2024 Young Critic Awards

As with every year, it’s impossible to watch every movie released in 2024, especially with the intense release schedule that crams many Oscar hopefuls into the final weeks of the year. While this strategy aims to keep these films fresh in the minds of Oscar voters, it inevitably causes them to cannibalize each other. Consequently, I have not been able to see buzzy films such as All We Imagine As Light, The Brutalist, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Oh Canada, and A Complete Unknown in time for this list. Nevertheless, we must draw the line somewhere, and it’s time to present my top 10 films of the year.

 

2024 has been another challenging year for cinema, still grappling with its slow recovery to pre-pandemic strength. Compounding this were the aftershocks of the industry-wide strikes in 2023, leading to significant gaps in the release calendar and an audience increasingly accustomed to waiting for streaming debuts instead of theatrical releases. With exclusive theatrical windows often shortened to just two weeks, the year felt lackluster. As a result, selecting my top ten was less difficult than in years past when narrowing the list was a grueling process. However, despite the challenges, 2024 brought forth some exceptional cinema. Here are Young Critic’s picks for the best films of the year.

 

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Honorable Mentions 

 

Didi

Juror #2  

Musica 

Nosferatu 

 

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10. A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg’s second directorial effort follows two estranged cousins on a trip to Poland to trace their shared family history and confront personal grief. Eisenberg masterfully listens to his characters, letting their interactions unfold naturally. The film avoids a neatly tied-up ending where all lessons are learned, opting instead to reflect the messiness of real life. It beautifully illustrates how we learn to live with our pain while understanding the burdens carried by those around us.

9. My Old Ass

The comedy of the year explores the hilarious and poignant question: What if, during a psychedelic trip, your teenage self met the 30-year-old version of you? While the setup is executed deftly, it’s the film’s deeper exploration—led by breakout star Maisy Stella—of nostalgia, cringe, and life’s messy beauty that truly shines. It reminds us that the risk of pain is intrinsic to the joy of growing up and seizing life.

8. The Wild Robot

Roz, a robot washed ashore on a deserted island, learns to coexist with the animal inhabitants in this adaptation of Peter Brown’s beloved children’s book. One of two animated films on this list, The Wild Robot blends studio polish with indie-like nuance, subtlety, and emotional depth. Its thoughtful exploration of parenthood, unconventional families, and maturity is beautifully rendered, bolstered by an excellent voice cast and Kris Bowers’ evocative soundtrack.

7. Green Border

Agnieszka Holland delivers a harrowing yet essential film about the lives entangled in the Belarusian-Polish border crisis. Told through the intersecting stories of refugees, border guards, and activists, Green Border confronts the inhumanity of immigration policies through a multi-character narrative, making it a searing critique of the Western world’s complicity in such horrors. Holland’s work is urgent, unforgettable, and one of her finest.

6. Ghostlight

This understated gem follows a grieving construction worker who joins a community theater group, finding solace and transformation through the power of art. Featuring some of the year’s best performances, likely to be overlooked by mainstream audiences and awards alike, Ghostlight explores the transformative power of art in navigating grief, loss, and identity. Eschewing melodrama, it opts for restraint and subtlety, leaving a lasting emotional impact.

5. Small Things Like These

Cillian Murphy follows his Oscar-winning turn in Oppenheimer (2023) with a quiet, intimate performance in this poignant Irish drama. Based on Claire Keegan’s novella, Small Things Like These examines the Magdalene Laundries’ dark legacy through the story of a coal merchant who discovers the abuse happening within a local convent. Murphy’s largely monosyllabic performance is haunting, anchoring a film that feels like the thematic opposite of Nolan’s epic.

4. Anora

Sean Baker continues to spotlight marginalized communities with Anora, a deeply affecting story about a sex worker daring to dream beyond her circumstances. Set in the backroads of New York City, the film is a poignant exploration of systemic poverty and resilience. Mikey Madison delivers the breakout performance of the year, capturing the heartbreak and determination of the titular character in what is arguably Baker’s most powerful work to date.

3. Evil Does Not Exist

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to Drive My Car (2022) maintains his empathetic, non-judgmental storytelling. The film explores a rural Japanese community’s battle against a proposed resort that threatens their water supply, juxtaposing corporate interests with environmental preservation. Avoiding simplistic good-versus-evil dynamics, Hamaguchi finds humanity in every character, illustrating how systemic forces—not individuals—perpetuate harm, and how collective action is necessary to resist.

2. Dahomey

Clocking in at just over an hour, Mati Diop’s documentary examines the French repatriation of stolen artifacts to Benin. Through interviews, re-enactments, and magical realism, Dahomey delves into the lingering impacts of colonialism and the profound questions of cultural identity, art’s role in society, and restitution. Diop challenges Western biases in cinema while crafting a powerful commentary on the ways history continues to shape the present.

1. Flow

This non-verbal animated masterpiece chronicles the lives of animals in the lead-up to a biblical flood, blending hypnotic watercolor animation with universal themes of survival, renewal, and interconnectedness. Flow is a visual triumph, offering a canvas for viewers to project their interpretations. The Estonian film is transcendent and layered, resonating with audiences of all ages—whether they seek simple entertainment or profound philosophical musings. Its ability to evoke complexity through simplicity makes it Young Critic’s pick for the best film of the year.

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