Another year comes to an end. It's time once again to run the data through
the Waffletron 2000 and determine through a highly scientific process the 50
best movies of 2024 (or at least our faves).
50. Rose
We said: "What makes Rose so compelling is its ability to mine humour from the most fraught
situations. Inger is very funny, but the movie is always laughing with her
rather than at her."
49. The Queen of My Dreams
We said: "With the expressive cinema deployed within The Queen of My Dreams as an escapist framework for Azra's dissatisfaction with her
adolescent lot there is an interesting suggestion of especial queer
appeal."
48. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point
We said: "Christmas Eve in Miller's Point is like the best sort of Christmas present, one you didn't know you
needed, wrapped with tender care in traditional tones of red and
green."
47. Come Closer
We said: "Tom Nesher dares to make her protagonist narcissistic and practically
sociopathic at points, but Eden is always profoundly human, and
Lia Elalouf does a striking job of ensuring we never forget it."
46. Anora
We said: "Like a Preston Sturges comedy on cheap coke, Anora plays at a manic pace, its players spitting out lines in overlapping
English, Russian and Armenian as they rush from one venue to another."
45. In Flames
We said: "It is heartening to see horror used for what it should be in In Flames: a challenge to accepted norms and hegemony. Alongside its thoughtful and
important polemic, In Flames is a consistently surprising, frightening and deeply entertaining
horror film, too."
44. Griffin in Summer
We said: "As its young anti-hero negotiates his place in the world as both a young
gay man and a budding artist, it's ultimately heartwarming and hopeful in
its suggestion that all outsiders need to stop feeling like outsiders is to
come across some others who feel like they don't belong."
43. Kathleen is Here
We said: "We like all of the women in Eva Birthistle's film, regardless of how
mad and messy they might be, and as the film edges towards its climax, we
begin to grow tense as it becomes clear the cold reality of the scenario is
set to inevitably kick in."
42. Eureka
We said: "That Viggo Mortenson makes for a good cowboy. That dangerously handsome face and pinched
physicality, along with the chill green eyes which could essay either
reluctant kindness or complete cruelty: hi-ho silver fox."
41. The Dead Thing
We said: "Uses the concept of being in love with a ghost/zombie for an exploration of
earthly isolation in an era where we seem to be more connected than ever
before, and yet there's never been so much loneliness."
40. The Order
We said: "What's most gripping here is an arguably career-best performance by
Jude Law. With his retreating widow's peak and mustache, his Terry
Husk is a very 1980s man, like Phil Collins and Bob Hoskins mashed
together and stretched on a rack."
39. The Girl with the Needle
We said: "The Girl with the Needle suggests that evil triumphs when good people do nothing, but it also
makes starkly clear the personal cost of taking moral action."
38. The Quiet Maid
We said: "For anyone who has had to bite their tongue or clench their fist for the
sake of keeping a job they can't afford to lose, Ana is a protagonist to get
behind. Not all heroes wear capes; some wear aprons."
37. The Black Sea
We said: "The Black Sea explores the odd irony of how we so often feel more relaxed in
foreign surrounds. With strangers we can reinvent ourselves and expand our
possibilities. Make a mistake at home and it can define you for the rest of
your life, but on foreign soil where nobody knows your backstory you can
make a fresh start."
36. The Teachers' Lounge
We said: "Any parents whose automatic instinct is to second guess their children's
teachers would do well to watch The Teachers' Lounge and develop some empathy for a profession that sadly no longer
commands the respect it deserves."
35. The Holdovers
We said: "All three of its characters are Charlie Brown, but they act as each other's
Snoopy, raising spirits with a metaphorical lick of the face. Those seeking
a classic American character drama need not worry about
Alexander Payne pulling the football away at the last moment."
34. Sky Peals
We said: "Using a sci-fi conceit, Moin Hussain explores the alienation of
being a mixed race child who doesn't feel comfortable in the world of either
parent."
33. A Different Man
We said: "For all of its anti-hero's dyspeptic bitterness, A Different Man ends on a hopeful note that suggests we all need to make peace with
ourselves and stop envying others, and that true ugliness is something we
wear on the inside."
32. The Beast
We said: "With Hollywood intent on not just embracing AI but propagandising it with
films like The Creator and Atlas, auteurs like Bertrand Bonello and films like The Beast are set to play an important role."
31. Dead Mail
We said: "The best way I can describe it is oxymoronically, as grounded absurdism.
It's often mystifying, but always gripping, and it's one of the most
distinctive pieces of work to emerge from American indie cinema in recent
years."
30. American Fiction
We said: "Who is more likely to embrace American Fiction: a black audience or the white liberals it so savagely satirises? On the
basis of his excellent debut, Cord Jefferson deserves to reach the
widest audience possible."
29. Blackout
We said: "This is a monster movie for people who actually like monster movies, made
by a filmmaker who, unlike some of his peers, doesn't feel embarrassed about
working in the horror genre."
28. About Dry Grasses
We said: "With Winter Sleep, The Wild Pear Tree and now About Dry Grasses, Nuri Bilge Ceylan has completed a thematic trilogy centred on
narcissistic men who believe themselves to be above their rural Anatolian
surrounds."
27. My Old Ass
We said: "Like the best rom-coms, it's as romantic as it is funny, but there's a
depth to Megan Park's film's that makes it stand out from the typical
entry in this genre."
26. Oddity
We said: "Damian McCarthy's filmmaking is meticulous and calculated, but never feels
cold or sterile. He knows how to get under your skin, and which buttons to
press at the right time. "
25. Bang Bang
We said: "Bang Bang is essential viewing for fans of great acting, or of boxing, but
especially for parents who insist on weighing their kids down with the
baggage of their own faded aspirations."
