Don’t let anyone tell you that 2024 was a bad year for movies. In a year that gave us one of the greatest sci-fi blockbusters of all time, how could it be? But 2024 was more than just watching Dune: Part Two over and over again in IMAX (though we did that, too). It was full of experimental arthouse films like I Saw the TV Glow and The Beast, rip-roaring action flicks like Furiosa, and solemn speculative sci-fi like Civil War. But maybe most importantly, it had Glen Powell doing an impression of Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.
Using a highly scientific system, Inverse’s Entertainment team each ranked our favorites of the year, spliced our lists together, and popped out this list of 25 films that we love.
Here are the 25 best movies of 2024, according to the Inverse Entertainment team.
25. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
In the age of pretty-OK sequels and reboots, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is much better than it should be. It’s a solid, self-contained story spun out of the mythology of the most recent trilogy, but it also manages to forge its own path. With charming performances from Owen Teague, Freya Allan and scene-stealer Peter Macon, this is one Apes flick not to sleep on. — Ryan Britt
24. Abigail
It doesn’t get better — or bloodier — than Abigail. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the directing duo also known as Radio Silence, made quite the splash with 2019’s Ready or Not, and their hot streak continues in their latest follow-up, a darkly hilarious take on Dracula’s Daughter that traps a group of thieves in a gothic mansion with a vampire ballerina. The film is a full-course horror meal: You may come for the supernatural scares, but you’ll leave with a newfound respect for Alisha Weir (who delivers a gonzo performance as the title vamp). — Lyvie Scott
23. Hundreds of Beavers
“Silent black-and-white slapstick comedy inspired by cartoons and video games” sounds like a hard sell, but Hundreds of Beavers is one of the most fun movie experiences ever. Set in a harsh winter, a fur trapper is determined to get revenge on the beavers who wronged him, all shown through immersive and enthusiastic stunts and simple VFX. — Dais Johnston
22. Flow
A unique hybrid of traditional CG animation and video game cinematics, Flow is simply gorgeous. Directed by Gints Zilbalodis and written by Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža, its straightforward story of animals weathering a biblical apocalypse is equal turns sweet and hair-raising, and aided by its painterly visuals, makes for one of the most stunning animated movies to be released in years. — Hoai-Tran Bui
21. Wicked
Few expected a movie musical to deliver the year’s greatest take on identity, coming-of-age, and self-advocacy, but that’s exactly what Jon M. Chu’s Wicked did. Sure, it’s the latest to succumb to the two-part blockbuster trend, but the first half of the Wizard of Oz prequel is supremely satisfying on its own. Performances from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo make this story magic, updating a classic tale with plenty of humor and heart. — Lyvie Scott
20. The Substance
In The Substance, writer-director Coralie Fargeat asks a daring question: “What if All About Eve had a wincing sci-fi twist?” Demi Moore is Elizabeth Sparkle, an aging actress desperate to retain her youth and relevancy. When she takes the Substance and finds herself sharing the spotlight with a younger, sexier body double, chaos ensues — and Fargeat explores the repercussions with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The Substance is a gory, goopy, hilarious fable, and it might just change your life. — Lyvie Scott
19. The People’s Joker
The People’s Joker is what people wanted Joker 2 to be: subversive, surprising, and fun as hell. Vera Drew’s semi-autobiographical superhero story shows exactly what happens when true passion for the source material is represented on screen. Paired with a multimedia trippy fever dream execution, The People’s Joker is a perfect cross between VFX-heavy blockbusters and Drew’s own signature collage style. — Dais Johnston
18. The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is from a bygone era of date-night movies. Who cares if the premise is outrageous? Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s chemistry is fantastic, the soundtrack kicks ass, and the nonstop tribute to high-octane action flicks of the past is delightful. Also, weirdly, in his role as the jerky actor making Gosling’s life miserable, this might be Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s best movie. — Ryan Britt
17. Immaculate
“Nun horror” has had a moment this year, but Immaculate’s story of a virgin birth in a haunting Italian convent is a showcase for Sydney Sweeney’s performance and Michael Mohan’s careful direction. The ending is something that will stay with you for weeks and has a powerful message for what it means to be a woman today. — Dais Johnston
16. The Wild Robot
Over the last few years, Dreamworks has been steadily pushing the boundaries of CG animation without anyone noticing. The smug “Dreamworks Face” doesn’t define them anymore. Instead, they’ve made a quiet return to form with deeply emotional films characterized by painterly CG animation. And The Wild Robot may be their greatest achievement yet — a lovely, wistful ecological fable about a robot and her bird son, the Chris Sanders-directed film is a watercolor-inspired wonder. — Hoai-Tran Bui
15. A Quiet Place: Day One
As prequels go, A Quiet Place: Day One kind of breaks all the rules. Instead of being a movie that gives you all the answers to how this all started, it is content to be a quasi-love story mashed up with a survival story. This is the spirit of A Quiet Place without anyone having to worry about having seen A Quiet Place. — Ryan Britt
14. La Chimera
