Top Ten Films of 2024
Are these the best films released in 2024? Maybe not to you and maybe not to many others. That’s the beauty and challenge of making your own arbitrary list. We do it out of tradition, for reference, and as a way to close out the year in film. However, it’s never a hard “close out,” and no doubt there are some films from last year that we’ll be catching up with at some point. But we must call it at some point, and now here we are…
Compiling such a list is never easy. I say this every year because every year it’s true.
Once again, I am grateful to have contributing writer Steven Attanasie and film enthusiast Mark A. Lester join me in this endeavor. For the first time, our individual lists are quite different. For example, neither of their number one is on my list, which has never happened before. I don’t know if our number ones could be any more different than they already are. That’s not surprising, though, considering there doesn’t seem to be any clear standout among the year-end lists and award ceremonies. I can only speak to how I approached making my own Top Ten, and it comes down to what films were the most memorable to me, which ones offered something different or new, and which films resonated the most.
I could easily extend this list, populating slots 11-20 with films that I enjoyed just as much as any in the 6-10 positions. “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” would easily make the list, as would “Nickel Boys,” “The Substance,” “The Order,” “The Outrun,” “Challengers,” “Hard Truths,” “La Chimera,” and “Sing Sing.” As mentioned, I still have some catching up to do, but that’s a list I’ll keep to myself.
Was there a theme or pattern last year in cinema? There wasn’t a Barbenheimer moment, despite attempts (looking at you “Glicked”), but there was a case of APA, that is, Actors Playing Actors. That’s not something unique to cinema, but it’s worth noting.
Was there a pattern to movie-going or viewing last year? Only one thing comes to mind: the specialty Popcorn Bucket. Don’t look at me; I didn’t perpetuate the insanity…okay, I only purchased one and it’s awesome. Don’t worry, it will return this year!
On that note…the only Hot Take I have for ya is that I actually liked “Joker: Folie à Deux”
Right now, I feel good about my Ten, so I better just let it go and be done with it before I swap out any film in the 6-10 slot. Without further ado, here are our picks for the Top Ten Films of 2024…
10.
Mark – CHALLENGERS
Luca Guadagino had two movies in 2024, and while I missed Queer (which I heard was so-so, aside from a good performance by Daniel Craig), I did catch up with his first film in the year, “Challengers.” A coworker of mine recently told me he did not intend to see what he called the “Zendaya Sex” movie. I get what he means in that it is entirely how the trailer is selling the movie. Yet that is not the main idea of the film, in the same way that Luca’s film Bones and All is not mainly about young cannibals. It is also about how Tashi (Zendaya) is able to play a game of manipulation between the Mike Faist and Josh O’ Connor characters while they play back…and forth…and back…and forth…(avail. on MGM+ & Prime Video)
Steven – THEY CALLED HIM MOSTLY HARMLESS
Including this HBO MAX original documentary might be seen as heresy to some since it never played in a theater, but it was a feature-length film and arguably the best non-fiction film released in 2024. The film chronicles the two years’ worth of attempts by amateur sleuths on the internet to identify the remains of a hiker found dead in the woods. As more and more people get involved in the case and those people ascribe more and more imaginary attributes to this unidentified person, the film reveals its true motive. Can you really know someone you only spent a few hours with or have never met outside of the Internet? This film provides a rather brutally poignant “no” to those who might still think the answer is “yes.” Truly fascinating stuff. (avail. on HBO)
David – HIT MAN
Glen Powell had a great summer wrangling tornadoes in theaters with “Twisters.” Still, he showed more range in writer/director Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” a crime dramedy that dropped on Netflix in June with very little marketing (an unfortunate pattern for the streaming giant). Powell plays a college professor in New Orleans who takes a side gig with the New Orleans PD as a hitman, a stranger-than-fiction story along the same lines as Linklater’s “Bernie,” both inspired by actual events in and around Houston, Texas, from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. It’s a fun and juicy part for Powell, portraying a layered character who loses himself in different personalities. A game Adria Arjona joins him, bringing a jolt of sexy fun and providing great chemistry with Powell, as a client who wants her husband killed. For Linklater, it’s a return to playfulness and humor that’s refreshing with a whip-smart script touching on identity and a rom-com that’s quite sexy. (avail. on Netflix)
9.
