When we talk about the best years for movies, you’ll hear arguments for 1939 and 1946 and 1959, 1975 and 1994 and hey what about 2007? All GREAT years for film. It’s a fun debate without right or wrong answers — but I think it’s much trickier and I would argue nigh impossible to definitively call out any given year for being among the worst. I don’t think 2024 will be remembered as one of the GOAT years in movie history, but here’s just 10 of the films that fell short of making my list of the 10 best:
That’s an impressive and disparate roster of films ranging from blockbusters to period pieces to sharply honed indies, from biopics to musicals to sequels and prequels — all of them well worth your time. Pretty good year. Pretty pretty pretty good.
And that’s before we even get to my Top 10!
10. ‘Nosferatu’
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has voiced its protest over the depiction of rats in Robert Eggers’ visually stunning, deeply disturbing and weirdly beautiful, gothic retelling of the vampire classic. Yeah, well what about the humans who had to endure arguably the most chilling cinematic depiction since “Willard”?
I mean that in the most complimentary way. Everything about “Nosferatu,” from the bone-chilling visuals to the performances by the chameleonic Bill Skarsgård as the lovestruck and blood-struck Count Orloc and Lily-Rose Depp as the human object of his obsession to, yes, those rats, is the stuff of nightmares — and the stuff of one of the best horror movies of the 21st century. See it: In theaters starting Tuesday.
9. ‘His Three Daughters’
Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen shine in this brilliant set-piece by writer-director Azazel Jacobs about three siblings (one is a stepsister) who gather in the New York apartment where their father is in the room down the hall and is dying. Each of these three brilliant actors is given multiple showcase moments, and they’re spectacularly, devastatingly, memorably great. See it: On Netflix.
8. ‘Sing Sing’
The always riveting Colman Domingo gives one of his career-best performances as an imprisoned man who lives to write and act in this astonishingly original work from director Greg Kwedar, written by Kwedar and Clint Bentley. Based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, “Sing Sing” joins “The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Birdman of Alcatraz,” “Cool Hand Luke” and “The Hurricane” on the short list of the best prison movies ever made. See it: In theaters (for the second time) starting Jan. 17.
7. ‘Challengers’
It’s a tennis-a-trois, done with dark humor and bruising style by director Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes. This is kind of like the “Tin Cup” of the tennis genre, only without the easy warmth and charm. Zendaya is quite wonderful as a mostly terrible person who goes from tennis ace to tennis coach after a crippling injury, and Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor are terrific as the best friends who both fall for her. The last moment of this film is bonkers — and perfect. See it: On Prime Video and MGM+.
6. ‘A Complete Unknown’
We’re not supposed to compare performances because it’s an exercise in apples and oranges, yet we do it every year with all those awards shows, so I’ll jump in and say that with due respect to Rami Malek and his Oscar-winning turn in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Timothée Chalamet and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” blow the doors off that performance and that film. See it: In theaters now.
5. ‘September 5′
Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum tells the story of the ABC Sports crew’s coverage of the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympics in docudrama style, with most of the action taking place in and around the control room as the legendary Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) and his team wrestle with the ethics of covering an act of terrorism in real time. This is one of the best movies about TV news coverage I’ve ever seen. See it: In theaters starting Jan. 10.
4. ‘Babygirl’
We’ve often heard the term “Elevated Horror” — but is there such a thing as “Elevated Erotic Thriller”? Writer-director Halina Reijn’s sexy, stylish and unnerving workplace drama certainly fits the bill, with Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson igniting the screen as a powerful, married CEO and the intern with whom she has a torrid and dangerous affair. It’s somehow classy and wonderfully trashy at the same time. See it: In theaters starting Wednesday.
3. ‘Fancy Dance’
Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) gives one of the most resonant and authentic performances of the year as Jax, a member of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation in Oklahoma who is prone to getting into trouble and is desperate to maintain custody of her 13-year-old niece Roki (Isabel-Deroy Olson) after her sister Tawi (Hauli Sioux Gray) disappears. Equal parts thriller, police procedural, cultural study and family drama, “Fancy Dance” never hits a wrong note. See it: On Apple TV+.
2. ‘Anora’
Writer-director-editor Sean Baker’s frantic and raw and searing crime drama/romance/comedy reminded me of the Safdies’ “Uncut Gems” in that it’s so visceral and so intense that it’s almost uncomfortable to watch. After getting memorably charred, literally, in both “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and “Scream” (2022), Mikey Madison gives a nomination-level performance as the adult dancer who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch. (Mark Eydelshteyn is electric in the role.) A wholly original piece of work that is reminiscent of the best original indie of the 1970s. See it: In theaters and on demand.
1. ‘Small Things Like These’
Once again, we’ll compare performances. As much as I admire
Cillian Murphy’s Oscar-winning turn in “Oppenheimer,” I’m an even bigger fan of Murphy’s quietly heartbreaking work in this instant masterpiece from director Tim Mielants about a simple and decent family man in the small-town Ireland of 1985 who cannot turn his back on a scandal that’s been playing out in the local convent for as long as anyone can remember. Murphy’s Bill Furlong is the most unlikely hero you’ll ever see in one of the best movies you probably haven’t seen, but my hope and prayer is that you give it a look. “Small Things Like These” is one of the prime reasons why this was actually a damn good year for the movies. See it: On demand.