We undertake the Jim Ridley Memorial Film Poll both to honor the memory of our late, beloved editor, and to gather the opinions of critics, filmmakers, artisans, playwrights, musicians, teachers, exhibitors, podcasters and various and sundry gadabouts across three continents (so far) and figure out where cinema is at.
The Top 25 of 2024
1. The Substance
2. Anora
3. I Saw the TV Glow
4. Challengers
5. Hundreds of Beavers
6. Nickel Boys
7. Dune: Part Two
8. Sing Sing
9. Love Lies Bleeding
10. The Brutalist
11. The People’s Joker
12. Conclave
13. Flow
14. Longlegs
15. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
16. Red Rooms (Les Chambres Rouges)
17. Evil Does Not Exist (悪肢謺謅疝羌炊)
18. Nosferatu
19. Queer
20. A Real Pain
21. The Beast (La Bête)
22. Close Your Eyes (Cerrar los Ojos)
23. Thelma
24. Wicked Part 1
25. Smile 2
Mark Eydelshteyn and Mikey Madison in Anora
Participants
Sean Abley, Jason Adams, Kevin Allen, Ken Arnold, Sean Atkins, René Baharmast, Kim Baldwin, Jess Bennett, Brooke Bernard, William Bibbiani, Billy Ray Brewton, Heather Buckley, Sean Burns, Logan Butts, BJ Colangelo, Harmony Colangelo, C.K. Cosner, Jacob Davison, A.A. Dowd, Alonso Duralde, Steve Erickson, Dom Fisher, Dr. Gangrene, Zack Hall, Sheronica Hayes, Odie Henderson, Quinn Hills, Josh Hurtado, Sam Inglis, Michael Jay, Bede Jermyn, William Keaton, Brennan Klein, Rob Kotecki, Benjamin Legg, John Lichman, Craig D. Lindsey, Brian Lonano, Wolfe MacReady, William Mahaffey, Richie Millennium, Eli Motycka, Noel Murray, Brian Owens, Bob Roberts, D. Patrick Rodgers, Witney Seibold, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Sam Smith, Charlie Quinn, Super Marcey, Scout Tafoya, Kyle Turner, Dave White, Lisa Ellen Williams, Cory Woodroof, Ron Wynn, Tony Youngblood
What film evinced the most overwhelming emotional response from you?
Easily Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the Glow. After seeing it for the first time during the Berlinale I was just hit by an existential wave and ended up canceling my final film of the festival, and had to take a monthlong break from film. It was an experience that was honestly terrifying, like being trapped in the screen yourself. Ken Arnold
Both Godard films, Scénarios and Exposé du Film Annonce du Film Scénario. René Baharmast
His Three Daughters definitely hit me pretty hard. William Mahaffey
The Lonely Man With the Ghost Machine. When Young Joker tells their Mother, “I promise I’ll never even tell you if I’m sad” in The People’s Joker. Chani teaching Paul how to walk without attracting Shai-Hulud and their steps are like a dance sequence writing suras across the Arakeen sands in Dune: Part Two. The scene in Better Man when Robbie’s grandmother realizes that her mind has completely failed her and it breaks her completely and we stay with her utter horror. The latter hit me so hard I fled the theater for a few minutes to go fall apart in the hallway until I could get my shit together and return. I also left the theater during Civil War, but that was because I was so furious I couldn’t see straight, and I did not go back. Jason Shawhan
After about 10 minutes in, Megalopolis gave me the most sustained emotional response, lasting the remaining running time of the film. I do wonder if a future viewing will change my mind, as was the case with Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (from “his worst” to “one of this best”). Sean Abley
I was crying so hard at the end of Sing Sing that I couldn’t leave the theater for a few minutes. It’s hard for me to relax enough in public to cry, but Sing Sing got me. Runner-up: the penultimate scene in Emilia Pérez. The pacing and the tension at the end of that film are masterful. I was caught off guard by the swell of emotion I felt at the end. Kim Baldwin
The documentary Daughters left me in a puddle of my own tears. It’s one of the most poignant, heartbreaking, and beautiful films of the year. Dom Fisher
Vera Drew’s The People’s Joker is an incredibly ambitious film. I don’t dare give away too much — any attempt at description or a review won’t do it justice, and it’s best watched with a gathering of your closest pop-culture-enamored friends. Lisa Ellen Williams
My most overwhelming experience was seeing Megalopolis at one of those advance IMAX screenings preceded by the chaotic NYFF conversation between Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, court jester Spike Lee, and a visibly shaken Dennis Lim. It set the perfect tone for a truly unforgettable high dive of a movie. It feels like I’ve been reading about Megalopolis for my entire moviegoing life, so watching it unspool at long last was a combination of awe that the old man pulled it off and slackjawed amazement at how batshit crazy his vision turned out to be. There’s so much goofy grandeur and joy in this picture, half the time I couldn’t believe what I was watching. The other half I was entertained enormously by the performative tongue-clucking and heavy sighs of the critics in my row, who had been complaining since they arrived about being dragged out to a free movie at the ungodly hour of 9pm. The ending of Megalopolis is so nakedly optimistic and emotional, I couldn’t help but find myself overcome with gratitude that such a grandiose, foolhardy thing was finally birthed into the world. Wow, platinum. Sean Burns
The 4:30 Movie. It was made with a lot of heart and took me right back to being a kid, the awkward search for self and love, and the fun of Saturday afternoon matinees. Dr. Gangrene
Close call, but Sing Sing, because it revealed the inspirational power of art and the potential of the creative imagination to stimulate people even in the darkest of personal situations — incarceration. Ron Wynn
Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow gutted me. I’m trans, and this film delivers a horrific alternate reality where a person like me chooses to remain in the closet and dim their inner glow. I have never seen something so gripping, so gorgeous, and so positively mind-rattling. Quinn Hills
I saw Nickel Boys three days after the election. I was not OK. Craig D. Lindsey
Flow. Not only because its protagonist looks just like my own little fur baby, which set me on a separate emotional journey, but also because it spoke to my anxieties about our planet’s future. The movie isn’t afraid to be honest about the dire straits of the environment, but it provides comfort and hope in camaraderie all the same. The final shots, pre-credits and post-credits, wreck me every time they come to mind. Kevin Allen
Robot Dreams feels light and fun until the baby bird says goodbye to the robot. From there on out, it’s one emotional gut punch after another. Don’t watch without a box of Kleenex close at hand. With this and The World According to Allee Willis, you’ll never hear Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” the same way again. Tony Youngblood
The ending to Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl has a glorious emotional payoff that’s been building for 30-plus years. I wanted to go hug my dogs as quickly as possible. Cory Woodroof
Watching Megalopolis and seeing a whole life’s ambition rendered in red and gold and blue, in the faces of actors who had no idea what they were doing but had made this happen with their combined star power, and knowing this had reinvigorated one of the great filmmakers — and here I was seeing it in IMAX, remembering the dozens of nights I spent in high school watching Apocalypse Now after everyone had gone to bed, then as now … completely alone. Because no one cared. The most beautiful thing I’d ever seen and no one cared. Scout Tafoya
Every now and then, the right film can open up the viewer to a floodgate of pent-up or repressed emotion, even when the film’s subject or content doesn’t even correlate one-to-one, but just speaks simply and honestly to our shared humanity and struggle. For me that movie was Luther: Never Too Much, the doc on revered R&B BGV-to-lead-singer Luther Vandross that had me bawling in my friend Zac’s car afterward for 30 minutes straight, unable to formulate a sentence. And I wasn’t alone. Nashville kept turning out in droves to see this film, forcing the Belcourt to extend its run multiple times. When compared to the strangely low number of reviews on Letterboxd, this local phenomenon should be one of the stories of the movie year. Sam Smith
