Best of 2024

Sean Baker continues his exploration of complex human connections through the lives of sex workers, delivering his most entertaining and heartfelt film yet. “Anora” starts off as a sex-fueled romance where Ani, a Brooklyn strip dancer (Mikey Madison), ends up marrying a Russian oligarch in a “Pretty Woman” and “Cinderella”-like mashup, only to have his parents set out to get the marriage annulled. This results in a wild, slapstick race against time through a beautifully shot New York City backdrop. Madison’s breakthrough performance not only anchors the film’s kinetic fearlessness but also its emotional core. Most notably in a heart-rending scene that will likely become one of cinema’s all-time great movie endings.

Layered with numerous themes – architecture, capitalism, immigration, antisemitism, addiction, and class status – “The Brutalist” is a sprawling narrative set across three decades, examining the foundations of post-World War II America. Brady Corbet’s period drama centers on two ambitious men with outsized visions: a Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor seeking refuge in the US for his family, and a power-hungry plutocrat and titan of American industry in rural Pennsylvania. The film is beautifully crafted, from its moody cinematography and detailed production design to the commanding performances by Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce. It’s a grand canvas epic rolled out in roadshow form – shot in 35mm VistaVision, projected on 70mm, with a 3.5-hour running time, including an overture and a 15-minute intermission.

Documenting Angela Patton’s inspiring program to forge connections and instill hope between daughters and their incarcerated fathers, “Daughters” follows four young girls as they prepare for a Daddy-Daughter Dance at a Washington, DC prison – for some, this event will mark the first time they will have held one another. Rebuilding a family is an emotionally complex journey of empathy and forgiveness, with each step a fragile decision point for everyone on both sides of the prison walls. An achingly moving film filled with tender moments while confronting the harsh truths imposed by life and a broken prison system.

Sequels rarely surpass the originality or spectacle of their predecessors, but with “Dune: Part Two”, a superior follow-up to 2021’s “Dune”, Denis Villeneuve reaffirms his talent for crafting massive sci-fi worlds. He delivers, in essence, the “The Empire Strikes Back” equivalent for what is shaping up to be his film trilogy. Darker in tone, faster-paced, and more action-filled, “Dune: Part Two” sees Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) rise to messianic levels – a timely cautionary tale against charismatic leaders.

With his second feature outing, Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis delivers one of the most exquisite animated films in a long time. Foregoing cheap metaphors and humanistic stereotypes often found in animated animal characters, “Flow” captivates with an endearing realism composed of non-dialogue vocalizations and instinctual behaviors, emotionally enhanced by sweeping camera movements. Inhabiting an immersive 3DCG world devoid of humans, an expressive black cat adapts to a changing world that has experienced a major flood, meeting other animals along the way. Together they learn to see past their differences and discover a greater sense of self and community – a journey most vividly reflected by its opening and closing scenes.

Set in the dense, forested area along the Belarus-Poland border, Agnieszka Holland’s brutal immigration drama “Green Border” centers on a Syrian family’s desperate attempt to reach the European Union. The film unfolds through the perspectives of the family, a young border agent encouraged to brutalize migrants, and the rights activists who attempt to aid the refugees. This harrowing depiction of a distant but familiar migrant crisis exposes the systematic manipulations and biases at play, as everyone involved becomes pawns in a larger propaganda and political machine.

Combining narrative and animated recreations, The “Remarkable Life of Ibelin” chronicles the story of Mats Steen, who passed away at the age of 25 after a lifelong battle with a degenerative muscular disease. Thought to have led a lonely and isolated life, it is only after his passing that his parents discover the full and rewarding life their son had lived and the many lives he had touched as Ibelin, his “World of Warcraft” avatar. Their discovery reveals a moving portrait of human connection in the digital age, showing how our fears as parents can sometimes blind us to the profound and meaningful experiences our children have, even in the virtual world.

Filmed in secrecy by fugitive Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is a sophisticated political and domestic thriller that follows a patriarch tasked with approving death sentences in Iran’s revolutionary court, while his wife and two daughters at home navigate generational conflicts and contrasting views on Iran’s repressive traditions. Set against the backdrop of student uprisings and protests, the film incorporates real-world footage from the Mahsa Amini protests – the 2022 women-led uprisings sparked by Amini’s death in police custody for allegedly violating Iran’s hijab law. With its slow-building narrative culminating amidst Iran’s literal ruins, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” stands as an important piece of filmmaking that critically examines Iran’s authoritarian and misogynistic regime.

This uplifting drama tells the true story of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts theater program at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in upstate New York. Featuring a mix of professional actors and real-life program alumni, Greg Kwedor’s “Sing Sing” focuses on a group of incarcerated men as they write, rehearse, and perform stage shows within the prison. This process not only provides an escape from the daily cruelties of prison life but also serves as a bridge toward long-term healing and a rediscovery of what it means to trust a fellow human being. The film is a tribute to the transformative power of theater, elevated by compassionate performances from Colman Domingo and formerly incarcerated Clarence Maclin.

A touching and humorous tribute to our senior citizens, Josh Margolin’s feature debut, “Thelma”, centers on a 93-year-old grandmother conned out of $10,000 and forced to take matters into her own hands. Embarking on an action-packed journey to reclaim her money, the premise is as silly and ridiculous as you’d expect, with a “Mission: Impossible”-inspired grandmother evading her family on a stolen mobility scooter. Rarely are senior citizens offered the agency to spoof a genre typically dominated by younger male actors well past their prime.