The films of 2024 - 24 of the best

December 25, 2024

The quickest year yet? Maybe - but undoubtedly made better for us by these films. In no particular order:

Conclave

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Laura Delaney says: Director Edward Berger's (All Quiet on the Western Front) papal election thriller is sinfully entertaining and divinely provocative, all while breaking bread on modern-day power struggles. Adapting Robert Harris's 2016 best-selling novel of the same name, Conclave centres on the 750-year-old ritual of selecting one of the most powerful religious leaders in the world following the death of the Holy Father, and the sequestered cardinals vying for the necessary majority of 72 votes. Ralph Fiennes may be the main attraction as the conflicted dean of the Vatican's College of Cardinals, but this is very much an ensemble piece. Stanley Tucci resists the urge to overact as liberal Cardinal Bellini, giving what could very well be the finest performance in his distinguished career, while Isabella Rossellini emerges as Conclave's secret weapon as jaded nun Sister Agnes - keeping her eyes and ears open to the underhandedness going on around her. Here's to lighting a candle for Conclave come January's Oscar nominations.

Wicked

Alan Corr says: Director John M Chu's fabulous film adaptation of the long-running and much-loved Wicked stage show smash hit is vivid, funny, and occasionally like being dropped in a field of trippy poppies. Legions of fans will know this is the origins story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the North, who put the frighteners on poor old Dorothy and Toto in the 1939 landmark movie classic The Wizard of Oz before being doused to death with a bucket of water. In a great on-screen pairing, pop uberstar Ariana Grande plays Glinda/Galinda Upland, a conniving Pollyanna opposite Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp, the green-skinned girl who grows up to be very, very bad. Both have the vocal chops to carry off the frankly so-so songs and Grande reveals some pretty good comic timing, but it's the magnetic Erivo who truly owns Wicked with her cool, controlled, and possibly Oscar-bound performance. This is only part one of a two-part adaptation and it clocks in at two hours and forty minutes. We've a long way to go on the Yellow Brick Road, but Wicked already casts quite a spell.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

John Byrne says: I left the screening of this film in tears. And I'm getting emotional again while writing this review. It's such a shame that Christopher Reeve became much more of a superhero in real life than he did on screen. Because the reason he'll be remembered is the remarkable courage he showed when dealing with an appalling personal tragedy - a fall from a horse in 1995 that left him paralysed from the neck down, unable to breathe without a ventilator, and requiring 24-hour care. He was only 42. Understandably grief-stricken by his situation, Reeve somehow managed to convince himself that life was worth living, continued his acting career, and became a disability activist. He died in 2004 at the age of 52 but packed so much into his life, both pre and post-paralysis. With deeply moving contributions from his children, Matthew, Alexandra, and Will, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story alternates between before and after the life-altering accident, painting a powerful picture of a remarkable man, but it's far from a hagiography. Please, please, watch this film. Like me, you might shed a tear, but you'll also feel inspired.

A Quiet Place: Day One

Sarah McIntyre says: A spin-off prequel to John Krasinski's 2018 breakout hit and following in the footsteps of the rapturously received 2021 follow-up A Quiet Place Part II, this movie had big shoes to fill. Thankfully, writer and director Michael Sarnoski's A Quiet Place: Day One is a meaty addition to the franchise, delivering action and anguish in spades. The sky-high tension and emotional depth of the previous two instalments are matched here as we are dropped into the first day of the alien invasion. The utter terror and chaos are viscerally brought to life, and there is something about the familiarity of the New York City setting that adds another dimension to the apocalyptic doom. With superb central performances from Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn, and a star-making turn from Frodo the cat, A Quiet Place: Day One is a visceral gut-punch of a movie.

Emilia Pérez

Bren Murphy says: Written and directed by Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez tells the compelling story of Rita (Zoe Saldaña), a hard-working defence lawyer in Mexico. Rita is contacted by a notorious crime boss, Juan 'Manitas' Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascon), who wishes to discreetly undergo gender-affirming surgery. Rita shows compassion for Manitas's seemingly genuine desire for the surgery and finds a doctor in Bangkok to perform it. Manitas's oblivious wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), and children are relocated to Switzerland. Manitas fakes a death and begins her life as Emilia Pérez. Things get complicated years later when Emila wants to reconnect with her grieving wife and children. It's a pretty implausible story but sold by the three leads. Zoe Saldaña really throws herself into this role emotionally and physically during some very intense musical dance numbers. The dual roles played by Karla Sofía Gascón are also to be commended; here she plays the very glamourous Emilia and the pre-surgery Manitas (under some heavy prosthetics) with such humanity and underlying temper, a remnant of her crime boss past. This holy trinity of actors is completed by a raw and no-nonsense performance from Selena Gomez. A thoughtful and thought-provoking film.