Not so much whole films as sections and scenes. Sakura Ando’s performances in Monster and A Man (2023 and 2022 releases respectively, but Monster was released and A Man only screened for the first time in the U.K. this year). She is especially brilliant in A Man, showing us every emotion on her face while trying to keep it together for the sake of others. This might be for the “Bold Statements” section, but she’s maybe the best female actor working right now. Also the scene in the parking lot in Anna Kendrick’s excellent Woman of the Hour, which made my skin crawl and gave me anxiety on a character’s behalf like nothing else this year. The more overwhelming part of it, of course, comes later, considering how frequent an experience that dynamic must be for women. Sam Inglis
It may sound corny, but the “To Be Continued” title card at the end of Wicked filled me with so much excitement that I get to come back to the theater next year and see the conclusion. It took me back to the days of The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter films from more than 20 years ago. Runner-up is the insane third act of The Substance that filled me with such glee that a filmmaker took such a huge swing and succeeded! Brian Lonano
Weirdly, it was during Drive-Away Dolls. It was whimsical and quirky, and everything worked. I had an overwhelming moment. After the commercial glut of Marvel and Star Wars over the past decade, I thought, “Are movies good again?” Witney Seibold
Civil War messed me up for several days, and I continue to think about it often. Perhaps because of my main beat (politics), various news last year, international violence raging throughout the world, the proliferation of doomsday “prepping” as a hobby, small talk about the climate apocalypse, my role in the media or some combination, I left fixated on how organized political violence could conceivably upend the stability underpinning my life. And how sectarian violence starts easily and maybe never truly ends — another poignant story told by Kneecap. Eli Motycka
Far be it from me to ever be a snob, I found myself somewhat inconsolable during Wicked. Yes, the movie looks kinda bad; yes, it’s directed by a guy who would be better suited to being a first AD or something; yes the editing is lousy. But what can I say! The moment Ariana Grande came up on screen, popped her little bubble and sang, “Goodness knows the wicked’s lives are lonely / Goodness knows the wicked die alone,” I burst into tears. And spent maybe 70 percent of the rest of the movie dry heaving. Grande, about whom I have been relatively indifferent until now, has extraordinary feeling in her eyes. They’re big, dark, hard glass marbles that are somehow on the brink of shattering in the palm of your hand. Wicked’s greatest achievement is its ability to hone in on the text as a kind of quintessential friend-breakup story, in the vein of Girlfriends and Frances Ha. In Elphaba (a very good Cynthia Erivo), Glinda sees what she is not: principled, resilient, starkly aware of reality as it is and not how it is bent in favor of the powerful and privileged. Glinda anchors herself to Elphaba as the thing that could shake her awake and out of her own insularity, but realizes that maybe it’s too comforting and the perks are worth it, even if it means selling your soul. For whatever reason, the recognition of that difference, in the acknowledgment of what we are willing to do to become what we want to be, I saw a friendship breakup I had a few years ago, shortly after COVID lockdown. The warmth that freezes over into brittle resentment; not necessarily at the other person, but at yourself for not being who the other could admire and respect. Kyle Turner
The courtroom removal scene in Red Rooms is one of the most harrowing, chilling moments to watch, and made all the better with the final action by Maxwell McCabe-Lokos’ acknowledgement. John Lichman
I think a lot of people can relate to the family dynamic presented in A Real Pain, which struck a chord with me when I saw it back at Sundance and has stayed with me ever since. Sean Atkins
My Old Ass. To reveal the scene would be a spoiler, so I won’t. But I didn’t see it coming, and it had me in tears. Michael Jay
Sing Sing would have been my answer had I not seen it at Toronto last year. So I’m going to go with Nickel Boys. The scene where Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor asks for and receives a hug made me think of all the aunties of mine who have passed away. I could feel them hugging me, so much so that I leaned forward in my seat during that scene. And then I started to cry. Odie Henderson
Flow. By the end I was sobbing. The internet-driven right wing is obsessed with making humans act more like animals. Estonian animator Gints Zilbalodis has responded by showing animals discovering their humanity. Michael Sicinski
I Saw the TV Glow was the trans truth I needed this year. Wolfe MacReady
I say this with the utmost sincerity: The Substance absolutely broke me. When Monstro Elisasue is getting ready in the mirror, quietly curling her hair and putting on her beautiful earrings, I have never felt more seen in a movie. No matter how often I look at myself in the mirror and think to myself, “Hell yeah, girl, you look hot,” I know that someone out there will see me in public and think I’m a revolting monster. Monstro Elisasue just gets me. BJ Colangelo
Sean Baker’s latest — one of the year’s best films — opens Friday at the Belcourt and AMC Thoroughbred 20
It was divisive, but I know I won’t be alone in saying the closing moments of Anora really affected me. Sean Baker, Mikey Madison and Yura Borisov created some very intimate and special moments together. Even for those of us who ostensibly have nothing in common with these characters, there is a lot of very relatable emotion there. D. Patrick Rodgers
The Truth vs. Alex Jones. A harrowing documentary that showcases just how monstrous human beings can be toward other human beings for the sake of ratings and financial gain. Alex Jones was already one of the most loathsome creatures on the planet, and this documentary does a great job of both tracing his somewhat traditional origins and exposing his slow and steady drift into right-wing conspiracy nutjob. The horror the Sandy Hook families faced because of him is unfathomable, and if you’ve ever wanted to see a monster get its comeuppance, this is the doc. I felt drained throughout and uplifted at the end to see justice truly be served. Billy Ray Brewton
Is I Saw the TV Glow despairing or optimistic? Over three viewings, I’ve gone back and forth, but the first felt like a gut punch. Steve Erickson
They say the best kinds of movies are the ones that stick with you long after you watch them. For me this year, I’d have to say the most apt choice would be my experience with I Saw the TV Glow. Though it is implicitly an analog trans tale, I feel that its themes of identity and our relationship to childhood media hit extremely close to home for depressed millennials everywhere. Jacob Davison
Either the climax of Nickel Boys or the credits sequence of Sing Sing. Both moments destroyed me in opposite ways. Logan Butts
Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s fury in Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths cut through me like razor wire. Jason Adams
Flow wrecked me. Brooke Bernard
The Last Showgirl. It is not a perfect film, but the performances are sublime, and both Jamie Lee Curtis and Pamela Anderson have scenes that wrecked me. I know these women. I have day-drank with these women. I want the world for women like them, but that just isn’t in the cards, and it is heartbreaking. Harmony Colangelo
I Saw the TV Glose
What’s your favorite creature, outfit, monster, supporting character or concept from cinema of 2024?
