2024 has been a real great year, in my eyes, for movies being made in a more classical style along with evolution in animated movies by independent filmmakers along with a better focus on indie filmmaking at film festivals. Along with finding me in downtown cinemas in my home city seeing all the new releases year round, I travelled to several film festivals in North America and plan to go to even more in 2025 to find great cinema no matter how many hours of sleep I lose and coffee that is needed to keep me powering through.
Anyone who says “there are no good movies anymore” clearly need to get out to movies and film festivals more often and stop watching all mainstream movies. There are always good movies out there beyond the main screens at your massive googleplex showing remakes, reboots and “easy” pictures. Just ask me.
The Ten Best Movies of 2024:
#1. FLOW (dir. Gints Zilbadois)
In 1995, I remember sitting in a packed theatre full of people of ALL ages to see a little computer animated movie named TOY STORY. It was not only mind-blowing to see what computer animation could do, but also how this movie appealed to all ages and how generations will see this movie differently.
Cut to 2024 and out of the lovely little country of Latvia comes FLOW, a truly groundbreaking piece of animation that announces Gints Zilbalodis as one of the great modern animators in a work that rivals Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and even the very best of Dreamworks, Pixar and Walt Disney animation.
No movie this year has truly made me FEEL joy and love in my heart than the way that FLOW has. Featuring no dialogue and relying instead on animal sounds, atmospheric audio and a heart-pounding music score, this movie is absolutely simple in its storytelling of an adorable little black cat with a strong personality, who goes on an adventure after his house is flooded and then winds up on a boat with some other lost animals. There are so many images in here that brought tears to my eyes with its imagination, from the point-of-view of a cat being taken by a bird and then free-falling onto a boat made me loudly applaud without even thinking about it (thankfully the audience agreed with me at the TIFF screening, backed me up and also let out a huge applause for this virtuoso shot).
Another image involves Cat appearing to be drowning, then being saved in a way by an animal, ahem, MUCH larger that absolutely took my breath away and will be an image that I will not forget anytime this soon. FLOW is full of these, but it’s also remarkable on how the animals play absolutely real with their surroundings. It becomes a survival story and my imagination soared at what a world like this could be like.
After seeing FLOW — which completely took over my soul, made me lean forward in my seat and applaud after one stunning moment after another — remind me why I venture to film festivals to find movies like this. FLOW is a miracle of a motion picture, and a movie that should play on every screen in the world to packed audiences, win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and also just live in my soul until I die. Yes, it’s that good.
Release Notes: I saw the very last screening of FLOW at the Toronto International Film Festival (thanks to a fellow film exhibitor that raved about it to me at a screening of THE WILD ROBOT, ironically). In Canada, FLOW had a small but modest release in Canadian cinemas and may return to an indie or rep cinema especially with its likely Oscar nominations coming up. FilmsWeLike is releasing this on digital platforms (Apple, Google etc) in January. DO seek out a big screen experience if you can.
#2. THE BRUTALIST (United States, dir. Brady Corbet)
A somewhat hard movie to describe in a few sentences but I’ll try. Filmmaker Brady Corbet (VOX LUX) is someone who looks to filmmaking in the past to tell his story of an immigrant (Adrien Brody) who makes it to the United States after fleeing Europe after World War II and becomes an architect and starts a family. Things get even more complicated when another businessman (Guy Pearce) comes into the story. Nothing in this movie is predictable and it is matched with a visual design almost at par with the architect himself.
Even at its epic running time, I sat in complete awe in a more traditional storytelling aspect, divided smartly into two parts with an intermission built into the picture. Corbet is clearly channeling old-school filmmakers from the 50s and 60s right down to its visual style by shooting in large-format Vistavision, and with THE BRUTALIST he ranks among the works of the finest modern filmmakers.
