The end of the year of course means Top 10 lists! Here are my ten favorite films of 2024 (and four honorable mentions). Oscar nominations follow in just a few weeks, on Friday, January 17th. Stay tuned to see if Oscar voters share my thinking. And be sure to also check out fellow SP Film Critic Chad’s Top 20 list here. In the meantime–see you back in the cinema in 2025!
- 10.) Touch
A hauntingly beautiful story about two people who find love in their youth and lose it, Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur’s film is as much about the ephemeral nature of time as it is the unrelenting power of memory and connection. Starring two likable actors (Palmi Kormákur and Kôki) who are as alluring as the story itself, Touch moves us with its unforgettable tenderness.
9.) Juror #2
At 94-years-old, Clint Eastwood proves he hasn’t lost his touch at delivering exceptional, high-quality, thoughtful films. A nerve-racking thriller masquerading as an engrossing courtroom drama, Juror #2 allows us to mull over a “what would I do?” question during the film and long after its ending. That kind of audience engagement isn’t always easy, but Eastwood masterfully crafts a moral question wrapped up in a what-will-happen-next nailbiter. Nicholas Hoult (who seems to be in everything this year) is terrific as a morally conflicted everyman, and first-rate supporting work from Toni Collette and JK Simmons adds to the picture’s gravitas.
The inspired pairing of 44-year-old Jason Schwartzman, known for his droll and dry delivery, with 72-year-old comedic legend Carol Kane is just one reason Nathan Silver’s film is so special. A dramedy about a cantor (Schwartzman) experiencing a crisis of faith who reconnects with his bat mitzvah-seeking former music teacher (Kane), the picture utilizes Schwartzman and Kane’s impeccable comic timing and palpable chemistry to sweet and often uproarious humorous effect. Silver balances serious themes of depression and grief with moments of levity and genuine joy, reminding us that tears and laughter frequently go hand in hand.
7.) Didi
Local boy makes more than good in this stunning first feature film from Fremont-raised filmmaker Sean Wang. A coming-of-age story loosely based on Wang’s own childhood, the picture is a nostalgic ode to a time and place as much as a rumination on the difficulties of growing up, struggling to fit in, and yearning to belong. Izaac Wang, as 13-year-old Didi, and Joan Chen, as Didi’s loving but worried mother, exquisitely portray the push-pull of a mother/son bond at a challenging time when young people need their family most.
6.) Daddio
The ‘taxi cab confessional’ isn’t a new idea, but writer/director Christy Hall breathes fresh life into the intimate tell-all setting thanks to outstanding performances from Sean Penn as driver and Dakota Johnson as passenger. With Penn’s back to Johnson for most of the movie, the two must play off each other with only the slightest of non-verbal cues punctuating their wide-ranging conversation about love, sex, and relationships both romantic and familial. What results is an absorbing and philosophical picture that makes us feel privy to the secrets of two intelligent and complicated people who we don’t want to leave at film’s end.
5.) A Real Pain
Jesse Eisenberg, wearing his writer/director hat here, mines appropriate pathos from a Holocaust group tour in Poland, finding empathetic and truthful ways to explore trauma both generational and personal. Kieran Culkin has the showier role as the troubled but appealing Benji, deservedly garnering multiple award nominations. But Eisenberg, casting himself as Benji’s more buttoned up cousin David, brings deep layers of emotional complexity to an understated yet equally praiseworthy performance.
4.) Anora
Turning the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold trope on its head, filmmaker Sean Baker elicits a career-defining performance from star Mikey Madison as the titular Anora. By turns laugh-out-loud funny, gut-wrenchingly painful, and achingly bittersweet, Baker’s film draws us into a sordid sphere of call-girls, drugs, wealth, and power. Baker and his exceptional cast reveal not only the dignity in this world of haves and have-nots, but also profound moments of grace.
James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic captures the sights and sounds of early 1960s New York at the same time it delivers a warts-and-all portrait of a flawed creative genius. Portraying real life, well-known figures is never easy, but Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, and Monica Barbaro as Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Joan Baez, respectively, brilliantly convey the essence of their counterparts without falling into the trappings of simple imitation.
2.) Tuesday
One of the most affecting and visionary movies about death ever made, this startling tale of a mother (a stellar Julia Louis-Dreyfus) coping with the impending loss of her terminally ill daughter shouldn’t be missed. Croatian writer/director Daina Oniunas-Pusic deftly weaves elements of magical realism into a brutally honest, emotionally raw meditation on the meaning of life, love, and loss.
1.) Ghostlight
That this June indie release didn’t garner more attention is perhaps the year’s biggest cinematic crime. A grieving construction worker (Keith Kupferer) finds redemption and solace with an amateur theater troupe in Kelly O’Sullivan’s beautifully rendered and powerful testament to the healing power of art. Kupferer gives one of the year’s best and most overlooked performances in a film with an urgent and necessary message for us all: Only when we take chances, move beyond our comfort zone, and confront our pain can we mend and grow.
Honorable Mentions: Saturday Night, September 5, In the Summers, Conclave
