Trying to reduce my review-load for the end of this year (see this previous post to understand why), here are my four favourite films from 2024 so far.

These are only short reviews with my immediate insights and overall feelings with (hopefully) no spoilers!

I would thoroughly recommend the following (in no particular order):

ALL OF US STRANGERS: Scott and Mescal Raise Shivers of Recognition and Regret in Haigh’s Haunting Film. 

Director: Andrew Haigh / Screenplay: Andrew Haigh – based on the novel ‘Strangers’ by Taichi Yamada.

Adam (Andrew Scott), a thirty-something gay writer, lives alone in an almost empty London tower block. One night, when the fire alarm goes off, he meets fellow resident Harry (Paul Mescal). Although they seem to hit it off, Harry soon realizes that Andrew is preoccupied with his script and his past, especially when he decides to revisit his old childhood home. Strange occurrences begin a conversation between himself and his deceased parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), conversations that should have happened many years before.

Similar to his previous films, Weekend (2011) and 45 Years (2015), director and writer Andrew Haigh delves into the difficulties of ‘coming out’ and unresolved emotional trauma, adapting loosely from Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel. Without focusing on supernatural or psychological reasons behind Adam’s haunting experiences, Haigh concentrates on the prickly relationships and tormenting regrets in this surreal, moving feature. Scott delivers a superb performance as the introverted lead character, often displaying believable adolescent vulnerability in his interactions with Foy and Bell’s sensitively portrayed parents. Haigh’s spooky cinematography enhances the uncanny atmosphere with evocatively lurid lighting choices and reflective surfaces that blur his lead actors. This is a beautiful, sublime yet painful piece of cinema that is a strong contender for my film of the year.

Where to Watch: All of Us Strangers can be watched on Disney + and Amazon Prime now.

My Verdict //  ★★★★★

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THE ZONE OF INTEREST: The Home Economics of Auschwitz Leaves A Truly Disturbing Impression.

Director: Jonathan Glazer / Screenplay: Jonathan Glazer – based loosely on the novel ‘The Zone of Interest’ by Martin Amis.

In 1943, the Höss family lived their routine existence near the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. When commandant Rudolf (Christian Friedel) is forced to transfer to another part of the ‘Final Solution’, his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), is uncomfortable with uprooting their family from their home.

This historical drama, directed by Jonathan Glazer, captures the insight of German-Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt’s infamous phrase ‘the banality of evil’. Unlike other violent depictions of the Nazi concentration camps, the focus here is on the domesticity within the proximity of mass extermination. The horror is felt through the scattered sounds of gunshots and the dreadful, pervasive churning of nearby furnaces, creating queasiness underneath the scenes of the Höss’ daily lives. Friedel and Hüller’s performances are disturbing for sustaining the impression of desensitization in an environment of normalized racialized privilege.

The film ends with a shocking moment, revealing the cleaning staff at work in the present memorial exhibitions at Auschwitz, underscoring a disturbing insight from this twentieth-century horror: what humans are capable of abiding with when confronted by mass destruction.

Where to Watch: The Zone of Interest can be watched on Amazon Prime and Curzon Home Cinema now.

My Verdict //  ★★★★★

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DUNE – PART TWO: Villeneuve’s Second Half Of Herbert’s Novel Ascends To Cinematic Greatness.

Director: Denis Villeneuve / Screenplay: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts – based on the novel ‘Dune’ by Frank Herbert.

Full podcast episode here.

Beginning moments after 2021’s Dune: Part One, usurped custodians of the arid planet Arrakis Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) find themselves surviving among the indigenous Fremen. As their fugitive life in the desert becomes more complicated due to the belligerently violent Harkonnens (Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista and Austin Butler), Paul begins to realise his destiny as a liberating crusader. However, will his growing exalted status be used to free the planet for his lover Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen, or form part of a millennia long power-play for the galaxy’s throne? 

Villeneuve’s bold, brutal, brooding second half is a soaring success. Taking creative liberties with Frank Herbert’s source material proves remarkably satisfying, especially concerning the vantage given to Zendaya’s wary freedom fighter and Javier Bardem’s satirically comedic zealot. After a slow start, Villeneuve gradually tilts the film, creating a fastening pace until the movie slides into a terrifically grandiose climatic showdown. Arguably the most successful sci-fi/fantasy adaptation since Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003), Villeneuve proves victorious in taming this (in)famously ‘unfilmmable’ novel while also making a bid for a future cinematic Dune saga.

