Previous Articles in the Series
30 – American Fiction
We’re resuming our rundown of the 50 best films of 2024 in the UK with American Fiction. Released in February of this year, American Fiction is a satirical comedy from first-time director Cord Jefferson. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including both Best Picture and Best Actor for Jeffrey Wright. American Fiction tells the story of Thelonius “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), a college professor turned fiction writer. Monk’s books have received critical acclaim amongst the academic community, but this acclaim has failed to translate to commercial success.
While attending a seminar in Boston, Monk meets fellow African-American academic, Sintara Golden (Issa Rae). Monk and Sintara clash over her novel ‘We Lives in da Ghetto’, which Monk feels panders to stereotypes about African-Americans. In an attempt to prove a point, he writes and sends to a publisher a satirical novel called ‘My Pafology’, which plays into these racist tropes. He does this under the pseudonym “Stagg R. Leigh”, who Monk claims is an ex-convict. To Monk’s surprise, the publisher loves ‘My Pafology’. Monk writes another novel in this style called ‘Fuck’. A Hollywood studio buys the rights to adapt the book into a movie.
I felt American Fiction was an entertaining analysis of modern American society. Jeffrey Wright as always is fantastic as Monk. He perfectly conveys the character’s bemusement at American society’s current obsession with identity politics and pigeon-holing minority communities. At times this social commentary can feel a bit heavy-handed though. But for the most part, American Fiction sticks the landing in its cutting analysis of racial biases.
29 – The Room Next Door
The Room Next Door is a drama starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, directed by legendary Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. Despite having a career spanning six decades, it is Almodóvar’s first English-language film. The Room Next Door follows writer Ingrid Parker (Julianne Moore). Ingrid reunites with a former colleague Martha (Tilda Swinton), and they rekindle their friendship. Ingrid learns that Martha is suffering from a terminal form of cancer and has a short amount of time left. Martha informs Ingrid she plans on taking her own life, placing strain on their newly rekindled friendship.
Despite its starry cast and the involvement of Pedro Almodóvar, I was fairly lukewarm on The Room Next Door. As a piece of cinema, it is a beautiful-looking film. Much of the movie takes place inside Martha’s apartment, and the detailing and placement of items in this space is truly impressive. My other major frustration with The Room Next Door stems from the performances of Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. While I thought their acting was excellent throughout The Room Next Door, I felt their line delivery was stilted and overly theatrical. This meant I struggled to connect emotionally with the characters.
28 – Wicked Little Letters
Released early this year, Wicked Little Letters is an English comedy starring Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley. Wicked Little Letters is based on the true story of the Littlehampton libels. This story involves the mystery of a series of poison pen letters with obscene language sent to residents of the village of Littlehampton. Jessie Buckley plays Rose Gooding, a single mother in the village. Olivia Coleman meanwhile plays the role of Edith Swan, a churchgoing pillar of the community who regularly clashes with Rose. Rose is initially the main suspect for sending these letters. The only person who believes Rose’s innocence is PC Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan), who launches an investigation to try and catch the real culprit.
With its idyllic English village setting, Wicked Little Letters is another film released this year designed to appeal to a certain type of audience. This audience tends to be fans of shows like Call The Midwife or Downtown Abbey. However, Wicked Little Letters elevates itself above the level of being merely watchable in part due to its stellar cast. Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley are both excellent as Edith and Rose respectively. And Timothy Spall is also fantastic as Edward Swan, Rose’s controlling and judgemental father. Wicked Little Letters is also surprisingly funny. Sure the colourful language in these poison pen letters is a bit juvenile. But the cast delivers it with such gusto and glee, that it’s hard not to crack a smile at some of these vulgarities.
27 – Rumours
Rumours was released here in the UK on December 6th, but it is one of 2024’s funniest films. Named after Fleetwood Mac’s seminal 1977 album of the same name, director Guy Maddin has described his horror comedy as being a movie about regrets. Rumours starts with the leaders of the G7 countries (including Cate Blanchett doing an uncanny impression of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel) meeting to issue a joint statement about an undisclosed global crisis. As the leaders of the seven largest economies in the world grapple with the task of throwing together a statement that quote “doesn’t say anything”, they soon lose track of time. Eventually they realize it’s late at night, by which time their idyllic retreat has been beset by fog and undead bog bodies. This realization causes the politicians to embark on a hilarious journey to try and find some trace of humanity.
