I think it’s been a great year for cinema. Maybe even better than last year. According to my Letterboxd I didn’t give any film that came out in 2023 the heralded five stars but this year I’ve given that score twice, and a lot of four and a halves to go with. Scores are, of course, arbitrary, but it’s interesting to look back and see how things have played out on a macro level. It’s been a great year for cinema visits too, with lots of screenings locally as well as a day trip to the Prince Charles Cinema in London to watch David Lynch’s Inland Empire. What a wonderful, baffling fever dream (nightmare?) of a film. Watching it on the big screen with a loyal, and slightly stoned, audience was one of those experiences that just got me hyped about cinema again. Will definitely be venturing to the capital more in 2025. For now though, my cinematic highlights of 2024!
Honourable Mentions: Look Back, All of Us Strangers, Small Things Like These, Trap, Dune: Part Two, Rebel Ridge
10. THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN | Benjamin Ree
Filmmaker Benjamin Ree’s The Remarkable Life of Ibelin caught me off guard. A beautiful and poignant encapsulation of the power the internet can have as a tool for expression and forming community. What’s most striking about the film is that Ree strives for honesty and truth in his presentation of Norwegian Gamer Mats Steen’s life both online and off. We see every colour of his personality and the seismic effect he had on those around him.
9. LA CHIMERA | Alice Rohrwacher
I think what I love most about Alice Rohrwacher’s filmmaking is just how playful it is. She doesn’t confine herself to one, single cohesive means of telling a story. She embraces the expanse of the form, playing with the frame, and the characters’ interaction with it. It’s a film which knows it’s a film but not in an annoying self-aggrandising way. Shoutout to Josh O’Connor too. He was outstanding in God’s Own Country but this year feels like he’s gone to the next level.
8. GASOLINE RAINBOW | Bill & Turner Ross
I’ve been a fan of the Ross brothers ever since I saw their previous feature Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets back at the London Film Festival in 2020 (DN’s relationship with them goes back even further!). Their raw, unfiltered style that lives on the fringes of documentary and live action is the perfect artistic means for capturing those who society sometimes deems unworthy. Gasoline Rainbow is their latest feature, a coming of age road movie, but one with a great sadness on its horizon. Just wonderful stuff, I will happily watch anything these guys make.
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7. HIS THREE DAUGHTERS | Azazel Jacobs
A filmmaker we first featured on DN back in 2008, Azazel Jacob’s latest film depicts how intense situations bring out those damaging and cyclical familial modes we can never quite escape. It’s a proper, old school film of performances too with Elizabeth Olsen, Natasha Lyonne and Carrie Coon each bringing their A game. If I had to single out one performance in particular it would be Lyonne as Rachel who, despite being the quietest of the three sisters, conveys so much depth through her presence and physicality. I’m not really an awards person but get her nominated!
6. LOVE LIES BLEEDING | Rose Glass
Another film which just felt so playful and bold. I really liked Saint Maud but would have never expected the filmmaker who made that to follow it up with a roided-up romantic noir thriller. What’s most impressive about Love Lies Bleeding, to me, is how Glass is able to dial up the genre elements of her film to the max without ever losing sight of the beating heart of the story, which is the relationship between Lou and Jackie.
5. MONSTER | Hirokazu Kore-eda
What starts as a procedural drama ends up transcending into a humane coming of age story. Never thought I’d find myself comparing a Kore-eda drama to Reiner’s Stand By Me but here we are! Should expect nothing less from Kore-eda really, a filmmaker who continually takes conceits and setups and finds a way of imbuing them with an open-hearted, soulful sensibility.
4. CHALLENGERS | Luca Guadagnino
Big, dynamic camera swings, a dialled-up edit and the score of the year from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. And it’s all to tell the story of a love triangle (sort of) between three tennis players. Did Luca Guadagnino essentially make a live action anime with Challengers? I kinda think so.
3. I SAW THE TV GLOW | Jane Schoenbrun
I’m still yet to see Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going To The World’s Fair but if I Saw TV The Glow is anything to go by I need to rectify that immediately. A dreamy, surreal and genuinely Lynchian nightmare of a film which taps into that difficult-to-define quality art can have that allows you to both immerse and explore yourself inside it. As of right now it’s only available on Blu-ray from A24’s shop in the States but if any film is worth that eye-watering shipping cost it’s this one.
2. PERFECT DAYS | Wim Wenders
Like Jarmusch’s Paterson before it, Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days is a celebration of the beauty that can be found in the everyday. But, also like Paterson, that doesn’t mean it’s twee or saccharine. It acknowledges the importance of searching and taking stock in who and what you love, but also the sheer difficulty of just moving through life. It’s one of those films I hope to revisit regularly.
1. THE HOLDOVERS | Alexander Payne
I watched The Holdovers back in January and it immediately set a stupidly high bar for the year. Having just watched it again in December (the month it should’ve been released!), it’s confirmed itself as my favourite film of 2024. A film that is at times joyful, at times heartbreaking, but consistently human. Randolph is unreal, Sessa gives the debut performance of the year and Giamatti makes everyone look a fool for not casting him in more lead roles.
You can check out the rest of Team DN’s Top Ten picks here.
