2024 was a doozy for films. I saw over 300 releases in theaters, mostly new ones, and another 70 titles on streaming. To whittle that down to anything resembling a top 20 was difficult, to say the least, which is why this list might change over time and isn't definitive. Instead, treat it as a primer of the 20 movies that I enjoyed so much that, even months later, I can't stop thinking about them.

Without further ado, the top 20:

Nosferatu

I'm a huge fan of Robert Eggers and how he handles folk horror. His latest, Nosferatu, is probably his best work to date. It's a staggering feat of recontextualizing old myths into something new while capturing a sense of past worlds and histories that may have never existed.

Nosferatu (2024) review

Willem Dafoe standing before a burning altar in the film Nosferatu

Conclave

I stated in my review that Conclave could have easily gone so wrong with the wrong filmmakers at the helm. After three viewings, that feels all the more true. This delicately handled chamber drama about the selection of the new pope constantly flirts with melodrama and camp, yet never succumbs to easy temptation. Instead, it's a mature, richly woven tapestry of fate, power, and uncertainty in a world built on definitive hierarchy. A masterclass in acting, it features some of the best performances in any film released last year.

Review: Ralph Fiennes is superb in Conclave

Ralph Fiennes in the film Conclave

Civil War

Released early in 2024, Civil War nearly vanished under the wave of fantastic releases later in the year. Luckily, this intense and brutally unflinching depiction of America destroying itself wouldn't go away. Instead, it has only become more prescient and terrifying as the year has marched on. Many were upset about its refusal to explain itself, yet Civil War is a better film because it doesn't provide easy answers. None of the main characters are good people, but they're not monsters, either. Instead, they're shades of grey in an increasingly divided world, attempting to capture a moment of truth in the only way they know how.

Civil War is a brave, unrelenting cinematic warning for our time

Kirsten Dunst standing against harsh backlight in the movie Civil War

Hit Man

This cheery, demented, and ridiculously sexy comedy brightened my summer like no other film this year. It's silly and implausible, yet driven by two leading performances so steamy and talented that it doesn't matter. I'm a huge fan of Richard Linklater, who once again proves he's a cinematic chameleon, capable of moving from one genre to the next like nobody else.

Hit Man is the funniest and sexiest romantic comedy in years

Adria Arjona standing behind Glen Powell, who is pointing a gun, in the film Hit Man

The Bikeriders

Jeff Nichols is a great American poet, and The Bikeriders is a fascinating snippet of American culture at a turning point in history. Audiences were torn by the disparate narrative that hops around between years and decades, yet I couldn't help but love this mosaic of small lives looking for redemption on the backs of custom-built motorcycles.

The Bikeriders is a majestic portrait of America

Austin Butler sitting on a motorcycle against a grain field in the film The Bikeriders

Longlegs

It was a great year for horror, and Longlegs leads the pack as a smart, unnerving, and thoroughly menacing piece of Satanic thrills. Maika Monroe is riveting as the troubled FBI agent hunting for a serial killer, and Nicolas Cage delivers an all-time great performance as the eponymous Longlegs. This is another terrifying story that refuses to explain itself any further, and its delights are as deep as the scares. I nearly had a panic attack in the theater and loved every minute of it.

Longlegs is one of the most terrifying films in years

Maika Monroe faces a wall plastered with papers in the film Longlegs

Anora

I was initially left cold by Anora because it adamantly refuses to follow the traditional beats of both drama and romantic comedy. But the further I get from my first viewing, the more I adore the hard truths and unsentimental love that Anora has to offer. Led by a towering performance from Mikey Madison, this is a great and complicated film about sex, love, empowerment, and hierarchy masquerading as a goofball romp. It sneaks in with a wry smile and proceeds to settle somewhere in your heart.

Review: Anora is Mikey Madison’s triumph

Mikey Madison dancing in a neon lit club in the film Anora

Kneecap

This Irish delight came out of nowhere and immediately took its spot as one of the funniest and most charming films of the year. Part biopic, part music film, part piss-take, Kneecap is everything that tedious rock'n'roll movies like A Complete Unknown want to be, but aren't. It's like hanging out with rowdy drinking buddies who always have the best stories.

Review: Kneecap is a hell of a good time

The band Kneecap playing on stage in the film Kneecap

Twilight of Warriors: Walled In

One of the big Cannes delights, Twilight of Warriors is an explosive mix of urban fantasy, kung-fu epic, and historic drama. Set in the walled city of Kowloon, it charts the lives of the downtrodden and misfortunate as they set to create a new reality for themselves on the outskirts of society. It goes completely off the rails by the end, but it's also so charming that it doesn't matter. This is one of the most fun theatergoing experiences of the year.

Cannes 2024: Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is a fairy tale action film

The cast of Twilight of Warriors stand in a dark alley

Emilia Perez

The film that shook my world to its core. I walked in completely blind and two hours later came out proclaiming Emilia Perez a miracle. Six screenings and almost a year later, that still stands. This audacious, life-affirming, heartfelt, heartbreaking, devastating, and immaculate film about identity, forgiveness, love, and family remains a highlight of the year.