For now, this two-parter is the mind-thriller. 

Where to Watch: Dune- Part Two can be watched on Amazon Prime now.

My Verdict //  ★★★★★

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怪物 (MONSTER): Kore-eda Channels Kurosawa In This Unassumingly Devastating Drama.

Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda / Screenplay: Yuji Sakamoto

When single mum Saori Mugino (Sakura Andō) notices her son, Minato (Sōya Kurokawa), is acting strangely, she decides to investigate. Her suspicions come up against a coldly bureaucratic school system that seems to be protecting an abusive teacher and an apathetic principal. As Minato’s behaviour becomes more erractic, Saori’s pursuit to confront his abuser becomes more dogged. Yet, does she really have the full picture of the situation? 

Hirokazu Kore-ed’a latest melancholic drama on difficult family relationships appears to take inspiration from famed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950). Inspired by Rashomon’s conceit of retelling the story from different points-of-view, pivotal moments in Monster are explored through at least three different characters and just when you think you have the story settled, the subsequent point-of-view upends your ideas completely. Perspective is everything and this film sensitively explores the prevalence of social reputation, suspicion and prejudice in present-day Japan. While slightly deviating from his lighter portrayals of ordinary life for a sustained thriller-like tone, Kore-eda loses none of the naturalistic, sympathetic performances that makes his work so compelling.  

Who or what exactly is the ‘monster’ of the movie’s title? This troubling question lingers throughout, and the answer might just surprise you. 

Where to Watch: 怪物 (Monster) can be watched on Curzon Home Cinema now.

My Verdict //  ★★★★★

And here are my honourable mentions, some of which are available now on multiple streaming services…

Poor Things (Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, Screenplay. Tony McNamara – based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray): Emma Stone proves dead-funny and committed as Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by Willem Dafoe’s ‘Frankenstein’-like surgeon. After leaving her ‘creator’, Bella discovers all the desire, derangement and danger of the world. Adapting Alasdair Gray’s post-modern revision of Mary Shelley’s famous 19th Century Gothic novel, the director’s anachronistic cinematic style pieces together visual quirks from a whole plethora of comparably odd directors (most strikingly reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Wes Anderson and David Lynch). It’s a darkly delightful watch with hilarious turns from pompous poseur Mark Ruffalo (and many wandering British accents from the whole cast). Unfortunately, this latest feature doesn’t quite have the deeper emotional beats of Lanthimos’ award-winning The Favourite (2018), but continues to prove the director-writer is one of the most unapologetically eccentric filmmakers working in the mainstream today. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

The Holdovers (Dir. Alexander Payne, Screenplay. David Hemingson): Curmudgeonly history teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) and sulky student Angus Tulley (Dominic Sessa) are stuck in a merry war when the latter is left as a holiday ‘holdover’ at a prestigious New England prep school. As the unrelenting winter weather forces them to hunker down and tempers begin to fray, the two start learning more about each other…and themselves. This nostalgic drama-comedy from director Alexander Payne and writer David Hemingson is sincere, sentimental and lovingly realised (recreating the smoky atmospheres and grainy, scratchy film textures of late 20th Century cinema). The three main stars- Giamatti, Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph- are wonderful in portraying their characters’ complexity and humour during this unexpected entanglement. Definitely one to watch for its sweet yet enduring message: it’s never too late in life to start again. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

American Fiction (Dir. Cord Jefferson, Screenplay. Cord Jefferson – based on the 2001 novel ‘Erasure’ by Percival Everett): Exasperated by his lack of critical success and the commercial fetishisation of Black literature to the white gaze, author Thelonius ‘Monk’ Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) decides to write a stereotypical novel of dysfunctional ‘ghetto’ life in a pique of frustration. The joke is on him though when his publisher is calling with major book deals and someone already wants the film rights. Alongside these sharp satirical scenes, director Cord Jefferson’s adaptation of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel also shows the Ellison family’s personal triumphs and tragedies poignantly. This is a pointedly juxtaposed portrayal of a black family struggling with issues that go beyond the ‘color line’. Wright and Sterling K. Brown wrestle out their sibling rivalry with equal amusement and affection. Alongside the nuances and difficulties of this family (which also catches Wright’s taciturn protagonist’s own prejudices in the mirror), American Fiction explores with uncompromising, irreverent intelligence how ‘Blackness’ is conceived, consumed and counted in America today. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

