The 26 Best Movies Of 2024 So Far

There is no such thing as a bad year for movies. And 2024 is already shaping up to be no exception. 

As we write this intro, it's still fairly early in the year, but we've already seen plenty of terrific films. Some of them are currently in theaters. Some of them are streaming or available for rental. A few of them have played film festivals and will find their way into some kind of release this year. But all of the entries on this list of the best movies of 2024 so far have one thing in common: they're worth your time. 

Comedies, science fiction epics, documentaries, action films, romances, animation — this list already has it all, and we're just getting started. Let's dive in. (Naturally, this list will be continuously updated throughout the year as we see more movies you need to have on your radar).

"Civil War" is one of the most unsettling movies of 2024, a terrifying but sober-minded look at an alternate future where all of America's many divisions come home to roost. But it's also weirdly apolitical for a film about the United States split into a brutal, three-way armed conflict. Set near the end of the war, it follows characters who are straight-up tired of it all, folks who no longer think about why it all started and mostly just want to see how it ends. By obfuscating his film's politics, writer/director Alex Garland brings everything into crystal clear focus: When the bullets start flying and people start dying, the "why" of it all ceases to matter, and we're stuck in a fresh, horrible hell that we should've avoided at all costs. 

Like Garland's previous films (including "Annihilation" and "Ex Machina"), "Civil War" is a technical marvel that suggests scale beyond the frame and finds incredible beauty in the unusual and terror in the mundane. The first part of the film, an episodic road trip through a broken America, sets the stage for a violent, blistering third act that feels like an exacting recreation of a historical event that hasn't happened yet. You've never seen anything quite like it. (Jacob Hall)

Director: Alex Garland

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Nick Offerman, Jesse Plemmons, Stephen McKinley Henderson

Rating: R

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Angela Patton and Natalie Rae's "Daughters" is one of the most devastating films you'll see this year. This documentary follows a group of young girls and their incarcerated fathers as they prepare for and participate in a daddy/daughter dance in the prison where their fathers are temporarily being held. As you can imagine, it's a highly emotional experience watching these little girls, many of whom are too young to fully even comprehend why their fathers aren't able to live with them at home, reunite with their dads ... sometimes after years apart from them. For the girls who are a little older and who do understand the dynamics at play, it's fascinating to watch them blame their fathers for the behavior that got them locked up in the first place, but still go on a roller coaster of emotions as they're able to spend face-to-face time with them at this dance (and sometimes even confront them about their actions).

Crucially, the doc never stops to moralize at you or preach anything from on high. The filmmakers know their most effective way to criticize the prison industrial complex is to take a topic that's often talked about in broad terms and boil it down to human beings — people with lives and histories and relationships and families. It's a smart approach, and a highly effective one; you come away from this movie heartbroken about the state of incarceration in this country, but also with a blueprint for rehabilitation. (Ben Pearson)

Director: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae

Cast: Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, Ja'Ana

Rating: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

As if adapting Frank Herbert's beloved sci-fi epic "Dune" wasn't difficult enough, director Denis Villeneuve decided to really flex his filmmaking muscles in "Dune: Part Two" and improve upon the source material. This sequel brings forward thematic elements from Herbert's second novel in the series, "Dune Messiah," just to make sure no one in the audience can mistake this for a "yay, aren't messiahs great?" story. Zendaya's Chani, who was the characterization equivalent of a stick figure in the novel, becomes a true deuteragonist with a vital point of view. Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Jessica also has an expanded role, complete with face tattoos and an even creepier Voice.

On this robust framework of a story is laid a masterwork of filmmaking technique, with everything from sound design to the costumes to the real sand dunes coming together to bring the planet of Arrakis to life. Shooting on location in the desert may have left the entire cast and crew "sand-traumatized" (in Villeneuve's words), but it paid off. "Dune: Part Two" is a feast for the senses and food for thought. But even if it wasn't, it would be worth watching simply for Stilgar's (Javier Bardem) ecstatic reactions every time a "prophecy" about Lisan al Gaib gets fulfilled. (Hannah Shaw-Williams)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh

Rating: PG-13

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Life-changing events rarely present themselves in a convenient and orderly fashion, preferring to instead come at you sideways when your guard's down. It's not just the bad life events like in Dan Levy's feature directing debut, "Good Grief"; his CBC Television sitcom "Schitt's Creek" was a modest cult hit before rapidly crossing over into the mainstream thanks to the Netflix "bump," thrusting its co-creator and star into the spotlight. "Good Grief" feels as much like Levy's way of showing there's more to him than (ew) David Rose as it does his attempt to process heartache from recent personal losses through his art. And just like a decent person struggling to move on from the end of a chapter in their life, the film stumbles at times yet is saved by Levy's earnest, considerate approach.