As one of the few apologists for Joker: Folie à Deux, I must shout out the sanguine and checkered black-and-white outfit that Lady Gaga briefly wears in the movie. I do think we were probably robbed, yes, of a better movie, but also of a sequence where Harley Quinn sings “That’s Entertainment” in full garb. But so be it. Kyle Turner
Megalopolis’Wow Platinum, the interdependence of our young and old selves in The Substance (and Demi’s yellow coat to boot), the narrator of Dahomey being the sentient spirit of a real-world ancient artifact, Franz Rogowski in Bird, Yura Borisov in Anora, Robert Wuhl’s literal Cameo as one of the many bat-cinema references in The People’s Joker, Charlotte Rampling, the Bene Gesserit in general and the guy who floats up in a jetpack in Dune: Part Two, the return of Wallace and Gromit’s Feathers McGraw and specifically his red rubber-glove cap, Juror #2’s idea that the truth will always come knocking. Sam Smith
Can anything from 2024 really top the final 10 minutes of The Substance when it comes to creature and gore effects? It was gloriously gooey. Dr. Gangrene
I only take orders from The Octoboss. Scout Tafoya
Obviously Monstro Elisasue. Brooke Bernard
Count Orlok fits every single one of those categories! Robert Eggers’ reworked design (the mustache, the furs, the hat) for a monster 100 years iconic was extremely gutsy and works on every single level for me, while Bill Skarsgård’s performance -—the voice, the extremely limited movements — is extraordinary. A new icon is born. Jason Adams
Monstro Elisasue! My favorite part of watching The Substance at the Belcourt was hearing the (sorry to be binary on main) gender division of reactions. In so many scenes, I heard men groaning in concert with women laughing, plus the differences in facial expressions as we all walked out of the theater. So many men looked horror-stricken, while so many women, especially those of us in middle age, were stone-faced, like, Yes, that was correct. Kim Baldwin
The outmatched beaver defense lawyer in Hundreds of Beavers gave us the most rigorous critique of the criminal justice system we’ve gotten in some time. Cory Woodroof
The concept I am fascinated with and will continue tracking is the jarring transition from the films made between 2020 and 2022-ish that emphasize isolation and loneliness as sources of existential crises and potential self-destruction to the current trends in “post-pandemic” films (e.g., The Substance, Trap and Smile 2) that feature shared public spaces as the potential threat or villain, particularly in this contentious political environment. Lisa Ellen Williams
My favorite monster is Bobita, the bald incel gnome who serves as Angela’s alter ego in Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World — an unholy blend of Andrew Tate and Fenway Bergamot, the virtual imp played by Laurie Anderson. Michael Sicinski
By far, the beaver costumes in Hundreds of Beavers — when the Holmes and Watson beavers came into the picture, I lost it in my seat watching the film at the Belcourt. Sean Atkins
Mr. Sprinkly, the ice cream monster from I Saw the TV Glow, is legit scary! Tony Youngblood
Terrifier’sArt the Clown. I know he’s from a sequel, but this was the first time he was given a thematic function. He is the face of extreme cinema. Witney Seibold
There are too many real monsters now in power for me to get much joy or enjoyment from fictional ones. I guess if forced to find something to celebrate within this question, it would be the notion there are still superheroes willing to use their powers for the good of others rather than simply to line their pockets or enhance their status. Ron Wynn
It has to be oversized spiders from the French film Infested. They were used as part of commentary on xenophobia, but they will also make your skin crawl. Dom Fisher
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist comes to mind with the idea of the cornered animal. Acts of violence stemming from being cornered is an idea that keeps coming back to me as I see recent events unfold and the violence in the news, from Hamas to Luigi Mangione, and it can all be boiled down to humans feeling trapped like gunshot deer. Ken Arnold
The hundreds (maybe even thousands) of beavers in Hundreds of Beavers. Every time I see one of those mascot heads I burst out laughing. It’s such a simple yet effective way to elevate an already fantastic movie. They don’t even have to emote for the audience to know exactly what’s going on behind those eyes. I love them. I would save them from the trapping. BJ Colangelo
Of all the movies that came out this year that struck me both conceptually and character-wise, In a Violent Nature had a brilliant twist on the classic slasher movie formula and introduced a truly iconic killer with the undead murder machine, Johnny. Clearly an homage to ghoulish slashers of yore like Jason Voorhees or Madman Marz, Johnny stands on his own thanks in combination to the movie’s premise of almost entirely following his murderous rampage and letting the audience get to know this monstrous but sympathetic slaughterer. Jacob Davison
It’s hard to top the Demi Moore monstrosity at the end of The Substance. Just a truly gleeful going-for-broke moment. Honorable mention to Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha in Dune: Part Two. That guy has the juice. Logan Butts
Creature: the goblin Chaathan in Bramayugam and that tree in Horror in the High Desert 3. Outfit: Elisabeth Sparkle’s yellow coat in The Substance, everything Patricia Coma wears in Coma. Monster: Monstro Elisasue in The Substance and Louis Lewanski in The Beast. Supporting character: Lawrence Johnson’s police chief in Kinds of Kindness and Alicia Witt in Longlegs. Concept: Noclip’s positing that terrifying liminal spaces are all around us, even when normal people and things are happening there. Birder’s deadpan take on sportfucking and serial murder. Challengers taking the early-’80s Falcon Video approach to film scoring and making it thunder. Jason Shawhan
The concept of gigantic muscle-bound lesbians worked very well for me in 2024. Sapphics need not sleep on Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding. Quinn Hills
When I think of single images from 2024 in film, it’s the image of the wooden doll in Oddity that sticks with me more than anything else. Horrifying in its design, and even more harrowing in its practical use in the film, Oddity is the closest we’ve gotten to an Amicus horror film in many years. But it’s the doll that sticks with you. Billy Ray Brewton
Creature: Robbie Williams as an ape in Better Man. Outfit: The beaver costumes in Hundreds of Beavers. Monster: The blob left at the end of The Substance. Supporting character = an unrecognizable Jamie Lee Curtis in The Last Showgirl. Concept: adding an intermission to films that run longer than three hours — thank you, The Brutalist.Michael Jay
The Shrouds was amusing. René Baharmast
Lisa Frankenstein’s monster (or The Creature if you’re nasty). It’s not the easiest thing to build a film around humanizing a silent character, but piece by piece, Lisa succeeds. The future will be more kind to this monster than a lot of people were this year. Harmony Colangelo
The gladiator/arena scene in Dune: Part Two. Eli Motycka
I’m not sure if this fits the category, but the title card in Kill. More title cards could (should?) be employed as dramatically. It comes about halfway through the film after one of many moments of brutal violence, but it’s an especially impactful one, and the card, that one word, marks a shift in the main character. It reminded me a lot of the use of the title card in Love Exposure, and made me think that in an age when opening credit sequences have all but gone away, we should see more of this. Sam Inglis
The anti-whistling woodpecker from Hundreds of Beavers. Every time it showed up, I howled with laughter. Odie Henderson
The Demi Moore-starring body-horror film hits the Belcourt and Regal and AMC theaters this week
Monstro Elisasue from The Substance is one of the greatest things I’ve experienced in a theater in a while. William Mahaffey
Oddity’s wooden doll will haunt my dreams for years to come. Wolfe MacReady
Whatever the hell that outfit Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore were stuck wearing at the end of The Substance. That movie better win the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Craig D. Lindsey
Monstro Elisasue from The Substance, hands down. D. Patrick Rodgers
Favorite creatures: the crazy baboons in the first arena fight in Gladiator II. Favorite outfits: every character on Giedi Prime during Feyd’s birthday arena scene from Dune: Part Two. Favorite monster: hands down Monstro Elisasue. Favorite supporting character: a three-way tie between Yura Borisov in Anora, Chris Hemsworth in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Austin Butler in Dune: Part Two. Honorable mention for supporting character: David Jonsson in Alien: Romulus. Brian Lonano
Considering it’s probably the end of the series, let’s give it up for The Walker (Kang-sheng Lee). Once and for all as he made the rounds of Washington, D.C., in Abiding Nowhere. John Lichman
I really dug what I call Super Crone, aka Demi Moore in the second act of The Substance. Leaping around the apartment, dragging a body, basically kicking ass in an amazing coat. Sean Abley
Challengers
Given the state of viewing, whether in a mainstream multiplex, at home with looming distractions or in other modes, what does it take for a film to really speak to you these days?
