From Inside Out 2 to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, all but one of the 10 highest-grossing movies of 2024 were sequels (Wicked was the only outlier). Which really shouldn’t surprise anyone. For decades, the top of the box office has been ruled by sequels, prequels, reboots, and reimaginings. But since when has a movie’s total haul been indicative of its quality?
The fact is that in 2024, as in most years, some of the most compelling films to be released are titles you may have never heard of (which is unfortunate). You’ve got plenty of time to right that wrong, beginning with these 10 underseen gems.
Anora
If Pretty Woman had never gotten its Extreme Hollywood Makeover, and instead been shot as the dark, drug-fueled tale of sex and violence that first landed on studio executives’ desks, it might’ve looked a bit like Anora. Ani (Mikey Madison) is a sex worker in New York City whose life is turned upside down by Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the fun-loving albeit floundering son of a Russian oligarch. After paying Ani $15,000 to spend the week with him, the two fly to Las Vegas, where Vanya proposes—mostly so that he can get a green card and avoid going back to Russia, but also because he promises he loves Ani. When Vanya’s parents learn of his betrothal, they dispatch a couple of trusted henchmen to extricate their son from this new romantic entanglement, at whatever costs. Madison (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, 2022’s Scream) is an absolute revelation as the frenetic princess at the heart of this “fairytale.” It ends in heartbreak, sure, but also self-discovery. Writer-director Sean Baker (Red Rocket, The Florida Project, Tangerine) yet again succeeds in changing the conversation around sex workers and other marginalized people to create a new kind of love story. While Anora received a small theatrical release, its five Golden Globe nominations—including nods for Madison, Baker for Best Director and Best Screenplay, and a Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy nomination—should certainly bring the project more well-deserved attention.
The Bikeriders
Austin Butler delivers serious James Dean vibes as Benny Cross, the impossibly pretty member of Chicago’s Vandals Motorcycle Club. When the film kicks off in 1965, Benny has seemingly got it all: He’s the right-hand man to Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy), the club’s founder, and has just met—and quickly married—Kathy Bauer (Jodie Comer), a newcomer to the motorcycle club world. This proves to be both a help and hindrance to Benny over the next decade, as the film tracks the Vandals’ growth and how the country’s overwhelming disillusionment seeps into its DNA. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, the film is based on Danny Lyon’s 1968 photo book of the same name, which traces the evolution of Chicago’s very real Outlaws MC. Go along for the ride.
Blink Twice
Zoë Kravitz proves that she really can do it all as the cowriter, producer, and (first-time) director behind this macabre meditation on the power of extreme wealth. Cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) and her best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) are working a cocktail party when they meet Slater King (Channing Tatum), an infamous tech billionaire who recently stepped down as the head of the company he founded due to some sort of questionable behavior—the details of which aren’t fully known. He and Frida hit it off, and he invites the two women to join him and a group of friends on his private island for a weekend of partying and pampering. That’s exactly what they get, though Frida can’t shake the feeling that something is amiss. That paranoia turns to dread when Jess suddenly goes missing and King’s other guests don’t even seem to remember her being there in the first place. Blink Twice is not a perfect movie, but Kravitz’s willingness to boldly confront dark issues in a smart and darkly humorous way heralds her standing as an audacious filmmaker on the rise.
Exhibiting Forgiveness
Tarrell (André Holland in a career-best performance) is a successful painter and a loving husband and father, who believes he has moved on from the abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of his father, La’Ron (John Earl Jelks). But when La’Ron reemerges after years of estrangement looking to reconnect with his son, old wounds resurface for Tarrell, whose own mother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) is desperate to see father and son reunite. Renowned artist Titus Kaphar mined his own haunted history for this gut-wrenching, and semi-autobiographical, reflection on family, generational trauma, and the power of forgiveness—if you can actually find your way to it.
Kneecap
Just because Kneecap has been a hit on the festival circuit doesn’t mean it’s getting all the attention it deserves. Rich Peppiatt makes his feature directorial debut with this fascinating film about the eponymous hip-hop trio, which was founded in Belfast in 2017 and is still going strong. The band’s real-life members—Liam Óg “Mo Chara” Ó Hannaidh, Naoise “Móglaí Bap” Ó Cairealláin, and JJ “DJ Próvaí” Ó Dochartaigh, who rap in a mixture of English and Irish—play themselves in this raucous comedy, which is set in 2019. More than just a musical biopic, it’s about the continued impact of the Troubles and the “ceasefire babies” who came after it. But it’s also about how three young artists have been using music to both share a political message and save their native (and dying) language.
Juror #2
Since the release of 1992’s Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood has earned 11 Oscar nominations and won four of them, including two Best Director statuettes. Which makes Warner Bros.’s decision to bury Juror #2—which some have suggested will be Eastwood’s final movie—all the more surprising. Especially considering how damn good it is. Clint loves a good ethical dilemma (see: Million Dollar Baby), and Juror #2 poses a fascinating one: What if you were called to sit on the jury of a high-profile murder case … only to realize that you might have been the one who caused the victim’s death? That’s the question Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) must grapple with in this addictively layered courtroom drama.
Monkey Man
Oscar nominee Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) steps behind the camera to make his feature directorial debut with this action-packed revenge thriller. Years after witnessing the brutal death of his mother at the hands of Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher), a corrupt cop, Kid (Patel), opts to lean into the eye-for-an-eye approach. While working at an underground fight club where Singh often shows up, Kid lays out an ambitious—and vicious—plan to avenge his mom.
My Old Ass
For as long as movies have been marketed, there are some movies that have been poorly marketed. While My Old Ass got a pretty hefty dose of promotion, thanks in part to having lovable cynic Aubrey Plaza as one of its stars, it may have lost a huge part of its audience by making it appear as a drug-induced Freaky Friday-meets-The Lakehouse kind of picture. Really, it’s an incredibly funny and moving coming-of-age movie in which 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) is encouraged to use her last summer at home before moving away to college as a time to slow down and truly appreciate the people (read: parents) and places (read: home) too many teens take for granted. Yes, Plaza does appear as Elliott’s older self—and is the one who imbues her with such wisdom—but her screen time is much more limited than you might think. So appreciate every moment of that, too, while you can.
The Order
Jude Law is terrific playing against type as Terry Husk, a veteran FBI agent tasked with investigating a baffling string of daylight robberies that have been escalating in terms of violence. Eventually, Husk becomes convinced that the crimes are the work of a white supremacist group that is using the stolen money to self-finance a violent uprising. Husk’s investigation pits him against Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult again, in an equally wonderful—and against-type—performance), the impossibly likable leader of a neo-Nazi group known as The Order. The film is based on a true story, and adapted from Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s 1989 book The Silent Brotherhood.
Rebel Ridge
Director Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room, Murder Party) makes his return to the big screen for the first time in six years with this captivating crime thriller that will be remembered as the film that turned Aaron Pierre into a bona fide star. Terry Richmond (Pierre), a former Marine, travels to Shelby Springs, Louisiana, to post bail for his cousin Mike (CJ LeBlanc), who has gotten himself into some kind of trouble. Richmond soon finds himself in the crosshairs of the local police department, when authorities illegally seize the cash he has brought with him, which just happens to be his life savings. Finding justice in this small town isn’t going to be as simple as filling out a complaint form. The local police, led by Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson), have no plans to let Richmond ruin the good thing they’ve got going on.
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