This was a strange year in cinema, in which blockbuster success at the box office was rare (“Inside Out 2” was the top grab, followed by the overdone “Deadpool & Wolverine” superfrenemy romp) and outshone by adult-themed animation, non-English-language and documentary offerings. Also strong were films featuring women’s voices and indie creep-outs – a combination best embodied and exemplified by TJ Mollner’s “Strange Darling” and Anna Kendrick making her directorial debut with “Woman of the Hour.” Neither quite made it to our best-of list for the year, but “The Substance” is an example of the genre that did. To avoid a lump of cinematic coal over the holidays, select from our best-of-2024 slate below.
Admirable and nearly on the list: “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Riddle of Fire,” “Anora,” “Queendom,” “I Saw the TV Glow,” “Nickel Boys,” “A Different Man,” “Conclave,” “I’m Still Here” and “Civil War.”
“A Complete Unknown”
Timothée Chalamet takes some time to work his way into your soul as the young, aloof folk icon Bob Dylan couch surfing and looking to make a name for himself in the early 1960s, but once he does – and while emulating Dylan’s croaky crooning – it’s an impressive, career-topping turn, certain to be award-worthy. The focus of the film is Dylan’s transition from acoustic folk to electric rock and the uproar he caused in 1965 at the very intentionally unplugged Newport Jazz Festival. Using Elijah Wald’s 2015 book “Dylan Goes Electric!,” James Mangold’s biopic slice renders the early ’60s with ample nostalgia but some license. (Not all you see onscreen really happened.) The supporting cast bolstering and complimenting Chalamet includes excellent evocations by Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Boyd Holbrook as a gruff Johnny Cash, who incites Dylan through letters, Scoot McNairy doing better here as the infirm Woodie Guthrie than his recent turn in “Nightbitch,” and Edward Norton, unrecognizable and knocking it out of Rhode Island as folkie flag waver Pete Seeger. (Tom Meek) Opens in theaters Wednesday.
Not a claymation romp for the whole family – not even close. No, this very dark and very adult animated tale has twins (voiced by “Succession” and “Power of the Dog” stars Sarah Snook and Kodi Smit-McPhee) separated after the death of their father and placed in foster homes on opposite coasts of Australia, as well as edgy, plot-driving incursions into swinging, fat feeding, pyromania and religious zealotry. Wickedly funny yet tenderly bittersweet, “Memoir of a Snail” has the dark, loving embrace of Tim Burton done with the edgy verve of Trey Parker and Matt Stone of “South Park.” (Tom Meek) On Amazon Prime Video.
“Nosferatu”
Since debuting with “The Witch” (2015), director Robert Eggers (who was the subject of a recent retrospective at The Brattle Theatre) has made himself synonymous with a very specific sense of archaic dread. There could, then, be no one better suited to remake F.W. Murnau’s legendarily creepy silent vampire epic “Nosferatu” (1922). Eggers draws from Murnau’s vision as well as from Werner Herzog’s 1979 remake and countless other bloodsucking classics. But the aesthetic here is all Eggers, from the sumptuous, candlelit photography to Bill Skarsgard’s cadaverous take on the sinister Count Orlok. Binding it all together is a revelatory performance from Lily-Rose Depp, who contorts under the possession of the count before ultimately revealing herself as the film’s true protagonist. Eggers’ “Nosferatu” is a triumph of bad vibes and a guaranteed goth Christmas classic for years to come. (Oscar Goff) Opens in theaters Wednesday.
Nominally, Bertrand Bonello’s “The Beast” is an adaptation of Henry James’ 1903 novella “The Beast in the Jungle.” It is much, much more, however. “The Beast” is a sprawling meditation on love, artificial intelligence, the industrial revolution, toxic online culture and much more than could possibly fit into this blurb. Lea Seydoux plays three versions of the same character: a pianist and doll maker in 1910 Paris, an aspiring actress and model in 2014 Los Angeles and a woman in 2044 looking to “purify” her DNA of the traumas of her past lives. In each era, she finds herself involved with a mysterious stranger played by George MacKay, each time complicating her life in ways she never could have predicted. There is probably too much going on in “The Beast” to unpack in a single viewing, but it is so irresistibly hypnotic that it practically begs to be rewatched. (Oscar Goff) On Criterion.
