By Seth Lukas Hynes
The fact that I couldn’t compile a full top ten of bad movies last week already shows what a good year 2024 was for cinema, but my best list is full of extraordinary films and required many painful cuts.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is charming, nuanced and tightly-written.
Humane is a tense, witty blend of family drama and slasher tropes. Trap is an ingenious thriller with an amazing central performance from Josh Hartnett.
Despite its unoriginality and resurrected actor, Alien: Romulus is still a taut, well-produced sci-fi horror film.
Drive-Away Dolls and Love Lies Bleeding are two great lesbian crime capers: one light and kinky, the other oppressive and Lynchian.
Spaceman is a touching sci-fi drama that made me cry, and that’s no small feat when the main characters are Adam Sandler and a giant spider.
The Killer is a fun John Woo rollercoaster full of stylish action and personality.
Kalki 2898 AD isn’t the best movie of the year, but it is the most movie: three-plus action-packed, visually-stunning hours of world-shaking gravitas and goofy fun.
The most painful cut was Kinds of Kindness: not all of the shorts are equal, but it’s a confronting, confidently-crafted film that stuck with me for the rest of the year.
Here are my picks for the ten best films of 2024.
10. Kill.
A bone-crushingly intense Indian action movie.
9. Rumours.
An endlessly-witty farce about incompetent world leaders and Iron Age zombies from Canadian surrealist Guy Maddin, with resplendent cinematography and a ridiculous but bloody inspiring speech about democracy.
8. Monkey Man.
A great directorial debut for star Dev Patel, Monkey Man is a gripping, superbly-choreographed martial arts movie about justice, devotion, corruption and gaining strength from a supportive community, but doesn’t shy away from the savagery vengeance can entail.
7. Speak No Evil.
Featuring a gorgeous but claustrophobic setting and a riveting villain performance from James McAvoy, this psychological thriller rises smoothly from creeping unease to base-under-siege terror, with well-woven commentary on toxic masculinity and microaggressions.
6. The First Omen.
A profoundly-unsettling, extremely well-paced and beautifully-shot horror film with a transcendent lead performance from Nell Tiger Free.
Moreover, this Omen prequel is not slavishly beholden to the original, changing certain details in interesting ways.
While less subtle, this film’s twin Immaculate is also very good.
5. Civil War.
One of the most stressful, concussively exciting war movies in years, told through a scenic road-trip movie with engaging characters.
4. Late Night With The Devil.
This Australian coproduction (with some scenes shot in Warburton) channels the heightened energy of seventies late-night TV into a disquieting but very fun horror film, with David Dastmalchian throwing himself into the role of the hapless host.
3. Longlegs.
Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage bring their A-game for a chilling, deliberately slow, supremely atmospheric horror film that balances the satisfaction of discovery with a clenching helplessness as the demonic plot unfolds.
2. The Substance.
With Oscar-worthy performances from Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, The Substance is a lurid body horror film equal parts sexy, glamorous and gross, suffused with smart satire on youth-obsessed culture, body image and the objectification of women in media.
Director Coralie Fargeat conveys Cronenbergian sensibilities but with a unique hip, feminist vision.
1. Dune, Part 2.
Just as grand and intimate as its predecessor, Dune Part 2 is an enthralling journey of romance, war, culture shock and poisonous destiny in an immersive universe.
Denis Villeneuve’s two Dune films may be the perfect execution of Frank Herbert’s classic novel.
