Best (and worst) movies of 2024

The absolute best year-end movie review by an American expatriate political scientist cinephile in Paris who still hasn't converted his blog to Substack

By Arun Kapil

Voilà Arun with a View’s annual list, for the 15th straight year (up a couple of days late, into the new year), of movies seen that opened theatrically in 2024 in France or the United States (for the 2023 list, go here).

I saw plenty of movies as usual, over half of which I gave 3.5 stars (good) and above on the Allociné scale, but, generally speaking, did not find 2024 to be an exceptional year for cinema.

I am, however, in a minority on this and on both sides of the pond, with, e.g., culture critics in highbrow US publications I look at proclaiming the year to have been an excellent one for movies (though I will note that most of the movies in their “best of” lists have not yet opened in France). And here in France, there’s been a lot of patriotic chest-thumping about 2024 having been the best year for French cinema since 2008, which may be the case for box office receipts but may or may not be when it comes to movies worth seeing. And if French cinema did well, it was partly due to the dearth of Hollywood movies, owing to the 2023 writers guild strike. So in my top 15 below, not a single one is American (as for the three that take place in the US and have mostly American casts, they are, in fact, Danish, Spanish, and Belgian productions, and with directors from those countries).

N.B. Stateside friends have been telling me for years that they have never heard of most of the non-American movies I mention in these posts and have no way of seeing them in any case. So I have now embedded the links to the IMDB pages for the top 15, which have trailers for most of them and say where/how they may be watched (most appear to be available on Amazon Prime Video)

TOP 10:
Green Border (Zielona granica)
Inshallah a Boy (إن شاء الله ولد)
Santosh (सन्तोष)
Souleymane’s Story (L’Histoire de Souleymane)
Terrestrial Verses (Chroniques de Téhéran آیه‌های زمینی)
The Apprentice
The Burdened (Les Lueurs d’Aden المرهقون)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (دانه‌ی انجیر معابد)
The Teachers’ Lounge (Das Lehrerzimmer)
Upon Entry (La llegada)

HONORABLE MENTION:
All We Imagine as Light (പ്രഭയായി നിനച്ചതെല്ലാം)
Amal (Amal – Un esprit libre)
Ghost Trail (Les Fantômes)
Io Capitano
The Wall

BEST MOVIE FROM HUNGARY:
Explanation for Everything (Magyarázat mindenre)

BEST MOVIE FROM DENMARK:
Sons (Vogter)

BEST MOVIE FROM FINLAND ABOUT A HELSINKI POWER COUPLE WHO DECIDE TO DABBLE IN POLYAMORY AND HOW IT WORKS OUT FOR THEM:
Four Little Adults (Neljä pientä aikuista)

BEST MOVIE FROM ROMANIA WITH AN LGBTQIA+ THEME:
Three Kilometres to the End of the World (Trei kilometri până la capătul lumii)

BEST MOVIE FROM ENGLAND WITH AN LGBTQIA+ THEME:
All of Us Strangers

BEST CROWD-PLEASING MOVIE FROM ITALY WITH A FIRST-WAVE FEMINIST THEME:
There’s Still Tomorrow (C’è ancora domani)

BEST MOVIE FROM CORSICA:
The Kingdom (Le Royaume)

SECOND BEST MOVIE FROM CORSICA:
Borgo

THIRD BEST MOVIE FROM CORSICA:
In His Own Image (À son image)

BEST MOVIE FROM CAMEROON:
Mambar Pierrette

BEST MOVIE EVER FROM GUINEA-BISSAU:
Nome

BEST FEMINIST ROAD MOVIE FROM MOROCCO ABOUT A BAD-ASS JAILBIRD MOTHER AND HER PRE-TEEN DAUGHTER WITH ATTITUDE:
Queens (ملكات)

BEST MERELY OKAY MOVIE FROM MOROCCO ABOUT A VILLAGE GIRL WITH ATTITUDE WHO DREAMS OF BEING A CHAABI MUSIC DIVA IN THE BIG CITY:
Everybody Loves Touda (الجميع يحب تودة)

BEST MOVIE FROM SAUDI ARABIA ABOUT A HEADSTRONG TEENAGED VILLAGE GIRL IN THE AL-ULA REGION WHO YEARNS TO BE FREE:
Norah (نورا)