When we meet Marc (Levy) in "Good Grief," he's settled into a comfy existence illustrating his successful author-husband Oliver's (Luke Evans) books. However, when disaster strikes, it leads to Marc uncovering some painful truths about his life's choices and marriage, forcing him and his besties — free-spirited Sophie (Ruth Negga) and uptight Thomas (Himesh Patel) — to take a hard look at themselves as they all try to move forward. Even with its swanky European scenery and a cast of beautiful, well-to-do actors portraying beautiful, well-to-do, messy people, "Good Grief" avoids playing like a naval-gazing mopefest, becoming something much more thoughtful and emotionally mature. Levy may be a nepo baby, but he remains one of the finest nepo babies in the business. (Sandy Schaefer)

Director: Dan Levy

Cast: Dan Levy, Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel, Luke Evans, Celia Imrie, David Bradley, and Arnaud Valois

Rating: R

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%

Norwegian boy Mats Steen was born with a degenerative muscular disorder that killed him at the age of 25. Director Benjamin Ree (who previously directed the jaw-dropping documentary "The Painter and the Thief") returns to the documentary format with this film, which begins as a typical exploration of Mats' life from his family's perspective, full of home video footage and their observations and memories about him. Confined to his wheelchair and not able to easily participate in traditional sports or other social activities, Mats spent thousands of hours absorbed in his computer playing World of Warcraft. From his parents' POV, their son spending so much time playing a game seemed like a tragedy. They were saddened to think he would never experience love, heartbreak, friendship, community — all the things any parent would hope for their children.

But the film shifts perspective, and as we quickly learn, Mats was able to experience all of those things and more while playing this game. Using transcripts of his interactions with other gamers inside this fictional world and utilizing World of Warcraft character models (Mats' character's name is Ibelin), Ree is able to recreate this remarkable person's digital life and show both us and his parents just how meaningful Mats' life was, despite the hand fate dealt him at birth. It's a movie that will leave you weeping ... but in a good way. (Ben Pearson)

Director: Benjamin Ree

Cast: Mats Steen

Rating: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

Some people fear monsters. Some people fear heights. Me? I fear organized religion (and lawn gnomes, but that's a whole different story). It's one thing to have faith in a higher being, a way to find comfort and provide answers to some of life's most uncomfortable mysteries. It's something else entirely to use that faith as a cudgel, a means to oppress, abuse, or even murder those in the name of your religion. And yet, there are still steadfast people who continue to insist that their belief system and lifestyle is mandatory for the betterment of the world, and will attempt to gain that supremacy by any means necessary.

"Immaculate," the Sydney Sweeney nunsploitation pic from director Michael Mohan and writer Andrew Lobel kicks this idea into overdrive, addressing the inherent horror of Catholicism by manipulating common religious horror tropes into something fresh and terrifying, without ever sacrificing the deeply thoughtful story. Sweeney shines as Sister Cecilia, a young American nun who has recently joined an isolated convent in Italy, one that harbors a disturbing, insidious secret. This isn't just one of the best horror movies of the year, it's one of the best movies of the year, period. Horror has often been one of the best genres to dissect our cultural anxieties and make broad statements creatively — and the last five minutes of this film are bursting with enough commentary to justify a semester-long academic dissection. (BJ Colangelo)

Director: Michael Mohan

Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Simona Tabasco, Benedetta Porcaroli

Rating: R

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%

The found footage/mockumentary horror subgenre gets a bad wrap. To be fair, there are a lot of lousy movies with shaky hand-held camera work and actors badly improv-ing lines in ways that make you want to tear your hair out. But there are also diamonds in the rough; films in the subgenre made with great skill and care that remind us that when employed correctly, horror mockumentaries can deliver. "Late Night with the Devil" is one of the best examples in recent memory — a clever, layered, well-constructed, and ultimately scary mockumentary that takes the form of footage from a late-night talk show from the 1970s. "Night Owls with Jack Delroy" is a "Tonight Show" clone hosted by Jack Delroy, played with skill by David Dastmalchian, one of those great character actors who finally gets a shot at being the lead. It's Halloween night, and Jack is desperate for a ratings win. His guests for the evening include a parapsychologist and her patient, a young girl who is the only survivor of a suicidal Satanic cult. Jack hopes to summon some sort of demonic force live on air — after all, that would be a hell of a show.