“The Brutalist”
In the dizzying opening scene of “The Brutalist,” we follow Adrien Brody as Hungarian immigrant Laszlo Toth as he clambers off an ocean liner onto American soil, the camera spinning woozily until it lands on an upside-down image of the Statue of Liberty. This is “The Brutalist” in a nutshell: a film about the possibilities of the American Dream and the unseemly fissures of power that we know course beneath it. It’s as dense and as towering as any film on the subject since “The Godfather” (1972), and will surely be the subject of debate for years to come. What’s not up for debate is a career-best performance from Brody, as well as unforgettable supporting turns from Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones. Like the mammoth structures Toth devises within the film, “The Brutalist” is at once awe-inspiring, intimidating and beautiful. (Oscar Goff) Opens in theaters Jan. 10.
Director Rose Glass’ follow-up to her spooky 2019 debut “Saint Maud” is a gleefully perverse lesbian love story set in a pulpy vision of the 1980s American west. Kristen Stewart plays sullen gym employee Lou, who finds herself enchanted by a mysterious bodybuilder named Jackie (real-life martial artist Katy O’Brian). There are, of course, complications, in the form of Lou’s crime lord father (a delightfully creepy Ed Harris), her dirtbag brother-in-law (Dave Franco) and a rising body count. “Love Lies Bleeding” is pulp of the highest order, reveling in genre cliches while pulling them into new and unknown territory. It also functions just as well as a romance, with Jackie and Lou a whacked-out couple for the ages. It will either make you rethink your gym membership, or make you go out and apply for one. (Oscar Goff) On Max.
“Flow”
In a field dominated by industry titans such as Disney and Dreamworks, it is refreshing to see a genuinely independent animated feature find its audience. Crafted by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis and a very small team of animators, “Flow” isn’t like much else out there: a wordless, impressionistic feature about a black cat and an unlikely team of animals doing their best to survive in a flooded, apparently posthuman world. What’s most remarkable about “Flow” is its simplicity, rendering its animals as distinct characters while never going too far to anthropomorphize them, establishing relationships without uttering a word or “cheating” in their facial expressions. It’s also gorgeous in its haunting, painterly compositions and as thrilling as any action-adventure movie. If you want to take your kids to the movies but you’ve had your fill of Minions, this is a perfect alternative. (Oscar Goff) In theaters.
Coralie Fargeat’s WTF spectacle lands in the ghoulish company of other recent body mutilation hits such as Julia Ducournau’s “Titaine” (2021) and David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future” (2022). Driven by the inspired casting of Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley as the same ego/persona, “The Substance” is all about aging and sexist double standards. Moore’s aging fitness queen Elisabeth Sparkle, following a horrific car crash, signs on for a new body and a fresh start – Qualley playing the younger incarnation, known just as Sue, who takes over the show and ups viewership with her racier moves (think Nicki Minaj taking over from Jane Fonda). The rub is that only one physical incarnation of the persona can exist at a time; after a week, the bodies (the other lying in a catatonic state in Sparkle’s bathroom) must be swapped. Eventually a battle for the soul erupts and blood is let. Dennis Quaid chewing on a big hambone is indelible as the show’s producer, and Qualley and Moore turn in strong, award-worthy performances. (Tom Meek) On Mubi and Amazon Prime Video.
“Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World”
A sardonically black political comedy that’s right out of left field, powered by witty takes on hot topics (Andrew Tate, Putin and Pornhub, to name a few) and a killer performance by Ilinca Manolache, without whom the movie could not be. Manolache plays Angela, a feisty Romanian woman looking to make it in the gig economy as a filmmaker and TikTok sensation. Her main hustle is as a production assistant for a company that makes safety videos, kind of – on many shoots, Angela coaches accident victims, often in wheelchairs, to talk about the safety measures they should have taken to have avoided injury despite the clear negligence of the employer to provide a safe workplace. They’re more CYAs than PSAs, and that’s the degree of biting humor imbued by writer-director Radu Jude (“Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”). (Tom Meek) On Mubi and Amazon Prime Video.
Yorgos Lanthimos goes all in on human misery with this triptych of tales that has different characters in each loosely linked chapter played by the same impressive ensemble (Willem Dafoe and Emma Stone, who paired with Lanthimos in last year’s “Poor Things,” the ever plucky Margaret Qualley making this list twice, Jessie Plemons and Hong Chau). The bridge between the tales is a character with the initials RMF, a middle-aged, slightly balding, bearded man (played by Lanthimos pal Yorgos Stefanakos, who looks a bit like Stanley Kubrick). The speculation is that the initials stand for Redemption, Manipulation and Faith, which, given the sadomasochistic tenor of the film, makes absolute sense. “Kinda of Kindness” is a strange, surreal sojourn that haunts and rivets in each and every frame. (Tom Meek) On Hulu.
A stronger
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