by Rachel Shatto, Staff Writer

2024 has (almost) come to a close. For all the difficulties and crushing disappointments it will be remembered for, this year truly shone at the cinema. While every year brings us at least a handful of new favorites, these last 12 months have been practically encrusted with filmic gems — offering us not only memorable and well-made movies, but some bonafide modern classics.

As a result, narrowing this list down to just 10 required killing many a darling, but sacrifices must be made — and frankly, it was a great problem to have! So here are the 10 films that truly were (to stretch out the metaphor just a little more) this year’s diamonds.

10. The Devil’s Bath (dirs. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala)

Forget the feel-good movie of the year; The Devil’s Bath is the feel-bad movie of the year and I say that with great reverence. In this film, a young bride, Agnes, quickly discovers married life isn’t what she dreamed it would be, as the days and nights drag on she spirals into a dark despair with very few options to escape the trap she finds herself in. All of this culminates with a shocking expression of violence as she does the only thing she believes she can to break free. Based on historical documents and true events, The Devil’s Bath explores a largely forgotten chapter of Eastern European history during which suicide by proxy became a social contagion that claimed the lives of hundreds. Sound fun? Perhaps not. Fascinating, hypnotic, and beautiful? Yes, especially in the hands of the filmmaking duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (The Lodge, Goodnight Mommy). Not only is this movie visually stunning and anchored by a stirring performance by Anja Plaschg as Agnes, but it also highlights the struggles of women living under the oppression of social expectation and religious dogma, both then and now.

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

While this film may have had a storied and troubled journey to the screen, The People’s Joker proved to be more than worth the wait. From writer, director, and star Vera Drew, The People’s Joker follows a young comic struggling with her gender identity and finding it through underground comedy crime all while she rages against a fascistic superhero, childhood trauma, a problematic boyfriend, Lorne Michaels, and the system writ large. This is a story that could only be told this way, by this person, in this medium. It's a singular explosion of creative artistry that is as charming and moving as it is transgressive and riotous. Quite simply, Todd Phillips could never.

8. Smile 2 (dir. Parker Finn)

It’s a rare thing for a sequel to surpass its predecessor, but Smile 2 succeeds in doing just that. While the initial Smile film served up plenty of visceral thrills and world-building, the second film—which moves the action from the world of mental health into that of pop superstardom—finds a more target-rich environment for its metaphor and exploration of depression, anxiety, and despair. Naomi Scott channels Hereditary-era Toni Colette in this totally uninhibited performance as troubled pop star Skye Riley who is slowly being broken down by both her own past trauma and a smiling demon that’s happy to ever-so-slowly push her over the ledge. Oh, and it’s genuinely scary. If you think writer-director Parker Finn used up all the tricks in his horror toy box the first time around, think again. From the film's terrifying action set piece to its literally show-stopping end, Smile 2 again and again rips the ground and reality out from under your feet. A horror franchise may not have technically been born with this entry, it is the film that earned it.

7. Monkey Man (dir. Dev Patel)

I love a good action movie — and by good, I mean one with exciting fight choreography that’s both visceral and balletic, and Monkey Man hit both of those notes with bone-crunching glee. Add to that a crackling performance by director and star Dev Patel, plus a ton of visual style, and you have the makings of something really special. The film, which is the filmmaker's take on the Hanuman legend, tells the story of Kid (Patel) a young man who makes his living in a fight club while biding his time to take revenge on the crime bosses and religious leader who destroyed his life and took all he cared for away from him. This film, quite literally, feels so both intimate and epic and gives Patel the action-hero lead role he deserves.

6. Will & Harper (dir. Josh Greenbaum)

One of the film’s greatest powers is as a machine for creating empathy. It can serve as a window into the inner lives of those we both think we know and those who are a stranger to us. These glimpses when done well grow to our ability to have a deeper and greater understanding of one another. No film better showcased that ability this year than Will & Harper. In this hilarious and aching documentary, long-time friends Will Ferrell and Harper Steele jump behind the wheel of the latter’s station wagon for a road trip across the country. This reunion is taking place for the first time since Harper came out as transgender and began transitioning. What follows is a beautiful portrait of friendship, an intimate view of the trans experience, and a window into how that experience translates into existing in America today. Along the road there are as many laughs as there are tears. Of all the films I saw this year, it was the one I most hope is seen by the widest audience possible — this is the kind of eye- and heart-opening cinema that could literally change lives.

