(This article is part of our Best of 2024 series.)
2024 was a mixed year for me when it came to the movies I watched. I discovered a few real gems but also felt let down by a number of films that I’d really been looking forward to. I’ll not list them in a bid to keep things positive, but there were a few movies in the horror genre in particular that received glowing reviews but just didn’t strike a chord with me.
I didn’t see as many movies as I would have liked, but I saw enough to remind me that a broad scope of exceptional stuff is still being released, from highly original productions to bombastic blockbusters.
As with my previous yearly lists, living in the UK affects the release schedule of several films, so please read on for my personal favorite movies released in 2024.
Dune: Part Two
I didn’t get to the cinema nearly as much as I had hoped in 2024. Thankfully, Dune: Part Two is one of the movies I did manage to see. And what a movie. The scale is almost overpowering, it’s a pure visual spectacle, backed up with an amazing soundtrack. It’s a film that knocks it out of the park in every technical department.
Certain scenes will stick with me for a long time. I have to give a special shout-out to the monochrome grading scenes set on Giedi Prime, that featured Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha fighting in gladiator games. Simply breathtaking. Dune: Part Two is a perfect example of how the unfilmable is actually sometimes filmable.
Alien: Romulus
Another film that I thankfully made it to the cinema for. I’m the type of movie fan who gives every new Predator, Terminator, and Alien movie a chance. And more often than not I am left greatly disappointed.
Luckily that changed with Alien: Romulus. The atmosphere created by Fede Álvarez made it feel like a classic Alien movie. Cailey Spaeney was fantastic in the lead role, as was David Jonsson. The highlight though had to be the multitude of exhilarating set pieces that had me on the edge of my seat. It’s not perfect, and I could have done without some of the silly one-liners (one in particular). But it’s a return to form for the franchise, and for me, easily the best since Aliens.
Love Lies Bleeding
I was a massive fan of director Rose Glass’ previous movie Saint Maud, yet I went into Love Lies Bleeding knowing absolutely nothing about it. And I was glad I did. A story that follows a reclusive gym manager and an ambitious bodybuilder, it’s meticulously shot and simply looks gorgeous.
The two leads (Kristen Stewart and Katy M. O’Brian) have great chemistry, and Ed Harris knocks it out of the park as the scenery-chewing villain. It’s intense, it’s thought-provoking, and It gets quite outlandish towards the finale. But by that stage, I was well and truly hooked.
Hundreds of Beavers
It takes a lot to make a film feel truly unique these days. But I, like many other SAW contributors, was blown away by the originality and boldness of Hundreds of Beavers. It really shouldn’t work. But for someone like me who is a big Charlie Chaplin fan, as well as a lover of slapstick cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and classic Warner Bros, it certainly did work.
I had a smile on my face throughout the entire movie, apart from the times when I was belly laughing. And when the credits rolled, all I wanted to do was watch it again.
The Holdovers
We had to wait until 2024 for The Holdovers to be released in the UK. But it was worth the wait. A simple heartfelt story that manages to pack so much emotion into it. Things start slowly but as the relationship between teacher and pupil rapidly develops in the second half of the movie, it really tugged on my heartstrings.
A film about the struggles in life, more importantly, it delivers a message of hope. It’s a stark contrast to something like Hundreds of Beavers which I talked about earlier. But it goes to show that treading familiar ground can still work. You just need the right people in the right places, doing the right thing. And you need Paul Giamatti. My favorite film of 2024.
What are your thoughts on the movies that made my top five? Share them down below!