performances of her career and is backed by an incredibly talented supporting cast that elevates Eggers’ source material.

Bill Skarsgard is a terrifying sight to behold as the titular character, and the movie warrants a viewing just for the scenes between himself and Depp. With alluring cinematography that evokes the look of the silent films that helped inspire it, Nosferatu is a technical and storytelling marvel that entertains as much as it disturbs. Between this film and Longlegs (which was also released earlier this year), the horror genre continues to make strides as a distinct genre on its own that deserves awards attention.

Sing Sing

To put it quite simply, there hasn’t been any other film like Sing Sing released this year. Between its equitable pay model that had everyone from the director to star Colman Domingo to PA’s all being paid the same rate to its engrossing story based on the real-life experiences of prisoners at the Sing Sing Maximum Security Facility, there’s so much to appreciate about the production, and the story the team behind it worked so hard to tell.

Much of the principal cast (aside from Domingo) that make up the prisoners that are a part of the Theater Program at the center of the film are first-time actors, actually part of the real-life program. People like Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who found solace and a therapeutic outlet through the prison theater group, re-create their actual experiences in a way that feels so intimate and authentic that it’s hard not to become invested in the story. Director Greg Kwedar puts his actors and their performances at the forefront and above every other aspect of the production, resulting in one of the most beautiful and bittersweet movies of 2024.

The Bikeriders

Jeff Nichols’ newest film is based on the photography book of the same name, released in 1968, and recounts the days that the Vandals, a bike-riding group led by Johnny (Tom Hardy), rose into prominence before quickly spiraling out of control. Featuring charming performances from Jodie Comer as Kathy and Austin Butler as Benny, The Bikeriders is an incredible ensemble that gives plenty of actors and past Nichols film collaborators scene-stealing moments. As absentminded bike rider Zipco, Michael Shannon has one particularly engrossing moment that both provides laughs and tugs at the heartstrings.

More than anything, though, the film is carried by the relationship between Butler and Hardy’s characters, as the change in morals and values of a post-Vietnam America led to an overwhelming negative change in the Vandals, with Hardy’s Johnny slowly losing control in a tragedy that evokes the early gangster films of Martin Scorsese.

The Wild Robot

Chris Sanders’ latest animated film beautifully explores the joys of parenthood through the most unexpected perspective. Lupita Nyong’o stars as the titular Wild Robot and the way she brings the stranded mechanical character to life is astounding. The subtle portrayal of learning emotions and love through raising an orphaned duck makes the film incredibly emotional, leaving even the most strong-willed viewers feeling choked up. Dreamworks Animation has outdone itself with painter-like animation that leaves you breathless, using beautiful color pallets that put the wonder back into 3D animation.

And those are the 10 best movies of 2024.