5. Longlegs (dir. Osgood Perkins)

If there’s one thing Osgood Perkins is a master of, it's creating a sense of pervasive, oppressive dread. He put this to especially good use this year with Longlegs, in which Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) plays a fledgling FBI agent on the hunt for a serial killer known as, well, Longlegs, played to terrifying and campy effect by Nicolas Cage. From moment one, the film drips with a sense of doom, filled with a looming demonic presence that reveals itself more and more with subsequent viewings. Not only was this movie one of the best of the horror genre this year, but its marketing campaign was a masterclass in building anticipation without giving away all the film’s sinister secrets.

4. Lisa Frankenstein (dir. Zelda Williams)

There are some screenwriters who create art that is just vibrating on your personal frequency, for me Diablo Cody is one of those people. Cody has an unparalleled knack for blending irreverence, feminism, rage, and a celebration of girlhood that just feels... correct. In director Zelda Williams, Cody finds the perfect filmmaker to bring her voice to life and in Lisa Frankenstein the perfect vehicle. This film, which harkens back to the absurdity of the ‘80s “building the perfect lover” genre ala Weird Science and Making Mr. Right, gives that admittedly problematic subgenre the modern, spooky, feminist refresh we never knew we needed. Oh but we did, we did. Kathryn Newton charms as the eponymous Lisa and Cole Sprouse turns in a largely nonverbal comedic performance as The Creature that would make Buster Keaton proud. Sweet, funny, and a little mean, this movie managed to make my cold dead heart beat a little again as Lisa discovered love for herself, her step sister, and, of course, her undead paramour.

3. Anora (dir. Sean Baker)

Sean Baker has made a career of highlighting the lives of sex workers and folks living on the fringe. His latest film, Anora, plays out like his version of a fairytale and is perhaps his most enjoyable yet. The film sees Ani aka Anora (Mikey Madison), a New York sex worker pulled into the whirlwind world of Ivan, the reckless son of a Russian oligarch, when he walks into her strip club and then hires her to be his girlfriend for the next week. While that sounds similar to the premise of Pretty Woman, that's where the comparison ends, because this film is about what happens after the “happily ever after.” In this case it means what happens when his family insists that the relationship comes to an immediate end, and are willing to do whatever they have to make that happen. The film is at turns laugh out loud funny and achingly melancholy, and hinges on a star-making performance by Madison who infuses Anora with a vivid and fiery humanity. The closing moments left me full of dueling emotions of hope and sorrow–and a profound love for Anora herself.

2. Love Lies Bleeding (dir. Rose Glass)

Not since Bound have we had a film that so truly embodied the philosophy of “be gay, do crime” as Love Lies Bleeding. This neo-noir crime thriller with a magical realism twist served as Rose Glass’s follow-up to the brilliant (and also sapphic) Saint Maud, and proved to be just as exceptional, but a whole lot more fun. The chemistry between lovers Lou (Kristen Stewart) and Jackie (Katy O’Brian) is the steamiest and rawest of the year. Their twisted love story is both erotic and epic, and watching them behave badly together and for one another is a twisted delight. Plus Ed Harris as the film’s insect-devouring antagonist brings just the right balance of camp and menace.

1. The Substance (dir. Coralie Fargeat)

Coralie Fargeat’s debut film Revenge first put this French filmmaker on my radar because it fulfilled the promise of the rape-revenge genre’s—oft-lauded but rarely achieved—reputation of being both cathartic and feminist. It was bold, bloody, and awesomely accomplished, particularly for a feature debut. However, it’s her sophomore film, The Substance, that firmly cements her as one of the most fearless and exciting filmmakers working today. In it, waning star Elizabeth Sparkle’s (Demi Moore) pursuit of youth and public validation turns monstrous when she administers the titular experimental substance and creates a younger, better, version of herself. Sadly for Elizabeth, Sue, her Frankenstein’s monster, is one that has no compunction about siphoning Elizabeth’s remaining life and beauty in pursuit of her own validation, and it leads to a shocking confrontation and even more monstrous consequences. Not only do Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley turn in career-defining performances as Elizabeth and Sue (respectively), but the film perfectly blends fantasy, comedy, and body horror to create a viciously cutting social satire with a wicked sense of humor that culminates in a Grand Guignol-style climax soaked in blood and viscera. Watching the film felt like unleashing the rageful feminist cry, one that I had swallowed for years without realizing it and it left me shaken to the core — a rare and welcome achievement.

Honorable mentions: Cuckoo, Azrael, The First Omen, Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara, MaXXXine, I Saw the TV Glow