I watched more movies this year than ever before. About 50 more than last year. I don’t know what got over me, but once I started, I couldn’t stop. One movie a week quickly turned into one movie a day. As I’ve done with past lists, while I watched plenty of old(er) movies, I only include movies from 2020 onward, so as to not give myself as much work, and so as to not make the list longer than it needs to be.
It’s worth noting that (along with the entries below) two of my favorite watches of the year were pre-2020: the Estonian film November (2017) and the German film Hagazussa (2017). Both are slow and strange. Watch them if you’re into folktales / fables / slow-burning horror. I can’t recommend them enough.
Lastly, a lot of these movies were released a year or so earlier in their own countries, but the year I’ve listed is (I think) the year it became available to watch/stream in the States. I know folks can be very particular but this is my list and I’m the captain now.
Kinds of Kindness
[2024]
I think this was my favorite movie of the year. A trilogy of fables. Like three short films. I liked this one even more than Poor Things (which I really liked) and Kinds of Kindness reminded me of the director’s earlier films like Dogtooth and Alps. He’s at his best (in my opinion) when he works with screenwriter Efthimis Filippou. Lanthimos is back, even though he never left.
Io Capitano
[2024]
A devastating and captivating journey. Immersive from start to finish. Italian director Matteo Garrone is one of my favorite filmmakers right now and this is definitely his most ambitious film. I wished more people talked about it. No one toes the line between fairy tale and crime drama quite like Garrone. Look at this run! 2008: Gomorrah, 2012: Reality, 2015: Tale of Tales, 2018: Dogman, 2019: Pinocchio, 2023: Io Capitano. My kind of résumé.
Exhuma
[2024]
Exhuma is South Korean folk horror at its finest. This one digs deeper and deeper in the best of ways. Note to self: don’t unearth a gravesite, especially if the coffin is oversized.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
[2024]
Every scene felt like a moving painting. Like a dream. Long live this beautiful, poetic, violent franchise. I could watch Fury Road all day, every day, so I was worried about Furiosa not being up to its caliber, but I’m glad it was.
Lisa Frankenstein
[2024]
I had low expectations about this movie, since I rarely watch female-led high school comedies, but this was one of my favorite movies of the year. Playfully dark (especially for a PG-13 movie) and one of only a few on this list that made me laugh out loud.
Oddity
[2024]
I watched a good amount of horror films this year and this one made me jump more than any of the others. Clever and folkloric and creepy as hell.
The Order
[2024]
I watched this movie last night so it’s still very fresh in my head. I really enjoyed the pacing and the story, but I couldn’t stand Jude Law’s character. I can’t think of another movie where the lead protagonist is so damn unlikeable. And despite that, largely because I’m a sucker for bank robberies, I still loved this movie. Nicholas Hoult gives an A+ performance.
The Vourdalak
[2024]
Watching this French horror film felt like it was from a different era. The lighting and the styling. It reminded me of The Color of Pomegranates (1969) and although it was low budget, I found it incredibly entertaining and captivating. Artsy and vintage and folksy and spooky. Like a haunting bedtime story passed down from generation to generation.
The Devil's Bath
[2024]
A slow burn of a folk horror flick. My kind of movie. This year, I also watched Hagazussa (2017) and these two felt like kindred spirits. Lonely and isolated women trying to do the right thing yet falling victim to the public’s impression / perception, so they eventually, as one does, become witches.
Love Lies Bleeding
[2024]
1989. New Mexico. Bodybuilding competitions. Organized crime. Evil men getting what they deserve. This movie ruled.
I Saw the TV Glow
[2024]
I think I was expecting this movie to be more of a horror, but instead, its atmosphere and overall emotion made me very sad. Creepy and vibrant with the middle America of yesteryear really resonating with me. All hail the Pink Opaque. This felt like an actually good version of Stranger Things.
Hundreds of Beavers
[2024]
Like a black and white slapstick movie from the 1920s or a marathon of unearthed Looney Tunes episodes, Hundreds of Beavers is a wordless epic with a very high number of jokes per minute. This same filmmaking team (in this vintage style) also released the 2018 film Lake Michigan Monster, which is next on my list.