As you might guess, things go wrong — horribly wrong. But "Late Night with the Devil" takes its time, deftly setting a mood and atmosphere that almost lulls the audience into a false sense of safety. Things are played for laughs at first — until they aren't. It all culminates in a ghoulish grand finale that tips the film from "good" to "great" territory. Get ready to revisit this every Halloween, just like another classic horror mockumentary. (Chris Evangelista)

Director: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes

Cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli

Rating: R

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

I can't speak for anyone else on the /Film staff, but it's going to be pretty difficult for any film in 2024 to surpass "Love Lies Bleeding" as my favorite film of the year. This sweaty, dusty, sun-soaked noir incorporates elements of body horror, queer romance, and second amendment worshipping America to create a gripping thriller hellbent on seducing the audience with sex and violent revenge. An in-her-element Kristen Stewart and a gorgeously formidable Katy O'Brian play Lou the gym manager and Jackie the bodybuilder, respectively, in their quest to escape their pasts, grip into their new relationship with all ten fingers, and pull no punches.

As /Film's Bill Bria wrote in his review out of Sundance, "Its core narrative may not be all that surprising or even shocking, but the depiction feels utterly unique and refreshingly progressive in a way that doesn't feel a need to call too much attention to itself. The enigmatic title (seemingly borrowed from one of a handful of pop songs to use the phrase) at first feels ominous, and certainly could refer to one of the corpses found in the film."

Equal parts pulp and eroticism, "Love Lies Bleeding" lures the audience in only to crack open skulls and dribble spit into the ridges of our brains. And we should all be thanking Rose Glass for the honor and pleasure. (BJ Colangelo)

Director: Rose Glass

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian, Ed Harris

Rating: R

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

There was one glorious period when millions of movie lovers around the country had the chance to see nearly limitless movies for next to nothing. Anyone who lived through the heyday of MoviePass can surely attest to the insanely high highs of the movie ticket subscription service, followed by the unbelievably low lows. This is an experience so many of us shared, but "MoviePass, MovieCrash" is a documentary that shines a bright, ugly light on the company's meteoric rise and stunning downfall. As director Muta'Ali reveals in this illuminating film, it was all so much worse than any of us could have realized.

Using new interviews and archival footage, Muta'Ali kind of allows the story to speak for itself. There is a line from "Watchmen" where Rorschach says, "Funny story. Sounds unbelievable. Must be true." That's kind of how the story of MoviePass feels. It was a very good idea that was ruined by some guys with the wrong idea. Watching it unfold in documentary form? It's like watching newsreel footage of a car accident. It's hard to watch, but it's also hard to look away. For anyone who had an experience with this whole thing a few years ago, this is a treasure trove of information explaining what went wrong and why it went wrong. Maddening though it may be, it's a story that deserved to be told. (Ryan Scott)

Director: Muta'Ali

Cast: Stacy Spikes, Mitch Lowe, Hamet Watt, and Ted Farnsworth

Rating: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Score: N/A

The most powerful selling point for "Orion and the Dark" is that it features a voice cameo by Werner Herzog as the narrator of an experimental short film that was too avant-garde for Sundance and (later on in the movie) the narrator of a planetarium exhibit. Who doesn't want to hear Herzog talking about the stars?

Based on the book of the same name by Emma Yarlett, "Orion and the Dark" is the story of a little boy called Orion (Jacob Tremblay) who is scared of everything, from answering questions in class to flushing the toilet (what if it clogs and floods the whole school?!) to saying "good morning" (what if accidentally it comes out as "good dorning"?!). He's scared of monsters, bees, the ocean, mosquito bites ... but most of all he's scared of the dark. One night, the Dark (Paul Walter Hauser) gets sick of hearing about how much Orion hates him, and arrives in a friendly, anthropomorphic form with an offer to help the kid overcome his fears by facing them head-on.

