1833's Best of 2024

2024 was another phenomenal year for film, and we at 18:33 Films wanted to celebrate the best of the best with our 10 unranked favourites of 2024. There are, of course, films we haven’t yet managed to see (sorry to 'The Brutalist') and even some honourable mentions that only just missed out on this list. 

Specifically, we were enamoured by the performances and political intrigue of Ali Abbasi’s Trump biopic ‘The Apprentice’, the equally tense religious politics of Edward Berger’s ‘Conclave’, and the insanity of George Miller's bombastic actioner ‘Furiosa’, a unique and worthy prequel. Tim Burton’s long-awaited ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’, together with Linklater’s return with the underrated ‘Hitman’, brought the laughs but it’s the following ten masterpieces that were the true highlights of 2024: 

‘I Saw the Tv Glow’ | Dir. Jane Schoenbrun

A work of art. True sincerity if I have ever experienced it, regardless of its experimental conveyance. I don’t doubt that Jane Schoenbrun’s masterpiece will be heralded as such with the passage of time - we love a good piece of avant-guard, experimental filmmaking here at 18:33 (if our collective favourites haven’t implied so already) and speaking purely for myself, it’s the boundary pushing nature of them that I adore. In many cases, I feel a film’s lack of general palatability works greatly to its benefit for the purpose of innovation, and what filmmaker doesn’t want to innovate - but it’s films such as A24’s newest neon bombshell here, that I feel would be greatly inferior if they were presented as a linear story. After all, what journey of self-discovery is such a simple process?

I Saw the TV Glow is experimental filmmaking accomplished to a degree so frighteningly good, that it has made me entirely re-evaluate my own relationship with the style. Gender dysphoria is a similarly frightening experience and one that functions perfectly as the basis for a horror film, but I just cannot stress enough to those of you who have not struggled with it, how horrific it can truly be. Do not dumb down the problem as a ‘I am X, but I feel Y’ dilemma - it is a pressurised collapse of the self, where your companions speak to you through invisible barriers, where romantic connections are drip-fed through a filter of offense and eventual abandonment. It is, should you not exist adjacent to queer culture, a deafening life of denial, where what is lived is not yours. Schoenbrun being a trans woman herself is able to communicate these sustained nightmares that have been felt often in younger generations through protagonist Owen, who from the very beginning, feels this sense of alienation on a micro level. As he grows, so do these feelings creep in, out, and up over his life, through a metaphor that only an artist of Jane’s unique ilk could conjure. Though I Saw the TV Glow is undeniably a film about the transgender experience, it is also the commentary on television itself here, and how our nostalgia ridden memories of the classics and the disintegration of our recollections sees their qualities seemingly fade, that sells the theory behind her sophomore project. In reality, it was our youthful joy that warped our perception of the programmes, and that’s just the half of it. The symbiosis of these two themes is a stroke of literary wizardry - if art is a form of escapism in the way it is presented for Owen, so too can it act as distraction from discovery. As is the case for any form of trauma, ignorance in its face does not kill it, instead merely allowing it opportunity to fester - then, Owen is older, and that’s the other half. No more TV to absorb you from this adult suburban lie, boy - inside yourself, none can hear you scream but a girl who yearns to live.

-Jack Mortimer

‘Dune: Part 2’ | Dir. Denis Villeneuve

What can I say about Dune: Part 2 that hasn’t been said already? It’s an impeccable work of cinema. Denis Villeneuve was my gateway director. When I was 15 for a school project I wrote a short booklet all about his style and the visual language that made his films so powerful. I’ve loved almost every single one of his films but, before Dune: Part 2 it had been a couple of years since I’d seen a single one, I hadn’t fallen out of love with Villeneuve but I’d started to discover more filmmakers and films that I loved, I kind of left Villeneuve behind, afraid to revisit his work out of a worry that it wouldn’t ever feel as magical as it did when I was just getting into film. So it was with this apprehension and a tinge of excitement, that I sat down to watch Dune: Part 2 on opening day. 3 hours later I’d left all worry behind; from the moment the film began I was transfixed. Villeneuve hadn’t lost it, I loved his work because he truly was, and is, a master of his craft. For a week after first seeing Dune: Part 2, I was interested in very little else. I poured through articles and discussions about the film, trying to know everything I could about its breathtaking style and cinematography. Dune: Part 2 is a visual feast, constantly stunning and visually inventive, using colour filters and infrared cameras in bold and fascinating ways and presenting the audience with some of the most astounding cinematic scale I’ve ever seen. Dune has been compared to the Lord of the Rings and with Part 2 I understand why, it feels like a monumental once in a generation blockbuster epic, a film lauded by critics and beloved by audiences, again what more can I say? It’s Dune: Part 2. It's pretty brilliant, give everyone in this crew an Oscar.  