A big swing. Even if the results don’t match the ambition, I love when filmmakers give it a shot. Although it wasn’t released this year, I look at something like Skinamarink as the perfect example. A bit of an endurance test, but I truly loved it for what the filmmaker was trying to accomplish (and succeeded, as far as I’m concerned). Sean Abley
Nowadays movies usually speak to me more over time. The longer I have to sit with something, and maybe have multiple viewings to really have an in-depth understanding of a film, the more I find it really speaks to me. Ken Arnold
Smart and funny is always a sure bet but, increasingly having fun with an awareness your work will have an audience helps a lot. René Baharmast
The combined elements of grandeur, a creative visual style, and some semblance of originality. I’m Still Here resonated with me despite only having access to a home watch. Its unsettling but important story spans decades with a fresh perspective that dedicates itself to realism and drops us in the life of a family living their lives until the outrageous injustice surrounding them infiltrates their home. Kevin Allen
Sometimes but not always, a film needs to grab me by the neck and make me reevaluate every decision I’ve ever made. My Old Ass did that. I Saw the TV Glow did that. Quinn Hills
All it has to do is hold my attention. I’ll follow a movie anywhere if it hooks me. Odie Henderson
This might be such a simple answer, but story matters, and where the filmmakers take us from the first shot to the last can make or break what impact the film has. Sean Atkins
I don’t think the fundamentals of that have changed. There are different ways of “speaking to me” as a viewer, though: I don’t demand emotional connection from a kung fu movie in the same way I would a romantic drama. The venue isn’t the issue; the film connecting with you on whatever level makes it the right venue to see it in. Sam Inglis
For me, a well-crafted scene like the first war-rig sequence from Furiosa or the Geidi Prime arena sequence from Dune: Part Two can make the hair on my neck stand up and fill me with such delight. But also, a film that takes a huge swing like The Substance or Megalopolis (even if the latter may have missed, in my opinion). I always want to champion filmmakers with bold visions, even if they may not land with me personally. Lastly, I want to champion the independent filmmakers who persevered this year and got their films in theaters (thinking specifically of The People’s Joker and Hundreds of Beavers). It gives me hope that even films with low budgets and a more grassroots approach to promotion can be seen and enjoyed by audiences. Brian Lonano
At its core, any movie that’s playing in theaters needs to appeal to people in order to get their butts into seats — especially something truly cinematic or entertaining enough to see on a big screen. And especially for a communal experience with other people in an audience. I saw Sonic 3 at a fan event pre-screening with a full house of Sonic the Hedgehog fans, and hearing everyone laugh and cheer and scream at the highlights made it an unforgettable experience. Jacob Davison
Originality, especially in genre, speaks the loudest to me. Intellectual property is just rarely doing anything for me these days. Wolfe MacReady
It just has to be different. I respond more to a movie that at least tries to mix things up than a film where I can figure out everything that’s going to happen because I’ve seen it many times before. I thought Anora was going to be another scuzzy flick featuring stereotypical underworld characters. Imagine my surprise when the movie turns into one of those dizzying, Alan Arkin comedies from the ’70s (this movie gives serious In-Laws energy), featuring characters who are more neurotic than noirish. I loved it. Craig D. Lindsey
I have to forget I have a phone in my pocket. Only a few films managed to do that. Scout Tafoya
I just want to be surprised, which happens all too rarely in these days of algorithms and most theatrical movies aiming for the widest possible audience. William Mahaffey
Great cinematography using real locations with no visible digital effects. Sam Smith
I want a film to gnaw at me because some element in it refuses to make sense. I’m tired of thesis papers masquerading as art. Michael Sicinski
I am an easy mark for women getting to kick ass, men being allowed to have feelings, and queer cinema as a whole. But beyond that, I love seeing movies about people who don’t get movies made about them. I like the fantastical well enough, but I don’t like spending much time in those worlds these days. I value little stories where characters don’t have to have the most transcendent outlooks or circumstances for their lives to have value. In a lot of ways, I connect the most with movies that still have ties to live theater. Harmony Colangelo
Imagining a world I haven’t seen before that feels like a compelling place to inhabit for the film’s runtime. Steve Erickson
As always, I need a new idea, a philosophy presented in an interesting way, something novel with an old genre, or a new genre. Witney Seibold
It’s got to either address compelling issues, create unforgettable characters or craft and develop an intriguing and unpredictable storyline with a truly unexpected and/or satisfying ending. The great films do all these, while the good ones do at least one, and sometimes two of them. Cory Woodroof
The film's Nashville-based co-star will participate in a Q&A tonight at the Belcourt
I feel really boomer about this lately, but I like decent lighting. Everything feels slightly underlit, from Nosferatu to Longlegs to The Brutalist, like the desire to approximate real light conditions has impacted the way people try to actually create a dynamic image that has contrast, shape and depth. So much looks flat today, even in its pursuit of chiaroscuro or whatever. Weird that Babygirl — a film that is effectively about the automation of desire in late capita — looks better than most American movies. Kyle Turner
Same three-step process for me, as always — nothing has changed. 1. Did the film accomplish what it set out to accomplish? 2. How well did it accomplish it? 3. Were there standout crafts on display? Outside of those parameters, nothing else really matters to me. Billy Ray Brewton
I’m getting older and therefore have made the active decision to be less bitter about the art I consume when reality is doing a fine enough job punching me in the face all the time, so it doesn’t take a lot for a movie to speak to me anymore. I need film perhaps more than I ever have, so I’m far more willing to give myself over to it. Maybe that means I’m losing my “edge” as a critic, but I just don’t see the point in resisting a film’s power anymore. I want to allow space for a film like Furiosa to push me to challenge my feelings on revenge, or for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to regress me back to being a preteen begging for a turn on the Dreamcast in equal measure. BJ Colangelo
More than ever, the state of cinema needs to champion specificity, originality and perspective. Spectacle plays a role in some regards, but experiencing the world through another’s experience and excellent storytelling keeps me planted. Dom Fisher
Sing Sing
What’s the film that got away this year? The one you’ve most preached the gospel of, or begged others to watch. And along those lines, what’s the film you’ll be pulling out all the stops for in whatever 2025 ends up being?
Bluish, a film most haven’t seen but has been slept on by those who had the opportunity. Of something more available I’d go with Babygirl. René Baharmast
I’ve been recommending Kneecap to a lot of people. I haven’t seen many people talking about it or seen it on many lists. I’m not really sure about next year, but I hope we have some gems like we’ve had this year. William Mahaffey
Without question Kill the Jockey by Luis Ortega. Talk about a hidden masterpiece; after playing Venice and Toronto it still failed to find an audience and a North American distributor. The issue is that Luis Ortega made something so aggressively nonbinary that dives into a sort of “gender surrealism” that seems to be a turnoff to cis audiences, but truly captures how surreal an experience gender dysphoria can be while also going full Buster Keaton-style comedy. Ken Arnold
Civil War. I’m like the only person I know who actually liked it. Brooke Bernard
I should not have had to try as hard as I did to convince people to watchThe Imaginary from Studio Ponoc. I know it was a year of a lot of movies about imaginary friends, but this charming anime is easily the best and one of the only kids’ movies that wasn’t afraid to have a genuinely terrifying villain. In 2025, prepare for me to be very obnoxious about Companion, and that’s all I’ll say about that. BJ Colangelo
The one I’m most looking forward to in 2025 is Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. He’s the modern filmmaker I entrust to create a new version of that timeless story — can’t wait to see what he produces. Dr. Gangrene
I am preaching the gospel of Soundtrack to a Coup D’etat, maybe, next to No Other Land, the most essential film of the year. Brilliantly captures the aesthetic, energy and sensibility of the ’60s to illustrate the political corruption and geopolitical dirty secrets that led to the disaster in the Congo. It feels like jazz. Kyle Turner
Close Your Eyes, the return of The Spirit of the Beehive director Victor Erice after a 40-year absence. Plus Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s memoir to cinemas and spaces, Pictures of Ghosts. Sam Smith
Horizon Part 1 and, it follows, Horizon Part 2. Scout Tafoya
