A new year can only mean one thing. Numerous lists spouting the best films of the previous twelve months. 2024 was a bit of a mixed bag when it came to cinema. The year started with some surprises like The Bee Keeper and The Fall Guy. And later delivered some tried and true blockbusters in Deadpool & Wolverine and Dune Part 2.

As the year winds down some films have become frontrunners for both best movie lists and the Oscars race. These films are for the most part all great and definitely worth your time. But rather than talk more about Anora, The Brutalist, or The Substance, I thought a better idea would be to highlight some of the other best movies of 2024. Movies that either had a smaller release, didn’t get a ton of attention or are great but not great enough to be a part of the “best films” conversation. These are our other best movies of 2024.

The Beast

La Bete, or The Beast in English, is a French/American time traveling low sci-fi film starring the incredibly talented Lea Seydoux in a triple role. The Beast is an incredible piece of filmmaking, even though it’s far from a perfect film. The film is composed of three different timelines but all share the same actors and themes.

It’s a haunting portrayal of love, desperation, and the longing for shared experiences. The Beast feels in direct conversation with the isolation felt over the Covid-19 pandemic and the performances in this film are second to none. Lea Seydoux has had an incredible career signing on for interesting projects, and The Beast is one of her finest to date.

Oddity

Oddity is a low budget Irish horror film from writer/director Damien McCarthy distributed by Shudder. Shudder had a massive hit with Late Night With The Devil, but Oddity was never able to capture that same momentum. It’s a shame because even though Oddity lacks the novel framing device of Late Night, the film is expertly made and tells a haunting story of betrayal and revenge.

The majority of Oddity takes place in one set. A dilapidated farm home in various stages of renovation. McCarthy is able to capture the grand scale of the home while simultaneously making it feel small and claustrophobic. Add in some creepy dolls, a few jump scares, and a twisty narrative, and Oddity is one of 2024’s standout horror films.

Cuckoo

Hunter Schafer delivers an incredible performance in Tilman Singer’s utterly bizarre Cuckoo. Cuckoo is a film about birds. Kind of. It’s also a film about familial trauma that takes liberal inspiration from Stanley Kubricks masterpiece The Shinning.

Cuckoo feels like a much larger film than it actually is. There are grand ideas, confounding plot points, and beautiful set pieces. The film wraps up in a way that is terrifying but also a bit confounding. Cuckoo doesn’t perfectly nail the landing, but the trip we go on is more than worth the price of admission. If not at least to see Hunter Schafers rise to a bona fide movie star.

Love Lies Bleeding

Rose Glass’s follow up to her 2019 film St Maud is larger in both scope and themes. St Maud is one of my favorite all-time films. There are few movies that deal with terror and psychosis in such a horrifying way as St Maud. Her second film, Love Lies Bleeding, drops most of the horror elements and instead tells a story of love, lust, and domination against a grimy 1989 aesthetic.

Love Lies Bleeding stars Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian and they both deliver incredible performances. Their performances propel the movie forward and the cast is rounded out by spectacular supporting roles from Dave Franco and Ed Harris. At its core, Love Lies Bleeding is a story about abuse. But the film expertly portrays each abuser in a negative light while also making us feel uncomfortable about the retaliation leveled against them. It’s a deep film with strong metaphors for sex and kink and one that left me contemplating the ending for days.

Smile 2

Parker Finn’s excellent horror Smile got its first sequel this year in what is sure to be a long-running franchise. The concept of the Smile universe is an interesting one and the way he’s able to up the stakes in this film without diving too far into exposition and mythos is refreshing.

What is most surprising about Smile 2 is the excellent camera work in the film. The opening sequence is an incredible one-shot that looks stunning and keeps you on the edge of your seat. There are also a ton of fast-paced dolly shots, interesting cuts, and startling jump scares, that make Smile 2 one of the most effective horror films of the year.

Never Let Go

French filmmaker Alexandre Aja returned to Hollywood budget movies this year with his secluded horror film Never Let Go. Never Let Go stars Oscar winner Halle Berry as a single mother tasked with protecting her two small children from the world-ending evil that lurks right outside the family’s front door. The film takes place mainly in a large farmhouse devoid of any outside contact.

Never Let Go can be read as trauma response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Berry plays a paranoid mother who will do anything to keep her children safe, even when it’s never totally clear just exactly what the outside danger is. There are deeper themes as well of familial trauma and hereditary illness and it’s all done exceptionally well here. Never Let Go may not be an Oscar cotender, but it’s a great horror film that doesn’t over stay its welcome.

Kinds Of Kindness

After last years Poor Things, audiences seemed ready for Yorogs Lanthimos next twisted tale. Unfortunately, Lanthimos’ follow-up Kinds of Kindness may be his least approachable film to date. That’s saying a lot for a director who made a film where Collin Farrell turns into a lobster.

Kinds of Kindness is a fable consisting of three stories that share no narrative through-line other than a poor gentleman by the name of R.M.F. Each story runs just a bit longer than necessary and the film can at times feel like a slog to get through. Kinds of Kindness is not for everyone. It’s very bizarre, the acting and humor are completely deadpanned and it’s often hard to find the exact message Yorgos is trying to portray. But for those who dig what the director is trying to accomplish, a lot is available for interpretation. My personal favorite is the final tale “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich” as it contains the most ludicrous plot but also the most satisfying ending.

Alien Romulus

Alien Romulus is not a forgotten film but it is one that I don’t see getting a lot of year-end praise. That’s a shame because Fede Alvarez has made, in my opinion, one of the best pieces of Alien media in decades.

There will always be those who love Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and the grand ideas he conveyed. I love that film as well, but where that film falters is by abandoning the signature horror the series is known for. Alien Romulus does a fantastic job of bringing the horror back and creating a contained story rather than an epic one. We don’t get a ton of lore or mythos building. We just get a fantastic haunted house in space. And some pretty cool action sequences. The ending of Alien Romulus is one of the most shocking scenes in cinema this year and I hope Alvarez gets a chance to continue working on this franchise.

Red Rooms

Red Rooms technically saw its Canadian release in 2023 but it received a full distribution this year. This film is one of the most shocking of the year with a narrative that never shows its hand. Red Rooms is much more than just a horror film. It’s an incredible narrative told through long prose that is often more terrifying than any images the director could shoot.

Red Rooms acts as a commentary on our culture’s obsession with true crime. The lead actress in the film is a sort of fantasy Lisbeth Salander-type character who’s become obsessed with a trio of grisly murders and the resulting trial. The plot never reveals its hand and the audience spends as much time wondering what’s going to happen as the players in the film. Red Rooms is haunting, smart, and expertly crafted. It’s a film I’ve returned to several times and one that will continue to make me question the film’s finale.

Milk and Serial

Youtuber Curry Baker has crafted an excellent feature-length found footage horror film with his Youtube released Milk and Serial. The movie was made on a parsley budget of $800 dollars and proves that innovation can be greater than budget.

This film is free on YouTube and I would recommend anyone interested in horror to check it out. Found-Footage has kind of been forgotten as a genre, but I can see this film giving the genre a fresh start. YouTube is the perfect medium for a film like this and I hope it inspires other young filmmakers to craft their stories for the medium.