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As 2024 gives way to 2025, it’s only natural that we look back at the year’s biggest highlights. Everybody from political commentators to sports pundits to music aficionados has some sort of “best of” list, and as a movie buff, I’d like to spotlight my favorite films of 2024. These were the movies that thrilled me, entertained me, and moved me the most, so without further ado, let’s dive right in.
10) The Substance In the number ten spot, we have The Substance, a film about an aging celebrity who takes a black market drug, the titular substance, to create a younger, sexier version of herself. At first, this seems like the perfect way to relive her glory days, but when the balance between her two lives gets thrown out of whack, it leads to some of the most gruesome body horror in recent memory. The Substance isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you can handle the gross-out special effects, you’ll be treated to one of the best movies of the year. It’s all about the pressures women face from our culture’s impossible beauty standards, and the disgusting horror serves as a stark visual representation of the physical, mental, and emotional harm those intense pressures can inflict on women. It’s a poignant allegory that makes the film just as heartbreaking as it is revolting, so this is more than just an indulgent exercise in gratuitous gore. The Substance is incredibly meaningful as well, and stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley bring it to life with a believability and a pathos you won't soon forget. *Caveat emptor: The Substance features a few scenes with provocative sexual content and multiple shots of nonsexual but graphic nudity. 9) Transformers One I know some people who write off Transformers One because it’s animated, and if you fall into that same camp, I strongly urge you to give the movie a chance. It may be hard to believe, but this is the best Transformers film ever made, animated or live-action. It tells the story of how Optimus Prime and Megatron started out as friends but eventually became mortal enemies, and let me tell you, it packs quite the emotional punch. When the movie begins, our main characters are lowly miners named Orion Pax and D-16, and they’ll charm your socks off in about two seconds. This duo is lovable and hilarious in all the best ways, and their chemistry together is second to none. You’ll desperately want their friendship to last forever, so their inevitable falling out will tear your heart to pieces. It’s the kind of bittersweet breakup story that sticks with you long after the credits begin to roll, and it’s brought to life with a copious helping of knee-slapping comedy and spellbinding action. It’s everything a Transformers film should be, so if you haven’t seen Transformers One yet, I highly recommend that you remedy that as soon as possible. 8) A Quiet Place: Day One Horror franchises are infamous for churning out tired sequels well past their expiration date, but so far, the A Quiet Place franchise has managed to avoid that nearly universal curse. The second movie, A Quiet Place Part II, was fantastic, and this latest entry continues that surprising trend. As the title suggests, A Quiet Place: Day One takes us all the way back to the start of this alien invasion, and it follows Sam, a terminally ill cancer patient stuck in Manhattan on that fateful day. At first, she tries to go it alone, but when she meets a man named Eric, the duo form a touching bond that just might leave you an emotional wreck. In typical A Quiet Place fashion, Day One has the fun tension and action we’ve come to expect from the franchise, but the real heart and soul of this film is the characters. Their unlikely friendship explores themes of love (refreshingly, not just the romantic kind!), life, and beauty in a world gone to hell, and if you have any heart at all, those ideas are sure to resonate with you on a deep level. 7) The Devil’s Bath With a name like The Devil’s Bath, you might expect this next movie to be a cheap horror flick about a possessed bathtub, but you’d only be partially right. This is a horror film, but there’s nothing cheap or supernatural about it. Rather, the phrase “devil’s bath” was an 18th-century Austrian idiom that referred to depression, and the movie is a harrowing look at this all-too-common affliction. It follows a newly married woman who descends into a deep depression when her husband starts to ignore her, and the majority of the horror revolves around her deteriorating mental and emotional state. In fact, for most of the film’s runtime, it plays more like a gloomy drama than a traditional horror flick. It’s just so bleak and depressing that it feels like a horror movie, so it’ll seep into your bones and get under your skin in a way more overtly spooky films can only dream of. It’s a tough watch that’s admittedly not for everybody, but much like The Substance, if you can handle the dreary darkness of this poor woman’s story, you’ll be richly rewarded with an uncompromising look at the human condition. 6) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes If you ask me, the three most recent Planet of the Apes flicks (the “Caesar Saga,” if you will) rank as one of the best movie trilogies of all time. Everything about those films–from the characters to the special effects to the simian action–is top-notch, so I had high hopes for the fourth entry, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. It was one of my absolute most anticipated movies of the year, and to the surprise of nobody (okay, maybe a few people), it totally delivered. For starters, the visual effects are just as astounding as we’ve come to expect from this franchise. These animals look completely photorealistic, even down to the individual hairs and the folds of their skin, so if you let your guard down, you might even forget that they’re CGI. But as great as those visuals are, the beating heart of this film is the characters. It’s a bummer that Caesar is no longer with us, but his replacement, a young ape named Noa, is a worthy successor. I grew to love him almost as much as I loved his legendary predecessor, and his supporting cast is incredibly charming as well. In particular, the villain, Proximus Caesar, just might be the best antagonist the franchise has ever had, and when you put him up against such amazing heroes, you get a riveting good vs. evil tale that further cements these new Planet of the Apes movies as one of the best series in cinematic history. 5) Civil War As we enter the top half of this list, we start with Alex Garland’s Civil War. As the name suggests, this film takes place during a second American Civil War, but it’s not about the conflict per se. Instead, the story follows four journalists who travel the country documenting the war and the devastation it leaves in its wake. It’s a somewhat unexpected approach, but it’s also refreshing because it allows Civil War to leave partisan politics behind. We have no idea what particular issues are dividing the nation in this world, nor do we know the political leanings of the various factions. The movie just shows us how horrible this conflict is, and it lets the landscape’s oppressive atmosphere of despair and desolation speak for itself. It’s essentially a commentary on the extreme division that permeates our society today, and it pleads with us to get our act together before it’s too late. If we don’t, we just might end up in a civil war not too different from the one this film envisions, and for my money, that kind of timely and hard-hitting social commentary is hard to beat. 4) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga In the number four spot, we have Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the fifth movie in the long-running Mad Max franchise. This latest entry is a prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and it shows us how Furiosa went from a happy young girl to the deadly action hero we know and love from Fury Road. In a nutshell, she’s kidnapped one day by a maniacal warlord (aptly) named Dementus, and when the guy sells her to fellow strongman Immortan Joe, Furiosa rises through Joe’s ranks and seeks revenge against the man who abducted her all those years ago. If you enjoy the Mad Max films, you’re almost guaranteed to love Furiosa. It has everything fans of the franchise want, like flamboyantly over-the-top villains, a barren post-apocalyptic setting, and white-knuckle action that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. But in my opinion, what really takes this movie to the next level is Furiosa’s heartbreaking story. The poor girl is essentially a human trafficking victim, and the two actresses who portray the character (one as a kid, the other as an adult) completely nail the trauma that often accompanies this horrible crime. They turn what could’ve been a mindless action flick into a thematically rich narrative about a real-world problem that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserves, so Furiosa more than earns its status as the fourth-best film of 2024. If you suspect a case of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline 24/7 at 888-3737-888, or text the hotline at 233-733. 3) Deadpool & Wolverine When Disney finalized their purchase of Fox, a lot of movie fans were concerned that the company might tone down Deadpool’s R-rated stylings, and I’m not going to lie, I was one of them. But thankfully, Disney let the Deadpool team make the film they wanted to make, and it turned out to be the capstone on arguably the greatest superhero trilogy in cinematic history. As the title suggests, Deadpool & Wolverine pairs the Merc with a Mouth with everybody’s favorite adamantium-infused mutant, and after initially clashing, the duo finally agree to team up and save Deadpool’s universe from total annihilation. It’s not exactly Shakespeare, but it doesn’t have to be. The story isn’t the draw here. Rather, it’s the way that story is told, and on that front, this movie knocks it out of the park. For starters, it’s chock-full of the irreverent humor and blood-soaked action Deadpool fans crave, and the chemistry between the two titular heroes is off the charts. On top of all that, Deadpool & Wolverine also