Vera Drew’s The People’s Joker is a comedy, but I fear it’s not being taken seriously. It’s not talked about enough. This scrappy little Batman parody will make you laugh, and then it will stab you directly in the heart. It’s one of the most emotionally honest transgender stories ever portrayed on film. Quinn Hills
More people need to see The Last Stop in Yuma County. It has early Coens vibes. Jim Cummings is truly the indie film king right now. Logan Butts
Nickel Boys, despite its depiction of a horrible setting and circumstances that went uncorrected for far too long. As far as 2025, I’m hoping that Colman Domingo can bring to life the dynamic and versatile individual Nat King Cole was, while also showing how he was forced to choose between being an innovative artist and a popular but far less creative and spectacular performer. Ron Wynn
I’m really sad that Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga feels like it’s already been lost to time, a bit like George Miller’s last film Three Thousand Years of Longing. The dual-edged sword of Mad Max: Fury Road is that it set an impossibly high bar for one of our great filmmakers in the studio system. The expectations were just too high, and the audience interest was just too low. A sad state of affairs. As far as 2025 goes, you’ll have to restrain me from seeing the new Avatar movie with the fire and ash and such ... and Happy Gilmore 2. Cory Woodroof
Small Things Like These features a Cillian Murphy performance that’s on par with his Oscar-winning performance in Oppenheimer, and I hope the film finds new life on VOD. And as far as 2025 goes, I’ll be pulling out all the stops for James Gunn’s Superman because the world is ready to embrace a Superman that reminds us to believe in the good within one another. (And we’re going to need that more than ever in 2025.) Sean Atkins
In the arthouse film world, Argentinian director Matías Piñeiro is a “name.” But not a lot of attention was paid to You Burn Me, his first film in over a decade not based on a Shakespeare text. This one uses Italian modernist Cesare Pavese and considers the poetry of Sappho. I mean, what more could you ask for? Michael Sicinski
The Substance. I don’t have a lot of IRL friends who saw it. I don’t think the film’s marketing targeted the right audience. After I saw it and started talking about it and recommending it, people were shocked to learn what it’s about. Most of my friends thought it was a super gross horror movie, which it is, but … it’s a prescient, albeit exaggerated, look at where we’re headed. And depending on how close you are to 50, you are having this conversation (about where we’re headed) a lot right now. Kim Baldwin
I BEGGED people to watch Hit Man. As for 2025, nobody will be carrying a bigger torch for The Life of Chuck than I will. Odie Henderson
No Other Land and My Undesirable Friends. Jason Shawhan
Hundreds of Beavers. Witney Seibold
Weirdly, the Speak No Evil remake. The deck was kind of stacked against it. The trailer ran for so long that people got sick of it. Plus it felt like the trailer basically showed the entire movie. Plus it’s a remake of a reasonably well-liked European film that changes the ending. But in spite of all these things, it’s an incredibly solid thrill ride with extremely finely calibrated performances. (James McAvoy is rightfully getting his flowers, but Mackenzie Davis’ terror slides perfectly into awkward comedy in a way that is just dazzling.) For 2025, I’m ready to leave it all on the paint for A Nice Indian Boy, the upcoming queer rom-com starring Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff. I’m beyond excited for Final Destination: Bloodlines and 28 Years Later too, but those movies can take care of themselves. Brennan Klein
Far more people need to see Green Border, and if you have a library card, you can watch it free on Kanopy. 2025 will feature new films by Paul Thomas Anderson, Kogonada, Celine Song and Ryan Coogler. That’s cause for celebration! Tony Youngblood
It seems that very few people saw my top two films this year: Kill and Riddle of Fire. They couldn’t be more different: Kill is an extravagantly, stylishly, brutally violent and blood-soaked Die Hard on a train that came to us from India, while Riddle of Fire is a weird throwback to ’80s kidventure movies with a sinister edge and the best needle-drop in any film this year (see below). Both of them deserved a wider audience, and I’ll be pressing them on friends for years to come. Not a 2024 release, but given that it’s Daniel Kokotajlo’s second film, Starve Acre was very good; I’ve also been freshly suggesting Kokotajlo’s excellent debut Apostasy to people, and I’ll do so again here in hopes that people will catch up with it. It’s a very small-scale British drama about a woman losing her JW faith and the rupture it causes in her family. Sam Inglis
The film I felt the worst for was Juror #2. It didn’t deserve that kind of release, and I hoped that word of mouth would expand it to more theaters, but that was not the case. The film I’ve begged most people to watch this year is Hundreds of Beavers. Brian Lonano
Rumours. I feel like I’ve been a lone passenger on the Guy Maddin train for years now, so seeing him take a leap forward with Rumours has been so gratifying, and I love introducing cinephiles to his work for the first time. Half the time they just don’t get it, and that’s all well and good — but the ones who do make it all worthwhile. Billy Ray Brewton
People are so ready to die on the hills of the movies they like, whether they’re mediocre or not, I’ve found actually recommending films to people to be a futile exercise (even though that’s kinda my job). I did tell people on Instagram to check out Black Barbie (which played at NaFF in 2023), which started streaming on Netflix in the summer. Craig D. Lindsey
Sing Sing. It hurts me to not have it in contention for my best-of list, because I have spent the past 10 years preaching about how Colman Domingo is one of the best actors alive. But I work at a movie theater, so I work during peak movie-watching hours and completely missed it. I saw Hundreds of Beavers while stuck at home, deliriously sick with COVID, and it was STILL one of my favorite first-time viewings this year. (It was even better once I was healthy.) From the moment I saw it, I was telling everyone that it is the best movie of the year without there ever being a second thought. Baby Assassins: Nice Days! I have been one of the most vocal supporters of this series since it surprised everyone back in 2021. This third entry already had its premiere in Japan in 2024 but hasn’t landed Stateside just yet. I cannot wait to see this duo back on my screen with another slacker adventure full of gun-fu and friendship. Harmony Colangelo
Look Into My Eyes was the winner of this year’s “A24 Distributing This … to Fucking No One!” It’s an extremely blunt look at the world of psychics (operating out of New York City) and shows a staggering amount of empathy in how people deal with loss, connection and grief, along with trying to explain it wasn’t just a job to cheat people out of their feelings. But A24 had it ready for distribution and then punted it away with The Front Room in early September. John Lichman
Strange Darling, by far. The soundtrack is full of earworms, and the visuals ooze intimacy in the quiet moments, while its vibrant colors emphasize the gross brutality in the violent turns of the narrative. It amounts to a Rubik’s Cube of a movie that makes me return constantly, wondering with both sympathy and terror over what spawned the serial killer at its center. As for what I’ll be pushing for audiences to see in 2025, Kendrick Lamar’s untitled collaboration with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on a musical/comedy about an African American who learns his girlfriend’s family owned his family in the era of slavery is a definite must-see. Kevin Allen
Chime got away from me on my first viewing, when it seemed like a retread of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s imperial era. But the minimalist narrative emphasizes its differences from Cure and Pulse. Since It was released as an NFT and has never played in an American theater, it’s likely to be seen here only by an audience willing to hunt it down, but the rewards are great. One of two other films he made in 2024, his remake of his own Serpent’s Path is outstanding, and seems much more likely to grace our shores in 2025. Steve Erickson
The film that got away this year was Juror #2. Shame on Warner Bros. for how they mishandled the release of this excellent legal thriller directed with great style by 95-year old legend Clint Eastwood. What I’m looking forward to early in 2025 is the release of the Diane Warren documentary Relentless. Michael Jay
There were many movies that came out this year, but only one of them had hundreds of beavers. And that movie was Hundreds of Beavers! There have been many films that take animated slapstick comedy and Looney Tunes-style antics to live-action hijinks, but Hundreds of Beavers delivers on this dream with a gusto unseen since the vaudeville era of cinematic humor, combined with the wackier physical comedy action of Hong Kong film, and blends it all up with a whole bunch of dudes in mascot costumes getting roughed up! I have fought for this movie constantly and recommended it to anyone who will listen. When I first saw it on screen, the opening five minutes made me laugh so hard I cried. As for 2025, the two biggest projects I’m most excited for and will be pushing anyone within earshot to see would be Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. I saw the former already in theaters, and I hope it’s so successful that it starts a whole new era of animated comedy features. Jacob Davison
The Brutalist
What’s the musical moment, diegetic or otherwise, that resonated the most with you?
