Patrick Howard’s Top 10 Films of 2024

Where I have previously reviewed the film (in this case, there is just one), the title is hyperlinked to that review. Where I have not, I have written a short description of the movie to help explain why I chose it.

1. Nosferatu (Robert Eggers): No one does a hard-hitting period piece like Robert Eggers! Like an archeologist with a camera, Eggers flaunts his love for history and folk lore in his remake of Nosferatu, a foundational text of the horror genre.

2. Conclave (Edward Berger): Prestige and pulp collide beautifully in Edward Berger’s exploration of the messy and petty Vatican politics in choosing the new pope of the Catholic faith. It’s amazing how the over-the-top nature of pulp storytelling can make any seemingly dry topic like the inner workings of the Catholic church so compelling.

3. Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve): I think the notion of there being stories that are unadaptable is heading out the door. The relationship between power and religion is on full, epic display in the second half of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s landmark science-fiction novel.

4. Longlegs (Osgood Perkins): As a longtime fan of The X-Files and Silence of the Lambs, I was happy to see Osgood Perkins take a familiar cat-and-mouse story but imbue it with the off-kilter and challenging sensibilities of independent cinema.

5. Veselka (Michael Fiore)

6. Monkey Man (Dev Patel): Dev Patel’s directorial debut is not a perfect response to the stunt-filled, gun-fu action cinema of the John Wick films, but it has plenty of heart, cultural significance, and arthouse weirdness.

7. The First Omen (Arkasha Stevenson): Was anyone else ready to write this prequel film off before it came out? Arkasha Stevenson’s direction elevates this material, to everyone’s surprise, and ends up being one of the unnecessary prequels with the most artistic merit to boast.

8. Alien: Romulus (Fede Alvarez): With the growing mixed reactions to the lore heavy Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott looked to Fede Alvarez, director of Don’t Breathe and the 2013 Evil Dead, to bring the Alien franchise back to its body and sex-horror roots.

9. A Quiet Place: Day One (Michael Sarnoski): 2024 has been a real surprise of tentpole blockbusters, both prequels and sequels, that showcase genuine artistic efforts from their filmmakers. This may sound unbelievable, but the story of a cancer patient fighting for the remaining pleasures of her life mixed well with the tropes of the alien invasion sub-genre.

10. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Wes Ball): Fox Studios took the risk and moved away from the primary protagonist of their most recent Planet of the Apes trilogy, Caesar, and pushed the franchise’s narrative 300 years into the future. With Kingdom, director Wes Ball explores the messy evolution of Caesar as a now-religious figure to this new generation of intelligent apes.

Patrick Howard

Patrick Howard has been a cinephile since age seven. Alongside 10 years of experience in film analysis and criticism, he is a staunch supporter of all art forms and believes their influence and legacy over human culture is vital. Mr. Howard takes the time to write his own narrative stories when he can.