MOST GRATIFYING IRANIAN AND ISRAELI CO-DIRECTED MOVIE ABOUT A HEADSTRONG IRANIAN FEMALE JUDOKA STAR WHO TELLS THE AYATOLLAHS AND MULLAHS TO F*CK OFF:
Tatami (تاتامی)

BEST MOVIE FROM TURKEY:
Yurt

BEST MOVIE FROM GEORGIA THAT IS MAINLY SET IN TURKEY:
Crossing (გადასვლა)

BEST NOT BAD MOVIE FROM ISRAEL ABOUT AN IDF SOLDIER WHO DESERTS HIS UNIT IN GAZA BECAUSE HE’S HAD ENOUGH AND JUST WANTS TO BE WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND BUT WHO EVERYONE IN ISRAEL THINKS IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA:
The Vanishing Soldier (החייל הנעלם)

BEST NOT BAD AGITPROP DOCUMENTARY ABOUT LIFE IN GAZA FIVE YEARS PRIOR TO GAZA’S POST-OCTOBER 7TH DESCENT INTO HELL:
Journey Into Gaza (Voyage à Gaza)

BEST MOST POWERFUL DOCUMENTARY THAT LAYS BARE THE INIQUITOUS BEHAVIOR OF ISRAELI SETTLERS AND SOLDIERS IN THE SOUTH HEBRON HILLS:
No Other Land

BEST DOCUMENTARY BY THE DAUGHTER OF THE GREATEST-EVER PALESTINIAN ACTRESS TELLING THE STORY OF HOW HER MOTHER’S FAMILY EXPERIENCED THE 1948 NAKBA:
Bye Bye Tiberias (Bye bye Tibériade)

BEST NOT BAD FRANCO-BELGIAN-GERMAN PRODUCED MOVIE SHOT IN JORDAN ABOUT YOUNG EUROPEAN WOMEN WHO FLOCKED TO ISIS-CONTROLLED SYRIA TO BE SEX SLAVES OF JIHADIST FIGHTERS:
Rabia

BEST UPPER CLASS COMING-OF-AGE MOVIE FROM INDIA:
Girls Will Be Girls

BEST MOVIE FROM MONGOLIA:
If Only I Could Hibernate (Баавгай болохсон)

BEST MOVIE FROM TIBET:
The Snow Leopard (雪豹)

BEST MOVIE FROM BHUTAN:
The Monk and the Gun

BEST NOT BAD LIGHT COMEDY FROM JAPAN POKING FUN AT JAPANESE WORKPLACE MORES:
Mondays: See You ‘This’ Week! (このタイムループ、上司に気づかせないと終わらない)

BEST COMING-OF-AGE MOVIE FROM MEXICO ABOUT THE ORPHANED SON OF A CARTEL HITMAN AND WHAT HAPPENS WITH HIM AS HE COMES OF AGE:
Sujo (Hijo de sicario)

BEST ALBEIT WAY-TOO-LONG MOVIE FROM ARGENTINA THAT IS NOT THE CHEF D’ŒUVRE IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE:
Los Delincuentes

BEST BORDERLINE ETHNOGRAPHIC MOVIE FROM FRANCE ON CONFLICT AND SOLIDARITY IN THE ALGERIAN COMMUNITY IN PARIS’ 18TH ARRONDISSEMENT:
Barbès, Little Algérie

BEST BORDERLINE ETHNOGRAPHIC MOVIE FROM FRANCE ON CONFLICT AND SOLIDARITY AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IN RURAL FRANCHE-COMTÉ:
Holy Cow (Vingt Dieux)

BEST FRENCH MOVIE ABOUT A NICE GUY IN THE HAUT-JURA WHO IS REALLY TOO NICE WITH AN IMPECCABLY CAST KARIM LEKLOU IN THE LEAD ROLE:
Jim’s Story (Le Roman de Jim)

MOST UNDERSTATED AND ULTIMATELY SAD FRENCH COMEDY-DRAMA ON THE INCREASINGLY HOSTILE CLIMATE FOR JEWS IN THE IMMIGRANT-POPULATED PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS IN FRENCH CITIES WITH AGNÈS JAOUI AND MICHAEL ZINDEL IN THE LEAD ROLES:
A Good Jewish Boy (Le Dernier des Juifs)