Alice Rohrwacher’s haunting drama about a group of grave robbers in ’80s Italy is ghost story, heist story, and love story all at once. But what is most remarkable about La Chimera, apart from Josh O’Connor’s desperately (and literally) grimy performance, is the way it transports you to a place that is somewhere between life and death. The question is whether you want to peek at the other side. — Hoai-Tran Bui
13. Conclave
A papal election spins into a gossipy, campy drama that’s as ridiculous as it is self-serious. Like Cardinal Tedesco vaping in the cafeteria, it’s the perfect blend of tradition and contemporary issues and — more than any horror flick — is genuinely the most shocking movie I’ve seen this year. — Dais Johnston
12. Trap
Of all the horror gimmicks, “from the perspective of the killer” may be one of the best. It finds a perfect home in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, which follows a serial killer stuck at a concert with his teen daughter. Josh Hartnett is in startlingly good form as “the Butcher,” and Shyamalan’s off-beat humor helps this story walk the line between compelling thrills and meme-worthy gags. — Lyvie Scott
11. The Beast
In an attempt to purify her DNA, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) undergoes a procedure that allows her to relive her past lives — specifically the ones in connection to her great, eras-spanning love, Louis (George MacKay). But this cosmic sci-fi romance has a touch of the unnerving, weaving a surreal, disturbing spell that borders on Lynchian. — Hoai-Tran Bui
10. Nosferatu
Robert Eggers synthesizes F. W. Murnau’s 1922 horror classic with the dangerous sensuality of Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula to produce a true vampire movie for sickos. Eggers’ Nosferatu is a deliciously perverse gothic thriller that manages to avoid the shadow of its predecessors to craft its own grotesque, macabre tale. — Hoai-Tran Bui
9. The Brutalist
The Brutalist is a massive, sprawling epic the likes of which we rarely see any more. Brady Corbet directs this immigrant tale of a renowned Hungarian-Jewish architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody) who finds himself under the employ of an eccentric millionaire (Guy Pearce), who commissions him to build his greatest work yet. Thorny, complex, and as breathtakingly beautiful as its awe-inspiring buildings, The Brutalist is a Great American Novel writ as a feature film. — Hoai-Tran Bui
8. Challengers
Luca Guadagnino’s propulsive tale of love triangles and tennis is quite possibly the most exciting movie released this year. Buoyed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ electric score and powered by the combined star power of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, Challengers oozes sex and energy — and most importantly, makes you care about tennis. — Hoai-Tran Bui
7. A Different Man
Sebastian Stan has been having a great year, and it started strong with the tragicomedy A Different Man. The offbeat film, written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, follows a man as he searches for a miracle drug to cure his neurofibromatosis (a condition that causes benign tumors to grow beneath his skin). His intensive therapy ultimately works — but once he meets an uber-confident man (Adam Pearson) with his same condition, Stan’s bashful everyman spirals into a chaotic, darkly funny identity crisis. — Lyvie Scott
6. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa was the ostensible hero of Mad Max: Fury Road, but George Miller’s incendiary prequel, Furiosa, makes her the center of her own odyssey. Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne take over for Theron, tracing Furiosa’s origins through the Wasteland in a truly scorching origin story. — Lyvie Scott
5. Hit Man
Earnest, clever, and almost unbearably sensual, Hit Man was destined for the big screen. The crime caper calls back to the screwball rom-coms of the Golden Age, especially when its two leads maintain such scintillating chemistry throughout. Top Gun’s Glen Powell is a fake hitman whom Andor’s Adria Arjona wants to hire to kill her husband. Chaos inevitably ensues — and though Netflix fudged its theatrical rollout, it’s just as compelling on streaming. — Lyvie Scott
4. Civil War
Not the movie anyone wanted or needed this year, this blistering film from Alex Garland somehow feels like the film we deserve. Calling it a work of speculative fiction isn’t quite right, but Civil War does feel like the kind of allegorical sci-fi movie we used to get a lot of in the 1970s. A brilliant film that we can’t stop thinking about. — Ryan Britt
3. Love Lies Bleeding
Rose Glass made a splash with her debut feature, Saint Maud, and in Love Lies Bleeding she plays on the same themes of obsession and surrealism set against the backdrop of a torrid lesbian love affair between a gym owner and a bodybuilder. It’s full of passion... until it has a body count. — Dais Johnston
2. I Saw the TV Glow
Jane Schoenbrun is a master at depicting liminal spaces, and with I Saw the TV Glow, the writer-director spliced those eerie vibes with their love for schlocky supernatural dramas. The Sundance hit follows two high school friends (Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine) as they obsess over a Buffy-inspired TV show and grapple with their suppressed identities. It’s a heartbreaking, skin-tingling film, a coming-of-age story that feels a lot like purgatory. — Lyvie Scott
1. Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two is not just a new standard for blockbuster sequels, it’s a towering new pinnacle for sci-fi epics. Director Denis Villeneuve streamlines the more alienating second half of Frank Herbert’s book into a riveting, action-packed epic. Timothée Chalamet delivers a terrifying turn as the hero-turned-false-messiah, while Zendaya becomes the unexpected heart of a movie that is equal turns tragic romance and thrilling action flick. Dune: Part Two is immense, intimate, and immersive — the kind of blockbuster that only comes around once a decade. — Hoai-Tran Bui
