The Best Movies of 2024: Denis Villeneuve, you did it… you actually did it

Freaky movies ruled 2024, both in the horror sense and the sexy sense

I’m sorry to all the movies that came out this year, but the race for the top spot on my list was a lost cause. This thing was decided on October 26, 2021, aka the day “Dune: Part Two” was green lit. It was always “Dune: Part Two.” Then when the thing actually came out, it was truly curtains for every other film this year.

But that’s not to say there weren’t plenty of other hits in 2024 worthy of a spot in my top 10. Mainly dominating my favorites? Freaky movies – both in the horror sense and the sexy sense.

Honorable Mentions: “Sing Sing,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Smile 2,” “The Fall Guy”

10: “The Substance” – “Well mark me down as scared and horny,” amirite? Coralie Fargeat’s body horror gore fest starts off incredibly fun, then it just goes nuclear. It’s bold, it’s original, and Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley deliver two of the year’s best performances. It runs a tad long – particularly when it comes to the third act – but the first two are sharp as nails and some of the most creative filmmaking I saw all year.

9: “Cuckoo” – Hunter Schafer and a German town with weird vibes? Say less. “Cuckoo” actually helped me put a finger on one of my favorite subgenres, which is “people going to a place where the vibes are off and then shit just gets really fucking wild.” It’s a first-ballot Hall of Fame entry. Schafer’s frenetic madness is an absolute delight to watch, and the juxtaposition of the absurd plot and the quaint European mountain retreat setting makes for a ridiculously fun movie.

8: “Longlegs” – Another horror/thriller makes the top 10… I warned you. I’m a mark for anything serial killer (except, you know, serial killing) so “Longlegs” was very much up my alley. The marketing campaign was brilliant pre-release and made it the It Movie of the summer, even if the film itself didn’t live all the way up to the hype. Still, incredibly bleak atmospheric dread, a twisty mystery, and a strong breakout performance from Maika Monroe make this worthy of the list.

7: “Blink Twice” – The last thriller on the list and the second great “vibes are off” movie of the year. In “Blink Twice,” Zoë Kravitz has put together an incredibly impressive directorial debut — tense, thrilling, hilarious and clever. Naomie Ackie is a captivating lead and Adria Arjona continues to demand attention with her charm, all while Channing Tatum shows a whole new side to his abilities. It’s one of the great original films of the year.

6: “Hit Man” – Okay, now we’re shifting from the scary movies to the sexy movies, and I’d be hard pressed to find one hotter than “Hit Man.” The Glenaissance continued well into 2024 with “Twisters,” but Richard Linklater’s rom-com was Powell’s best work this year. Seeing Powell play a range of characters was extremely entertaining – from the increasingly ridiculous hit men disguises, to his ability to slip back and forth between meek, mild-mannered Gary and the rough and tumble Ron. Throw in Ms. Adria Arjona and her aforementioned charm, and man, we’re cooking. Powell and Arjona’s chemistry was something special.

5: “We Live in Time” – Time to get weepy. But still hot. But definitely get ready to sob. Tissues are a must for this romantic drama starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, guaranteed to punch you straight in the feels. What I loved most about this movie was its nonlinear storytelling, jumping between various highs and lows of the couples’ relationship, allowing us to – as the title suggests – live in particular moments in time. The score is a near-constant ambient undertone adding even more emotion to Garfield and Pugh’s stellar performances. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

4: “Challengers” – This one arrived in April and I don’t think I stopped thinking about it for the remainder of the year. Hot! Dramatic! Hilarious! Intense! Churros! “Challengers” truly has it all. Zendaya is the definition of a movie star, and the combination of this film and “Dune: Part Two” have finally helped cement her as such outside of the Spider-Verse. Setting a love triangle in the uber-competitive world of professional tennis takes things to a whole new level, as lines are blurred between romance and contest, coach and partner, and friend or foe. In this world, affection isn’t won through grand gestures of love or passion, it’s earned through tactical strategy and Grand Slam titles. And that score! Bumping that.

3: “Anora” – I’m a sucker for a good Sean Baker movie, and he’s done it yet again. Part frenetic “Uncut Gems” energy, part modern-day “Cinderella” reboot, “Anora” is extremely fun – until it’s not. What starts as the ultimate party quickly descends into a nightmare with damning critiques of the wealth gap, class exploitation, and the illusion of the American dream. Mikey Madison is a true breakout star in her first major big screen role that doesn’t require being set ablaze, and Yura Borisov delivers one of the surprising performances of the year in the second act. It’s simultaneously hysterical and heartbreaking.

2: “Rebel Ridge” – Considering I had zero concept of this movie prior to its release on Netflix in September, “Rebel Ridge” is by my greatest surprise of the year when it comes to film. Jeremy Saulnier’s “Green Room” is one of the most tense thrillers I’ve ever seen, and he absolutely matches the energy, pacing and stakes in this action-thriller led by a standout Aaron Pierre. Electric isn’t a strong enough word to describe this movie. The inciting event – a traffic stop – goes down in the opening scene, and I don’t think I exhaled again until the credits rolled. Pierre is a force to be reckoned with, and his character, Terry, is a hulking and intimidating presence that simultaneously garners sympathy with his kindness and logic. Imagine Batman was dropped in bumfuck Alabama to deal with some corrupt cops, and that’s what you’ve got here. Like I said… electric.

1: “Dune: Part Two” – Denis Villeneuve, you mad man. “Dune” blew the socks of the sci-fi world, and it was only a matter of time until “Part Two” arrived to do it all over again. We’re operating on a whole new level here — drama, action, comedy, Villeneuve is flexing every single creative muscle. Bringing the insane second half of the novel to the screen is no small feat, yet Villeneuve makes it look easy. The sequel builds on the first film in every possible way – most notably as all the action comes to a head, allowing Villeneuve to demonstrate his mastery of scope and scale in truly epic sequences, from sand worms to gladiator battles and beyond. The cast across the board is stellar, but to no one’s surprise, Timothée Chalamet cements himself as the movie star of a generation with a commanding performance as Paul Atreides.

Haunting, brilliant, and groundbreaking. How lucky we are to be alive at the same time Denis Villeneuve is creating masterpiece after masterpiece. Fear the moment.