MOST INOFFENSIVE CROWD-PLEASING FRENCH MOVIE ABOUT HOW MUSIC CAN BREAK DOWN SOCIAL CLASS BARRIERS AND RECONCILE LONG-LOST BLOOD BROTHERS WITH BENJAMIN LAVERNHE AND PIERRE LOTTIN IN THE LEAD ROLES:
The Marching Band (En fanfare)

MOST RIDICULOUS FRENCH MOVIE ABOUT A HAPPILY MARRIED MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN WHO IS NONETHELESS NOT GETTING IT ENOUGH WITH HER CEREBRAL HUSBAND SO GOES ADVENTURE-SEEKING ON TINDER WITH LAURE CALAMY IN THE LEAD ROLE:
It’s Raining Men (Iris et les Hommes)

BEST MOST UNDERRATED BIOPIC BY SAM TAYLOR-JOHNSON OF A GREAT BRITISH CHANTEUSE-SONGWRITER WHO DIED BEFORE HER TIME WITH MARISA ABELA IN THE LEAD ROLE:
Back to Black

BEST NOT BAD BIOPIC BY SOFIA COPPOLA OF THE VERY YOUNG SPOUSE THEN YOUNG WIDOW OF A GREAT AMERICAN ROCK ‘N’ ROLLER WHO DIED BEFORE HIS TIME WITH CAILEE SPAENY IN THE LEAD ROLE:
Priscilla

BEST OKAY BIOPIC BY MEHDI IDIR & GRAND CORPS MALADE OF FRANCE’S GREATEST CHANTEUR-SONGWRITER WHO LIVED A LONG LIFE SINGING TO THE DAY HE DIED WITH TAHAR RAHIM IN THE LEAD ROLE:
Monsieur Aznavour

BEST MOST ENTERTAINING AND SOMETIMES HUMOROUS THRILLER ABOUT POLITICAL INTRIGUE BACK-STABBING SCHEMING SHAMELESS LYING AND YOU NAME IT IN THE VATICAN’S COLLEGE OF CARDINALS WITH RALPH FIENNES IN THE LEAD ROLE:
Conclave

BEST TRUE STORY MOVIE ABOUT A MARRIED COUPLE WHOSE MARRIAGE IS QUITE STRANGE WITH JULIANNE MOORE AND NATALIE PORTMAN IN THE LEAD ROLES:
May December

BEST OKAY TRUE STORY MOVIE THAT’S GOOD FOR WATCHING ON AN AIRPLANE ABOUT A STRANGE TRAGEDY-AFFLICTED FAMILY FROM TEXAS AND THEIR STRANGE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY WITH AN ENSEMBLE CAST ONE HAS PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF SHARING THE LEAD ROLES:
Iron Claw

BEST TRUE STORY MOVIE ABOUT THE TRAGIC LIFE OF AN ARYAN-PASSING JEWISH WOMAN IN WARTIME BERLIN WITH PAULA BEER IN THE LEAD ROLE:
Stella: A Life (Stella: Ein Leben)

BEST TRUE STORY MOVIE ABOUT A RIGHTEOUS GENTILE IN GERMAN-OCCUPIED CZECHOSLOVAKIA WITH ANTHONY HOPKINS IN THE LEAD ROLE:
One Life

BEST TRUE STORY MOVIE ABOUT THE BANALITY OF EVIL IN GERMAN-OCCUPIED POLAND WITH CHRISTIAN FRIEDEL AND SANDRA HÜLLER IN THE LEAD ROLES:
The Zone of Interest

BEST PARTLY TRUE STORY MOVIE BY RITHY PANH ABOUT THREE INTREPID FRENCH JOURNALISTS WHO TRAVELLED TO LATE-1970s CAMBODIA TO INTERVIEW THE STRONGMAN LEADER OF THAT BENIGHTED COUNTRY’S UBUESQUE AUTO-GENOCIDAL TOTALITARIAN DICTATORSHIP AND WHAT A SCARY EXPERIENCE IT WAS:
Meeting With Pol Pot (Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot)

