We cannot believe that 2024 is almost over already! It’s been a busy one yet again at Nerdist as we continue to cover all the wonderful genre and pop culture entertainment things happening in the world. TV kept us very busy this year, especially during a summer filled with Fallout, House of the Dragon‘s second season, and the absolutely wild fourth season of The Boys, among other things. But the film world was certainly no slouch either. We got great gems that fall under our purview, from the absolute smash starring the Merc with a Mouth and his Best Bub to a ’70s-era horror found footage flick with some seriously demonic happenings. Here’s the 2024 movies that are worthy of a space on our Nerdist best of list.
Late Night With the Devil
The premise alone for this film was more than enough to grab the attention of the horror-loving folks at Nerdist. A desperate and struggling late-night TV show host, played by the legendary David Dastmalchian, decides to amp up his ratings by communing with the Devil on Halloween night in 1977. But, as we know, a good premise doesn’t necessarily lead to stellar execution of said premise. Thankfully, Late Night with the Devil hit the mark in pretty much every way possible. From its grainy found footage aesthetic to a truly chilling possession performance by Ingrid Torelli, this film is a surreal slow burn that takes you on an ascent towards pure chaos before it spirals into quite the ride. It is strange, dark, rather funny, and all-around a vibe.
Monkey Man
Monkey Man, an action-thriller written, directed, and produced by Dev Patel, wasn’t a huge box office smash and may miss a few other websites’ lists. But we absolutely loved this story about an Indian man who exacts revenge against a dangerous man and collective responsible for destroying his village and killing his mother. That synopsis sounds like well-trod territory but this film weaves in the legend of Hanuman, a Hindu deity who takes the shape of a monkey, and deeply dives into sociopolitical issues in India while never losing an ounce of its action. It has the adrenaline of John Wick with a protagonist who doesn’t fall into the typical aesthetic bounds of an action hero. (Dev Patel is a very attractive man, but no one who looks like him has played James Bond, ya know?) Monkey Man’s mythology, sleek production, and widened scope of humanity is a knockout punch.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
The Monsterverse had a good year, both on TV with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and in the cinemas with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. The latter is a big, effects-filled monster mash, in which Kong and eventually Godzilla have to fend off new massive threats from inside Hollow Earth. The best part? Mothra returns! Here’s still hoping we get a Mothra-centric film one of these days. We love that queen.
Alien: Romulus
After a couple of Alien prequel films which can be best described as divisive, many fans were certainly cautiously optimistic at best about Fede Alvarez’s seeming standalone entry, Alien: Romulus. Luckily, the movie ended up as a thoroughly entertaining, at times pulse-pounding midquel, taking place after 1979’s Alien but before 1986’s Aliens. While it does possess more ‘member berries than we would have liked (and a completely unnecessary digital recreation of a dead actor), Romulus more than made up for them with some excellently creepy set pieces and a third act straight out of Lovecraft. We’d all watch another for sure.
Transformers One
Paramount’s Transformers feature film franchise keeps disappointing, with the exception of 2018’s Bumblebee and, for our purposes, this year’s surprisingly excellent Transformers One. Telling the story of heroes and villains we know in their earliest days on Cybertron, the film is a dazzlingly vibrant animated adventure with far more darkness and pathos than expected. The marketing didn’t do it any favors, making it seem much more silly-family-goofy than it really is. As such, it underperformed at the box office, but I hope it finds its audience at home because it really deserved a lot better.
Longlegs
Maybe the movie I’ve spent the most time thinking about this year. Osgood Perkins’ homage/semi-spoof(?) to serial killer procedurals is audacious, jarring, and ultimately gets under your skin. Part of this is the movie’s incredible marketing campaign. Seriously, whoever came up with that sparse, unsettling series of spots deserves a raise or something. Naturally, a lot of that came from the movie keeping Nicolas Cage’s titular creepazoid hidden for a while. Once you do see him fully, it’s really quite something. I saw a “for your consideration” billboard recently for Cage as Best Supporting Actor. That would be truly the best thing in the entire world. Also, it got me to really listen to the band T. rex, which has been a highlight
of the year. Hail Satan.