Rumours is a comedy that will no doubt divide some viewers. There has been some criticism of the movie, and its portrayal of its G7 leaders as inept, as being anti-politics. However, this was not my reading of the movie. While I agree it does portray the politicians as being out of their depth when they aren’t drafting policies, I think Guy Maddin is merely having a bit of fun with the concept of politicians having to try and survive a cataclysmic event. There’s an absurdity to the sight of seeing the German Chancellor and Canadian Prime Minister engage in foreplay involving political jargon. The same can said about Charles Dance playing the role of the President of the United States, but speaking in a perfect English accent.
24 – Between The Temples
The next entry in my rundown of the best films of 2024 is Between The Temples. Between the Temples is a comedy-drama starring Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane. Schwartzman plays Ben Gottlieb, a cantor in a Jewish temple who is grieving the death of his wife. Ben’s grief causes him to undergo a crisis of faith that manifests itself in his inability to sing. After getting into a fight in a local bar, Ben encounters his former music teacher Carla Kessler (Carol Kane). The two then strike up an unlikely friendship.
I felt Between the Temples was a sweet comedy. Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane have an easygoing charm to their friendship. I found it refreshing to see a comedy involving a man and a woman becoming friends, and not trying and force them into a romantic/sexual relationship.
25 – The Other Way Around
The film occupying the mid-point in my list of the 50 best films of 2024 is The Other Way Around. The Other Way Around (Volveréis in Spanish) is a Franco-Spanish comedy that was released in Spain back in August. The film then went on to have its UK premiere as part of the BFI London Film Festival in October. The Other Way Around was also shown as part of the Belfast Film Festival the following month, which was when I saw it.
The Other Way Around follows a couple – Alex (Vito Sanz) and Ale (Itasso Arana) – living in Madrid. Ale is a filmmaker, while Alex is an actor appearing in Ale’s latest film. At the start of the film, Alex and Ale lie in bed together discussing their plans to break up after being in a relationship for 15 years. Alex suggests that rather than having to endure a messy break-up, they instead throw a party for their friends to celebrate their time together as a couple. This idea stems from something Ale’s father (played by Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba) mentioned in an offscreen conversation.
The couple tell their friends and family about this decision (a revelation met with much scepticism), which occupies the majority of The Other Way Around. Meanwhile, there is a subplot involving Ale making a movie starring Alex that mirrors the main plot of The Other Way Around.
I felt that The Other Way Around was an utterly charming piece of cinema when I saw it at The Belfast Film Festival. Vito Sanz and Itasso Arana make for a great couple. Viewers can easily buy into the idea of them being in a long-term relationship. The sunny locale of Madrid was also a perfect antidote to long, dark evenings which were starting to take effect when I saw the films.
If I had one minor criticism of The Other Way Around, it would be that its subplot involving Ale’s movie was a bit confusing. This plot is initially introduced via a throwaway line of dialogue in the opening scene of the film. In this scene, Ale states the couple deciding to throw a separation party would make for an interesting idea for a movie. This idea is revisited maybe 20 minutes later when I noticed an editing quirk in a scene. Perhaps this was just ignorance on my part or a lack of fully paying attention, but it took me some time to figure out the meta element of this subplot.
24 – La Chimera
The first of two films in this list to star English actor Josh O’Connor, La Chimera is the latest movie from Alice Rorhwacher. O’Connor plays the role of Arthur, an English archaeologist in 1980s Italy. After his release from prison for robbing graves, Arthur visits Flora, the grandmother of his missing ex-girlfriend Benjamina. While staying there, he encounters Flora’s live-in-maid Italia, whom he eventually starts a relationship with. Arthur’s stay also leads to him reuniting with his old crew of tomb raiders (tombaroli). Over the course of La Chimera, they stage several raids on local tomb sites while attempting to evade local police.