The Color Purple (Dir. Blitz Bazawule, Screenplay. Marcus Gardley – based on the 2005 Broadway musical inspired by the 1982 novel by Alice Walker): Broadway’s musical version of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel comes to life in Blitz Bazawule’s vibrant, uproarious and heart-pounding tale of repression and reward. Fantasia Barrino plays Celie Harris, a young black woman shunted off to the abusive Mr. Albert (Colman Domingo) and permanently separated from her young sister Nettie (Halle Bailey). There’s some softening of the novel’s bitterly bleak scenarios and the love-affair between Celie and vivacious, no-nonsense jazz star Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), but this is a tour-de-force of Barrino’s serene vocals (alongside wonderful sisterly performances from Henson and Danielle Brooks). In turns tender and tough, this is a compelling musical that blossoms with its catchy score, sublime acting, and theatrical cinematography. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Io Capitano (Dir. Matteo Garrone, Screenplay. Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini, Andrea Tagliaferri): When Sengalese teenagers Seydou and Moussa aspire to greatness and decide to leave their home without telling their parents, they embark on what they think will be a journey of a lifetime. Instead, it is a tumultuous trip that confronts the young men with the harshest of realities. A harrowing watch from director Matteo Garrone which starts as a budding teenage ‘road movie’ and descends into an unflinching insight on the horrors of migrating across North Africa today. As the comforts of their home fall behind, Garrone portrays the journey as a series of exploitative, violent and laborious events across both fiery deserts and perilous seas. Leading actors Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall are deeply affecting in their roles, depicting the boys’ wilfulness turning into despair as they trudge on. Only an optimistic, listless denouement seems to weaken this otherwise powerful portrayal of the region’s devastation after a period of political revolution and civil war. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Challengers (Dir. Luca Guadagnino, Screenplay. Justin Kuritzkes): When US tennis’ power couple Tashi and Art (a former sports prodigy and her champion player husband played by Zendaya and Mike Faist) decide to enter a minor league before the US Open, they are confronted with the rough, boorish, haphazard Patrick (Josh O’Connor). Beneath the back-and-forth of this seemingly innocuous match lies the unresolved suspicions, passions and pains between the three that has existed since their junior league days. As the tension rises in each set of the match, it appears that the stakes are higher than who takes home the trophy. Guadagnino’s thrilling ménage à trois romance thriller uses Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ moody synth score and a rally-like structure to energise the unravelling of the film’s non-chronological story (in stark contrast to the languid pacing or disconcertingly quiet atmospheres in the filmmaker’s 2017 coming-of-age gay romance Call Me By Your Name and 2022 dark cannibal drama Bones and All). While Zendaya and O’Connor don’t really convince as older and younger versions of their characters respectively, the leading trio still give intriguing enough performances that it keeps you guessing how this game of competing attention will be resolved. It’s an engaging depiction of messy relationships, transferred dreams and the collision between ambition and commitment that ratchets up to a deliriously satisfying climax. My Verdict // ★★★★☆

Civil War (Dir. Alex Garland, Screenplay. Alex Garland): Set in the not-to-distant future (next year perhaps?), the United States has descended into a civil war that has seen states secede from the union and the President bunker down in the White House. Dogged war photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and her vainglorious journalist partner (Wagner Moura) decide to launch a ‘suicide mission’ to the nation’s capital to interview the besieged President. However, when aspiring young reporter Jessie (Cailee Spreng) joins the group, she’ll discover what haunts this intrepid gang: the face of war. Director-writer Alex Garland’s uncannily eerie depiction of American breakdown is reminiscent of Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men (2006) and Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now! (1979) though without as much understanding of social disintegration and war’s violent delirium as explored in those two movies. Unfortunately, despite its often nail-biting, seat-grabbing tense action-sequences, Garland has tried to be too politically non-partisan to really offer much commentary here that isn’t banal. The insight that war reporting can be fatally addictive and that the theatre of war is often senseless, organised murder can already be found in the correspondence of war reporters such as Marie Colvin and Chris Hedges. The cinematography veers wildly between computer-generated battlefields and the grittier ground-zero perspective of the pursuing reporters to perplexing effect. Fortunately, Dunst’s grimly determined chronicler is engaging enough to carry you through this otherwise passable action-thriller. My Verdict // ★★★☆☆

Check back in August when I’ll be reviewing my four favourite films from the mid-point of the year!