Having seen Wicked twice onstage and considering it an OK musical with great stage production, being given the privilege of watching Cynthia Erivo in close-up singing live on set made all the difference in the world for me. I was moved by her performance like few others this year (and Ariana was excellent as well!). Sean Abley
Emma Stone dancing her ass off to “Brand New Bitch” by Cobrah at the end of Kinds of Kindness. Michael Sicinski
At the Knoxville Horror Film Fest we screened a film called Rats! that has a “Down With the Sickness” reference that put me in tears from laughing, so I’d have to go with that. I would be more specific, but it doesn’t come out until February and I don’t want to spoil it. William Mahaffey
I didn’t much care for Deadpool & Wolverine, but the opening dance number is spot-on. Witney Seibold
Honestly every musical moment in Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End really did resonate with me. Sure, it’s an imperfect film that could’ve been trimmed down. But I think we’ll be talking about this musical in the same way we’ll be talking about 2021’s Cyrano in the years to come as a film we will truly appreciate even more. Sean Atkins
Maybe it’s recency bias, but the appropriate use of Crush 40’s “Live and Learn” during the climax of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the easy answer. The epitome of butt-rock that screams “I am 11 and this is the most badass thing ever” is somehow just as cool in your 30s as it was in Sonic Adventure 2. Harmony Colangelo
Saoirse Ronan singing over the BBC radio broadcast in Blitz. Odie Henderson
Harris Dickinson dancing to “Father Figure” in Babygirl was pretty transcendent. Logan Butts
The “Rock DJ” musical moment in Better Man is better than anything in Wicked! Michael Jay
A lot to mention here. From the beginning of the year, the end credits from The Zone of Interest terrified and stayed with me all year; “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire from Robot Dreams was bittersweet and cute; and the opening song from Hundreds of Beavers (“Jean Kayak and His Acme Applejack”) lives rent-free in my head — I would be thrilled if it was nominated for an Oscar. Also, the final shot of Perfect Days with Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” playing. Brian Lonano
It’s too easy to say “Defying Gravity” as a lifelong belt-singing theater kid, so I’m going to go with Jeffrey Osborne’s “On the Wings of Love” kicking in during a pivotal scene in Lisa Frankenstein. I just knew I’d be singing it all year. I am a sucker for a period piece that plays music outside of the most obvious needle-drops, and that’s exactly what this scene gave me. I also fully had an existential crisis when “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit played in Y2K and I realized that a huge chunk of the young influencer crowd that had been invited to the L.A. premiere had never heard the song in their lives. I’m officially An Old. BJ Colangelo
Maisy Stella’s go-for-broke lip sync of Justin Bieber’s “One Less Lonely Girl” in My Old Ass is bisexual perfection. Barring that, maybe the hilariously on-the-nose needle-drop of Maroon 5’s “Memories” from Venom: The Last Dance? That really got a belly laugh from me. Brennan Klein
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus captured in austere black-and-white the intentionally performed final piano recital of the legendary Japanese composer. Experiencing this dialogue-free musical meditation with others in the Belcourt’s darkened 1925 Hall was nothing short of a sacred experience. When we say cinema is our church, this is what we mean. And then Daniel Blumberg’s score for The Brutalist. Not just for the towering, iconic four-note fanfare that alone places Corbet’s film in the company of giants, but for how the incidental and atonal sounds that percolate through it immediately and steadily disrupt any sense of structural integrity that we might feel in relation to the film’s myth of the 20th-century American Dream, erected and then demolished as if for the final time. Sam Smith
The “Rock DJ” sequence from Better Man is pretty fab. I’m gonna assume Take That fans won’t enjoy seeing a supposedly one-take montage of the boy band’s evolution, all set to one of Robbie Williams’ songs. (The song does slap though.) Craig D. Lindsey
Resonated ... maybe not, but no musical moment delighted me more than when, at the end of Riddle of Fire — quest fulfilled and kids home safely — the final montage was set to the dulcet tones of Riz Ortolani’s theme from Cannibal Holocaust. It’s just as beautiful and tranquil as it ever was, and also very funny if you know where it’s sourced from. Sam Inglis
“Il Mio Prossimo Amore” by Loretta Goggi in Cuckoo. “One for You, One for Me” by La Bionda in The Brutalist. “GGBG” by Mz Burn in Anora. “Ôi Tình Yêu” by Anh Tú in Viet & Nam. I saw Devara Part 1 on opening night in New York City, and the sold-out 4DX crowd already knew all the songs. After the press screening of Better Man, in my car, where I had a profound sing-along to the Take That reunion song “The Flood.” When Timestalker drops Propaganda’s “Duel” and I screamed. But above all things, the immediate and unmistakable impact of what Alien: Romulus does to the Fox Fanfare. Jason Shawhan
Luca Guadagnino's new Zendaya-starring feature opens wide this week
“Uncle Ace” by Blood Orange has been embedded in my brain and a big hit at parties since Challengers came out. Kevin Allen
The ending song choice for The Brutalist is one of the best musical stingers of the year, but it’s the lead-up narration to the film’s intermission that still has me quietly chanting: “STEEL! STEEL! STEEL!” John Lichman
Cynthia Erivo’s complete performance in Wicked. I’m someone who can take or leave (mostly leave) musicals, but she was riveting. Ron Wynn
“September”from Robot Dreams. It hits differently each time it plays. By the final time, you’ll be bawling your eyes out. Tony Youngblood
I have to go out on a limb and say the laser room dance scene in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Maybe it’s recency bias, but the overall unhinged silliness of that moment just hit the perfect storm of dumb fun that I found oddly captivating in a way that only Jim Carrey can provide. Ken Arnold
I don’t know how to describe the sounds in Dune: Part Two that Hans Zimmer uses to introduce Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha, but my spine is still clattering from the IMAX reverb. Cory Woodroof
In the horror-comedy feature Destroy All Neighbors when the culmination of Jonah Ray’s character’s prog-rock album comes to fruition thanks to his zombie friends, leading to a prog-rock musical sequence complete with a giant demonic Alex Winter as the character Vlad. Jacob Davison
Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey locking eyes over a cockfight while Nirvana’s “Come as You Are” blares over the soundtrack is why cinema was invented. Jason Adams
I was in tears watching “Defying Gravity” unfold in Jon Chu’s Wicked. We live in difficult and unforgiving times, and it can be easy to deflate ourselves and hide. I’ve heard this song for years and years, but the lyrics did not fully register until I saw Cynthia Erivo embody them so magnificently. I don’t know about you, but I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game. Quinn Hills
Once again rambling about Soundtrack to a Coup D’etat, but I was really struck by the film’s use of Louis Armstrong’s “Black and Blue.” The song was originally by jazz legends Fats Waller and Harry Brooks with lyrics by Andy Razaf for a show called Hot Chocolates, but its implementation here illustrates both the film’s tricky balance of wryness and urgent sincerity, as well as giving insight into Armstrong’s own positionality within American popular culture and American politics. Encouraged by the U.S. state department to go to the Congo as a “jazz ambassador,” Armstrong initially refused as he was becoming more aware of the severity of American racism against its Black population. The fact that Satchmo had placed himself, somewhat necessarily, in proximity to the white gatekeepers of the various industries (Hollywood, music, Broadway) allows the song to convey the complexity of being a Black artist whose career, and sense of identity, is often dictated by the white people in power. Kyle Turner
H. Jon Benjamin dancing to “Don’t Make Me Over” by Dionne Warwick in Familiar Touch, the most touching movie of the year. Scout Tafoya
Babygirl — INXS and George Michael, ’nuff said. René Baharmast
Basically, every musical moment in I Saw the TV Glow, my favorite soundtrack of the year by a country mile. The music just elevates an already elevated work of art. Billy Ray Brewton
“Father Figure” in Babygirl. Brooke Bernard
Love Lies Bleeding
What kind of future do you see for whatever film criticism is in the coming year?