Cannes 2024: Emilia Perez is an intoxicating triumph

Selena Gomez standing in a dark room in the film Emilia Perez

Eight Postcards from Utopia

This found footage documentary baffled and excited me to such a degree that I couldn't stop thinking about it for a full week after my initial viewing. Comprised of advertisements from an almost three-decade period of Romanian history, Eight Postcards from Utopia is a startling glimpse into the hopes and dreams of an entire nation, told through the voices of crass commercialism.

LFF: Eight Postcards from Utopia Review

A man and a woman stare at each other in the film Eight Postcards from Utopia

Furiosa

George Miller's epic prequel to Fury Road and smart expansion of the Mad Max mythology is still a high-octane thrill I continue to revisit. It's not the same spectacle as Fury Road, but its best moments soar. Anya Taylor-Joy is hugely impressive as Furiosa, and Chris Hemsworth delivers a career-best performance as Dementus, the hapless overlord destined to face her wrath. Post-apocalypse fantasy rarely gets as good as this.

Cannes 2024: Furiosa - A Mad Max Saga

Anya Taylor-Joy looking over her shoulder in the film Furiosa

Ellis Park

Another London Film Festival surprise, this tender documentary about the life and career of musician Mick Garris and his work with a wildlife foundation touched me deeply. It's like peering across a distant gulf to find others struggling with the same thoughts, and realizing that no matter how it feels, you are not alone, and there are people in this world full of great compassion and kindness.

Review: Ellis Park is profoundly moving

Warren Ellis plays the violin in Sumatra in the documentary Ellis Park

Here

Others are calling Here one of the worst films of the year. I couldn't disagree more. In time, I believe it will find drastic reappraisal as people get over the admittedly uneven visual effects. Beyond the technical aspects, Here is an impressive feat of dramatic engineering that thoroughly understands the assignment of adapting Richard McGuire's momentous graphic novel to a film. The result is a heartbreaking tale of little lives lost in the current of endless time, and I loved every second of it.

Here - Robert Zemeckis’s new masterpiece

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright hug in the film Here

Heretic

Funny, terrifying, insightful, and demented. Heretic is all these things and more, and it's a thrill every time I see it. Led by a marvelous Hugh Grant effectively playing an even more unhinged version of Richard Dawkins, Heretic is the kind of low-budget chamber piece that could easily become a one-trick pony. Instead, the result is so smart and full of surprises that it rewards repeat views in ways that most horror films rarely achieve.

Review: Heretic is Hugh Grant at his best

Hugh Grant standing next to two women in the film Heretic

Monkey Man

Dev Patel is the real deal. He's a fantastic leading man and a smart writer, and now he's proven himself as one of the most exciting voices in action cinema. Monkey Man is a tough-as-nails thriller set in Mumbai, where the Kid (Patel) seeks vengeance against the man who murdered his mother years ago. The hypnotic tale is full of left-turns and unexpected twists on common genre tropes, but it's never better than in the action, where Patel and his fantastic cast deliver some of the biggest thrills this side of Hong Kong cinema.

Monkey Man is one of the best action films of the decade

Dev Patel against a harsh red background in the film Monkey Man

Dune Part Two

2024 felt like such a long year that it's insane to think Dune Part Two came out just 12 months ago. In any other year, it would be the big picture all others skirt around, yet that's not the world we live in anymore. Instead, Dune came and went to critical appraise, but little fanfare elsewhere. This is a shame since Denis Villeneuve's fantastic adaptation is a smart, daring epic that treats its audience like adults even as it delivers a big popcorn spectacle.

Dune Part Two is a breathless spectacle

The poster for the film Dune Part Two with the release date 28. February

Horizon: An American Saga

Unfairly maligned and dismissed to the point that its second chapter only saw a brief premiere in Venice before disappearing entirely, Horizon is a labor of love worthy of reappraisal. Spanning years in the lives of settlers in the American West, Kevin Costner's ambitious tale of disparate fates is grand, sprawling, complex, and often frustrating. But it's also a stunningly beautiful and smartly composed epoch that shows how much Costner has grown as a filmmaker. We've come far from the reductive days of cowboys and Indians, and Horizon is a bright spark in the world of neo-Westerns that refuses to return to the old ways.

Cannes 2024: Horizon: An American Saga proves Kevin Costner is the master of the western

Kevin Costner riding a horse in Horizon: An American Saga Part 1

Rebel Ridge

Jeremy Saulnier's uncompromising Rambo-adjacent thriller was a gut punch when it arrived on Netflix in September, and it continues to impress months down the line. This neo-Western might appear traditional on the surface, but bubbling beneath it is a blisteringly smart condemnation of a broken society where the rule of law serves only the ruthless.

Review: Rebel Ridge is one of the best films of 2024

Aaron Pierre holding a gun and standing against a door in the film Rebel Ridge

The Substance

The film that had the audience howling at Cannes. The Substance isn't subtle, but it's smart, funny, and brutally incisive in its satire about our society and our dated views on aging. Demi Moore stuns in the lead role, and there's a lot to love in any horror film that can wring out laughs from squeamish body horror while also delivering a heartfelt message about loving yourself, no matter who you are.

Cannes 2024: The Substance is shocking and hysterically funny

Demi Moore talking into a red phone in the film The Substance