All of Us Strangers

Audrey Donohue says: The universal theme of grief, particularly that around losing your parents, is dealt with delicately yet powerfully in the Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal-starring All of Us Strangers. Here, British director Andrew Haigh blurs the lines between what is real and what is a figment of the imagination as Adam (Scott, delivering a masterclass) encounters his mother and father (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) in his childhood home - three decades after they died. And as Adam gains an otherworldly form of closure with his parents, he opens himself up to a tender, romantic connection with his troubled neighbour, Harry (Mescal). A totally unique and affecting piece, All of Us Strangers requires viewers to suspend disbelief and simply go with the flow - if you can get there, it's worth it. A film that will leave those who have prematurely lost loved ones wondering "what if?" and those who haven't grateful for the privilege of time.

The Holdovers

Harry Guerin says: With impeccable scheduling, a new Christmas classic arrived in Irish cinemas at the tail end of January as Sideways director Alexander Payne and star Paul Giamatti finally reunited. Indeed, the two-decade wait proved to be a blessing as soon-to-be-Oscar-winner Da'Vine Joy Randolph and newcomer Dominic Sessa - a teen and infant, respectively, when Sideways came out - joined Payne and Giamatti to complete a magic line-up for a gem of a film. Set in 1970, this bittersweet story of a curmudgeonly teacher (Giamatti), a rebellious student (Sessa), and a grieving cook (Randolph) stuck together in a boarding school over the holidays deserves a place among the best movies from that decade - it's that special. A snow globe plays a key part in the plot, and you'll feel like you're in one as writer David Hemingson's beautiful script unfolds. It can't be stressed enough: the best of company is guaranteed here. Try to have the same beside you while watching.

The Apprentice

Alan Corr says: This tale of the rise of Donald Trump and the fall of his mentor Roy Cohn is a riveting story of power, corruption, and lies. A helter-skelter ride through the New York of the Seventies, Ali Abbasi's direction has the bleached-out look of Scorsese's Mean Streets or any number of skanky thrillers of the era. However, as Trump transforms mid-way through from rent collector for his dad's seedy properties to skyscraper mogul in his own right, we are ushered into the soft furnishings and VHS flicker of the greedy Eighties. That old Irish political phrase "GUBU" comes to mind and while this story is indeed "grotesque, unbelievable, and bizarre", it is not unprecedented. It's just that very few practitioners of the dark arts have done political, legal, and business hit-jobs as well as this gruesome twosome. US president-elect Trump has branded The Apprentice "FAKE and CLASSLESS" and called it a "cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job". With a whip-smart screenplay by Gabriel Sherman and two extraordinarily good performances from Sebastian Stan as the young Trump and Jeremy Strong as the venomous Cohn, it is brash, funny, and just relentless.

Poor Things

Bren Murphy says: An Oscar-winning Emma Stone gives one of the bravest and boldest performances we've seen in a long time in Yorgos Lanthimos's Poor Things - unpredictable but completely natural, heightened but sympathetic, hilarious but heart-wrenching. Lanthimos's fourth team-up with Dublin's Element Pictures brings us to Victorian London, where a Frankenstein-esque eccentric scientist (Willem Dafoe) unveils his most beloved creation, Bella Baxter (Stone). Bella appears to be a fully adult woman but has the growing mind of a very young child. As Bella learns the way of the world and awakens herself to gender inequalities and what is unfairly expected of her and other women, every movement, line delivery, and expression seem meticulously honed yet effortless. With a hilariously shocking and bonkers script, stunningly lush sets shot by Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan, as well as that now familiar and surreal Lanthimos style, this is truly a bold modern masterpiece.