has a touching emotional core that just might bring a tear or two to your eye, and it features a number of fun cameos that are sure to excite long-time genre veterans. Simply put, it’s everything I wanted it to be and so much more, so it’s no surprise that this film almost made it to the top of my list. 2) Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is probably the most unexpected movie on this list, but for people who know me, the surprise is that it’s not number one. See, I’m a massive kaiju fan, and my two favorites are Godzilla and King Kong. In fact, Godzilla is my favorite fictional character of all time, so of course his latest adventure with Kong is my second favorite film of the year. Plotwise, there’s not much to say here. Stuff happens, we see a bunch of awesome monster fights, and then Godzilla and Kong team up to face a new threat known as the Skar King. This creature rules a hidden clan of giant apes that reside deep below the surface of the earth, and he also controls an even more formidable monster named Shimo. Together, the Skar King and Shimo try to reach the surface and take over the world, and only the two titular kaiju can stop them. On paper, that might sound like little more than generic giant monster fun, but I think there’s a lot more to this movie than meets the eye. Unlike most kaiju antagonists, the Skar King isn’t just an animal doing what comes naturally to him. He’s genuinely evil, so he imbues his villainous role with a malevolence we don’t typically see in this genre. On the flipside, Kong shows surprisingly human-like compassion towards his fellow giant apes, even the ones trying to kill him, so this is essentially a traditional good vs. evil story with giant monsters instead of humans. It’s a great new twist on that tried-and-true formula, so if you ask me, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire isn’t just the second best film of the year. It’s one of the best kaiju movies of all time. 1) Cabrini I have to be honest, I had no intention of seeing Cabrini at first. As you can probably tell from the rest of this list, dramas about nuns helping the poor don’t typically grab me the way, say, horror and action films do. What’s more, I generally find Christian movies to be little more than pale imitations of their secular counterparts, so even though I knew about this film, it wasn’t really on my radar. I only saw it because my mom and some of my aunts wanted to check it out, and when I did, I was absolutely floored. As I’m sure you know, Cabrini tells the story of St. Frances Cabrini (often called Mother Cabrini), an Italian nun who traveled to New York to help the city’s poor Italian immigrants, and it’s one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen. The cinematography and acting are top-notch, but above all else, Mother Cabrini’s story is just jaw-dropping. The lives of the saints are supposed to inspire us to a greater love of God and neighbor, and this movie does exactly that. This woman gave her life completely to her vocation despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles, including some that came from within the Church, and whether you’re religious or not, you can’t help but be moved by her unwavering dedication to the poor. Cabrini is a shining example of what cinema can be when made with an eye towards truth, goodness, and beauty, so even though it’s pretty far outside my typical wheelhouse, this is the best movie I saw in 2024.
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I’m not the target audience for Wicked. I’ve never seen the original Broadway play, and to be honest, I’m not a big fan of musicals in general. In fact, when I first heard they were adapting this play for the big screen, my reaction was little more than a bored yawn. I had no intention of ever seeing it, but that all changed when the movie started to garner some buzz. It eventually became so big I just had to check it out for myself, and you know what? I’m happy I did.
Wicked was directed by Jon M. Chu, and it stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and the voice of Peter Dinklage. The film is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, but it indulges in a bit of revisionist history. In this version of the story, the Wicked Witch of the West isn’t evil…or, more accurately, she didn’t start out evil. She was once just Elphaba, a green-skinned girl with prodigious magical abilities who had trouble finding her place in the world. Elphaba’s journey to becoming the villain we all know and love (or at least love to hate) starts when she attends Shiz University and begins studying sorcery, and during her time there, she meets Galinda, an aspiring sorceress who later changes her name to Glinda. The two get off to a rocky start, but after an initial period of “unadulterated loathing” (to quote a catchy musical number), they end up becoming great friends. Unfortunately though, their bond doesn’t last forever, and a shocking revelation soon sets their lives on very different paths. Before we get to the real meat of this review, I have to give you a warning. You’d never know it from the marketing, but