Dune: Part Two
Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic Dune is not an easy novel to adapt. Ask David Lynch, who tried it in 1984 and was met with indifference. But Denis Villeneuve somehow managed to make a compelling narrative out of the first half of the novel in 2021. But it’s the second half of the book where all the juicy stuff happens, and Denis did not disappoint adapting it with Dune – Part II. By focusing on the Fremen rebellion against the Harkonnens, the drama and action is dialed up, and all executed excellently by Villeneuve. And the cast, especially Rebecca Ferguson, deliver legendary performances. Bring on Dune: Messiah.
Nosferatu
Remaking one of the ur-texts of horror films is a daunting prospect, but if anyone could do it, it’s Robert Eggers. Employing much of the same period- specific detail he gave to The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman, his take on Murnau’s take on Stoker’s Dracula is a dreary piece of heaven. As much folk horror as it is Gothic horror, Nosferatu uses everything at its disposal to create a tale that’s epic without ever feeling gaudy. The performances are big, like sound-filled versions of the silent expressionism they embody, and the idea of vampire as plague permeates every frame. It’s legitimately scary and gross and sad and beautiful. But mostly gross and scary.
Oddity
Maybe the most apt title for a horror movie in ages. Damian McCarthy’s strange little Irish chiller has ghosts, home invasion, homunculi, cursed objects, psychic mediums, and insane asylums. Oddity is a delightful throwback to the kind of horror movie nobody really makes anymore, much livelier than your usual “elevated horror” yarn. Macabre thrills, one of the year’s best-done jump scares, and a setting as singular as any. If you haven’t seen it yet, read nothing else about it and then give it a watch.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Some movies come with such built-in expectations they almost seem destined to disappoint. That was definitely the case with Deadpol & Wolverine. After years of teasing fans, it finally teamed-up two of the most beloved comic book-turned-cinematic superheroes ever. (X-Men Origins: Wolverine doesn’t count!) Instead of disappointing, though, it somehow overdelivered with one of the most enjoyable moviegoing experiences in years, with a film that not only stood on its own, it served as a funny, entertaining, and surprisingly emotional farewell to Fox’s Marvel and X-Men cinematic universe.
From incredible surprise stars like Henry Cavill, Chris Evans, Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, and Channing Tatum, to a complete dedication to only focusing on having a good time, Deadpool & Wolverine was more than what we had even hoped for. And that included delivering “the best” version of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine yet. The MCU’s multiverse hasn’t always given us what we wanted, but Logan and Wade working together certainly did.
Abigail
“A bunch of crooks get conned into being locked in a house with a murderous ballerina vampire child.” With a premise so absurd Abigail could really only have gone one of two ways. The first was far, far, far more likely, because a silly idea can very easily become a stupid one. But on rare occasions a silly idea can be turned into something incredible, and that’s what Abigail delivered. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett turned made one of our favorite horror-comedies of the century by making a movie that also works as a compelling “heist gone wrong” film. The real tension they create early in the film makes the bloody fun that follows that much more impactful. And hoo boy is there a whole lot of blood.
The film also features a fantastic cast led by young Alisha Weir who is amazing as the attention-starved vampire ballerina who just wants her infamous dad’s love even more than she wants blood. And with Dan Stevens’ Frank also providing some of the best quotes of 2024, it would be absurd not to include Abigail on our list of the best movies of 2024.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Forget action movies, Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the best movies ever made period. The next entry in the franchise, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, was going to have shine brightly to emerge from the enormous shadow cast by its predecessor. And that’s exactly what it did with one of 2024’s best films. The prequel forged its own path through the Wasteland by telling a very different type of tale about survival, brutality, and leadership in George Miller’s dystopian desert.
Furiosa pulled off its own high-wire act with a combination of incredible spectacles, stunning world-building, gorgeous visuals, and two outstanding leading performances by Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular hero and Chris Hemsworth as Dr. Dementus, arguably the best, most complex Mad Max villain ever. With time and more distance from its Fury Road’s shadow, moviegoers will only appreciate Furiosa even more.
Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.
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