Small Things Like These

Harry Guerin says: One of the best Irish books is now one of the best Irish films. Like Claire Keegan's source novel, this masterful adaptation feels as if it will see us all out and go on to be cherished by future generations. It's as important a portal to a particular place and time, in this case, New Ross, Co Wexford, in December 1985, as any you care to mention from Irish cinema. It also delivers the Christmas message in its purest form. In his finest performance on home ground, Cillian Murphy plays Bill Furlong, the fuel merchant who reaches a look-in-the-mirror moment after delivering coal to the local Magdalene Laundry. And for the first project from his new production company Big Things Films, Murphy is among friends. The director is Peaky Blinders' Belgian helmer-turned-new-local-hero Tim Mielants; Murphy has enlisted Disco Pigs playwright Enda Walsh for the screenplay and has finally reunited with his Disco Pigs co-star Eileen Walsh. Then there's Emily Watson, whose central scene opposite Murphy plays like a film all of its own... In front of and behind the camera, everyone shines here, but most importantly, they do justice to all the stories that have informed this one.

The Substance

Bren Murphy says: Coralie Fargeat, the director of 2017's powerfully violent Revenge, returns with The Substance, and when it comes to delivering more shocking visceral images with a message, she's not holding back. Demi Moore gives the performance of her career as Elisabeth Sparkle, an 80sesque TV fitness instructor who, on her 50th birthday, is unceremoniously fired. At a loss over what to do next, Elisabeth is introduced to a mysterious drug, The Substance. A serum, when injected it forces Elisabeth to "birth" a younger, more-"perfect" version of herself (Margaret Qualley). All will work out, once they stick to the rules... This is not a film for everyone, but if you find yourself drawn to the unsettling nature of David Cronenberg-style body horror, enjoy the gooey inventiveness of John Carpenter's The Thing and Brian Yuzna's Society, or were affected by the tragedies of Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, The Substance is for you. Sit back and enjoy the ride… you may need a sick bag.

Sing Sing

Harry Guerin says: A powerhouse prison story that challenges your expectations, Greg Kwedar's Sing Sing is a must-see, and you'll be exhorting others to do the same. Colman Domingo plays John 'Divine G' Whitfield, a man serving 25 to life at New York state's maximum-security Sing Sing Correctional Facility - for a crime that he now has proof he did not commit. Whitfield is the lynchpin of Sing Sing's Rehabilitation Through the Arts programme, staging plays with his fellow prisoners. As the group's next production is decided, they are joined by a new member, Clarence 'Divine Eye' Maclin (Maclin - playing a younger version of himself), a fearsome presence on the yard who somehow can quote passages from King Lear because a copy 'just happened to be lying around'... This is a beautiful and tough drama based on real-life people that hooks you from the get-go, has superb performances, and offers the opportunity to everyone on screen and off to reconnect with their own compassion. There are two niggles regarding a shocking turn of events as opening night looms and the ending - both needed to be finessed - but, otherwise, Sing Sing is the perfect drama in which to showcase the genre's most important lesson of the lot: that people can always be more than one thing.

Gladiator II

Alan Corr says: A brooding and bloody Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington peacocking about like a superfly Machiavelli, bone-crushing action, and twin Caligulan emperors - you can't say Ridley Scott hasn't given us exactly what we want in his much-hyped return to Rome. Picking up 15 years after the heroic death of Russell Crowe's Maximus, blood spurts, bones are crushed, chunks are taken out of a troop of thoroughly p*****-off baboons in the Colosseum and a seaborne invasion provides an adrenalin-pumping opening sequence. Gladiator II lacks the soul and emotional stakes of the first Gladiator and some of the CGI looks slapdash and unconvincing in places, but it's gloriously gory stuff. The story centres on Maximus's son, Lucius, who is, of course, played by the beaut from Maynooth, bringing a degree of vulnerability to his performance to match Crowe's blunt-force magnetism in the first movie. A poignant closing scene echoes the original and also tells us that Lucius has not yet quelled the rage within. Could there be more to come from Mescal in battle dress and sandals? If it's as fun as this meaty serving of historical pulp, bring it on.

Wicked Little Letters

Sarah McIntyre says: Amusing and delightfully sweary, Wicked Little Letters sees a most welcome on-screen reunion of The Lost Daughter stars Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley in a comedy mystery whose considerable charm outweighs its predictability. Directed by Thea Sharrock (Me Before You, The One and Only Ivan), this zippy, eminently watchable film is based on a true poison-pen scandal that rocked 1920s Britain. Colman plays Edith Swan, a puritanical single woman who begins to receive profane, anonymous letters. The suspicion for these vulgar missives lands squarely on the doorstep of Edith's neighbour Rose (Buckley), an unapologetically loud, sexually liberated, and decidedly unladylike single mother from Ireland. Colman and Buckley shine as they exchange increasingly heated insults, and the riotous atmosphere is tempered by a portrait of a society on the brink of change. A rollicking good watch.