Mark – CONCLAVE
I am not sure what knowledge one needs to know about the papacy to enjoy a film like “Conclave”, but mine was none too high and I still was enthralled. Edward Berger’s film stars a who’s who in stellar actors, from Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci to John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini. The twist was indeed one I doubt many people saw coming, and I can understand it turning people off to the film. Still, they got to admit it was at least a fun journey getting there. (avail. on Peacock)
Steven – FLOW
A gorgeously animated film without a single word of dialogue spoken, the Latvian film “Flow” is a marvel to watch for its economy of storytelling and incredible watercolor-esque visuals. Following the adventures of a group of animals—mainly focused on a black cat—as they deal with rising water in a world seemingly abandoned by humankind. I was substantially more emotionally invested in the plight of these animated animals over the course of 85 minutes than I was in the combined eight hours I spent watching “The Brutalist,” “Emilia Pérez,” and “Babygirl” (sorry, Awards season tastemakers). While perhaps not for the very young, this is a wonderful film that can be enjoyed equally by everyone the world over, which is just not something that can be said of many films. (avail. for rent or purchase on AppleTV+, Fandango at Home, and Prime Video, as well as select theaters)
David – I’M STILL HERE
The best “based on a true story” films are ones that tell a story you would’ve never known about if it weren’t told. That’s how I felt about “I’m Still Here,” the latest film from Brazilian director Walter Salles (“Central Station” and “The Motorcycle Diaries”), which tells the moving and disturbing story of the Paivas family, who were torn apart by Brazil’s military dictatorship circa 1970. Fernanda Torres plays Eunice, the middle-aged matriarch married to a good-natured architect Rubens (Selton Mello), who lives across from a Rio de Janeiro beach with their five children, maintaining a life filled with laughter, music, and good food. Until one day, some men come to take Rubens away to “ask him some questions”, but he never returns. What follows is troubling, yet the story is masterfully told. Torres, who recently surprised everyone when she won a Golden Globe for her role here, is outstanding, delivering unforgettable nuanced subtleties. Most viewers will be like me, knowing nothing about this film’s events, and they’ll likely be as glad as I was that they experienced this. (now in theaters)
8.
Mark – THE BRUTALIST
Remember what I was saying about 2024 and ambition? Very few movies of recent years have dealt with the idea of ambition than that of The Brutalist. Then again, very few movies of the last decade or so have had so many ideas to begin with. I’ve only seen it once, but it is clear the film is far more than about a holocaust survivor (Adrien Brody) trying to make it in the United States. A number of rewatches are in order to find out the ideas within the ideas. Director Brady Corbet’s film is a solid reminder of how talented Brody, Guy Pierce, Felicity Jones, and the whole cast are genuine actors. Bah dah dah duh!!! I can’t get those four notes out of my head. (now in theaters)
Steven – HERETIC
Horror had a really big Third Act problem this year: “In a Violent Nature,” “Longlegs,” “Cuckoo,” “Trap,” “The Watchers,” “Never Let Go,” “Speak No Evil,” and “Oddity” were all varying degrees of fun until the wheels came off in the third act. And while I would not even classify “Heretic” as pure horror, it definitely stuck the landing. A never-better Hugh Grant is having the time of his life as a mild-mannered Hugh Grant type, chatting up some young Mormon missionaries who have come to his house. Never, ever losing his calm exterior, Grant taps into primal evil in this flick that features worthwhile, smartly written debates about the nature and origins of religion. It’s also just one hell of a fun time at the movies. (avail. for rent or purchase on Google Play, Fandango at Home, AppleTV+, and Prime Video)
David – LOVE LIES BLEEDING
In her impressive directorial debut, 2019’s “Saint Maud”, English writer/director Rose Glass established herself as a unique storyteller. She cranked it up to a notch with “Love Lies Bleeding,” a pulpy neo-noir set in the mid-80s American southwest that turns into quite a steamy and sweaty surreal ride. The drama tells the story of a gym worker (Kristen Stewart) who becomes transfixed by a new amateur bodybuilder (an impressive Katy O’Brian) who drifts into her life. Their attraction develops, and a relationship begins, yet it soon takes a dark turn, incredibly dark and surreal, as we go further down the rabbit hole of sex and violence. No, the film isn’t perfect, but there’s no denying the power of Glass’ filmmaking, as she has created a stylish, twisted love story. And we can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeve next. This is a surreal ride and a viewing experience I haven’t forgotten since watching it when it was released in theaters back in March after premiering a year ago at Sundance. (streaming on Max)
7.