Release Notes: I was lucky to catch the 70mm premiere at TIFF. The movie has started a small platform release in major cities and expanding to more cinemas in January. If you are able to see a 70mm presentation do NOT miss the opportunity, or at the very least a cinema that prides itself on proper projection and sound quality.
#3. A REAL PAIN (United States/Poland, dir. Jesse Eisenberg)
Jesse Eisenberg’s second feature shows what an enormous talent this man is. Right from the first shot of a cousin (Kieran Culkin) in an airport, we are taken into a short but memorable story of two cousins who embark on a journey to Poland after their grandmother dies, partly with a tour group that all have their own three dimensions. It’s a road trip movie that resonated with me as both cousins learn about each other but the people around them in a tour group, and it ends on such a spiritual note that I couldn’t wait to see it again right after. A movie like A REAL PAIN is another example of a movie that people claim they want to see but don’t go out and support when released, and I was saddened when the movie didn’t do as well as it should. Hopefully this finds an audience in 2025 and the word will spread more.
Release Notes: This was one of the very few titles in my Top 10 that I did NOT see at a film festival! The movie had a light release this fall and will begin on digital services in January. Expect it to arrive on Disney+/Star early in the new year.
#4. GHOSTLIGHT (United States, dir. Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson)
GHOSTLIGHT is the little indie gem that could, and delivers complete emotion and power throughout its near two-hour run time. The movie is not just about a man (Keith Kupferer) who finds himself with a local theatre play, but it is also about a family (played by Kupferer and his real wife Tara Mallen and daughter Katherine Mallen-Kupferer) who are dealing with a tragic loss and connect through a small but dedicated local theatre community performing ROMEO & JULIET. Chicago-based filmmakers Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson wowed me back in 2019 with their small but mighty indie movie SAINT FRANCES but GHOSTLIGHT is very different in tone and feel, and also deals with deep family issues that reminded me of the power of Patrick Wang’s IN THE FAMILY from many years ago. These two are among my very favourite indie filmmakers working in the industry right now and are building quite the impressive filmography.
Release Notes: IFC released GHOSTLIGHT late this summer after its festival run, and is currently on some streaming services along with availability on digital platforms.
#5. ANORA (dir. Sean Baker)
Sean Baker’s latest movie ANORA is like a lightning rod throughout its entire run time. It starts with a pretty risqué subject of sex work where a night-club worker named Anora (an outstanding Mikey Madison), nicknamed Annie, winds up with a younger Russian man with a LOT of money and the absolute nightmare that happens when the two get married and it ruptures their family in the process. I think the thing I reacted to the most about the movie was the long, drawn-out sequence in which Anna and the Russian businessmen looked for the crazy husband, and how Annie reacts to the entire situation after the two are reunited. I also love movies where I have no idea how they are going to end and ANORA is a great example of this, leading to one of the most powerful final shots I have seen in a long time. ANORA had such a divided reaction upon release and of course this is not for everyone AND you have to be in the mood for it, but I reacted so strongly to this wild, unpredictable adventure that does not pull punches and I find it Mr. Baker’s best movie to date.
Release Notes: After a successful limited release, ANORA is still playing in a few theatres across the nation but also now available for premium purchase on digital formats.
#6. THE WILD ROBOT (United States, dir. Chris Sanders)
Other than FLOW, THE WILD ROBOT is one of the other best animated features of 2024 (there’s still one more down this list, making for THREE animated features to make my list). Reminding me of the Disney new wave of the 1980s that led through the early 90s, THE WILD ROBOT is pure storytelling as we go through the journey of a lost robot who learns to adapt to her surroundings and becomes a “mom” of sorts to a little bird who is having a journey of his own. Everything in THE WILD ROBOT works, from the stunning, eye-popping design to the message of finding family where you least expect it, which is a theme that runs through a lot of my choices for top movies in 2024. This is also the most visually beautiful movie of the year and I’ll still celebrate this obvious Best Animated Feature Oscar win (even though I’ll be a little disappointed in my heart that FLOW I love just a LITTLE bit more).
