The Contending co-founder Megan McLachlan lists her favorite movies of 2024.
Looking back on 2024, so many of my favorite films had to do with identity, whether it’s religion, sexuality, or even the belief you’re becoming a Nightbitch. Here are my 10 favorite films of 2024.
10. Leap of Faith – Directed by Nicholas Ma
Unlike many documentaries released this year, Leap of Faith isn’t about the war overseas but the one in America, specifically regarding religion. In Nicholas Ma’s intimate film, he watches a group of Christian leaders over the course of a year, documenting the one single issue that divides them: homosexuality. Like Josh Greenbaum’s road trip doc Will & Harper, Leap of Faith shows the fractures in America, zooming in on how one group of god-fearing individuals grapple with ideological conflict.
9. Nightbitch – Directed by Marielle Heller
Nightbitch shouldn’t work. If you’ve read Rachel Yoder’s surrealist fairytale, you know it reads unfilmable. But in Marielle Heller’s riskiest work to date, she writes and directs what feels like a definitive take on motherhood, using body horror and metaphor to examine how birthing a child is both a miracle and a death of your former self. Not since Arrival has Amy Adams driven nearly every scene, and it’s a treat to watch her dominate the narrative, especially when so many of her notable roles have been supporting (Doubt, Vice) or lead within an ensemble (American Hustle).
8. Your Monster – Directed by Caroline Lindy
Caroline Lindy’s Your Monster blew my mind after I watched it. It’s so sly and smart in its execution, leaving you wanting to start the film from the beginning as the credits roll. Melissa Barrera stars as Laura, an actress whose producer boyfriend dumps her after her cancer diagnosis. Forced to find a new place to live, she retreats to her childhood home where she reconnects with her closet monster (played by Tommy Dewey). More than a beast-meets-beauty romantic comedy, this film tackles anger and female repression in a refreshing (and devastating) way.
7. A Different Man – Directed by Aaron Schimberg
In Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, Sebastian Stan stars as Edward, an actor who lives with a facial condition that leaves him covered in tumors. After he undergoes an experimental surgery to alleviate the condition, he changes his identity to Guy Moratz. But it’s when he meets Adam Pearson’s effervescent Oswald, an actor who also lives with neurofibromatosis, that he discovers the surgery didn’t fix all his problems. A Different Man is a fascinating character study with some of the year’s best performances from Stan and Pearson.
6. A Real Pain – Directed by Jesse Eisenberg
In writer/director Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, the scene where the touring group visits a concentration camp is one of the most moving meditations on real-life tragedy, and it’s all in complete silence. It perfectly represents the film as a whole in its nuanced depiction of inheritance and how this new generation of adults, including the heartbreaking Kieran Culkin, experience their own share of trauma wholly unique from their grandparents.
5. Flow – Directed by Gints Zilbalodis
2024 was blessed with a slew of outstanding animated films (Inside Out 2, The Wild Robot, Memoir of a Snail). While Flow might not be as aesthetically advanced as its peers, it captures animal instinct and curiosity in a way very few animated films ever have. We follow Cat as their home is devastated by a flood, and they’re forced to work together with other species (and even predators) to survive. If only real-life humans could be so collaborative.
4. Skywalkers: A Love Story – Directed by Jeff Zimbalist
At first glance, the title might make you think of another Star Wars spin-off. Thankfully, it’s not — instead offering something highly original and probably never seen before on film (only on your small mobile screens). Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus are influencers (and lovers) who scale skyscrapers and post their death-defying stunts on Instagram for all to see (and sponsors to financially support). But after COVID and the War in Ukraine, faced with limited options, they seek new avenues of income and ultimately end up setting up their biggest stunt to date: Sneaking into Merdeka in Malaysia, the tallest building in the world, to perform a Cutting Edge-esque Pamchenko move that could kill them both.
3. Babygirl – Directed by Halina Reijn
Some people won’t “get” Halina Reijn’s Babygirl and may even write it off as a May/December erotic thriller, with Kidman playing a married CEO who engages in kinky roleplay with her intern (Harris Dickinson). And that’s probably one of the things I love about it, that there’s something deeper beneath the surface. Like Kidman’s Romy, we can’t fully understand our desires or what makes us want certain things, which makes Babygirl so universal. We don’t want to be the Babygirl; we are the Babygirl.
2. Emilia Perez – Directed by Jacques Audiard
You’ve never seen a movie like Emilia Perez. Period. A cartel boss (Karla Sofia Gascón) asks a jaded and exhausted lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) to help them receive gender-reassignment surgery and live their authentic life as a woman — then they realize that they want their family back. The music is incredible, the direction as feisty as its ladies, and despite its controversies, its heart is in the right place, just like Emilia.
1. The Substance – Directed by Coralie Fargeat
No other movie captured the zeitgeist of 2024 than The Substance. With rampant debate over aging in politics, the film’s blatant (and hilarious) commentary hit at just the right time. (Not to mention injecting yourself every seven days with a foreign substance has Ozempic vibes — another widespread trend). Some feel the film goes too far in its last 20 minutes (something that director Coralie Fargeat thankfully fought for), but that’s the point. Vanity is disgusting and selfish, but inherently human. Adding to the satire is that you have one of the most beautiful women in the world playing the “washed-up” Elisabeth Sparkles (Demi Moore), and the film’s final scene is one of the most iconic of this century. It’s been three months since I’ve seen it, and I’m still coming down from the adrenaline rush.
