The movies that defined 2024
And the best ones, too.
What makes something the best? My personal approach is a mish-mash of gut-instinct favorites and objectively high-quality films, the ordering of which may fluctuate slightly based on mood. (That’s why this list differs from one’s I’ve submitted elsewhere.) The year was mediocre for films, and it’s telling that a lot of the best movies were ones that I technically saw in the past but finally came this year.
On accounting my meals, I realize how unadventurous I was in the scheme of things (chasing many “hot new” restaurants). I vow to do better next year, paying particular attention to the “cheap” and off-the-beaten path eats, since I’ve been freshly laid off from my job! (A request: consider upgrading to a paid subscription, at a discount.)
Next year I’m excited to bring a greater sense of structure and consistency, with an editorial calendar in tow. If you are looking for advice on your own newsletter, might I suggest one of
’s workshops, which was low on pressure and high on actionable insights. (I especially liked hearing and was somewhat relieved by her takes on notes and the Substack culture.)Happy new year. See you in 2025.
The movies that defined the year
Not the best, not the greatest, but the most reflective of our times. What I’d send out in a 2024 time capsule.
The year in movies
3-in-one stories
The Beast
Bertrand Bonello’s time-traveling masterpiece uses Henry James’ novella as a jumping-off point to address a specifically 21st century anxieties. A “very online” movie that is kitschy, tonally rambunctious—what else is expected for our pixelated age—and as it turns out, wholly moving. Lea Seydoux’s screams into the void are gutting.
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Exploited gig workers, corporate manipulation, TikTok misogynists, and workers competing for worst on-job injury. Radu Jude’s bawdy and eloquently sarcastic film scolds us, even trolls us, on the the pathetic salability of everything that exists today. Set in Romania, but valid everywhere.
The year in movies
Dad movies
Juror No. 2
Clint Eastwood’s legal thriller updates 12 Angry Men and gives us divided nation of stereotypical dopes and hypocrites with a fill-in-the-blank ending that’ll reveal your own political attitudes.
+ Conclave
Gossip-Girl at the Vatican serves up a handy election allegory (for a reality that wasn’t) in which middle-aged men posture and pontificate, only to cede power to the humble, tragic minority figure who will save us all.
The year in movies
Bodies, bodies, bodies
I Saw the TV Glow
+ The Substance
+ A Different Man
Three films mull what it means to have a corporeal self in this century.
The year in movies
*Bonus*
The Feeling That The Time for Doing Something Now Has Passed
+ Last Summer
New and varied shadings of women’s desires.
Most loved moviepudding posts
People were really into my essay on The Substance but not as much as subscribers liked my post on Challengers. These were both on the wordier side, proving that long-reads are as much of interest as my short takes series.
And, the real ones were into my post on Last Summer—the older woman/younger man movie of the year—and exclusive insights in my interview with its director Catherine Breillat. I appreciate you.
What do you want to see more of?
Best old movies I watched for the first time this year
A Moment of Innocence (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1996)
Pin (Sandor Stern, 1998)
Bona (Lino Brocka 1980)
Cruising (William Friedkin, 1980)
Smog (Franco Rosi, 1962)
Peppermint Candy (Lee Chang-Dong 1992)
Making Mr. Right (Susan Seidelmen, 1987)
Vox Lux (Brady Corbet, 2018)
Amadeus (Milos Forman 1984)
Pret-a-porter (Robert Altman)
End of the Night (Keith McNally, 1990)
Paid in Full (Charles Stone III, 2002)
Essene (Frederick Wiseman, 1972)
Fast & Furious (Rob Cohen, 2001)
Best movies I saw that actually come out next year
The Shrouds (David Cronenberg)
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni)
Bonjour Tristesse (Durga Chew-Bose)
Best movies that came out in U.S. theaters in 2024
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Radu Jude)
All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia)
A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)
It’s Not Me (Leo Carax)
Between the Temples (Nathan Silver)
Santosh (Sandhya Suri)
Nickel Boys (Ramell Ross)
Trap (M. Night Shyamalan)
My First Film (Zia Anger)
Vermiglio (Maura Delpero)
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