Mark – NOSFERATU
In the past ten years, I can only think of a few directors who have had films on all of my top ten lists, and one of them is Robert Eggers (the others I know of would be Nolan, Tarantino, and Scorsese). That trend continues with his version of “Nosferatu.” Taking inspiration from the century-plus-old Murnau classic, Eggers adds his own unique look to the film (not to mention Bill Skarsgard and a transcendent Lily-Rose Depp) with blood-curdling visuals, nearly palpable realism, and a long stench of dread that truly turns your skin white. (now in theaters)
Steven – SING SING
Talk about a movie more people need to see. The benefits of art therapy, particularly theatre, for prisoners, have been well documented but come to vivid life in this true story of a theatre troupe at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York. The value of immersing oneself in a character can be an invaluable tool to elicit empathy for others, and the rough road to redemption through theater is examined here with a cast made up mostly of the guys in the real program. Colman Domingo is sensational here, as is Clarence “Divine Eye” Macklin playing himself, but the pathos that Domingo elicits with his big saucer eyes gives this character instant credibility and depth. It’s hard to look like a criminal when you’re surrounded by actual criminals, but there’s not a false note in Domingo’s performance, easily one of the best of this year. (now in theaters)
David – FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA
It didn’t do as well at the box office as “Fury Road,” the last entry in the Mad Max Saga from Australian gonzo filmmaker George Miller, but so what? The titular character’s backstory, played by Anya Taylor-Joy with an almost silent intensity, is just as exciting and thrilling as Miller’s previous return to the radioactive Wasteland he’s known for. While the action spectacle is just as furious and viscerally breathtaking as “Fury Road,” this entry is arguably more emotional and, as a prequel, syncs up nicely with what came before it. Miller expands his world-building in impressive and unexpected ways, showing viewers how some very different guerilla communities cut their own paths amid dire conditions. The two male supporting characters, a surprising Chris Hemsworth as an obnoxious and insecure antagonist and Tom Burke as a former military commander who befriends young Furiosa offer different dynamics that play their respective roles in shaping who Furiosa will eventually become. Many wondered why there was a need for a prequel, but placing “Furiosa” right in front of “Fury Road” opens up the story in unexpected ways, making both stories one big epic saga. I appreciated “Fury Road” even more after watching this. (avail. on Netflix & Max)
6.
Mark – DUNE: PART TWO
In my review of “Dune: Part Two,” I mentioned how my friend Rudy said it was “The Godfather, Part 2” of sci-fi movies. He still holds onto that critique, but I do remain skeptical. Yet he does have a point: this is one sequel that clearly holds its own to “Part One” (and admittedly surpasses it in some ways). Seeing this on IMAX may have been as close as I have gotten to seeing “Lawrence of Arabia” on the big screen as possible so far. (avail. on Netflix)
Steven – CONCLAVE
What does the Catholic Church’s process of selecting a new Pope have in common with the reality shows “RuPaul’s Drag Race” or ”Big Brother?” You’d likely say, “Nothing,” but then you haven’t seen “Conclave,” the most nail-biting dialogue-driven film in years. As the Cardinals meet at the Vatican, decked out in all their finery like the contestants on “Drag Race,” they begin a series of backdoor dealings and negotiations that frankly wouldn’t be out of place on “Big Brother.” No one plays a decent man burdened by the weight of the world quite as well as Ralph Fiennes, and here he gives another masterclass in less is more as the man chosen by the deceased Pope to lead this whole ordeal. The supporting cast is similarly outstanding, and with enough reality TV-esque intrigue to keep anyone hooked, “Conclave” might be the most unsuspecting film with four-quadrant appeal in a very long time.
David – THE BEAST
Rarely do we see a thought-provoking sophisticated story in the sci-fi genre that is relevant and relatable in the sci-fi genre, which is one of many reasons why French writer/director Bertrand Bonello’s “The Beast” remained in my brain on spin cycle mode long after my first viewing back in April. That’s fitting, considering this film has a lot on its mind. There’s a romantic drama set in 1910 Paris, an uncomfortable story involving an incel stalking a model/actress in 2014 Los Angeles, and a prescient look at AI taking over a pandemic-riddled France in 2044, with the only constant being characters played by Léa Seydoux and George MacKay (both giving tremendous performances with impressive variety). The persistent dread laced throughout represents the titular character (Bordello used Henry James’ 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle as slight inspiration), but the overall themes of love, loneliness, anxiety, and fate permeate as the two central characters contemplate whether they will undergo a procedure to genetically remove their emotions to allow for a more peaceful and profitable existence. It’s a fascinating quandary in a film that delivers compelling scenarios that viewers should wrestle with. One could say “The Beast” is essentially about the fear of falling in love, but how it goes about what it is about cannot be described so easily. (avail. to rent or purchase on multiple platforms and on blu-ray from Janus)
5.