-Jonah Prisk

‘Kinds of Kindness’ | Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

With The Favourite and Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos transcended to Academy favourability, and a semi-household name status? My father knows his films for the fish-eye lenses and my mother really likes Emma Stone. Hence the sickest and most dynamic joke that everyone’s favourite arthouse Greek filmmaker could pull, was throwing it all away at a whim for the sake of the wacky and weird. With Kinds of Kindness, Lanthimos proves his comedic and dramatic genius. I love portmanteau films, especially those which reuse their cast in a witty way, and I have helped make one, which was spectacularly awful. The unique process and inspiring outcome of this sub-genre shines bright in Lanthimos’ latest, featuring a handful of familiar character actors and movie stars experiencing all kinds of kindness. The inherent juxtaposition of not scenes, and never mind mere shots, but rather a handful of segments or acts is surely the art of cinema on a macro-level. Lanthimos does not waste time in attempting to bridge between his stories, a la Wes Anderson or the Coen’s, and leaves his audience to hazard a guess on the where, when or even to question the topical multi-universal possibility. Kinds of Kindness is a return to an older stylefrom Lanthimos - more reminiscent of his Greek roots or the early Hollywood fortes of The Lobster and Sacred Deer, but with the strange, eerie comedy of his two previous Best Actress-winning works. The result is his best film, and an example of an auteur now comfortable within the confines of a consistent budget, with little expectations and plenty of freaks who’ll turn up on the opening day (that’s me!).

- Harry J. Wormald

‘Queer’ | Dir. Luca Guadignino

Queer is one of two Luca Guadagnino films to come out in 2024 and, for my money, those have been his two best works. He is consistently proving himself as a singular stylistic voice - especially within the first half of this movie through the camerawork, Craig’s performance, and an excellently timed Nirvana needle drop, the film’s atmosphere is one of a kind and only descends into something weirder and weirder until we reach what is possibly his weirdest film since the Suspiria remake. A film about addiction - not just to certain chemical drugs but also, and perhaps even more devastatingly, to a singular person. One person who, despite trying as hard as you can to make them feel otherwise, will never love you how you want them to. It’s a story so intimate that Guadagnino makes perfect use of the material to craft a beautiful surrealist piece, one that provides one of the most unique cinema experiences of 2024. It’s always a worry when a director decides to have two releases in one year, that the attention split between two projects might dilute the focus - but Guadagnino is perhaps just such a talent, that even half of his focus is better than most filmmakers’ full attention.

-Matt Cooke

‘Juror #2’ | Dir. Clint Eastwood

Who would have thought that 70 years since the start of his career, 93 year old Clint Eastwood would be making one of the most thought provoking and nerve-wracking films of the 2020s? … Well, I did. If you’ve been following Eastwood in his later works whether that’s the Academy Award winning film Million Dollar Baby (2004) or the Tom Hanks led drama, Sully (2016) you know that age doesn’t affect Eastwood and his ability to pick other people’s scripts and make it his own. Juror #2 is no different, with a screenplay by Jonathan Abrams, the film revolves around Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) who believes he's guilty of manslaughter in the case he is a juror on. Hoult’s performance of a guilt ridden, soon to be father in a judicial system that can only be as just as the people taking part in it, will keep you on the edge of your seat. With a strong supporting cast of Toni Collette, Kiefer Sutherland and Cedric Yardbrough and a simplistic but clear Eastwood directorial touch, the film is an enthralling courtroom drama start to finish. So if you haven’t watched any newer films by the elderly Eastwood in a while then I implore you to give this one a watch. Juror #2 is receiving a Blu-Ray release later this month and is already available to stream on Max in the US.

