As the year draws to a close, people invariably take stock of the preceding 12 months — whether it’s about the state of the world or their lives. And culture critics are drafted to come up with best-of lists, whatever the art form might be. My movie choices, listed in alphabetical order, range from undeniable triumphs to personal favorites and are followed by a listing of notable foreign-language releases and a bonus inventory of 15 more must-sees.
‘Anora’
Indie filmmaker Sean Baker has produced a series of impressive low-budget, cinéma vérité-style movies that lay bare pivotal moments in the lives of marginalized individuals. The writer-director continues that approach with his latest and best effort, the grand prize winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It’s a propulsive dramedy depicting the travails of Brooklyn exotic dancer Ani who gets involved with the young, privileged, and indolent son of Russian oligarchs and may be in over her head. Anora’s heart and soul is a stirring star turn from actress Mikey Madison as the title character. She plays it sexy, downtrodden, furious, righteous, and sly, depending on the situation — and you can’t take your eyes off her.
‘The Brutalist’
Running for three-and-a-half hours, The Brutalist traces the odyssey of brilliant Jewish architect László Toth from Eastern Europe who survives the Holocaust by escaping to America, where he hopes to build his masterpiece with the financial aid of a wealthy industrialist. This fictional evocation of the immigrant experience and examination of creative obsession is a sprawling, visually stunning epic that never flags, despite its daunting length. In fact, director and co-screenwriter Brady Corbet has forged a cinematic coup that’s magnificent from beginning to end, graced by bravura performances from Adrien Brody as the driven Toth; Felicity Jones as his tormented wife; and Guy Pearce as his arrogant benefactor.
‘A Complete Unknown’
Timothée Chalamet embodies folk-rock bard Bob Dylan’s brilliance, drive, and enigmatic persona as the focal point of filmmaker James Mangold’s meticulously period-wise look into the rise of the singer-songwriter. Dropping into the life of the 19-year-old Dylan, circa 1961, A Complete Unknown shows him launching his career in Greenwich Village clubs, meeting his heroes Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie and interacting with peers such as Joan Baez, finding romance, getting a recording contract, attaining a measure of stardom, and then risking his status as a folk music icon by embracing rock and roll. Chalamet as Dylan convincingly sings the vintage songs and plays the guitar, as do others in the cast, led by a resonant Edward Norton as Seeger.
‘Flow’
Despite competition from franchise sequels churned out by major studios, the most compelling and beautifully rendered animated movie of 2024 comes from Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis. Flow is the wordless odyssey of a determined black cat who is trying to survive a flood that has put much of the world under water. To survive, our feline hero manages to climb aboard a boat carrying a polyglot group of animals, including a crane, a lemur, and a capybara. But other desperate creatures covet the vessel, and the elements are an ongoing threat to all. Although the simple plot and lack of dialogue put a focus on Flow’s lush visual invention, its timely message about the need to band together to deal with environmental calamity comes through as clear as fresh water.
‘His Three Daughters’
His Three Daughters, deftly written and directed by Azazel Jacobs, is an insightful look at the strained family dynamic between three sisters — two connected by blood, the other adopted -— facing the imminent death of their bed-ridden semiconscious father in the confines of his New York City apartment. Not only is it a wrenching depiction of sibling rivalry and how children can grow up and apart as a result of nurture, nature, or circumstance, it’s also an examination of how parenting and familial love can transcend biology. Three powerhouse actresses — Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne — play the daughters of the title in such raw and true fashion that it’s both uncomfortable and gripping to watch as their long-simmering conflicts boil over.
‘The Last Stop in Yuma County’
Great crime thrillers transcend place and time, so the fact that The Last Stop in Yuma County is set at a remote Arizona gas station and diner in 1973 is neither here nor there. To be fair, the absence of digital communication back then allows for some bits that would not have played out in quite the same way if it all went down in the 21st century. Still, director Francis Galluppi’s tension-packed yet droll script utilizes a rather conventional situation — a tardy fuel truck — to strand a group of sweltering motorists (including a morally compromised knife salesman) who find themselves taken hostage when two of the travelers turn out to be bank robbers on the lam. Things get a bit bloody for locals and visitors alike, but the thrills are palpable.
‘Nickel Boys’
Inspired by true circumstances at a notorious Florida reformatory, Nickel Boys is a potent adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel about a bright, motivated African-American teen who is arrested without cause by racist cops in 1962. The kid is sentenced to Nickel Academy reform school where the incarcerated are beaten and abused and white students enjoy preferential treatment over Black students, even as the Civil Rights movement is gaining steam. RaMell Ross, who directed and cowrote the screenplay, uses a surprising narrative approach that shifts between the Jim Crow south and a more contemporary setting that features a writer trying to produce an account of his harrowing experiences at Nickel. A superb cast gives this significant drama of survival the verity it deserves.
‘Nosferatu’
Robert Eggers, the auteur whose movies The Witch and The Northman positioned him as a master of dark cinema, has delivered a chilling new version of the immortal vampire tale Nosferatu. As in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) is an evil, but seductive supernatural being who dwells within the depths of a desolate Eastern European castle during the 1800s. This vile monster invades the dreams of an innocent young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) he covets, then maneuvers to get up close and personal with her through her husband (Nicholas Hoult), endangering them and their friends with genuinely frightening consequences. Eggers’ bleak, artful marvel of gothic dread also boasts an appropriately creepy Willem Dafoe as a vampire expert.
‘Strange Darling‘
Lean, mean, and cleverly structured, Strange Darling involves a serial killer on the loose in the boonies. It gets rolling when a guy and a gal are on the verge of gettin’ busy. At least that’s how it looks, but things don’t quite go as one might expect in a typical slasher flick. It would do this terrifically entertaining movie a disservice to reveal more, other than to say that the story is told in a confident, original way by writer-director JT Mollner, and the whole enterprise gets wilder and wilder as it goes on. Crucial to its success are the first-rate lead actors Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner (especially Fitzgerald), plus veterans Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey, providing support as a hippie couple living quietly amid nature’s splendor. In short, Strange Darling slays!
‘The Substance‘
The audacity of The Substance is absolutely bracing. A bold, smart, funny film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, it wallows in body horror while delivering pointed social commentary and mordant comedy that addresses society’s fixation on youth and beauty, the siren call of fame, and the perils of addiction. Due to slipping ratings, aging television aerobics queen Elisabeth Sparkle — played in gutsy manner by Demi Moore — is informed by a slimy network exec that she’s going to be replaced on her show by a younger hostess. So she acquires a black-market serum to restore her youth and vitality with consequences that are not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Moore is fabulous and matched step-for-step by Margaret Qualley as Elisabeth’s TV successor.
***
Seven scintillating foreign language films
Emilia Pérez
Evil Does Not Exist
I’m Still Here
Kneecap
Perfect Days
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Touch
***
Fifteen more must-see movies
Blitz
Conclave
Dìdi
A Different Man
Dune: Part Two
Hard Truths
Heretic
Hit Man
How to Have Sex
Late Night with the Devil
Love Lies Bleeding
Queer
A Real Pain
Rebel Ridge
September 5