Mark – CIVIL WAR
A movie like “Civil War” is definitely one I don’t want to be prophetic, but some of the tones sadly do resonate with our world today. Alex Garland’s film does have some far fetched ideas (Texas and California banding together, for one), but that is not what one remembers. What is remembered is the tension (looking at you, Jesse Plemmons) one feels when you realize certain people could make this country turn upside down quicker than you think. Lee (Kirsten Dunst) has that great line that sums it all up: “Once you start asking those questions, you can’t stop. So we don’t ask. We record so other people ask.” (avail. on Max)
Steven – THE LAST SHOWGIRL
Melodrama is among the most impossible genres to pull off because it risks tipping over into a parody of itself at any moment. Thankfully, third-generation director Gia Coppola can manage the balance and does so masterfully with her third film, “The Last Showgirl.” A film with an emotional heart worn brazenly on its sleeve, “The Last Showgirl” doesn’t traffic in subtlety, allowing its emotions to be writ large and giving Pamela Anderson a chance to flex her acting muscles in ways never before seen—she wasn’t afforded a ton of opportunities to demonstrate range in her heyday. But as a Vegas showgirl whose thirty-plus year job is coming to an end, Anderson turns in spectacular work, ably supported by an incredibly subtle Dave Bautista and an incredibly unsubtle but equally great Jamie Lee Curtis. In a year of emotionally clenched jaws and sharp intakes of breath, this one comes in like a wrecking ball and hits in all the right ways. (now in theaters)
David – A REAL PAIN
For his second turn at directing, actor Jesse Eisenberg wrote a personal story loosely based on a trip he took with his family to Poland that traced his family ancestry. That’s not surprising to learn, considering the fraught dynamic between the two American Jewish cousins, David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), in this dramedy feels so genuine and authentic. While the highlight is Culkin’s performance (which will most certainly win him his first Oscar), Eisenberg’s own calibrated (albeit underrated) performance here is quite possibly his most emotionally resonant yet. What’s most memorable and refreshing about “A Real Pain” is how Eisenberg puts it all together, including beautifully observant locale shots that remind us to pause and breathe in our surroundings wherever we are. For the most part, Benji is annoying, but it’s also easy to admire his openness and unfiltered freedom. The story here is relatable, considering we all know someone we love and hate and, at the same time, would like to be, even if they are related to us. (avail. on Hulu)
4.
Mark – WICKED
Back in 2014, I ended up seeing the movie “Whiplash” three times in theaters. There are only a true handful of films I have managed to see that many times in the theaters. Then “Wicked: Part 1” came out, and I saw it three times in the span of ten days. Sure, it has its flaws, but it is such a good time for me personally (it came out at the right time for me in high school) that I saw past them. I ended up seeing it a fourth time in theaters, something I had not done since I was 7 years old with “The Lion King” in 1994. As for those haters that may be out there, I say you need to stop studying strife, and learn to live the unexamined life…follow my lead and yes indeed you …will…be…defying gravity…wait, sorry, popular…I’ve listened to the soundtrack so much it is jumbled in my mind. (avail. to rent and purchase on all platforms)
Steven – ANORA
As someone who actively disliked Sean Baker’s two previous films—” The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket”—I didn’t go into “Anora” with high hopes. However, where I found the protagonists of those films off-putting to the point of ruining the film, here he struck gold with Mikey Madison, who is brilliant beyond words in the title role. Baker’s deliriously wild film is, undoubtedly, the funniest film I saw in a theater this year, and it wasn’t even a true comedy—the film’s pitch-black gut punch of a final scene makes sure of that. Still, with outstanding supporting performances from Yuriy Borisov, Mark Eydelshteyn, and especially Baker regular Karren Karagulian, who gives my favorite performance of the entire year, the film is one hell of a fun ride that holds up on second viewing. I may have finally gotten the Sean Baker hype. (avail. to rent and purchase on all platforms)
David – A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Director James Mangold, who co-wrote the screenplay with veteran writer Jay Cocks managed to do the impossible, make a movie about Bob Dylan free of tiresome biopic tropes. Wisely choosing the early years (1961-1965), when a young kid from Minnesota arrived in Greenwich Village looking to “catch a spark” in the presence of his hero, Woody Guthrie, up to the pivotal point in his career when he plugs in at Newport Folk Festival, is a smart move and adapting Elijah Wald’s great 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! is an even smarter one. Another great choice? Emphasizing the sound and vision of the time. The cast not only sings and play instruments, Mangold also records them live, often capturing songs in their entirety, providing an absorbing experience. The meticulously detailed production design transports viewers to a time when burgeoning sounds could be discovered from McDougall Street during an America navigating racism, civil rights, the Cuban missile crisis, and shifting ideologies. And, of course, Timothée Chalamet is giving a transfixing, career-best performance. He not only nails the music but also (and more importantly) captures the prickly charisma of the sly contrarian, conveying the start of Dylan’s never-ending enigma. It is supported by standout performances from a mesmerizing Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, a soulful Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, a poignant Elle Fanning as Slyvie Russo, and Boyd Holbrook playing a cool Johnny Cash. Watching these actors made me forget who they were playing while making me glad I knew them. (now in theaters)
3.