BEST FRANCO-BELGIAN TRUE STORY MOVIE ABOUT A FRENCH LEFTIST ACTIVIST TURNED MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WHO BECOMES AN EFFECTIVE LEGISLATOR AND SLAYS A REDOUTABLE LOBBY WHILE HE’S AT IT WITH BOULI LANNERS IN THE LEAD ROLE:
Smoke Signals (Une affaire de principe)

MOST UNDERRATED MOVIE BY ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO THAT IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE FIRST-EVER MOVIE TO BE SET IN CHINA, THE IVORY COAST, AND CAPE VERDE:
Black Tea

BEST COURTROOM DRAMA BY CLINT EASTWOOD THAT MAKES PLAIN SOME OF THE SERIOUS FLAWS IN THE AMERICAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM:
Juror #2

BEST ALBEIT NOT ENTIRELY CONVINCING COMEDY-DRAMA BY FRANÇOIS OZON WITH HÉLÈNE VINCENT AND JOSIANE BALASKO IN THE LEAD ROLES:
When Fall Is Coming (Quand vient l’automne)

BEST NOT BAD BUT NOT ALWAYS CONVINCING DRAMA BY PATRICIA MAZUY WITH HAFSIA HERZI AND ISABELLE HUPPERT IN THE LEAD ROLES:
Visiting Hours (La Prisonnière de Bordeaux)

BEST OKAY BUT RATHER UNCONVINCING DRAMA BY ANDRÉ TÉCHINÉ WITH HAFSIA HERZI AND ISABELLE HUPPERT IN THE LEAD ROLES:
My New Friends (Les Gens d’à côté)

MOST OVERRATED COMING-OF-AGE MOVIE BY LUDOVIC AND ZORAN BOUKHERMA BASED ON THE EPONYMOUS GONCOURT PRIZE-WINNING NOVEL THAT IS NO DOUBT BETTER THAN THE MOVIE:
And Their Children After Them (Leurs enfants après eux)

MOST ABSURDLY OVERRATED GIMME-A-BREAK MOVIE BY GILLES LELLOUCHE ABOUT AN UNLIKELY TEENAGE ROMANCE THAT PROVES TO BE ETERNAL LOVE BUT THAT WOULD IN REALITY NEVER SURVIVE THE PASSAGE TO ADULTHOOD OR STAND THE TEST OF TIME AND IN WHICH AS A MOVIE MAJOR CASTING ERRORS WERE COMMITTED TO BOOT:
Beating Hearts (L’Amour ouf)

MOST ORIGINAL WILD-AND-CRAZY OSCAR-BAIT MOVIE BY JACQUES AUDIARD BUT THAT IS BY NO MEANS HIS BEST MOVIE:
Emilia Perez

BEST MESSAGE MOVIE BY JULIE DELPY ABOUT A SMALL TOWN IN BRITTANY THAT IS PREPARING TO WELCOME A UKRAINIAN REFUGEE FAMILY WITH OPEN ARMS BUT WITH THE FAMILY TURNING OUT TO BE SYRIAN INSTEAD AND HOW THE TOWNSPEOPLE REACT TO THAT:
Meet the Barbarians (Les Barbares)

MOST INSUFFERABLE SCIENCE FANTASY MOVIE BY YORGOS LANTHIMOS THAT CAN ONLY BE APPRECIATED BY PEOPLE WHO DO NOT MIND SCIENCE FANTASY MOVIES:
Poor Things

MOST INTERMINABLE SOPORIFIC WESTERN FROM ANOTHER ERA BY KEVIN COSTNER THAT ONE MAY TAKE A LONG NAP IN WITHOUT REALLY MISSING ANYTHING:
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1

WORST MOVIE ABOUT A BLOODY CIVIL WAR IN TODAY’S AMERICA THAT IS PARTLY REDEEMED BY ONE POWERFUL AND CHILLING SCENE:
Civil War

MOST UNDESERVING CANNES FILM FESTIVAL PALME D’OR WINNER IN AT LEAST THREE YEARS:
Anora

There’s lots more where this came from at Arun with a View—plus a lot of commentary on French politics and politics generally. Thank you, Arun!