Pop Culture Pick: My Favourite Films Of 2024
Welcome to Pop Culture Pick, a catch-all for subjects I want to highlight outside of the usual weekly Weekend Watch columns. In this edition, my favourite movies of 2024 and why you should catch them if you haven’t already. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite
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2024 was a solid year for movies of all sizes. And yes, I know it’s not over yet, but with travels ahead, I doubt I will get to see many more. So I’m putting out my list of films that I loved and that I’m only too happy to recommend…
The Fall Guy
Did you skip The Fall Guy in cinemas? I’ll understand –– the movie was sadly ignored by big chunks of the moviegoing public, and I’m still confused as to why. It’s such a fun and sometimes sweet love letter to stunt performers and features buckets of charm from Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. David Leitch, a former stunty himself, brought a lot of energy to this one and it features some great supporting performances from Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke and Stephanie Hsu.
Ghostlight
One of the indie movies I didn’t have the chance to cover in the column, Ghostlight is a beautifully realised story of love, loss and learning to cope. Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson co-direct the story of Dan (Keith Kupferer), a construction worker who unexpectedly finds the solace he’s looking for, following the death of his son, in a local amateur theatre company. It’s utterly heart-breaking in places, yet with the power to heal at the same time. You can find it on AMC+ in the States and various VOD venues including Apple and Amazon.
Thelma
June Squibb is the action hero no-one knew they wanted, but everyone should track down. Written and directed by Josh Margolin, Thelma finds the 94-year-old actor as a grandmother swindled out of her savings who decides to go and get them back by any means necessary. Very funny and utterly compelling, it’s certainly one I’d recommend watching as soon as possible if you skipped it earlier in the year.
Deadpool & Wolverine
A death in the family saw me headed home when the latest Deadpool was screening, and it didn’t quite make the cut for my column. But I still loved the film all the same, delighting in the sheer abandon with which Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy crammed as much madness as possible in to the storyline. Hugh Jackman returned as Wolverine, and the whole was so much more than just meta references to previous Marvel outings. It had an emotional core and plenty of crazed action. And Dogpool! Who deserves some sort of award all by herself.
My Old Ass
I’m not sure I could have predicted how much I would enjoy Megan Park’s beautiful film at the start of the year. But enjoy it I did! Maisy Stella puts in a star-making turn as Elliott, a bisexual teenager still figuring out her life who gets a drug-induced visit from her older self (played by Aubrey Plaza). I won’t spoil exactly what she reveals, but it has an impact on Elliott. The joy of this one is in a believable, honest script brought to life by a game cast.
A Different Man
Writer/director Aaron Schimberg decided to make A Different Man partly so he could work again with Adam Pearson, the talented star of his previous film, Chained For Life. The result is a superb meditation appearance and self-identity, as Sebastian Stan plays Edward, an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis who undergoes a radical treatment that, well, makes him look like Sebastian Stan. But though his new look gives him a fresh look on life, he questions it all when he meets Oswald (Pearson) a man with his same condition who has embraced life without needing to go down the same path. Brittle and brilliant, it’s in the awards conversation for good reason.
Conclave
I was already anticipating Edward Berger’s next film after going all in on his All Quiet On The Western Front adaptation a couple of years ago. But Conclave surpassed my expectations, proving to be a taught, supremely entertaining thriller that offers the chance for superlative performances from the reliable likes of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini. It could be claustrophobic, but Berger has produced something that keeps your attention locked in with the cardinals choosing a new Pope as the tension mounts and the skeletons come rattling out of the cassock closet.
Flow
Flow was one of those delightful surprises, and I checked it out on the recommendation of a couple of wise friends. I’m so glad that I did –– Gints Zilbalodis’ film is a minor miracle, a seemingly small movie about a group of animals surviving a catastrophic flood that is absolutely loaded with meaning and quirky characters. Not a word of dialogue (at least, not human dialogue) is heard, but the whole film works so very well.
Wicked
While I’m not ranking this list, if I had to be forced to name my favourite film of the year to date, it would probably be Jon M. Chu’s magical adaptation of the Broadway smash. Scripted by the original show’s book writer Winnie Holzman alongside Dana Fox, it boasts a wealth of great performances led by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo and so very smartly adds elements back in from the musical’s source material, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West. The songs are all still wonderful and while we have to wait until next November to see if the film’s two parts coalesce as a whole, I’m confident it’ll deliver.