It’s definitely changing, and rapidly. Whatever the future is, we all have to find a way to adapt. Like anything else, we must accept the changing landscape and stand firm in the vital role we play while maintaining craft itself. Dom Fisher
One with me back in it, writing more again? Maybe. Sam Inglis
I’m not sure what I see for the future, but what I would love to see is the end of worst-of lists, and trying to “save” audiences from films the reviewer has decided aren’t worth my time. Sean Abley
I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit I was pessimistic, given Rotten Tomatoes’ consistent unreliability and promotion of social media influencers fishing for likes and engagement over thoughtful intellectuals with something substantial to say. Kevin Allen
Not to come off as Mr. Cynical Man, but I keep thinking we’re all kidding ourselves when it comes to this racket. People barely watch movies as it is, let alone read reviews to see what we think. We’re mostly writing for other critics at this point. Not to mention that print media continues to die a slow death. Last year, I was writing reviews for an alt-weekly chain — until I was told my services were no longer needed. I’ll be shocked if I’m still doing this shit around the same time next year. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to that book collection Tom Carson will be dropping soon! Craig D. Lindsey
I fear film criticism is getting splintered even more thanks in part to stuff like the Letterboxd app. Listen, the app is useful to log films you’ve watched and make watch lists. However, seeing more studios have pull-quotes in advertisements from one-sentence reviews for their films rather than written words by respected film critics is eye-roll-inducing to say the least. Sean Atkins
If “IndiewireEDU” does finally launch in 2025 as an online series of courses to “teach” subscribers about criticism, technical film production terms and style guides, I’m going to have a bemused grin. Regardless, here’s to Film Stage, (reborn) AV Club and David Hudson to keep shining lights on writers worth our time. John Lichman
Film criticism will continue to be the same bunch of white guys championing the same movies and carping for the mediocre films of once-great directors. This will bore the hell out of us non-white folks who dare to have a different opinion. Odie Henderson
I have no idea. I’ve been in the game for 25 years and every day feels like throwing a dart at a spinning carnival wheel of possibilities, most of them dire. I don’t resent influencer culture, but it’s not the same as having done the front-end work and actually studying film, so the interchangeability that seems to be in play from studios and festivals feels dangerously shortsighted. But this is the age of private equity and David Zaslav, so all bets are off. Jason Shawhan
In all honesty, from the festivals I attended in 2024, the writing on the wall is not great. The criticism game seems like it will be dominated more by awards-watch than just cinephiles digging for the next hidden gem. I would honestly hate for cinema to become nothing but award speculation and hope we can still get critics who talk about film on a deeper level than just awards prospects. Ken Arnold
Hard to say. There are big shifts happening from year to year, and there is a very real possibility that it will get worse before it gets better. “Pivoting to influencers” isn’t going to be the solution that the powers that be think it is. I want to be optimistic in thinking that the wealth of writers with a void of places to write will launch future institutions that will learn from where the old ones ended up. Harmony Colangelo
That’s tough to predict — so many of the best film criticism sites are gone or have just turned into clickbait sites. I guess I probably get most of my film reviews from YouTube shows I follow or from Letterboxd, and I think that may be true for a lot of people. I wish both of those platforms could find ways to highlight who are the more legitimate critics, but maybe that will happen eventually. William Mahaffey
After writing about LGBTQ-themed/made films and music for Gay City News over the past few years, it was clear that corporations did the bare minimum not to look queerphobic this year but otherwise put our stories on the backburner. Maybe we’re better off without fair-weather friends, but this is an ominous sign for the next four years. In fact, we’re probably in for a wave of reactionary pop culture, with new comedies in the vein of Porky’s and Animal House, aimed at Andrew Tate fans, and the question of how the media responds goes far beyond film criticism. For that matter, how many people know that YouTube’s most popular “film critic,” the Critical Drinker, churns out a stream of right-wing rage-bait to more than 2 million subscribers? Steve Erickson
Unfortunately — because of the further platforming of influencers, the dominance of stan culture and a startling lack of media literacy — I’m pretty pessimistic about the future of film criticism. But we at the Scene will keep plugging along! Logan Butts
I don’t see any big changes. I never do. Film criticism isn’t going anywhere, it’s just changing forms. I still read the same critics I read last year, with a few new entrants. If anything, the medium has just opened up wider and wider, and new and exciting voices are starting to emerge online. Just sort through the nonsense first. Billy Ray Brewton
I do fear that a lot of film criticism is going to get mulched up by tech like generative AI and similar slop, but people will still want to get opinions from actual human beings. As long as Letterboxd is used solely by humans, there is hope. Jacob Davison
The Substack bubble will pop, as it has with all the other newsletter platforms that have come and gone in the past (not even) decade. Aftermath and Defector are providing examples of worker-owned publications, but that still requires some capital. We might be headed to the free blogging days of the early 2000s. It’ll be hard to find them, and sift through the saturated market for the good stuff, but arts criticism always finds a way. And even if it is difficult — and it is for me — as long as there are people who care about film and culture and untangling those things to find a new way to look at the work or life, there will be people who want to engage in that dialogue with you. Kyle Turner
While the masses generally do tend to be reading less and less long-form journalism and criticism, there still appears to be a real appetite for thoughtful film criticism and discourse among most audiences. I hope critics and publications are willing to reach moviegoers where they’re at. Media literacy is a two-way street! Both the reader and the writer/editor are responsible for making sure the message is received and understood. D. Patrick Rodgers
I hate to say this, but the future of film criticism feels like it’s at the mercy of whether or not TikTok actually gets banned. If it maintains its power, we’re going to continue to be pushed out in favor of influencers. If it ends up being banned, I think folks will be looking for new (to them) voices on entertainment and come back to us. At least, until another short-form app with an addictive algorithm steps in. BJ Colangelo
Hard to say. I feel like the true believers will have plenty to explore. I also think that “influencers” have been recognized as advertising creatures and not critics, so we shall overwhelm them again. Witney Seibold
Film Twitter and Letterboxd have killed film criticism, but there is a market mostly gobbled up by podcasts, with TikTok and YouTube chewing up space too. Interestingly, books on film are selling well, so what gives? The movies not being compelling is unhelpful, the MFA-ification of the artform is dreadful, but I also think criticism is hurt by being more New York-centric than ever, which by extension awkwardly, if not greasily, slithers its way across the film festival circuit. The dialogue reminds me of those Instagram reels with people toasting glasses. You need personalities, adversaries and a villain or two, but for now the amoeba remains disconnected. René Baharmast
I don’t know, but I hope someone has a bright idea soon. Scout Tafoya
Someone will probably make a video of themselves reading Pauline Kael’s “Circles and Squares” on one side of the screen, and showing the Gen-Alpha reactions on the other. Michael Sicinski
Arts criticism in general, at least at the so-called legacy outlets, continues to decline. Many newspapers and increasingly more magazines are either cutting back or ending it altogether. The alternative press, as well as the wave of podcasts, websites, et cetera, are for the generations behind the boomers the place they go for both news/information and arts criticism of all kinds. Those of us who grew up reading name film and music critics in major newspapers and magazines may be dismayed by their disappearance from major daily newspapers and monthly magazines, as well as conventional broadcast outlets, but we are very much in the minority. To the extent that there are far more options open for all types of arts criticism, that’s a good thing. But the downside is that the same misinformation and personal animus that plagues online news coverage is doing the same thing to online arts criticism. Name-calling and insults devalue discourse and discourage the cultural interaction so desperately needed today. And yes, the John Simons, Gene Siskels and Pauline Kaels of the world also did it for decades. The difference is they balanced it with scholarship, thoughtful critiques and overall cinematic knowledge. That’s frequently missing from the online missives some view as film criticism. Ron Wynn
Dune: Part Two
Bold Statements!
