Table of Contents
James Cunningham’s Top 10 Films of 2024
As I began sifting through notes and movies to create my Best of 2024 list, I was struck by how unusual a year it was for film. In a way, you could say every year post-COVID has been unusual for the industry, but 2024 felt different. The studio uncertainty was palpable. As if they had begun flipping coins to gauge what they think audiences wanted to see. Of course, there will always be glinting diamonds among the ash-covered corpses of studio flops, like Sean Baker’s Anora and Brady Corbert’s towering American masterpiece, The Brutalist. But it was all gutter balls to start the year with studio stinkers like Argylle and the meme-inducing Madame Web, among too many others. If you recall, the industry was on near life support until Inside Out 2 damn near saved the box office from total collapse in June. This is an industry still finding its footing after the pandemic when it dealt with a 6-month actors/writers strike in 2023. These issues have compounded and consolidated an already trepidatious industry to deliver one of the most subpar and strangest years of film yet for 2024.
What you will notice from my list right away is that it consists primarily of horror pictures. Aside from being a true fan of the genre, I find that horror almost always produces some of the best films within any given year. It is naturally progressive. The very goal of horror is to outdo and surpass what has come before it on both a physical and psychological level. Its transgressive nature bucks norms and audience expectations to continually deliver unique stories, and in a year with such unbridled uncertainty, it was the genre that helped keep me afloat. Yes, this is a list of my top films in 2024, but I wanted to shine a spotlight on the genre that is owed the most credit. Without further ado, let’s unwrap this list of films!
10) Trap
This is my biggest “hear me out” movie of 2024. Balk all you want at my inclusion of M. Night Shyamalan’s new thriller Trap in my top ten list, but I had a ton of fun watching this movie. Is it due in part to having Josh Hartnett return as a leading man? You’re damn right it is. The film follows a father and daughter (Jost Hartnett and Ariel Donoghue) to a pop music concert (shout out to Lady Raven), but when cops swarm the building, it’s revealed that they are hunting a serial killer at the concert, and that killer is Josh Hartnett! With suspension of disbelief firmly held, I had a blast going on this twisty rollercoaster ride, intelligently curated by Shyamalan. In all honesty, I had Longlegs in this spot at first, and while I enjoyed that film, it’s very self-serious and bleak. Part of the fun about going to the movies is, well, the fun, and Trap embodies that spirit perfectly.
9) Nosferatu
I left Robert Egger’s new spin on Nosferatu with one of the greatest feelings you can have after a screening: “I need to watch that again.” There is so much to digest in his classically romantic vampire picture that it’s almost too much for our eyes to bear upon first viewing. This doesn’t surprise me; after seeing his first two films in theaters, The VVitch and The Lighthouse, I had similar reactions. The visuals are almost too dynamic and rich for the mind to comprehend immediately. A clear sign of a true auteur. Lily-Rose Depp is sublime as Ellen Hutter, the female lead plagued by visions and nightmares of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård in a transformative role). The cinematography is the star of this film. Egger’s long-time collaborator Jarin Blaschke worked with meticulous dedication to keep the film grounded in the world it creates while also making every frame its own work of art. Shoutout to those cinematographers putting in the work behind the cameras!
8) The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer
Part of the fun of writing for a film site like Film-Book is getting the opportunity to attend film festivals and watch movies you wouldn’t have otherwise seen. Exhibit A. Don’t worry, this is a film that earns its obnoxiously long title. The Shallow Tale… is a story about a middling writer, Keane (John Magaro), searching for his next hit after a strong debut but coming up short. One day, he meets a self-proclaimed fan, Kollmick (a devilishly funny Steve Buscemi), who thinks he’s got a good idea for Keane’s next book. He should write about a serial killer! The movie is a pitch-black comedy that takes Keane on an odyssey alongside Kollmick (who is an actual serial killer) as he gathers information on his next book while trying not to get his hands dirty. An independent gem that had me second-guessing what would happen from one moment to the next. If you can get your hands on this movie, watch it.
7) A Real Pain
A film written, directed, and starring Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain feels like the passion project Eisenberg has been working his whole career toward making. No doubt a personal film, A Real Pain tells the story of two estranged cousins, Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David (Jesse Eisenberg), who reunite in the wake of their grandmother’s death to embark on a guided holocaust tour through Poland. Along the way they meet a whole host of characters searching for the same answers as Benji and David. Eisenberg looked inward to create this heartfelt and equally humorous tale of family, trauma, and history all wrapped up in one. Kieran Culkin pretty much steals the film as the basement-dwelling stoner cousin who is eternally on the run from emotional problems he isn’t equipped to handle. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he walked away with an award or two this season, and Eisenberg could be right behind him.
6) Smile 2
If nothing else, 2024 was a great year for fake pop stars. On this list alone we have Lady Raven from Trap and now the Lady Gaga-esque Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), who fronts Parker Finn’s Smile 2. Naomi Scott is excellent in this highly emotional and moving role of Skye Riley, a troubled pop sensation who becomes haunted by the smile monster (for lack of a better term) after witnessing the death of her drug dealer. Much like Parker Finn’s first Smile film from 2022, this movie was a welcomed surprise to the genre. It’s not a new story, but it is different. Trauma and horror go together like cigarettes and beer, but Parker Finn adds a fresh new look with these films, and Smile 2 far surpassed any expectations I had going in. Let’s face it, horror sequels aren’t exactly known for their quality, but Smile 2 takes what the first film got right and expands on it even further. He actually made jump scares scary again, and that itself needs to be applauded.