Wicked is actually the first installment in a two-part story, and a sequel, Wicked: For Good, is set to hit theaters this coming November. So don’t be surprised when the movie ends right when the story seems to be heating up. It’s a bit frustrating, but we’ll get a chance to return to this world soon enough. With that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff, starting with the music. As I said before, musical theater isn’t really my thing, so you’ll never find me blasting songs like “Popular” or “Defying Gravity” on a road trip. But despite my disinclination towards this genre, even I have to admit that the music in Wicked is fantastic, and this entire cast does a great job of belting these songs out. Lead stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo prove once again that they’re world-class vocalists, and even Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, actors not generally known for their musical abilities, show off some decent pipes. But the music isn’t the only beautiful thing in Wicked. The sets are similarly gorgeous, and they make you believe that this really is a fantasy world and not just a slightly tweaked version of our own reality. In particular, Shiz University has a whimsy to it that seems otherworldly yet still grounded, and the sprawling Emerald City looks like the kind of place where a wizard really would live. On top of all that, a number of these sets are practical, so they lend the experience a sense of tangibility that immerses you in the story way more than an overly CGI-laden film ever could. However, as great as this movie looks and sounds, the real stars of the show are the characters and their tragic story. Everybody in Wicked does top-notch work, but as usual, the two leads are the standouts. Let’s begin with Ariana Grande. She plays Galinda, and she’s shockingly good. I had no idea this woman could act, but she’s truly Oscar-worthy in this role. She imbues her character with the kind of naive arrogance that’s equal parts hilarious and pitiable, so you can’t help but get a kick out of just about everything this wannabe sorceress says and does. It’s truly a joy to behold, but there’s more to Galinda than initially meets the eye. As the narrative goes on, she comes to care deeply for Elphaba, and when those emotions rise to the surface, Grande absolutely nails them as well. Unsurprisingly, Cynthia Erivo’s performance as Elphaba is very different from Ariana Grande’s, but she’s just as good. As I hinted at before, Elphaba has led a hard life, so she’s used to being mocked and rejected by just about everyone around her. She’s been forced to grow some very thick skin, but in her more vulnerable moments, she shows just how painful this abuse really is. It’s utterly heartbreaking, and Erivo masterfully pulls off both sides of the character without breaking a sweat. What’s more, Elphaba is also an incredibly caring person, and if you ask me, her unflinching goodness is the real heart and soul of Wicked. No matter how much her family, neighbors, and classmates mistreat her, this girl absolutely refuses to break bad. She even cares about the people who mock her and hate her, and seeing that unwavering love towards everyone around her is truly inspiring. At this point, you might be wondering how someone so good could become so evil, and to be honest, I have that same question too. See, Wicked doesn’t show us Elphaba’s full transformation into the Wicked Witch. We only get the very beginning of that turn, so the possibilities for part two are pretty much endless. Does Elphaba finally get pushed too far? Does she end up being more misunderstood than genuinely wicked? Or does the answer lie somewhere between those two extremes? Since I’ve never seen the Broadway play, I honestly have no idea. For all I know, Wicked: For Good might run roughshod over the message of this first film and completely ruin the saga, or maybe it stays the course and cements this as one of the best two-part stories in recent memory. I’ll just have to wait and see how the sequel plays out, so for now, all I can do is judge Wicked on its own merits. And as it stands, it’s excellent. Not only is this movie beautifully executed on just about every level, but it also features one of the most uplifting and inspirational characters I’ve seen in a while. Elphaba makes me wish I was half as loving and caring as she is, and as I’ve said before, that’s the best thing a film can do for its viewers. Robert Eggers has been talking about remaking the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu for about a decade (at least publicly; privately, it’s probably been longer), and I’ve been looking forward to the film that entire time. Eggers is one of the best filmmakers around, so him taking on a classic tale like Nosferatu is a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, we’ve had to wait almost ten years for this dream project to come to fruition, but it’s finally here. It was near the top of my most-anticipated list coming into the year, and now that I’ve finally seen it, I’m happy to report that it’s near the top of my best-of list as 2024 comes to a close.
