The best movies of 2024 (so far)
It’s been a pretty strong start to the year.
Despite the hand-wringing at the box office – which, in recent weeks, has begun to right itself – this has actually been a pretty strong year at the movies so far. Often, I don’t post a top 10 list at the halfway point because I simply haven’t seen enough that I’d feel comfortable holding up as exemplars of quality.
But I actually had a pretty hard time narrowing down and organizing my 10 favorite films released so far in 2024. There’s been a lot of quality work, and it’s a great variety. Some big-budget successes, a few smaller movies (including one microbudget wonder), and it runs the gamut of everything from family film to action epic to horror. Don’t listen to what the financial experts say; we’re halfway through a very solid year of cinema. There’s still a great deal — like I Saw the TV Glow, Challengers and The Bikeriders — that I haven’t seen yet, and look forward to catching up with in the months ahead.
I used to think posting a top 10 list at the midpoint of the year was a dumb idea; wasn’t I just revealing my hand for the end of the year? But I’ve come to see the value. Not only will most of the films on this list probably be crowded out by the end of the year, even the ones that show up on my final list in December will probably be at different points as I rewatch and reanalyze. Putting together this list now gives a glimpse of where my thoughts are at this point in the year and allows me to celebrate films I genuinely like that might drop off in the end-of-year deluge.
So, without further ado, let’s get into my 10 favorite films released in the first six months of 2024.
10. IF: Sitting at a weak 49% on Rotten Tomatoes, John Krasinski’s family fantasy debuted in late May to tepid box office, but held on long enough to recently top $100 million. That’s because many families are sticking around to find out that it’s good, actually. We rightfully decry kids’ films that are sugared-up delivery devices for shrill IP – reminder: Despicable Me 4 opens this Wednesday! – so I’m happy to see a family movie that is original, sincere and unafraid to sit with difficult emotions. Its story and world-building are messy, but so are children’s imaginations. If is beautiful to look at, comes by its emotions honestly and shows that Krasinski’s touch isn’t limited to the Quiet Place franchise (more on that in a bit). (Currently in theaters and available for rent digitally).
9. Late Night with the Devil: David Dastmalchian gives one of my favorite performances of the year as a talk show host who tries to simultaneously win the ratings game and quiet his own demons by hosting a late-night TV exorcism. A period bit of found footage/pseudo documentary, directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes adeptly re-create the look and feel of a 1970s talk show, with just enough behind-the-scenes glimpses to let us understand its main character’s fragile mental state. The slow breaks from the rhythm of the TV formula – a character who stares directly at the camera, awkward silences that go on too long – are responsible for building suspense during the film’s first hour, until the film lets loose in its final act to be gleefully dark and darkly funny in the same bits. More unsettling than scary, it sits with you. I’m still not sold on the format change the film employs in its final 10 minutes, but otherwise, it’s an ambitious and mostly successful experiment. (Available for rent digitally and on AMC+ and Shudder).
8. Inside Out 2: Pixar roars back to life with this creative, funny and insightful look at puberty, which would make a great companion piece with the studio’s overlooked Turning Red. Yes, the sequel to the 2015 masterpiece treads a lot of the same narrative ground, once again watching Joy and the gang take a journey through the mind as Riley navigates the challenges of growing up. But while Inside Out 2 doesn’t go bigger, it does go deeper, and its examination of the ways we create our sense of self, and how anxiety can both protect and derail us is helpful not only to understanding our kids, but for putting a picture to our own battles with anxiety. As always, the voice cast is astounding – particularly Maya Hawke as Anxiety – the visuals are luscious, and the film is endlessly creative and very funny. I hope we’ll check in with Riley again in another ten years or so. (Currently in theaters).
7. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga : Like Inside Out 2, it’s a follow-up that in no way can live up to its predecessor, but at times comes extremely close. Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the great action movies of all time, and one of the best films of the last decade. It blasts forward with a tactile energy that can only comes from a tortured production, and it raises the bar so high that George Miller was probably crazy to craft another movie in the saga that adheres so closely to it in look and tone (putting clips of Fury Road at the end doesn’t help stifle the comparisons). But as its own sprawling, messy thing, Furiosa is a prequel that mostly works, fleshing out Miller’s world and giving Anya Taylor-Joy an iconic role to tear into. Yes, there’s probably a bit too much CGI assistance and the film explains things that needed no further explanation because of Miller’s visual mastery in its predecessor. But the action still dazzles, Furiosa’s quest for revenge is deeply felt, and Miller is still churning out bizarre, captivating entertainment that looks like nothing else in Hollywood. You can’t help but compare it to Fury Road, but this flows nicely into that, and the two make for a great double feature. (Currently in theaters and available for rent digitally).