Mark – EVIL DOES NOT EXIST
Movies like “Evil Does Not Exist” are movies that make me wish I took more film classes growing up. The film by Ryūsuke Hamaguchi (“Drive my Car”) has many a thing going for it that I am not entirely sure how to explain, but I totally felt it. It felt like a field trip for my eyes and my soul. While the film does in fact feel very Japanese (at least in the modern sense), it still speaks to all at a universal level. (avail. for rent and purchase on all platforms)
Steven – GHOSTLIGHT
I know, I know, another film about the healing power of theatre, boy am I an easy mark. Like “Sing Sing,” “Ghostlight” looks at the power of understanding others through inhabiting a character, but in a supreme microcosm. Gruff construction worker Dan (Keith Kupferer) is masking personal pain with anger, often taking it out on his wife and daughter, played by Kupferer’s real-life wife and daughter Tara Mallen and the sensational Katherine Mallen Kupferer. Thanks to the keen eye of a community theatre director played by “Triangle of Sadness” breakout star Dolly De Leon, Dan is invited to join their production of “Romeo & Juliet,” with the classic tragedy running parallel to incidents in Dan’s recent past. Anyone who has spent any time in and around the theatre can tell you how invaluable that community is, and few—if any—films have presented that idea, as well as “Ghostlight.” (avail. on AMC+, Google Play, and Fandango at Home)
David – GREEN BORDER
It feels so real it could be a documentary and yet so disturbing it might as well be a horror movie. Veteran Polish director Agnieska Holland (“Europa Europa”) simply focuses on the brutal truths of a humanitarian and geopolitical crisis concerning Syrian refugees along the border of Belarus and Poland with both sides refusing to offer the assistance they need. Instead, refugees are beaten, robbed, and thrown (at times, literally) back and forth across the border, like ping-pong balls over a net with zero regard for their well-being or survival. Holland, who fled Communist Poland in the 1980s, has long had empathy for those searching for a better life, only to find themselves unwelcome anywhere they go. Likely due to her own experience, “Green Borders” is exhaustively researched, providing a variety of characters and perspectives from all sides: the refugees, the border patrols, the activists, and the ordinary people caught in the middle of it all. Shot in stark black-and-white, the film is a tough but very important and necessary watch. The most distressing part of it all is how there is no answer or resolution for this crisis, but at least Holland presents it all with clarity, compassion, and outrage. (avail. on Prime Video, and for rent and purchase on all platforms)
2.
Mark – SING SING
Over the past summer, I went to my cousin Amy’s wedding. With time to kill prior to the event, I managed to see two movies. One, sadly, was “Reagan” (nothing else needs to be said about that). The other was “Sing Sing”, a prison drama starring Colman Domingo as a prisoner veteran of a theater program (that actually exists in real life). I’m not sure what the strategy was for this film’s release, but I truly hope people seek it out. Domingo will almost certainly be nominated, but the other actors are just as powerful (especially Clarence Maclin). This was the only movie in 2024 to get me to tear up.