-Michael Tasker

‘Nosferatu’ | Dir. Robert Eggers

As a die-hard Robert Eggers fan, Nosferatu was always my most anticipated film of the year, and after seeing the film twice now, I feel rather validated in my opinion that he is the best director to have emerged in the last ten years or so. Nosferatu is his grandest work yet: a beautiful ode to 19th-century German Romanticism, Murnau’s original silent classic, and the horror genre itself. Count Orlok has clearly lived within Eggers’ mind for quite some time, as evidenced by the stage play adaptation Eggers directed in high school. Aware of the cinematic giants his adaptation had to live up to (Coppola, Herzog, Murnau), Eggers not only diverges in aesthetic choices but also takes a more psychosexual approach, centering Ellen as the savior from the outset and showcasing a certain eroticism between Count Orlok and Ellen. This dynamic draws an immaculate performance from Lily-Rose Depp, whose portrayal captures Ellen's sheer terror, not just of the vampire himself but of the strange pleasure she derives from his ancient touch. Nosferatu proves Robert Eggers, again, as one of the best voices working today. 

-Matt Cooke

‘Nickel Boys’ | Dir. RaMell Ross

For me RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys was the biggest surprise of the year, an unexpected revelation, a brilliant inventive and criminally underseen film. I sat watching this film entirely alone in an empty cinema and as the screening finished at just past midnight I felt like I was the only person in the world who knew about this story, the only person lucky enough to witness the story of Elwood and Turner. Set amidst the Civil Rights movement in mid-60’s America Nickel Boys is one of the most heartbreakingly effective and unique films of the year, exploring the harrowing reality of American ‘Reform Schools. Ross' approach is so singular and perfect that I can’t imagine the film being made any other way. Its stylistic choices are bold and challenging, and for those who haven’t seen it, which statistically is a lot of people, I will not dare spoil the way Ross’ chooses to tell his story. Nickel Boys touched me emotionally in a way few films have this year, it broke my heart and enthralled me all at once. The performances were mesmerising and the cinematography, which will unfortunately get overlooked, is some of the decade's most uniquely powerful and immersive. If a cinema near you is playing Nickel Boys (and they still are but rarely) go and see it, I implore you. It was a late addition to this list but a more than worthy one. I have never seen a film quite like Nickel Boys and I doubt I ever will again. 

-Jonah Prisk 

‘Anora’ | Dir. Sean Baker

As a filmmaker myself, I have Sean Baker to thank. I have not, and don’t plan, on making films about homeless trans women, nor retired pornstars and certainly not Russian-speaking ecdysiasts; yet, the New Jersey-born director has had an unbound influence. There’s something both impressive and inspiring about forcing the industry to new lengths; be it technological bravery in making a feature film with an iPhone 5 or through journalistic exploration in covering what Hollywood, or specifically Disney, is so eager to neglect. Anora, the latest Palme D’or winner, saw Baker finally receive his long-awaited flowers and the film itself presents both a familiarity and an expansive new territory for the filmmaker. The plight of the working class is still ever-present, but Baker’s new-found success has rubbed off on the encounters of his protagonists that fuel the narratives of his films. Anora’s rags to riches, to rags once more tale mixes a Gen-Z Cinderella with a family of Orthodox Oligarchs, and relates to the class transcending dream of any other Baker protagonist, with a crucial difference - as at least this poverty princess is royal for just a little while. Accustomed to budget motels in Florida, or bungalows in Texas; it’s rather strange to see a mansion house and an all-inclusive trip to Vegas in a Sean Baker film, but the tackiness of each endeavour and the decor of Anora herself presents this change as a muddled facade. You’re either born into the club, or you’ll never fit in. Capturing this generation’s zeitgeist in an authentic manner is proving difficult for artists but Baker is an exception - the USP of Instagram is that everyone can connect with anyone, but can you really?

Rather, the lives of wealthy influencers are sold as normalcy, and the expectation is to compete with those who’ve had everything handed on a silver platter, in which consequences have little to no bearing at all. You’ve gotta feel for Anora, for even love is a hustle.