Challengers

Harry Guerin says: If you didn't catch Challengers in cinemas in the Spring, then you missed the best date more in many a moon. Bringing to mind the great wisdom that there's someone for everyone and two for most, Euphoria's Zendaya, The Crown's Josh O'Connor, and West Side Story's Mike Faist play the love triangle who meet as teenage tennis prodigies and still loom large in each other's lives 13 years - and mixed fortunes - later. This is a showcase of actors at the top of their game as director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, A Bigger Splash) and writer Justin Kuritzkes's story of opportunities taken and missed unfolds, twist after twist. The tension on and off the court in Challengers is as addictive as it is grown-up, the verbal volleys every bit as exciting as the technical masterclass across the net. It's the safest of bets that your allegiances will shift throughout. A sweaty mess, all done in the best possible taste.

Dune: Part Two

Alan Corr says: Denis Villeneuve's gobsmacking Dune: Part One was all talky and impressionistic exposition, setting the scene for a universe of the mysterious witchy sisterhood the Bene Gesserit, warring noble families, giant sandworms, instantaneous space travel, and trippy visions. It was a world-building space opera of unparalleled dimensions. That pent-up energy explodes into full, vivid life in this formidable second half. But amid all the brilliantly mounted set pieces, Dune: Part Two is a sombre and sinister affair. It teems with menace and earnestness, almost to the point of bombast, but Villeneuve, a fan of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 sci-fi novel since he was a boy growing up in Quebec, also manages to capture on screen the twitchy and paranoid tale at the heart of Herbert's monumental book. Dune: Part Two reaches a fever pitch of seductive strangeness and operatic drama. It's a tragedy about the dangers of power and fanaticism, a Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya-starring romance, and a superb action movie. Villeneuve's audacious vision has set a new standard for the cinematic sci-fi epic.

The Zone of Interest

Harry Guerin says: Unforgettably written and directed by Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin, Sexy Beast), and loosely based on the Martin Amis book of the same name, this is the story of Nazis Rudolf and Hedwig Höss - the Auschwitz commandant and his wife. Rather than focus on the horrors inside the camp, Glazer turns the lens to the Höss' family life in their "paradise" on the other side of the wall. The audience is wrongfooted from the off, and that sense of disorientation grows by the minute. Filming at Auschwitz, Glazer depicts the reality and banality of evil by using audio of trains arriving, dogs barking, and screams alongside visuals of gardening, dinner conversations, and bedtime stories, the terror heightened by occasional shots of smoke billowing and the night sky ablaze in the background. At times The Zone of Interest feels like a documentary while in other scenes Glazer uses the thriller dynamics of night vision to show a young Polish girl hiding food for the prisoners at their work sites outside the camp. The ending arrives somewhat abruptly, and it's the right decision - as if Glazer is saying, 'Now, over to us'. Winner of this year's Best International Feature Oscar, this is a landmark film.

The Bikeriders

Laura Delaney says: Inspired by Danny Lyon's acclaimed black-and-white book of photography, The Bikeriders is a deftly crafted homage to outlaw culture in the '60s that's driven by a trio of wheel-turning performances. Underneath the loud engines, Jodie Comer's work as our narrator, Kathy, makes the most noise. Like his stellar outing in 2022's Elvis, Austin Butler once again takes us on a wild and magnetic ride as his character grapples with the allure of a rebellious lifestyle. Tom Hardy, meanwhile, resists the urge to overact as the group's de facto leader. Instead of becoming a Hells Angels-esque caricature, he aims for a Marlon Brando meets Bugs Bunny hybrid. You'll understand when you hear his cartoonish voice. Writer-director Jeff Nichols' last outing, 2016's Oscar-nominated Loving, brought viewers on a quietly spellbinding journey. His latest is another well-oiled machine.