Steven – TUESDAY
While not singular by any means, the experience of being a parent is often a difficult one to convey to anyone who’s not a parent. The strange but incredibly moving film “Tuesday” manages to brilliantly convey the absurd lengths parents will go to in order to spare their children from hardship in a way that will resonate with a lot of people. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is heartbreaking as a mother to the titular sick teenager—the lovely young actor Lola Petticrew—and when visited by the angel of death in the form of a talking macaw, they each do something wholly unexpected. When that macaw, hauntingly voiced by Nigerian-born British actor Arinzé Kene, takes a hiatus from its duties as death, the film goes to even more unexpected places that show the lengths humans—and by extension parents—will go to in order to avoid their problems. And with perhaps the best explanation of the term “Afterlife” I’ve ever heard on film, “Tuesday” is a film with some big ideas about some big problems. And don’t be surprised if it reduces you to a blubbering mess, even on a rewatch. (avail. on Max and Hulu)
David – ANORA
If you’re a prude or narrow-minded, you likely haven’t seen a film by Sean Baker yet. If you have, you already know the writer/director revolves his absorbing stories around the lives of sex workers, whether they’re prostitutes (“Tangerine”) or a former porn star (“Red Rocket”), often populating his films with non-actors who lend an uncanny authenticity to his stories. He also has a knack for capturing camaraderie in unlikely places and united people for a common cause, like in “The Florida Project” (his most accessible film) and in his latest, “Anora,” where we see a quartet frantically search for a Russian oligarch’s son, who’s run off into the New York City night after his parents learn he impulsively married a sex worker (a tremendous Mikey Madison delivering a bravura performance as the titular character). Its three-act structure is a surprising part of the film’s strengths, telling almost three totally different stories with the same characters that somehow flow seamlessly with blunt truth, measured humor, and manic quirk. It’s all such an unexpected wild ride that is influenced by the likes of Martin Scorsese, John Landis, and the Safdies. Baker knows you will feel like you know who these characters are and what they’re going to do, but the joy and beauty of “Anora” is in the surprise we are when we’re wrong. (avail. to rent or purchase on all platforms)
1.
Mark – FLOW
I had a feeling 2024 would be a year in which none of my top ten were animated films (even though I did really like The Wild Robot). Then, like a tsunami, came the movie “Flow”. A film from Latvia, “Flow,” is a simple tale of a Cat who encounters a flood and must survive on a boat with a true menagerie of animals. The thing is, the film has no dialogue, as each animal is played by its real-life counterpart (except for the Capybara, I believe). The animation is truly nothing short of remarkable, the film has some of the best bookend shots in recent memory, and it (along with Sing Sing) ends by injecting the audience with something our world truly needs nowadays: Hope.
Steven – THE SUBSTANCE
Wow! Few films I’ve seen in my life have left me as gobsmacked as Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance.” This scathing indictment of the entertainment industry’s impossible standards for women felt like a primal, guttural scream at anyone still not paying attention to the gender double standard going on in Hollywood. A never-better Demi Moore delivers a delirious performance that affords her the room to show sides of herself never before seen over a forty-plus-year career. She shines here as Elisabeth Sparkle, a Jane Fonda-esque actress turned aerobics instructor who celebrates her 50th birthday by getting the boot from her TV hosting job. Desperate for a comeback, she gets invited to try a radical new “substance” that will create a younger, more vibrant version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley—finally channeling all of that misplaced rage she has on-screen into her best performance. There is a symbiosis between the two women that must be respected, and the fun of the film begins when one-half of that equation stops respecting that boundary. “The Substance” touches on nearly every genre, but at its heart is still a pitch-black comedy with a truly sadomasochistic bent. “The Substance” was the best time I had in a movie theater last year, and it’s a film I will never forget.
David – GHOSTLIGHT
Now more than ever, we need to be reminded of how the arts can offer us the opportunity to empathize and possibly to heal or at least start the process. Indeed, “Ghostlight” reminds us of this while inviting us to gradually understand what has happened to the Muellers, a family of three residing in the Chicago area. Middle-aged construction worker Dan (the great Keith Kupferer) finds himself pulled into a local theater company’s motley production of Romeo and Juliet, much to the surprise of his wife, Sharon (Tara Mallen), and their, Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), and winds up realizing how Shakespeare’s tragedy relates to his own life. Plotwise, that’s all you need to know going in, but the uncanny naturalness of this fractured trio will make sense when you know that the actors are an actual family in real life. Kelly O’Sullivan, who co-directed with her partner Alex Thompson, wrote a touching and poignant screenplay with just the right amount of humor (much thanks to a spicy performance from Dolly de Leon), ultimately showing a flicker of mysticism through catharsis. If it wasn’t for that balance, the film might be emotionally too much to bear. Like 2023’s “Past Lives,” this film broke my heart from the first time I saw it at the Chicago Critics Film Festival back in May at the historic Music Box Theatre. It’s the 2024 film I’ve seen the most times, and the one I’ve constantly (and continue to) recommend to anyone asking what they should see.
You can find Steven Attanasie’s reviews at The Den of Snobbery & Mark A. Lester’s at Nothing Else to Say