If I were in charge, every review would begin with the words, “I think,” “I believe” or “In my opinion.” Sean Abley
The Belcourt’s 100-year celebration this upcoming summer will be the can’t-miss event in the Music City in 2025. Sean Atkins
I have to call out Emilia Pérez. In a year when we had films from Jane Schoenbrun, Vera Drew, and Alice Maio Mackay (three trans directors), it feels so gross that the trans film (that is being called problematic in many trans circles) directed by a cis-het man is getting all the attention. Emilia Pérez is a trans film for cis audiences; it’s exploitative and uses problematic depictions of the title character. I don’t think it was made in malice, but rather sheer ignorance and an unwillingness to educate themselves on trans issues. The fact that films like this are projected to be big Oscar players, and that films like I Saw the TV Glow and The People’s Joker went mostly unrecognized — not to mention Luis Ortega’s dive into gender dysphoria with Kill the Jockey still being without North American distribution — feels like Hollywood wants to be allies on paper but couldn’t care less at actually supporting trans and genderqueer artists. TV Glow is on Max and People’s Joker is on Mubi, and if you really want to support trans voices, please give these some attention and share them with people, because Hollywood and the Academy will not. Ken Arnold
To be honest, I’m still reeling from the fact that both The Keep and Obsession: A Taste for Fear got proper HD physical media releases in the same year, yet I remain utterly distraught about the world and where everything is headed. Jason Shawhan
We should all start treating movie theaters like that Love Lies Bleeding guy from Michigan and bring at minimum two bottles of Fireball Whiskey to every public showtime. Skip the cocaine and the jerking off, please. John Lichman
No more time-loop movies. They are lazy and I can’t stand them. Billy Ray Brewton
Tim Burton’s treatment of Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was offensive to a deeply disturbing degree — he is so NOT back. Lets stop acting like The Wild Robot is this great animated movie when Flow, Memoir of a Snail, Wallace & Gromit — a film this world doesn’t deserve — are standing right there. Amy Adams gives her best performance ever in Nightbitch, a real-as-hell film that benefits as all films do from lowered expectations. And I still don’t know what to do with documentaries in how they outperform narrative films to me almost every year (shoutout to Mati Diop, my queen). Sam Smith
Edward Berger’s political thriller, starring Ralph Fiennes and based on the Robert Harris novel, opens this week at the Belcourt and Regal and AMC locations
I was so disappointed by Conclave and Longlegs. I wanted more from both and was left underwhelmed. Josh Hartnett’s performance in Trap is so ridiculous that I believe M. Night Shyamalan is a genius director who has been ahead of his time since The Happening. After Kinds of Kindness, I need a break from Yorgos Lanthimos. (I also was underwhelmed and disappointed by Poor Things despite my really wanting to like it.) The Substance should be nominated for as many Oscars as possible! The androids have been the most compelling characters in the Alien films. Brian Lonano
It’s not necessarily bold, but it needs to be said: Support original ideas and indie films. If you’re tired of remakes and reboots, you have to show up when it matters, and bring your friends with you. Dom Fisher
Robert Eggers can’t write women, full stop. Wolfe MacReady
No superhero movie will move the needle again. The new Superman universe will tank. And because Superman goes into the public domain in a decade, this will be the last one. Witney Seibold
The cowardly retreat from the worthy goals of diversity, equity and inclusion occurring in the corporate business world is sadly starting to trickle into the arts and entertainment industries. Which means those whose stories and viewpoints have historically been marginalized may soon have tougher times getting studios to greenlight the films and productions that have provided inspiration, motivation and encouragement to generations of audiences. Ron Wynn
They should’ve put a gaggle of therapists outside each theater of Inside Out 2 because I don’t think, as a collective people, we were ready for the panic-attack scene in the hockey game. Cory Woodroof
Just watch some gotdamn movies. I know we’re overloaded with “content” — streaming shows, video games, TikToks, whatever the hell is on YouTube. But it doesn’t hurt to get your cinema on once in a while. You can either do it at home or actually do the unthinkable and go to a theater. And I’m not talking about new Hollywood shit. Dive into some old shit once in a while. Wanna know how things were 100 years ago? Watch a gotdamn silent movie. People forget that films also serve as fascinating time capsules. You wanna know what’s going on overseas? Watch a foreign film. Sydney Sweeney might not be in it — but for Chrissakes, you just might learn something! Craig D. Lindsey
Nosferatu not horny enough. Joker: Folie a Deux pretty good. Please stop making me care about Denis Villeneuve. Kyle Turner
Robert Eggers’ grotesque remake of the 1922 silent film opens wide on Christmas Day — and in 35 mm at the Belcourt
Emilia Pérez is what Anatomy of a Fall was in 2023. A lot of people haven’t heard of it yet, but it’s going to win a bunch of awards, and then people will watch it and connect with it. Kim Baldwin
The Beetlejuice movies would be better without Beetlejuice in them. His Pepé Le Pew energy is not welcome in this house. Brennan Klein
Timothée Chalamet is overrated. William Mahaffey
It doesn’t feel particularly interesting or revelatory to say that so many of the best films I saw this year were made by people over 70, but we could all stand to be so fearless. Scout Tafoya
You know the famous line from Bong Joon-ho about the one-inch barrier of subtitles keeping American audiences from the glory of international cinema? I feel like production value, budgets and whether or not a studio bumper is before a title is preventing even the most die-hard film fans from seeing some of the best work that’s out there. This was a banner year for trans cinema, but it’s telling that the ones that were discussed the most are the two with the most marketing support. There’s such a wealth of talent making independent films in low- to no-budget environments, but people have become so spoiled with the excess of options that the true representations of “every movie is a miracle” are getting pushed to the margins again. If people truly are exhausted with $200 million blockbusters, then I hope this is the first place they’ll start to look. Harmony Colangelo
Smile 2 deserved the Longlegs viral marketing treatment, and Smile 2: The Skye Riley EP is fantastic. The song “New Brain” could have been one of the pop songs of the year. I boldly predict that in the future this EP will be viewed as a precious relic of 2023-2024 horror film and pop culture. Lisa Ellen Williams
We’ve been hearing for centuries that art is dead. But unless we rise up and destroy the venture-capital tech bros, we are all going to be so inundated with AI drivel, deep fakes and bot-driven rage content that we will forget how to engage critically with anything. Billionaires will just keep hitting our knees over and over with the reflex hammer and we’ll think it’s Lionel Hampton playing the vibraphone. Michael Sicinski
More people should have seen Melanie Laurent’s Freedom. She’s one of the most slept-on directors working, and someone needs to hand her a wad of money to make an action movie. Sam Inglis
Money can be a hurdle for filmmakers at every level. Some of the greatest writers and directors press pause on their art for years and years until they secure financing. In 2025, don’t wait. Write a story. Cast your friends. Pay them in car washes and cat-sitting. Shoot a movie on your phone or with the home camera your mom doesn’t use anymore. Paint backdrops. Use a green screen. If your story says the characters are orbiting Jupiter, it doesn’t matter if “Jupiter” is in your living room. We’ll believe it. You can make art today. Don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Quinn Hills
Abigail was one of the best horror movies of the year, and everyone upset that “it took too long to get to the vampire” is bitter about the marketing campaign that let you know there was a ballerina vampire, not the movie. Had that reveal been kept secret, everyone would have been raving about how amazing it is. I’m sorry, but you can’t tell me a movie where a vampire child dances ballet in golden goose sneakers with a decapitated body, Kathryn Newton does vampire ballet to Danzig, and Dan Stevens is Dan Stevens is “mid.” Get the heck outta here with that mess. BJ Colangelo
Anora doesn’t deserve most of the Oscar nominations it’s going to get, and if it wins Best Picture, that will be Oscars doing the typical Oscar thing: awarding a movie that’s far less important than they think it is. And I liked Anora, by the way. Odie Henderson
Movies should not be miniseries. The disappointing box office numbers for Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One and Horizon Chapter 1 prove that theater audiences want a beginning, middle and end to these stories. Wicked has done better because it’s not being advertised as Part 1, but many leave disappointed to discover the show-stopping hit ballad “For Good” has been saved for Part 2. Michael Jay
Filmmakers need to stop writing old people as monsters in film. It’s stupid, tired and dull. And enough with the ’70s and ’80s music over action scenes and trailers — even if you did get some current pop star to remake it. Lame. Dr. Gangrene
Every movie year might not be a great, all-timer movie year (this one wasn’t), but every movie year, at minimum, is a good movie year. If you don’t think so, you’re not trying hard enough. Logan Butts
No matter the technology, and no matter how much things like generative AI and streaming attempt to kneecap movies, humanity will always seek out interesting stories made by other humans and want to see them on the biggest and most spectacular screens possible. Jacob Davison