-Harry J. Wormald

‘Challengers’ | Dir. Luca Guadignino

Back. Fourth. Back. Fourth. Reznor. Ross. Kuritzkes. Guadagnino. Sex. Sport. Love? Hate? It’s not quite one or the other with Challengers - Luca Guadagnino consistently aces the peculiar balance of ubiquity and discomfort in his films, and it speaks to his unique qualities as an artistic voice that he accomplished this balance deuce in 2024. The duo behind Nine Inch Nails construct acid techno scores so rhythmic they’ll melt your bones down to granules in this 130 minute action-packed allure obsessed odyssey across multiple time periods, somehow drawing a one-for-one equivalence between sport and intimacy. It sounds absurd on the surface, but never doubt the Italian filmmaker to so accurately grasp the universal interpretations of the latter that exist. Sex is rhythm and so too are the physical dynamics between player one and two that are key for the sport to reach its competitive peaks, but of course with any Guadagnino film, there is a sly edge laid bare - racket queen Tashi who lives and breathes the game, only understands intimacy attained in her personal life through the field’s dynamic lens. It is a fantastic character piece of love and addiction, yet even then it is far from straightforward - there is no romantic love to be felt here, rather a love of the game, yet Art and Patrick are addicted to her femme fatale edition of court royalty all the same. 

No one is quite daring enough to direct a Guadagnino-esque piece, because they are so inherently his - I feel the same way with Call Me By Your Name and Bones and All, and whilst those films and others are not originally written pieces by him, the man picks and chooses his scripts and book adaptations with delicacy. Challengers feels unique within his wider filmography however, because of its hyperactivity - Justin Kuritzkes has written twice for Luca this year, and whilst Queer is the polar opposite tonally, the consistent obsession with the body and its needs, the mind and its temptations and the invisible erotic lines that intertwine them are what bind all of the man’s films together. Where I could understand boredom when viewing those other films, if you feel out of tune with those aspects of the human condition - you will just never, ever fall asleep when Challengers is on. It is the most purely entertaining flick of 2024 in my opinion, at the very least for reminding me of my love of competitive voyeurism in sport, even more so when there are personal stories as foundation for grand finales. The protagonist’s complex relationship here functions in that way for the film’s coked up final act, that additionally shows off shots so daring that it will egg gay men and lensmen on alike to lean forward in equal anticipation and measure for its conclusion. In the face of that heat, though, both outside of the competitors and inside - even a broken leg couldn’t stop Zendaya from serving.

-Jack Mortimer

‘The Substance’ | Dir. Coralie Fargeat

Fargeat is back with her latest film ‘The Substance’ 7 years after her last the bloody, modernist take on the rape revenge flick Revenge (2017). Her return to the big screen  is one of 2024’s boldest films a body horror infused, satirical tale of Hollywood, the toxic way it treats aging women and the pressures that are placed on women to stay youthful and to attain unachievable standards. The film's lead character, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is now, to everyone else, an aging starlet, her exercise show no longer brings in the views it used to, so her producer (Dennis Quaid) fires her and demands someone younger. Consequently Elisabeth comes across the titular ‘substance’ creating a younger and more popular person from Sparkle herself. Enter Sue (Margaret Qualley). As expressed through the mantra, “You are one” Elizabeth and Sue are two sides of the same person, they must respect the balance. However when Sue overstays her welcome after her seven day outing refusing to switch bodies bloody consequences ensue. Fargeat brings a pulpy 80s horror aesthetic merged with a fresh, dominant visual feast for the eyes. Elements of Cronenburg, Yuzna and body horror B movies spring to mind while watching it both through its style and overt exposition thematically, but all done purposefully as if to harken back to that older way of storytelling.  All of this while still leaving space for surprising twists and a third act that will have your jaw agape until the credits roll. The Substance proves that standout films harbouring singular visions do still exist, they give me hope for a cinematic future that’s less fixated on sequel/prequel/franchise stories and instead, original ideas.

-Michael Tasker

1833 Films | IG: @1833Films | Email Us: contact@1833films.com