24. Swarm
We said: "At the oasis centre of Swarm is Roma Gąsiorowska, whose urgent beauty and feminine dignity
provide the emotional core of this film, which essays a toxic patriarchy
with unflinching focus."
23. Daddio
We said: "In staring at these two faces for 90 minutes we realise what it is that
makes a movie star, that combination of being larger than life and yet
recognisably human, and how rarely modern American movies exploit their
stars in such a way."
22. Black Dog
We said: "Within this deliciously b-movie premise, the dogs, especially the titular hound, provide warmth and humanity which
juxtaposes the expressively broken brutalism of the locations."
21. Eephus
We said: "Eephus takes its title from a particular curveball pitch that moves so
slowly it unsettles the batter, who watches it glide through the air for so
long that he's surprised when it whizzes past his ear. It's the perfect
metaphor for Eephus, a film whose laidback rhythm means its ostensibly low key drama hangs in
the air for so long that you're taken aback when it eventually hits you in
the gut."
20. Animal
We said: "It's a horror movie about the day you wake up to your first grey hair, when
you realise that occasional pain in your lower back isn't going away with
time after all. It's a body-horror in the truest sense of the term."
19. Here
We said: "Perhaps if Here, with its tender humanity, does have a message, it's that meeting people
isn't that hard, not really. All of us in our own ways are lonely, and we
welcome interaction. All it takes it that understanding and belief in each
other: that lack of fear."
18. Evil Does Not Exist
We said: "The enigmatic to the point of head-scratching closing scene suggests that
maybe we're all just animals, motivated by simple concepts like territory,
family and freedom, that what we call "evil" is often simply the human form
of an animal doing what it believes it must to protect the herd."
17. Monster
We said: "It's a charming portrayal of childhood innocence but also of the cruelty
passed down by the adult world, and the two central performances are
remarkably affecting."
16. Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter One
We said: "If this is the last stand of this sort of epic American filmmaking, I'm all
too happy to go down in its hail of bullets. Regardless of where this trail
leads, it was a pleasure to ride alongside ol' Kev once more."
15. The Man in the White Van
We said: "With The Man in the White Van Warren Skeels has created less a love letter to '70s American
horror cinema, more a heavy breathing phone call that will unnerve you in
how it plays out its terror in an everyday setting."
14. Tiger Stripes
We said: "A lot of Tiger Stripes' impact is due to Zafreen Zairizal's astonishing performance. With
her big, open face she effectively essays frustration, pain and, eventually,
a sense of joy as she undergoes the gradual transformation."
13. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
We said: "With jokes made at the expense of everyone from the heads of multi-national
companies to crippled gypsies, it's hard to tell if Radu Jude is
punching up, down or sideways with his satire, but nobody is left without a
few bruises by the end of it all."
12. Driving Mum
We said: "Usually, I fucking hate films which are based upon the trope of a
mismatched couple forced to travel a long distance in a car together,
but Driving Mum -amusing, moving, surprising- is a beloved exception."
11. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
We said: "A movie built around practical effects and stunts, of men and motors, women
and wheels, all smashing into one another for our viewing pleasure.
George Miller, you mad bastard, you've done it again."
10. Priscilla
We said: "More so than any previous biopics, Sofia Coppola makes it clear that
Elvis's most toxic behaviour, which stops just short of physical violence,
is a symptom of his drug addiction. Jacob Elordi's Elvis is a Frankenstein's monster, and Coppola isn't
interested in offering him up to a torch-wielding mob."
9. Good One
We said: "By leaving the fates of her characters to our imaginations,
India Donaldson has assured her debut is a film that will linger long
in our minds, and possibly cause us to question our own relationships with
our children or parents."
8. The Promised Land
We said: "The Promised Land has everything you want from a historical epic: compelling characters
with interesting arcs; larger than life performances; stunning
cinematography and production design that contrasts the harshness of the
heath with the comfort and finery of the de Schinkel estate; and lots of
bloodshed."
7. This Blessed Plot
We said: "Throughout This Blessed Plot's refractions, narrative trickery and refusal of assumptions, what remains
sincere is the film's essential truth of how kind and decent and lovely
people are."
6. In a Violent Nature
We said: "As we watch characters have their insides ripped out we're made to think
about how brittle we really are, how the human body is a miraculous
combination of many things that can go wrong, and that at some point
something inside us will inevitably go wrong and that will be it for
us."
5. Restless
We said: "The drama may play out in the relatively mundane settings of a couple of
council houses, but Restless feels expansive and larger than life while also being all too
relatable for any viewers who have found themselves struggling to get a
decent night's kip. Don't sleep on this one."
4. Ghostlight
We said: "This indie joyfully replicates the energy of am-dram productions, not in its
uniformly excellent performances, but its dog-eared authenticity and sincere
intimacy. At times the film is so vividly, naturally emotive it feels as if one is
spying on the characters through a slightly grimy neighbourhood
window."
3. I Saw the TV Glow
We said: "Jane Schoenbrun's second feature is about two high schoolers who bond over a TV show, but their bond
goes far deeper. The show speaks to something within them, something
exciting but also unsettling, something they don't understand yet know to be
true."
2. Close Your Eyes
We said: "There's something deeply moving in how
Victor Erice casts Ana Torrent, the young star of The Spirit of the Beehive, in a key role. As we watch those big brown eyes dazzled once again, 50
years later, by the flickering magic of a moving image, we're reassured that
while it may now have a few wrinkles, cinema is as vital as ever."
1. Perfect Days
We said: "Those who watch Wim Wenders' film may think about how they view
those they consider "worse off," and might start noticing the beauty of the
non-material world. Wenders offers you a perfect two hours. What you make of
the other 22 in your day is up to you."