by Kate Beach, Staff Writer

Let me open with this: this list isn’t complete. It’s never complete! There are some movies I have yet to see that just might break into my top 10 under different circumstances. Most years, my list isn’t done until mid-January, and it’s usually at least a top 20. There are just so many great movies, and they make more every year! In a few weeks, my Letterboxd list might make room for All We Imagine as Light, Babygirl, Hard Truths, Nickel Boys, Nosferatu, and/or The Seed of the Sacred Fig. 

That said, I did see a lot of new movies this year, and even if I make room for some others, this top ten is pretty rock solid. These are the movies I loved this year. They thrilled me and devastated me and made me glad to be alive and watching them. Enjoy!  

10. Queer (dir. Luca Guadagnino)

Queer is a gorgeous adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novel, and I found myself holding my breath through much of the first half of the film. It’s so tender, so full of yearning and loneliness and lust. It may be the best performance of Daniel Craig’s career; it’s certainly one of the best performances from any actor this year.

9. Janet Planet (dir. Annie Baker)

A hyperspecific story that captures the more universal experience of being at a weird age. Annie Baker delivers a remarkably assured first feature, a slow burn that feels languid and easy, never boring. Zoe Ziegler gives a fantastic performance as Lacy, a quiet 11-year-old who is extremely close to her mother Janet, played by the incredible Julianne Nicholson. Their summer together sees Janet’s friends and lovers come and go as Lacy observes, quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) resentful at having to share her mother’s attention. It’s thoughtful and quiet, but doesn't shy away from the sharp edges of Janet and Lacy’s codependency.

8. Challengers (dir. Luca Guadagnino)

A number of people ended up on my list twice this year: Isabella Rossellini, Josh O’Connor, and Luca Guadagnino for Challengers and Queer. He brings with him Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who created two unique, excellent scores, Justin Kuritzkes, who wrote both screenplays, and a host of others pulling double duty to create two of my favorite movies of 2024.

I’m not a sports person, but I love a sports movie. Or maybe rather, I love a movie about people at the top of their game trying to figure out what to do when their time at the top inevitably ends. Or people who are good, but they’ll never quite be good enough to reach the highest heights of their chosen profession. The point is, I love Challengers. The first of two Luca Guadagnino features this year, it’s a horny, silly, fast-paced jolt of a movie. With crackling chemistry between its three leads (Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor), ready-made memes volleying across the internet all spring, and a tight, clever screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes, it was one of the most purely fun moviegoing experiences of 2024.

7. Conclave (dir. Edward Berger)

As if electing the Pope would be anything other than a total bitchfest. Conclave checks a lot of boxes for me: Catholicism, political machinations, Isabella Rossellini. It was a blast! A tight, clever script performed by actors at the top of their game (Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci in particular), Conclave is twisty and taut, with just the right amount of silliness.  

6. Kinds of Kindness (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

Justice for Kinds of Kindness! It’s not that Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest film was poorly received or anything. The reviews were pretty good, and Jesse Plemons won Best Actor at Cannes. But it didn’t inspire the kind of rapturous praise his previous feature, Best Picture nominee Poor Things, received barely a year earlier. It makes sense. Kinds of Kindness is a thornier, meaner film, a triptych of stories about control and desire. It felt like a return to Lanthimos’s darker instincts and bleak sense of humor, and I had a blast. From the opening pulsing beats of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” to the final frames, Kinds of Kindness is a weird, wild ride with a seasoned auteur and a cast willing to trust him implicitly.    

5. The Brutalist (dir. Brady Corbet)

The word “monumental” has become a major part of the marketing campaign for The Brutalist, both a little punny (architecture movie!) and a little okay, we get it. But honestly, the movie is monumental. It’s amazing to me that it didn’t take 30 actual years to create, that Brady Corbet wasn’t just following the real László Tóth (I know he’s not real) around for the entire middle of the 20th century. It’s so massive in scope, so staggeringly ambitious that it knocks the wind out of you. Adrien Brody gives the best performance of his career as Toth, surrounded by a fantastic supporting cast, Guy Pearce in particular. See it on a big screen, stretch your legs during intermission, and let it all wash over you.

4. The People’s Joker (dir. Vera Drew)

The best Joker movie to come out in 2024, Vera Drew’s hilarious, irreverent, and moving story blew me away. I saw it at this year’s Salem Horror Fest, a last minute opening-night addition after Kathy Najimy canceled. It was the perfect way to experience The People’s Joker for the first time. Since that night in the spring, Drew has toured the film around the country, secured a physical release, and as of early December, The People’s Joker is now streaming on MUBI. It’s a truly indie work that barely made it out from under the Warner Brothers legal machine, and it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. 

3. La Chimera (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)

I stumbled out of the theater after Alice Rohrwacher’s dreamy, beautiful La Chimera in a daze. Josh O’Connor (making his second appearance on my Best of 2024 list) plays a British archaeologist returning to the Italian countryside after a prison stint. He rejoins his merry band of tomb raiders and picks up where he left off, using his mysterious visions to sense the location of underground Etruscan tombs. Rohrwacher’s eye is impeccable, capturing the wild beauty of the landscape and O’Connor’s rumpled, depressed sensibility. It’s a stunning, magical story from a singular filmmaker.

2. Love Lies Bleeding (dir. Rose Glass)

This is the movie that made me go to Letterboxd and start my Best of 2024 list all the way back in March. What a picture! I adored Rose Glass’s first feature, Saint Maud, and was thrilled to see her come back with this weird, grotesque, gorgeous lesbian crime drama. Kristen Stewart is fantastic as Lou, raw and nervy and simmering, while Katy O’Brien’s rising star bodybuilder is all vulnerability and softness. Glass never shies away from violence or elements of body horror, and always deploys it with precision.  

1. I Saw the TV Glow (dir. Jane Schoenbrun)

My favorite film of 2024 broke my heart over and over again. Jane Schoenbrun’s second feature, after the excellent We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, solidifies them as one of the most exciting and bold filmmakers working today. Justice Smith gives a stunningly heartfelt performance as Owen, with an impressive supporting cast including Brigette Lundy-Paine, Danielle Deadwyler, and Fred Durst backing him up. Drenched in neon and loneliness, I Saw the TV Glow is a beautiful, stylish, and moving exploration of what happens when we deny who we truly are.