A good year for folks with an unapologetic love for genre cinema. Quality and variety were more evident compared to the previous year.
Below is a list of the best of 2024 — along with abridged versions of their reviews and their Letterboxd ratings:
Disclaimer: Criteria for eligibility were films released in the UK (theatrical or streaming) this year.
1. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
★★★★★
A loose adapatation of Martin Amis's titular novel, The Zone of Interest is a powerful
viewing experience. Horrific atrocities that occur in the film are
largely implied, heard, or viewed from afar. Therefore, much of the
horror is left to our imagination.
Adjacent to the unseen nightmare,
we're privy to the domestic life of Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel),
commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), the self proclaimed "Queen of
Auschwitz".
Micha Levi's soundtrack also plays a huge part. It's
minimal, and other wordly modern, but complimentary and never out of
place.
A tough and harrowing watch, but a monumental accomplishment in contemporary cinema.
2. The Substance (Coralie Fargeat) ★★★★½
Our celebration of beauty and youth is hardly a new concept; they've
been well documented in art, literature and music throughout our
history. Coralie
Fargeat critiques these impossible standards in the satirical body
horror that is her sophomore film, The Substance (2024). All this, while waving the tricolore flag as the true queen of New French Extremity.
At its core The Substance has a similar structure to Forgeat's impressive debut, Revenge
(2017), as it also features a small cast, along with blending the fantastical with reality.
This is all about satirising both
the beauty and entertainment industries in an extreme fashion. For this
reason, The Substance comes across as cartoonish on the surface,
yet completely fathomable with our assumptions of both fields.
3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller) ★★★★
One of the best motion pictures released this year, and yet no one bothered to see it in the cinema —including me as I was put off by its run time. Turned out time flew by when I did eventually see it, though..
Anya Taylor Joy does a sterling effort as an earlier incarnation of
Charlize Theron's vengeful Vuvalini. In this current era of film making,
it's a pleasant relief she wasn't turned into another boring girlboss.
Her path of revenge isn't an easy road in the least. Her victories are
earned.
However, as previously noted, the real star is Chris Hemsworth
relishing the opportunity as the villainous antagonist.
The chances seem to be slim for another entry in the Mad Max universe; which is a massive shame for films in general
4. MadS (David Moreau) ★★★★
David Moreau, the bloke responsible for the utterly compelling home-invasion thriller Them (2006) AKA Ils, achieved a blinding comeback with the electrifying zombie horror, MadS (2024).
Allegedly filmed in one take, you can't help but be impressed with the logistics involved with such an endeavour. The result is an anxiety ridden night for three French teens high on drugs during the beginning of the end for mankind.
The tone might overall be nihilistic, but it's a thoroughly
riveting viewing experience, regardless.
A white-knuckle, roller
coaster film which is highly recommended, as it's easily one of the
greatest horror films of the year.
5. Anora (Sean Baker)
★★★★
Anora's premise is essentially a crash and burn Cinderella story,
where Mickey Madison's titular character, largely addressed as Ani in
the film, is a spirited New York sex worker of Russian descent, who
meets her Prince Charming in the form of the son of a wealthy Russian
oligarch, Ivan (Mark Eidelstein), nicknamed Vanya. Her beauty and his
money equates to the pair hitting it off and screwing like
bunnies. The whirlwind romance eventually leads to them getting hitched
in a Las Vegas chapel.
Both wildly funny and tragic at times, Anora's kinetic energy and
palpable atmosphere contribute to a fresh paced and deeply engrossing
film that make its long arse run time (around two hours and twenty
minutes) whizz by.
6. Late Night with the Devil (Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes) ★★★½
The charm of the film is it how it initiates this awkward atmosphere of a
live television show going wrong and escalating into a sense of dread
and eventual insanity brimming with demonic horror.
It's amusing hearing the house band
performing while being obviously rattled by the events going. The awkward
laughs and applauses from the audience is another example. It's the kind
of stuff I want to witness from a live television show going completely
off the rails and Late Night with the Devil achieves that with a chef's kiss.
7. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt) ★★★½
It might offend some with its colourful language and heavy drug use, but Kneecap contains plenty of boisterous energy and smart social satire to be rollicking entertainment.
Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, this raucous comedy/docu-drama is essentially a semi-fictional origin story of the rap group Kneecap.
Whilst dipping its toes in political waters, its irreverent humour manages to educate and shine light on cultural issues, without being in the least bit patronising or condescending about it. Achieving this so effortlessly, makes Kneecap one of this year's gems.
8. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass) ★★★½
Love Lies Bleeding has a darkly comic sense of humour woven
within its tapestry. Despite its explicit sexual scenes, it exudes an
archaic and simplistic pulp novel vibe which is welcomingly refreshing
in modern cinema's convoluted and bloviated story telling.
Set in a town in New Mexico, during the late 1980s, Love
Lies Bleeding centres around the relationship between gym worker Lou
(the piranha-jawed Kirsten Stewart) and body-building drifter Jackie
(Katy O'Brian).
Whilst
artistically surreal at times, Love Lies Bleeding is a welcome
throwback to the neo-noir thrillers from the eighties which seem to have
made a resurgence this year in the indie scene. Love Lies Bleeding was easily the top film amongst them.
9. Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Soi Cheang) ★★★½
Set during the eighties in Hong Kong's shanty city of Kowloon, the
historical region resembles a post-apocalyptic nightmare rather than an
actual urban province. The gargantuan ramshackle is the basis for the
film's amazing look.
The fight choreography comes somewhere in between Steven Chao's cartoonish action in Kung Fu Hustle (2004) and the brutal grittiness of Gareth Evans' The Raid films. Thus, Twilight Warriors: Walled In does not disappoint with its entertaining action scenes.
Did not expect the emotionally effective drama sequences, either.The film is superior to the average John Wick-core actioner, which has
long outstayed its welcome.
10. Azrael (E.L. Katz)
★★★½
Post-apocalyptic films are a frequent setting in sci-fi and horror;
practically a genre in itself with how common it's become, but there
aren't that many out there with a Biblical theme.
Samara Weaving's performance is of someone completely put through the
wringer. She’s able to tell a lot just with emotions in her facial
expressions. Big blue eyes say a lot when contrasted with all the mud
and blood she's covered in.
There are occasional texts that appear on
screen that serve as quasi-Biblical like gospel to the proceedings in
the film. They're few and infrequent, but lend well to the overall dark
and brutal tone of the film.
11. Exhuma (Jang Jae-hyun) ★★★½
Split into several chapters, Jang Jae-hyun's film contains two very
distinctive halves. Initially, it focuses on being a supernatural
mystery and dealing with bizarre procedures involved in lifting the
curse safely.
It also casts doubt on the various mystics. Could they
potentially be con artists exploiting people’s superstitions and
desperation?
Exhuma is a lore heavy folk horror; addressing the sins of the past
which permeate throughout the film.
The cast, particularly Choi
Min-sik's charismatic vape-smoking geomancer, are all solid, and do help
buffer the two wildly different tones of the film.
Occasionally
convoluted with unnecessary exposition, Exhuma still manages to be a highly mesmerising film.
12. Mars Express (Jérémie Périn) ★★★½
A French, animated, science fiction film that proudly wears its inspirations - notably Blade Runner (1982) and Ghost in the Shell (1995) on its sleeve.
It forgoes the popular, Marvel standard which has infected other sci-fi properties over the years, opting for the type of philosophical themes you would expect from Isaac Assimov's novels.
Set in the year 2200, Périn manages to construct an incredible amount of
world building in his debut. Undoubtedly the film's major strength.
Throughout its lean running time Mars Express impresses in
marrying future tech in a human society; opening the books on various
moral and ethical quandaries.
Shout out to writer and director Jane Giles for compiling the closest to a sensible selection amongst her peers in Sight and Sound's The 50 Best Films of 2024 list. Still need to check out her documentary film Scala!!! (2023).
Other winners this year:
Best Villain: Dementus (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga)
Runner Up: Yakuza (The Shadow Strays)
Not film related but The Penguin was the best TV I watched this year. Realistically speaking, I hardly watched any other new shows this year, but it's still an amazing series, regardless.
* Couldn't find the scene online.
