If you’ve listened to the Moviescramble podcast (and if you haven’t, please make that your New Year’s Resolution for 2025), you’ll know that I frequently declare that I have seen no films. Odd, I know, for someone who spends a lot of time reviewing and chatting about films. But, true to form, I’ve not seen some of the “biggies” that have hit cinema screens this year, either. So, my top ten list isn’t exhaustive. And, of course, it’s purely my opinion.
Honourable mentions must go to the films which narrowly missed joining this eclectic list of festival fun and big-screen successes. The likes of Kneecap, The Promised Land, Late Night with the Devil, Love Lies Bleeding and American Fiction did not make this particular Top 10 list, but I would strongly recommend you seek each of them out and give them a watch. You will not be disappointed. (We also have podcasts on all but one of those films, which will tie in neatly with your aforementioned New Year’s Resolution.)
So, here it is, in all it’s glory: my Top 10 Films of 2024.
10. Four Little Adults
Selma Vilhunen’s comedy of manners sees a middle-aged, middle-class couple decide to explore polyamory within their marriage. Eero Milonoff and Alma Pöysti are excellent as Matias and Juulia; both frustrating and empathetic as their new approach to marriage starts to change how they see themselves and each other. It’s achingly polite and convincingly emotional.
9. The Teacher
It is timely that writer / director Farah Nabulsi should make her feature-length debut with The Teacher. Set in the West Bank of occupied Palestine, the film centres around Basem (Saleh Bakri), an educator with a tragic past and a dangerous present. The film underlines the lack of justice and morality when you are seen as “less than”. It’s a horrible, cloying feeling of powerlessness that impacts both characters and viewers alike. A devastating watch.
8. Longlegs
The marketing alone for Osgood Perkins’ serial killer drama should win a slew of awards. Maika Monroe stars as Agent Lee Harker, an FBI rookie who seems to have a strange relationship with the titular Longlegs (Nic Cage). Whilst she works through her past, Cage (buried under layers of uncanny looking prosthesis) is still very much a part of her present, drawing her out of her office and into the blood-spattered homes of his victims. It’s a gorgeously unsettling slow burn.
7. Anora
Sean Baker’s festival circuit darling absolutely lives up to the hype. Mikey Madison is phenomenal as the titular character, an erotic dancer who finds herself falling in love with the son of a Russian oligarch. There’s moments of emotional intensity, outright slapstick comedy and wicked one liners. It’s both glittery and soft; harsh and real. It’s easy to see why there’s Oscar buzz surrounding it.
6. The First Omen
2024 has been a good year for horror and this particular prequel is a brilliant example of this. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Gregory Peck 1976 horror, you can easily follow this film. Nell Tiger Free stars as Margaret, a young nun sent to Rome to take up her vows. Uncovering a terrifying conspiracy, Arkasha Stevenson’s film offers up strikingly haunting visuals whilst having plenty to say about women and their bodily autonomy.
5. The Zone of Interest
Released in February this year, The Zone of Interest was an awards-season success and rightly so. Jonathan Glazer’s camera barely moves as he allows us to observe the horrors of Auschwitz from an entirely new perspective – inside Rudolf Höss’s house. What will strike most is the mundanity of the domestic set up whilst the occasional sound or throwaway comment alludes to the terrors beyond the verdant family garden.
4. The Home Game
Who doesn’t love an underdog story? Twenty years after a humiliating 10-0 defeat, Icelandic football team Reynir FC is brought back to life with one aim in mind – to play a home game. Smari Gunn and Logi Sigursveinsson’s documentary could show some of the biggest clubs in the world what it means to be a team. This is a film that is uplifting, inspiring, hilariously self-deprecating and unexpectedly emotional. A joy to watch.
3. The Vourdalak
Another horror entry on the list, with an unusual twist on traditional vampire lore. Adrian Beau’s beautifully absurd film is shot in 16mm, revelling in its dream-like quality – all soft focus, grainy close-ups and blurred edges. The vampire at the heart of the film is a puppet (yes, you read that correctly) but the film loses none of its tension because of this. It’s a creepy slow burn that will leave you entirely on edge.
2. The Holdovers
Released all the way back in January, The Holdovers is set to become a future Christmas classic. Paul Giamatti gives one of his most endearing performances yet as Paul Hunham, a curmudgeonly teacher with a hint of tragic past. Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph give equally beautiful performances as students and staff staying behind at a private boarding school over the festive break. It’s the kind of film that’s willing to break your heart and piece it back together again.
1. The Substance
Coralie Fargeat’s body horror The Substance has had everyone talking since it hit the festival circuit. It’s a film that takes our obsession with youth and the body beautiful to extreme levels, with a career-best performance from Demi Moore. This is not a film that ever be accused of subtlety, taking an operatic and hyperbolic approach to its subject matter. Daring, emotional, violent and willing to make you think, The Substance was an easy pick for film of the year.
Do you agree with this list? What major omissions have been made? Let us know in the comments, on our social channels or write in to our podcast. See you in 2025!
- The Return – Review from Glasgow Film Festival - March 9, 2025
- Homegrown – Review from Glasgow Film Festival - March 8, 2025
- Nocturnal – Review from Glasgow Film Festival - March 7, 2025
