I love cinema, I love the art and artifice. I saw some truly fabulous movies this year. I don’t review anywhere near the same number of films a year as I used to. But that’s okay. I have my fingers in other movie pies.
I feel my duty as a film critic is in a constant state of flux. Let’s just leave it at that.
I want to highlight a whole bunch of terrific lead performances that really, really impressed me, all from women. Two stood out, head and shoulders, above all others: Naomi Scott in SMILE 2 and Willa Fitzgerald in STRANGE DARLING, but also Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in THE SUBSTANCE, Mikey Madison in ANORA, Blu Hunt in THE DEAD THING, Duygu Kocabiyik in SAYARA, Talia Ryder in THE SWEET EAST, Sophie Thatcher in HERETIC, Aisling Francioisi in STOPMOTION, Brittany O’Grady in IN OUR BLOOD & IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE, Jordan Cowan in YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME, and April Consalo in CANNIBAL MUKBANG.
It was an especially great year for dark genre flicks. Keep ‘em comin’!
So, here are my twenty favourite movies of 2024, plucked from the cinema, from film festivals, from my living room television.
THE SUBSTANCE
SMILE 2
SAYARA
PÁRVULOS
SOLVENT
STRANGE DARLING
STOPMOTION
HERETIC
THE DEAD THING
IN OUR BLOOD
MADS
ANORA
IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE
THE SWEET EAST
DADDY’S HEAD
SATURDAY NIGHT
DUNE PART TWO
Close contenders: Love Lies Bleeding, Longlegs, Rebel Ridge, Wake Up, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, The Devil’s Bath, Robot Dreams, Cannibal Mukbang, Skywalkers: A Love Story, Memoir of a Snail.
Special Mention: Baby Reindeer (mini-series), Ripley (mini-series), The Penguin (mini-series).