Late Night with the Devil

Harry Guerin says: The horror of 2024? We're back in 1977 for "the live TV event that shocked the nation" - the Halloween episode of Night Owls with Jack Delroy. With its host mired in grief, falling ratings, and contract negotiations, the New York chat show needs something huge to stop the Carson colossus. Enter parapsychologist June Ross-Mitchell and her teenage patient Lilly D'Abo as the coast-to-coast workout for bowels and bladders begins. A great concept, a brilliant central performance by David Dastmalchian as Delroy, a super cast of unfamiliar faces in support, and the relentlessness of the real-time set-up make this a found-footage rager. And although the never-before-seen backstage moments break the spell somewhat and the finale is a bit rushed, writer-director brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes still go above and beyond to ensure their application for the cult pantheon is a successful one. Give the Devil his due as soon as you can.

Black Dog

Bren Murphy says: Black Dog opens on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert, Northern China, empty and silent until the screen is filled with a pack of dogs - free, wild, and, it seems, dangerous as they cause a bus to overturn. A passenger on said bus is a former stunt motorcyclist, Lang, returning to his hometown of Chixia. The powers that be seem to have forgotten about the city, but someone has decided they need to do something about these dogs ahead of the 2008 Olympics. And so, a bounty is placed on a lone, seemingly vicious dog... The balance of warmth and deadpan comedy is quite the tightrope walk, but this Cannes Un Certain Regard winner pulls it off, making the absurd tale comparable to the work of Wes Anderson in more ways than one. Achingly slow at times, Black Dog rewards the viewer with a wonderful celebration of one of humanity's oldest partnerships. Indeed, you may want to stop by a rescue shelter, the film's message ringing in your head: you may not get the dog you want, but you get the dog you need.

Anora

Harry Guerin says: This glorious adaptation of the late John McGahern's final novel is the movie equivalent of the grand stretch and should be regarded with the same sense of wonder. In a lakeside community of yesteryear, we watch blow-ins Joe and Kate Ruttledge (Barry Ward and Anna Bederke) as time does its thing to all things. "The rain comes down, the sun shines, grass grows, children grow old and die. That's the holy all of it. We all know it full well but can't even whisper it," muses one of the endearing locals early on in this tour of enchantment. Ah yes, but there's a lot of living to be done too - and here we're reminded to revel in the small moments. Making his big move into straightforward drama, writer-director Pat Collins (Silence, Song of Granite) will cause a gentle stampede towards McGahern's source novel after this. What Collins, co-writer Éamon Little, the cast and crew have achieved here is magic. The acting is brilliant, and Ireland has never looked better in the role of No Place Like Home.

Joker: Folie à Deux

John Byrne says: Taking up two years after the goings-on in Joker, this sequel is radically different from its predecessor in its execution. Sure, Joaquin Phoenix's Travis Bickle/Rupert Pupkin vibe remains, but the song-and-sporadic-dance element here is a pretty brave move and must be a severe headwreck for the average DC anorak. Me? I grew up with both Batman and Broadway in the house. By the age of seven, I knew every Gotham villain as well as I knew The Lonely Goatherd. I consider it a well-rounded, valuable education... Anyway, the movie revolves around Fleck's time in jail, meeting up with and falling for Lady Gaga's manipulative Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, and going to court for the murders he committed in the first flick. Lady Gaga's presence adds a tonne of tonsil to the tunes, which are a vehicle for getting inside the head of Arthur Fleck/Joker. It's an old story: are Fleck and Joker the same, or two separate identities? And why is the garishly dressed psychopath the one people admire? This film is effortlessly claustrophobic, dreamily undramatic, and all the better for it.

Kneecap

Harry Guerin says: The biggest homegrown hit of 2024 was also the biggest surprise, as far from vanity project or ah-bless offering as you could possibly get and where the only notions to be dispelled are/were your own. The "mostly true story" of how the Belfast rap trio of Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and DJ Próvaí came to be is a youthquake movie that deserves its place alongside, say, Over the Edge, Quadrophenia, The Decline of Western Civilisation, Trainspotting, and any other gem you care to mention. Narrated by Móglaí Bap in Dánafellas style, and with the group starring as themselves, Kneecap mines history, finds its flow in the here and now, and looks proudly to the future. Any act worth their salt should be able to mythologise themselves. We get plenty of that here - and a lot more besides. Sure, there are loads of laughs as co-writer-director Rich Peppiatt and the lads careen from one seat-of-the-pants situation to another, but baked into the bravado and bawdiness are themes of identity and acceptance, and the realisation of just how far things have come in a matter of decades, on screen and off.

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