The Second Act
[2024]
Quentin Dupieux was one of my favorite finds of 2022 and his streak as an absurdist filmmaker has continued, with twelve movies in the last fourteen years. The Second Act is low budget, takes place in a single location, and fittingly makes fun of AI. Rarely do you know if the film is filming the film or the film is filming within the film. It’s great.
Adagio
[2024]
Stefano Sollima is a masterful director, especially in the crime genre. He had his hand in the television show Gomorrah (perhaps my favorite show ever), the miniseries ZeroZeroZero (again, a favorite), and the films Suburra and Sicario 2. Adagio adds to his violent filmography, where a handful of retired gangsters come out of hibernation to help someone in danger.
LaRoy, Texas
[2024]
Some of the best and most unexpectedly good acting I saw all year. I don’t know how I heard about this movie, but not enough people are talking about it. It’s sad and funny, funny and sad. Check this one out if you like Coen brothers movies.
Azrael
[2024]
In an apocalyptic world where no one talks and humans are sacrificed to scorched demons. What more do you need to hear? Samara Weaving plays one hell of a leading role. It’s bad to the bone and the ending kicks absolute ass.
Monkey Man
[2024]
With nearly as much action as a John Wick film, Monkey Man is relentless and badass. A great narrative with plenty of well-done fight sequences and back-story motives.
Aggro Dr1ft
[2024]
This film, understandably so, is not for everyone. Harmony Korine’s movies in general are known to be polarizing, and this might be his most inaccessible movie yet, but I respect him for going to these limits. Plunging to these depths. This one is a trip.
Rap World
[2024]
Conner O'Malley went and dropped an hour-long film on YouTube with zero notice. Watching it felt like stumbling through my hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana during my high school years. So funny it haunted me, or so haunting I had to laugh. This is the O’Malley brand.
Mother, Couch
[2024]
Reading the premise of this movie sounded like an absurdist short story I might try to write. Minimalistic and surreal and strange as hell, this one felt like it had similar vibes as I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Fittingly enough, both are based on novels.
Boy Kills World
[2024]
Non-stop action with a proper blend of comedy. I’d throw this movie into the same category as films like Hardcore Henry and Guns Akimbo. Fun, senseless, and with an original soundtrack by El Michels Affair. Everything should be narrated by H. Jon Benjamin.
Civil War
[2024]
I know a lot of people hated this movie but I am not one of those people. It wasn’t my favorite of the year by any means, and it wasn’t my favorite of Alex Garland’s movies, but I liked it. That’s all.
Longlegs
[2024]
The most successful independent film of the year was also one of my most recent watches. I squeezed it in before making my list. It was good. I could have done without the supernatural if we’re being honest, as I wanted it to be more humanistic and strictly a serial killer movie (like Se7en, like The Silence of the Lambs), but I thought it was really well done. Perkins’ next movie The Monkey (out in February) looks like it’ll be a delight.
Drive-Away Dolls
[2024]
Ethan Coen’s first film on his own without his brother and it felt like a caffeinated caricature of a Coen brothers film. The 36% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes (and the 63% critic rating) makes sense, but I loved it.
Possessor
[2020]
It’s hard to say for certain, but this might have been my favorite viewing experience of the year. The 94% critic rating makes sense, but the 59% audience rating is absolutely baffling. From start to finish, this film fully held my attention. I didn’t pause, or check my phone, or look something up on Wikipedia, as is so often the case. I was fully inside this movie. Like The Matrix if it was more of a thriller. Infinity Pool was strong, but Possessor might be perfect.
In the Earth
[2021]
Director Ben Wheatley was my favorite find of the year. I know I was late to the party, and I watched Kill List prior to this year, but this year, I saw five of his movies: A Field in England (2013), Sightseers (2012), Free Fire (2016), Down Terrace (2019), and In the Earth (2021). This one masterfully blends folk horror with modern technology for a truly riveting and hypnotizing and dizzying visual and sonic experience.