5) Fresh Kills
I’m cheating a little bit with this next entry, but it’s my list, and I can add Jennifer Esposito’s directorial debut if I want to! Technically made in 2023, this film didn’t earn a (very limited) theatrical release until June 2024, so I’m counting it. Fresh Kills caught me completely off guard. It takes the gangster film and flips it on its head by examining it through the very thing the genre notoriously disregards, the women. It’s a coming-of-age film surrounding Rose (Emily Bader) and her sister Connie (Odessa A’zion in a scene-stealing role) as they grow up in the mob-riddled borough of Staten Island in the 1980s. Esposito did a spectacular job crafting each character individually while thumbing her nose at the genre stereotypes associated with gangster movies. This is a film that you probably haven’t heard of that I could not recommend any more. It’s time to give Jennifer Esposito her flowers.
4) Challengers
There had been a lot of buzz surrounding Challengers before the film even came out. Zendaya in a steamy love triangle centered around professional tennis? Sign me up. All that aside, this was a film that delivered the goods in spades without sacrificing story for salacious content. The Luca Guadagnino-directed film follows Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick’s (Josh O’Conner) friendship as it becomes entwined with Tashi (Zendaya) and professional tennis careers that take them on different paths. The directing is sharp, the acting is superb, and the music is intoxicating. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross deliver one of their best musical scores to date with heart-pounding techno beats and downright sexy synthesizers. I thought it was genius centering the film around a sport as intense as tennis. It heightens the tension naturally and adds to the character and stakes of the film. I found the final frames to be suspect, but it didn’t deter my sheer enjoyment of the rest of the film.
3) Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two came out so long ago that I forgot it was a 2024 release. I also didn’t see this film until it came to streaming on Max several months later. Upon viewing this galactic, desert epic in the confines of my small apartment, I immediately kicked myself for not getting to the cinema to see it on the big screen. While I enjoyed the first installment of Dune, it felt too bureaucratic and had too much table dressing to really soar. All the things I felt the first film lacked, Villeneuve nailed in his follow-up. The source material is so grand, so in-depth; of course it would take a patient filmmaker like Villeneuve to open up the world in a way that audiences could understand, and that’s exactly what he did with Dune: Part Two. The visuals are staggering in size and composition, but the story remains intimate. I’ve been a critic of Chalamet’s for years, but he is excellent as the pivotal Paul Atreides. I’m all in on the Dune-verse!
2) Alien: Romulus
With Alien: Romulus, Fede Alvarez has cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with in modern horror. I can remember seeing his blood-soaked reimagining of Evil Dead in 2013 when I was a hardnosed horror hound in film school, and it shook me to my core. To tackle a fan-favorite franchise like The Evil Dead and then come back in 2024 with a new Alien movie is wildly impressive. Alien: Romulus fires on all cylinders to deliver a phenomenal new entry this side of Ridley Scott. The story feels simple, but the world is complex. Something I enjoy opposed to the later “Alien” entries that felt too esoteric for the general audience to enjoy. I absolutely loved the world-building in Alien: Romulus. Every single surface has been scuffed over and manicured in a way that makes it feel lived in and real. Cailee Spaeny turns in an awesome lead performance as Rain, but David Jonsson steals the picture as Andy. It’s everything I want out of an alien movie (minus some questionable CGI that will have Alien fans cursing at me right now), but first and foremost, it’s downright scary.
1) The Substance
Let me start off by saying I am not the biggest “body-horror” fan. Sure, I enjoy Cronenberg as much as the next horror aficionado, but it’s not a genre (or subgenre) I actively seek out. That being said, there is simply no denying the sheer excellence that is Coralie Fargeat’s sophomore film, The Substance. If 2024 was a strange year for the film industry, then The Substance is the crowning jewel at the top of the diseased temple that is Hollywood. A blistering examination of celebrity culture, The Substance follows the queen of the workout tape, Elisabeth Sparkle (an Oscar-worthy performance from Demi Moore), as she deals with the harsh reality of aging out of the spotlight. That is, until a mysterious offer comes her way with the promise of eternal youth. What unfolds truly needs to be seen to be believed. This feels like a film intentionally made for the year it was released. The ugliness, the vanity. Set under the searing Los Angeles sun, if you held up a mirror to the film industry, you’d see Elisabeth Sparkle in the late stages of The Substance. From the sounds to the shot selection, there was no other film in 2024 that stuck in my head quite like The Substance. And at the end of the day, that’s what true art is all about.
That’s a wrap on 2024! We’d love to hear what you think of this list and what your favorite films of 2024 were (are you cursing at my Trap pick yet?). We’ll have to wait and see what 2025 has in store, but with another year removed from the strikes and pandemic, perhaps we will see some slight return to normalcy, whatever the hell that means anymore.
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