Dear Wags,

After Oscar shortlists, Golden Globe nominations, and various critics’ awards, we’re still trying to figure out what the new New Hollywood wants to be. The age of the comic book franchise is petering out (or, in the case of Joker: Folie à Deux, erupting in flames), and who knows what comes next. Still, the year ended with a box office surge—audiences aren’t done with movies, as long as those movies are at least somewhat original and crowd-pleasing.

How tough that double act is to pull off! But in 2024, a lot of sweat went into trying, and bravo for that. There were some inventive scary pictures (Nosferatu, Heretic, The Substance), a whole new cautionary genre involving older women chasing dangerous young men (Babygirl, Last Summer), and wildly different takes on the action movie (Furiosa, Hit Man, Trap). There were attempts to revive the sex movie for adults (Challengers), the biker picture (The Bikeriders), and a lot of zesty fare from abroad (Dahomey, Green Border, Evil Does Not Exist). The rockstar biopic got refreshed (A Complete Unknown), and there were gravity-defying musicals (oh, you know).

Plucking our favorites from that stew is a cruel and arbitrary exercise, but check out our picks below. They come with impeccable recommendations.

Yours Ever,

Wag’s Favorite Movies of 2024

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Just two years ago, Iran was rocked by waves of women’s rights protests after the death of Mahsa Amini. Mohammad Rasoulof transformed that moment into a riveting indictment of authoritarianism, starring Missagh Zareh as an ordinary careerist who becomes a hanging judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. When his obedient wife (Soheila Golestani) and daughters (Mahsa Rostami and Setareh Maleki) become entangled in political turmoil, a domestic crisis turns sinister. After years of persecution, Rasoulof fled his homeland for Germany shortly before the film’s Cannes debut. Seed won a special jury award at the festival and will vie for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.—Darya Esfandiari

Anora

In another era, Mikey Madison’s turn as a Brighton Beach sex worker who mistakes an oligarch’s feckless son (Mark Eydelshteyn) for Prince Charming would signal her arrival as a major star. Stardom isn’t what it was, but Madison runs away with Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning romantic comedy, playing a hard luck optimist in the hallowed tradition of Sweet Charity and Pretty Woman. Anora means light, and you can’t help but root for her as bright American dreams collide with stark Russian realities.—Nina Krilova

A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg’s Holocaust Buddy Movie could have been a maudlin mess, but it resists the lure of easy sentimentality. The story of two kvetching cousins (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) who reunite for a heritage tour of Poland after the death of their grandmother is hilarious and heartbreaking by turns. Buoyed by supporting players who include Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, and Kurt Egyiawan, this gentle comedy makes a serious point about how grand tragedies and little hurts resonate for generations.—Alexander Portnoy

Conclave

Democracy, we are learning, is a sticky business. As directed by Edward Berger, a soap opera about a bunch of old guys picking a pope dug into big questions about elections and moral compromise. Ralph Fiennes and his furrowed brow were magnificent as a cardinal unraveling Vatican plots. His scarlet-robed colleagues (Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Sergio Castellitto, among others) were a back-stabbing lot, but they were no match for Isabella Rossellini’s righteous nun. A bomb went off in Conclave, but the real fireworks came from a cast of thoroughbreds given room to run.—Kiril Lakota

Good One

India Donaldson’s debut feature is an acutely observed coming-of-age drama, starring Lily Collias as Sam, a Brooklyn teen whose Catskills backpacking weekend with her alpha dog father (James LeGros) and his disaster of a buddy (Danny McCarthy) turns out to be more than she bargained for. Donaldson’s ambling little movie is peppered with evocative glancing moments; it grasps that innocence is rarely lost in cinematic confrontation but in a series of subtle asides.—Milly Bloom

All We Imagine as Light