Release Notes: THE WILD ROBOT is now available on all digital platforms and physical media, however it may still be playing in a few theatres and highly recommend the big screen experience!
#7. HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS (United States, dir. Mike Cheslik)
“I have seen 30,000 movies in my lifetime, and I have never really quite seen anything like this.” — Paul Gratton, former Whistler Film Festival director of programming.
A movie like HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS is impossible to put into a synopsis, but imagine writing the official synopsis by saying “A drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.” and going
In a year of indie breakouts from film festivals, few movies had a delirious impact on my psyche like HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, which started its journey in genre festivals all the way back in 2022 and has had a slow but eventual release building quite the unique following. This movie is nearly impossible to describe, but filmmaker Mike Cheslik and his team have created a bonkers mix of Looney Tunes, Guy Maddin and silent comedy with hints of video games that is forever drawing outside the lines like kids who stayed up way best their bedtime just opening their imaginations. Just the simple shot of Beavers in costumes alone makes this worth a watch, but the mad genius throughout in its wacky storytelling has left such an impact on me. I will never forget the joy and laughter of this out-there indie masterpiece that is still going to find more followers in 2025.
Release Notes: HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS played at so many film festivals since 2022 and has had many popular screenings in cities all over North America. Try to see this in a theatre if you can, but it is also streaming on Tubi and YouTube Movies in Canada.
#8. EVIL DOES NOT EXIST (dir. Ryuske Hamaguchi)
The follow-up to filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi who made waves over in North America with his terrific feature DRIVE MY CAR has, in my opinion, made an even superior film here about what happens to a single father and his daughter in a small wintery town get a visit from a big real estate project that wants to bring a large Glamping site making the small town more of a tourist attraction. This is just a setup for a completely original and telling story that takes beautiful and unpredictable turns. I saw this movie earlier in the year at the Seattle International Film Festival and mostly the third act, which is something I do not want to explain but it is a sequence that has stuck in my head all year long in an already great film that ranks among the filmmaker’s finest works.
Release notes: Now available on Digital as well as Blu Ray. Also streaming on The Criterion Channel.
#9. KILL (dir. Nikhil Nagesh Bhat)
My favourite movie out of India this year actually premiered at the 2023 section of Midnight Madness at TIFF, but did get a release earlier in 2024 to rave reviews and new fans of its wonderful star Lakshya, who plays a man out for revenge after his wife is killed on a train headed for Delhi. The devil is in the details and the revenge sequence, which is completely unhinged, makes for incredible action cinema that reminds me of the hyper violent action pictures of the 80s and 90s. Rarely in movies have I FELT a retaliation in the way I have with KILL, one of the most visceral and unforgettable revenge movies in recent memory. Every bone-crunching hit is earned and went right into my psyche. Bonus points for the entire movie taking place on a train, because trains are cool!
Release notes: After a successful theatrical release, KILL is now available on digital formats as well as streaming on Amazon Prime.
#10. PIECE BY PIECE (dir. Morgan Neville)
There is a slow but building trend in alternate ways of doing the music documentary instead of a barrage of talking heads and clip shows. For musician Pharrell Williams, he wanted to tell his unique story of how he became a musician and then got the brilliant idea to render it all in Lego format. The result is something just as fun as 2014’s THE LEGO MOVIE but with the added fun of seeing many of Pharrell’s collaborators like Snoop Dogg and Gwen Stefani in lego format. Filmmaker Morgan Neville, known more for his Oscar winning doc 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, I feel should win again for creating such a unique perspective on a singer through the power of animation.
Release Notes: After the movie sadly came and went in cinemas after not making a dent in the box office, PIECE BY PIECE Is now available on VOD.
Thanks to all of the film festivals, publicists and local movie theatres for putting up with me to find all of my favourite movies in 2024. See you all in cinemas in 2025!