Nosferatu was written and directed by Robert Eggers, and it stars Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, and Willem Dafoe. At its core, this is a story we’ve seen numerous times before. Like the 1922 original, this remake is based on Bram Stoker’s seminal novel Dracula, so it’s about a vampire who travels from Transylvania to Western Europe to wreak havoc on a whole new population. However, unlike most cinematic iterations of this timeless tale, Nosferatu doesn’t take its cue directly from the novel. It’s primarily a remake of the 1922 flick, so like that silent classic, the names and places are all different from the book. Most notably, the vampire’s name is Count Orlok, and he sets up shop in Germany, not England. On top of that, Eggers also puts his own unique twist on the story, so in this version, Orlok doesn’t just choose his new home at random. Rather, he’s obsessed with a woman named Ellen Hutter, and he goes to Germany to bring her over to the dark side and claim her as his own. If you’re familiar with Robert Eggers’s work, it should come as no surprise that the costumes and set designs in Nosferatu feel impeccably authentic. I say “feel” rather than “are” because I’m by no means an expert in 19th-century Germany or Transylvania, but to my amateur eyes, everything about this movie looks spot-on. Along similar lines, the acting here is also fantastic. Everybody in this cast does top-notch work, but as usual, there are a couple of standouts. First and foremost, I have to give huge props to Lily-Rose Depp, the actress who plays Ellen. When Orlok has her character in his thrall, the poor woman goes into trances and epilepsy-like fits, and Depp gives an intensely physical performance that makes you believe she’s been cursed by an unspeakable evil. And when that unspeakable evil appears on screen, it’s the stuff of nightmares. His appearance is a blend of the classic Count Orlok look and the description of Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel, and actor Bill Skarsgård plays the role perfectly. When we first meet this evil count, he moves and sounds like a decrepit old man, but there’s a nearly irresistible demonic strength and authority in his voice as well. It’s a somewhat counterintuitive mix that somehow works, so from the very first second the character shows up on screen, you have no doubt that he’s going to be one of the most memorable vampires you’ve ever seen. What’s more, Nosferatu also gives us a few shots of this creature’s unclothed body from head to toe, and he’s utterly repulsive in the best way possible. Orlok looks like he’s been dead and decaying for some time, so despite our initial impression, his design is actually more akin to a walking corpse than an old man. It’s very different from the suave, attractive vampires we often get in modern horror, and it hammers home just how abhorrent evil truly is. Next, we have to talk about the horror in Nosferatu. Unlike a lot of genre films today, this one doesn’t rely on jump scares to scare you silly. Sure, there are a few scattered throughout the movie’s two-hour-plus runtime, but in typical Robert Eggers fashion, Nosferatu is a masterclass in atmospheric horror. From the very first scene, the story has an oppressive air of inescapable dread, and when we move to Transylvania and Count Orlok’s castle, that feeling multiplies exponentially. From there, the ambience doesn’t let up until the credits begin to roll, so if you enjoy this brand of terror, you’re sure to eat up almost every second of this amazing film. Last but not least, I have to say a few words about the story. Dracula is quite possibly the most frequently adapted tale in all of horror cinema, and for good reason. It’s an amazing story, and when told well (as it is here), it doesn’t get old. So of course I enjoyed the story in Nosferatu, but what really makes this version shine is Eggers’s unique twist on the classic formula. Like I said before, Orlok is obsessed with Ellen Hutter, and he goes to Germany specifically to corrupt her and make her his eternal companion. However, the woman resists, so the undead count has to pressure her with everything he’s got. It’s a fascinating dynamic that functions as a striking allegory for the ongoing battle each one of us must wage against sin and evil in our own lives, and the story also reminds us that good, loving relationships are powerful weapons in that lifelong war. However, as we all know, they’re not enough to completely conquer sin, and Nosferatu understands that universal truth as well. Ellen’s relationship with her husband helps to ward off Orlok’s intrusions for a time, but when the creature goes all out to win her affection, she’s forced to make a fateful choice. I can’t say what that choice is without spoiling the ending, but I can tell you that it’s a bit of a mixed bag. At its core, it contains a profound truth about sin, sacrifice, and salvation, so in a certain sense, it dovetails quite nicely with our faith. Unfortunately though, the execution of this finale is a bit thematically muddled, so the truth in Ellen’s actions doesn’t come through quite as clearly as I would’ve liked. It’s a slightly frustrating ending, and it’s not the only time Nosferatu let me down. Most notably, there’s some unnecessarily explicit sexuality and nudity that seem thrown in just because that’s what films are “supposed” to do these days, and the movie also has a hazy spiritual compass that combines a few Christian trappings with a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards the occult. So if you’re looking for an old-school, straightforwardly Christian vampire flick, Nosferatu might leave you disappointed. The truth and goodness in this film are at times interwoven with a few less-than-savory elements, and that’s probably going to turn some viewers off. But for my money, it’s not nearly enough to ruin the movie. This is still a stunningly executed tale of good vs. evil with a slightly more personal twist, so when all was said and done, I walked out of the theater with a big smile on my face. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. ArchivesCategories |
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