La Chimera was a fascinating piece of cinema. Josh O’Connor is excellent as the forlorn and seemingly emotionless Arthur. O’Connor rarely shows any signs of emotion throughout the film, yet you get the sense his character is undergoing some form of personal struggle.
I also thought the cinematography in La Chimera was excellent. There’s a hazy and dreamlike quality to Hélène Louvar’s cinematography. This combined with some of the magic realism elements Alice Rorchacher employs e.g. Arthur seemingly has the supernatural ability to divine tomb locations, gives the movie an otherworldly quality.
23 – Io Capitano
Io Capitano is a drama directed by Matteo Garrone. It follows a pair of Senegalese teenagers – Seydoiu and Moussa – who decide to leave their home in Dakar. This decision is sparked by a desire to escape poverty. Seydou and Moussa embark on a dangerous journey to Italy. The journey sees them encounter numerous hazards. These include slave traders, people smugglers, and the deadly heat of the Sahara desert.
Io Capitano is a daring and empathetic exploration of the dangerous journeys thousands of migrants undertake each year. Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall are both excellent as the film’s two idealistic, but ultimately naive protagonists. Matteo Garrone also makes excellent use of some elements of magical realism in Io Capitano. This is best demonstrated in one scene in Io Capitano where Seydou and Moussa are traversing the Sahara with a group of migrants. A woman in the group collapses from heat exhaustion, where she is left for dead. Seydou later has a dream, in which he sees the woman rising and floating across the desert sands. I felt this scene was incredibly moving, and it has stayed with me ever since.
22 – Four Daughters
Four Daughters is an Arabic-language documentary from Kaouthur Ben Hania. It tells the story of two Tunisian daughters radicalized by the Islamic State terrorist organization. The story is told from the perspective of the mother Olfa, and also her two remaining daughters: Eya and Tayssir. To help Olfa process the events of the documentary, Kaouthir Ben Hania invites two professional actresses to play Olfa’s daughters.
I found Four Daughters to be a powerful and thought-provoking documentary. The conceit of the two actresses taking the place of the two missing daughters Rahma and Ghofrane doesn’t always work. Despite this criticism, I was engrossed by how Rahma and Ghofrane’s radicalization happened over a short period. I also appreciated how sensitively Kaouthur Ben Hania handled the making of her documentary. Viewers witness Olfa’s grief and acceptance of the loss of her daughters throughout Four Daughters. At no point do you get the sense the director is trying to exploit Olfa and her two remaining daughters. Instead, everyone involved in the making of the documentary comes across as genuine. There are some beautiful and touching moments in Four Daughters where you can see the documentary crew help Olfa, Eye, and Teyssir process their emotions, and it is truly an inspirational piece of filmmaking.
21 – All of Us Strangers
Finishing up just outside of the top 20 films of the year is All of Us Strangers. All of Us Strangers is a romantic fantasy directed by Andrew Haigh, starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. It is a loose adaption of the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada.
Adam Scott plays the role of Adam, a television screenwriter living in London, in what feels like a near-empty apartment block. One night Adam encounters another resident – Harry (Paul Mescal), who makes an unsuccessful pass at Adam. Harry and Adam do eventually start a relationship, and they start to slowly build a life together.
While Adam is starting his romance with Harry, he is also regularly visiting his childhood home. Early in the film, we learn that both of Adam’s parents died in a car accident in the 1980s. Despite this fact, Adam’s visits to his childhood home take a ghostly turn when he encounters both apparitions of his deceased parents (played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell). This encounter leads to Adam regularly visiting the house, where he engages in lengthy discussions with his parents.
At its core, All of Us Strangers is a ghost story. Adam Scott gives a standout performance here as the introverted and emotionally distant Adam. There is an enormous sadness to Andrew Scott’s performance as Adam. Despite being in his early 40s, Adam is clearly still grieving the loss of his parents as a child. It is hard not to think of these visits to his childhood home, as well as his writing, as his character trying to process and understand this grief. Unfortunately, while I could appreciate the strength of the performance Andrew Scott gives in All of Us Strangers, I struggled to become emotionally invested in this plotline.