A Top 10 for another year of cinema that is coming to an end, another year that has left us with great emotions on the big screen, passing through every possible genre, including science fiction, thriller, dramedy, horror and much more. But what were the 10 best films of the year? The answer is difficult, however, this Top 10 that follows includes titles that have certainly been able to stand out, to be indicated by critics as cinematographic works of great meaning, aesthetics and originality.

The Substance

“The Substance” by Coralie Fargeat is one of the most important film candidates of the year. Presented at the Cannes Film Festival, the body horror comedy starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid was able to win unanimous praise from critics and the public, with its irony, its atmosphere halfway between grotesque and real. Punctual and scathing criticism of the society of images and appearances, a clear homage to the cinema of Yuzna, Cronenberg, Kubrick, to the genre films of the 80s, “The Substance” however knows how to walk very well on its own legs, staging a dramedy from which a not so metaphorical image emerges on the tragedy of being a woman in a male-centric civilization. Prix ​​du scenario at Cannes 2024 and a unique ability to make an impact, to know how to bring experimentation back to the center of everything.

Anora

The great winner of Cannes 2024 was Sean Baker’s film. A dramedy dedicated to the world of sex workers, “Anora” is a film of unique intelligence and sensitivity, it knows how to make us participate in the squalid life of the protagonist, Anora (Mikey Madison) and how the meeting with the young Ivan (Mark Ejdel’štejn), son of Russian oligarchs, will become in his eyes an opportunity to change his life. It won’t happen, but we will only find out after a hellish day of arguments, shouting, regrets and tears. “Anora” won the Palme d’Or and is a candidate to be a major protagonist at the Oscars and Golden Globes. At a time when female narration reigns supreme, often in a rhetorical way, this film has the merit of making us look at the essence of real life, of our world, of what it means to deal with the worst of everyday life.

Emilia Perez

Another title that arrived from Cannes 2024, “Emilia Perez” is an exquisite mix of genres, where musicals, comedy, civil cinema and melodrama come together to convey a work of great emotional power. A drug boss who dreams of changing his life and becoming a woman (Karla Sofía Gascón), a lawyer undecided on how to relate to her (Zoe Saldana), his ex-wife who is unaware of everything (Selena Gomez) and her lover ready to take advantage of the situation (Edgar Ramirez). “Emilia Perez” is a film full of energy that is always ready to change shape, it addresses dramatic themes such as gender violence, drug trafficking, the disappeared caused by the fight between drug cartels, the difficulty of being a woman or even worse a non-binary individual. Jury Prize and female prize for the entire cast. Also pay attention here to what the Academy decides.

Civil War

The great political film of our time. “Civil War” confirms that Alex Garland is a bold director like few others. A civil war in the United States, a country crossed by death and destruction like only in the Balkans of the 90s, a group of journalists trying to reach a Washington ready to fall, to immortalize the history that flows through their lenses. A film of simply unparalleled thematic, visual and atmospheric complexity, “Civil War” is the perfect portrait of an America divided like never before since the Civil War, of the hatred and violence that have always characterized it and erupted periodically. Raw, violent, extraordinary visual story in which the role of narrative through images is at the center, it is elevated by the performances of Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny and Stephen McKinley Henderson.

Nosferatu

Robert Eggers brings Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece back to life, which was also the subject of a great remake by Herzog in 1979. There were great doubts and perplexities, but “Nosferatu” is a true gem, a film in which horror in classic, literary or otherwise, returns to reign supreme and together with it, a no-nonsense analysis of our fears of elsewhere, of the unknown. A film of almost oppressive elegance, “Nosferatu” is a work on evil in a universal sense, starting from Eastern European folklore, from Murnau’s Dracula under the false name, to guide us in a metaphor of gender oppression, of sex as a sin, of dictatorial bigotry. Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafore and Simon McBurney are excellent, but Bill Skarsgård is the great star of this expressionist nightmare. Incredible make-up and sets, but also an enormously elegant use of light and sound.

Juror Number 2

Clint Eastwood is back, with his elegance, his cinema made of moral themes and a willingness to go where few others would dare. “Juror Number 2” is his best film in years and years, it is a trap for our reason, it is the great question that every civilization that has tried to give itself laws has had to face: law and justice are really the same What? Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, JK Simmons and Chris Messina are the main faces of this seemingly minimal film. But as far as semantics, elegance, realism and depth of characters are concerned, “Juror Number 2” reminds us why Clint Eastwood is and remains the last great American author. A film small in form, but truly powerful, truly important, as its meaning has been missing on the big screen for too long. Well-deserved top 10.

Nickel Boys

Without a shadow of a doubt “Nickel Boys” will be among the great protagonists at the Golden Globes and Oscar night. Based on the novel by Colson Whitehead, directed by RaMell Ross, “Nickel Boys” takes us into the lives of Elwood and Turner, two young African Americans who meet in the Nickel reformatory in Florida in 1962, for different reasons and with personalities at the antipodes. Filmed with a predilection for the simply fascinating subjective lens, “Nickel Boys” is a film that combines the soul of a coming-of-age film with civil narration. Simply stupendous for its power and aesthetic beauty, its ability to involve and move deep emotions, “Nickel Boys” is a film that also knows how to move away from easy rhetoric, telling us about a sad story in American history with touching realism. Absolutely unmissable.

The Wild Robot

There was no shortage of great animation in 2024 either. In the Top 10, “The Wild Robot” by Chris Sanders, based on the novel of the same name illustrated by Peter Brown, could not fail to find a place. A multipurpose robot who ends up on a planet where he will be forced to take care of a young goose that he accidentally orphaned, while around them no one seems to want you so why not return to the parent company? Or is there something more at play? “The Wild Robot” is an extraordinary story on the concept of guilt and responsibility, on the exclusion of those who are different and self-determination, elevated by a spectacular visual dimension and an atmosphere that knows when to alternate laughter and tears, drama and lightness. It is difficult for him to miss out on the Oscar and the Golden Globe in the category, despite the competition being nothing even in 2024.

Russians at War

There is also a documentary in the Top 10 of this 2024. “Russians at War” by Anastasia Trifimova was the subject of great controversy in Venice 2024, by virtue of its taking us into the Russian lines of the Ukrainian front, among the “bad guys” or at least those who should be so. “Russians at War” is the result of incredible investigative work among the front lines of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where the War reached its peak. Terrifying for the harsh reality of the men at the front subjected to every type of horror and danger, the documentary is a great anti-militarist, even anti-government story, showing us the chaos, anarchy and total disorganization of an army in disarray , of a country with no other idea than to passively obey power. Raw, disturbing, it is a road to a hell made of blood, deaths, loneliness and desperation. A masterpiece.

Dune – Part Two

The second chapter of Dennis Villeneuve’s sci-fi saga is another prodigious visual fresco, another imaginative journey into a world not so distant from our reality, capable of honoring the work of Frank Herbert to the best of its ability. More politically current and certainly more exciting than the first chapter, it is dominated by the great acting performances of Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Justin Butler above all. Wonderful soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, magnificent sets and costumes but above all the ability to entertain without giving up being profound, developing its characters. “Dune – Part Two” deserves to be in this Top 10 because in today’s Hollywood, having such a high artistic caliber is increasingly rare, as is knowing how to guide us towards an elsewhere that doesn’t feel like we’ve already seen and heard it a thousand other times.