Weird
[2022]
A false autobiography full of tall tales and outright lies? Making a movie like this is the best way to get me to watch a biopic. It’s awesome that Daniel Radcliffe signs up for movies like this (and like Jungle, and Guns Akimbo, and Swiss Army Man).
Hansel & Gretel
[2020]
Longlegs received a lot of attention this year, so it’s worth mentioning Osgood Perkins’ 2020 film Hansel & Gretel. Atmospheric folk horror has been my mood all year and this one is up there with the best of them. I’m really looking forward to Perkins’ film The Monkey, out in February.
Yo y Las Bestias
[2021]
Did this movie inspire the inception of the instrumental band Glass Beams? We may never know. This Venezuelan film is visually stunning with an original storyline and, naturally, the music hits the spot. Sometimes you just need some mysterious muses to arrive to help you with your creative passions.
Poor Things
[2023]
All hail Yorgos Lanthimos. Long live Yorgos Lanthimos. His most ambitious and big budget and hallucinatory and psychedelic and successful film. I’m so thrilled that he came out with Poor Things last year, Kinds of Kindness this year, and Bugonia next year. He deserves all of the flowers.
American Fiction
[2023]
My claim to fame is Isabella Cotier, the visual artist who handled the cover of my book of prose poems, Cardboard Clouds, is the same illustrator who did the title cards for American Fiction. I loved Percival Everett’s book Erasure and I thought this was a really strong adaptation. Now someone just needs to adapt Everett’s The Trees and Dr. No.
The Last Stop in Yuma County
[2023]
I watched this one like two hours ago and it features one of my favorite stand-offs in recent memory. A smart and fun and surprisingly brutal movie.
Wrath of Man
[2021]
Jason Statham goes on a rampage. That’s all you need to know. Guy Ritchie rocks.
Anchorage
[2021]
Two brothers take a cross country road trip to Alaska with a trunk full of drugs. You probably haven’t heard of this one and you should.
They Cloned Tyrone
[2023]
This one wasn’t discussed as much as it deserved. It wasn’t quite as good as the show Atlanta (is anything?), but it almost felt like a longform standalone episode. Really funny and poignant but also really sad but also really funny.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
[2022]
If the screengrab above is any indication, this movie is a goddamn delight. It’s funny, meta, comforting, and action-packed. Big applause.
Candyman
[2021]
Yes. Yes. Yes. This movie rips. It led to me watching the original in the same week. Both are exceptional, but I liked this one even more. Everything Jordan Peele touches turns to gold.
Slumberland
[2022]
I watched this with my nephew and cried my damn eyes out. I’d pair it with Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Kindred spirits aka two movies adults should watch to be reminded of why they should cherish their child-like wonder.
You Won't Be Alone
[2022]
This one felt like if Terrence Malick directed a folk horror film. Dark, poetic, quiet, and spanning an entire life. Beautiful, beautiful movie.
Self Reliance
[2023]
I loved the concept of this movie. I loved the delivery of this movie. If you don’t come into this one with super high expectations, Jake Johnson’s directorial debut will not disappoint. This one’s easy and fun.
Starve Acre
[2023]
I checked out the book Starve Acre from my local library, but before I could open it, someone else had requested it, so I had to return it. Later that week, I watched the film adaptation of Starve Acre and loved it. The movie had what I was looking for. The twisted and the unsettling, how they build and build.
Sisu
[2022]
Don’t fuck with a man and his gold. Let that be the motto. Like a Finnish WWII version of John Wick. Badass doesn’t begin to explain Sisu.
Lamb
[2021]
2024 was the year I was obsessed with folktales and folk horror and gothic horror and mystical lore. Lamb was wondrous. A quiet, touching, heartbreaking film.
Men
[2022]
Alex Garland’s Men exceeded expectations. It received a bit of flack for its ending but I always appreciate it when a movie willingly goes off the rails. This one does exactly that. The tone reminded me slightly of Vivarium and Beau is Afraid in the best of ways.
If you made it this far and need some more movie recommendations, be sure to check out some of my favorite films from the last few years.
2019: https://www.neonpajamas.com/blog/films-of-2019
2020/2021: https://www.neonpajamas.com/blog/films-of-2021