With a script by the notoriously meta screenwriter Charlie Kaufman ("Being John Malkovich"), "Orion and the Dark" goes in some strange and unexpected directions, but that beats the boring cookie-cutter approach to kids' movies. It's not perfect, but it's an enjoyably weird ride. (Hannah Shaw-Williams)

Director: Sean Charmatz

Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser

Rating: TV-Y7

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

I'll be blunt: Jesse Eisenberg's directorial debut, the Sundance title "When You Finish Saving the World," was a disappointment. In fact, I'll just go ahead and call it a bad movie. So when Eisenberg returned to Sundance this year with a new film, "A Real Pain," I wasn't exactly champing at the bit to see it. But you know what? Eisenberg has grown as a filmmaker and delivered one of the best films of 2024. 

In "A Real Pain," Eisenberg plays David, a nervous, awkward guy who travels to Poland with his cousin Benji (Kieran Culkin) in the wake of their grandmother's death. Benji is the complete opposite of David — he's funny, he's charming, he's commanding. He can also be kind of a dick, but he still has a way of winning people over. The two cousins are part of a tour group traveling through sites in Poland, and while some of the spots end up being lighthearted, others are weighted with tragedy. Through it all, David struggles to understand his cousin, who seems to be in the midst of some kind of slow-motion nervous breakdown.

Culkin is the glue that binds the film together. His work as Benji is so raw and so unflinching that it's a wonder to behold. While some might see this as an extension of his smart-ass "Succession" character, the work Culkin is doing here is on a different level. It's a nuanced, heartbreaking performance that elevates the film to a whole other level. (Chris Evangelista)

Director: Jesse Eisenberg

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Jennifer Grey

Rating: R

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

With all apologies to the intro for MTV's "Diary" series: you may think you know the story of Christopher Reeve, but you have no idea. Even if you already have a working knowledge of the way Reeve became an internationally known (and beloved) movie star thanks to essaying the title role in 1978's "Superman," even if you know about (or, perhaps, lived through) the years following his tragic horseback riding accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, even if you've heard of the ways Reeve subsequently advocated for funding and research into disability causes, "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story" is an essential watch.

Far more than a rote documentary about a celebrity, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui's film ingeniously conflates Reeve the man and Reeve the pop culture icon, the better to understand the sorrow and the eventual triumph of the Man of Steel having to suffer the hardship and indignity of the loss of his powers and, later, the regaining of his sense of self. While "Super/Man" is undeniably one of the biggest tearjerker docs ever made, it's also a breezy watch, infused with Reeve's indomitable spirit, his artistic curiosity, his family's resilience, and more. What's most delightful about "Super/Man" is that it's a film which, like its subject, isn't interested in wallowing in despair or questions of fairness; instead, it seeks to inspire, both in the hope that the differently abled in the world will be afforded more care and opportunity and in the idea that, with any of the hardships that all of us face, there is a way forward. (Bill Bria)

Directors: Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui

Cast: Christopher Reeve, Dana Reeve, Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels

Rating: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

In a world where "Mission: Impossible" and "John Wick" deliver some of the best blockbuster action we've ever seen, you're not prepared for "Thelma." The official selection from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival follows June Squibb as the titular character, a widowed grandmother who gets conned by a phone scammer who poses as her grandson and convinces her to send $10,000 through the mail to bail him out of jail. When she realizes her mistake, she's not willing to accept the swindle, and she sets out across Los Angeles to track down those behind the deception. But in order to do that, she has to trick her grandson, steal her friend's motorized scooter, and get ahold of a gun. Thelma is not messing around, and you do not want to cross her. Unless she thinks she might recognize you from somewhere, in which case you're in for a charming little conversation, even if she realizes that she doesn't actually know you.

Josh Margolin makes his directorial debut with the action comedy that doesn't try to parody the genre, but plays everything straight and earnest, making for genuine laughs and stirring suspense. The movie is even based on a true story, inspired by Marglolin's own feisty grandmother's experience. Squibb is an utter delight, showing the kind of dedication and attitude that would make Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves proud, and you can't help but have a good time. (Ethan Anderton)

Director: Josh Margolin

Cast: June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg

Rating: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%