6. A Quiet Place: Day One: I was really concerned when Michael Sarnoski was chosen as director for this prequel to John Krasinski’s sci-fi thrillers. Sarnoski’s Pig was one of my favorite movies of the last few years, a soulful and meditative look at grief, purpose and forgiveness, and I didn’t want him being sucked up into the franchise machine. But Sarnoski turns out not only the most suspenseful and scary entry in this saga, but also a thoughtful look at life at the end of the world and the importance of compassion. Lupita Nyong’o is fantastic as a terminally ill woman navigating the apocalypse and just hoping for one more slice of pizza, and I love the friendship she forms with Joseph Quinn’s terrified and lonely law school student. The greatest compliment I can pay this film is that there are long stretches where it is so focused on the duo’s burgeoning friendship and willingness to help the other that I forgot there were monsters lurking outside. All that, and it comes in at a brisk 99 minutes. I can’t wait to see what Sarnoski does next. (Currently in theaters).
5. Dune: Part 2: I’m curious where this one ends up in my rankings at the end of the year. When I initially reviewed it, I called it the first great movie of 2024. But as I stated in my recent We’re Watching Here episode with Perry, months after its release, I can’t remember much of it. I’ll probably need a second look at the end of the year to confirm whether my initial assessment was correct or just a byproduct of a great visual experience on a giant screen. So, I’ll keep it at the midpoint of this list right now. What’s not up in the air is that Dennis Villeneuve has crafted a tactile, weird and immersive experience that subverted my expectations of the story. I’m still not sold on Timothee Chalamet as a leading man, but I appreciate that the story takes a new approach to the chosen one plotline, is unafraid to go surreal and trippy, and has something to say about our assumed need for political messiahs. I also would be happy to see a best supporting actor nod for Javier Bardem. The action is gripping, but I might need another view to see if the story holds up. (Available for rent/purchase digitally and on Max).
4. Hit Man: In which Richard Linklater weaponizes Glenn Powell’s charm. The second-best date night movie of 2024 is this funny, thoughtful and sexy story about a philosophy professor who moonlights as a fake hitman in police sting operations. When he falls for a beautiful mark, he can’t drop the ruse and complications, as they say, ensue. It’s the perfect combination of Linklater’s ability to craft a supremely entertaining romantic comedy while also indulging the director’s love of philosophical musings. Powell, who co-wrote, is a hoot cycling through a variety of disguises and costumes, and his chemistry with Adria Arjona is wonderful. I wish the movie didn’t make the choice it does in its very last scene, causing my conscience to derail what was previously a perfectly fun time. But it’s another charmer from Linklater, and his best film since Boyhood or Everybody Wants Some!! (Available on Netflix).
3. The Fall Guy: The best date movie of 2024 so far is this romantic action comedy from David Leitch. Ryan Gosling is in pure Ken/Nice Guys mode here as a stuntman with a crush on his director, the reliably great Emily Blunt. The brilliance of The Fall Guy is that it works just as well as a grown-up romantic comedy as it does an ode to stunt workers, and Leitch doesn’t skimp on the adrenaline-pumping action sequences, particularly in the film’s wonderful and exhausting (in all the right ways) “let’s put on a show/stop the bad guys/get the girl” final set piece. Funny, romantic and thrilling, it’s a movie that has everything – and even if its box office was tepid, I think this is one people will discover and fall for over the years. (Available on Peacock and to rent/purchase digitally).
2. The Last Stop in Yuma County: A genre exercise that surprised the hell out of me. Francis Galluppi earned the next Evil Dead film on the basis of his feature debut, and although this movie has no supernatural or horror connections, I totally get it. Jim Cummings plays a salesman stranded at an Arizona diner when two bank robbers show up and take the place hostage. You might think you know where this is going – you’d be correct, and then you’d be wrong. What I love about this tight, tense little thriller is that Galluppi builds suspense not through action but through showing us that every character is just as smart as we hope – except the ones who are purposefully not – and we watch them plan a way out only to be thwarted by others who are just as smart. The film builds to a bloody, shocking crescendo, and then builds again, turning into a twisty, smart black comedy that is reminiscent of the Coens. It’s quite a ride. (Available to rent or purchase digitally).
1. Hundreds of Beavers: Mike Cheslik’s live-action cartoon does the one thing I ask films to do each year – give me something I’ve never seen before. And boy howdy, does he. This black-and-white, near silent Midwestern epic about a drunken applejack salesman trying to kill the titular rodents is a constantly building, always surprising bit of no-budget insanity. From the beavers themselves – actors dressed in amusement park costumes – to the Wile E. Coyote-esque schemes of Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, in a bit of physical comedy mastery), this is a surreal movie made for midnight screenings. When I tell you a “Beaver Voltron” is not the strangest thing in this movie, you’ll maybe have a bit of a clue what you’re in for. Is it deep? Heck no. But it’s a bit of do-it-yourself, bonkers mastery that I can’t wait to see again. (Available to rent and purchase on digital).