2024 was an interesting stop-gap year at the movies. With the industry still recovering from the COVID slowdown, the months-long industry strikes this summer pushed a number of features into 2025, resulting in fewer movies hitting theatres earlier this year. 

That said, the past few months have seen an onslaught of great films hit theatres and streaming services, including a number of the most acclaimed films of the year. 

Our list of our 10 favourite films of 2024 includes films that have opened widely in Canada as of the end of 2024 (The Brutalist fans will have to wait until next year to see if Brady Corbet’s nearly 4-hour epic makes our Best of 2025 list). 

What were your favourite films this year? What did we miss? Let us know in the comments below!

Best Movies of 2024

10. Wicked

Like Elphaba, I have to live my truth: I had a blast with Wicked.

Jon Chu’s blockbuster adaptation of the Wizard of Oz-inspired stage musical dominated the culture in the final months of the year with good reason — it’s hard to leave this film without a spring in your step and a giant goofy smile splashed across your face.

From Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s superb chemistry to the knockout musical numbers that have surely planted their roots deep into everyone’s psyche by now, Wicked was the crowd-pleasing blockbuster of the year.

That said, Wicked isn’t empty spectacle; while most were holding space for the soaring majesty of “Defying Gravity,” it’s the affectionate interplay between Grande and Erivo during the film’s dance sequence that truly speaks to the inner outsider in us all.

9. A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg wrote, directed, and stars in this moving comedy-drama about two estranged cousins (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) travelling to Poland to pay respect to their late grandmother.

Making their way through the country via a Holocaust group tour, the pair’s odd couple dynamic plays out against the horrors of the war their grandmother experienced, as they try to reconcile how they’ve changed and grown apart over the years.

Culkin’s performance has been rightly praised as the more emotional and spontaneous of the duo, but Eisenberg’s tightly-coiled portrayal of someone just trying to keep it together amidst his cousin’s chaos is equally revealing (and likely, more relatable).

8. Vulcanizadora

What would you with your last day on Earth?

In Joel Potrykus’s Vulcanizadora, Derek (Potrykus) and Marty (Joshua Burge) play two middle-aged metalheads who embark on one final hike in the woods before a planned double-suicide. They spend the afternoon getting high, gorging on snacks and reflecting on their failed lives while strolling through the Michigan woods, savouring their final hours in nature before their agreed-upon mutual demise.

Shot on 16mm, Potrykus perfectly captures the serene beauty of the woods, which offsets the constant stream of bro-banter between Marty and Derek. The end result is akin to Terrence Malik directing a Jay and Silent Bob movie; a juxtaposition which then gives way to a surprising second act reveal that completely reshapes the tone and impact of the film.

Reuniting with Joshua Burge in the role of Marty following 2014’s Buzzer, Potrykus’s Vulcanizadora is a beguiling and deeply humanistic film that will linger with you long after the credits roll.

7. The Substance

The most audacious film to hit mainstream theatres in years, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance is a whip-smart satire of the beauty industry and one of the grossest body horror films in ages.

Demi Moore is a revelation as Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading celebrity who gets fired by her creepy boss (Dennis Quaid) due to her age. As the reality of her situation takes hold, she acts on a tip to try a black market drug that promises to rejuvenate her looks.

The Substance does restore Elisabeth’s earlier youthful glow but at a cost; her body has become split into two, creating a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley) that she must swap places with every seven days, or both of her selves will begin to horribly deteriorate.

Shot in a wildly stylistic manner that brings to mind Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, The Substance is a gory black comedy about the pressures society puts on women as they age and the ultimate lengths we’ll go to try and hold onto our youth.

With some of the sickest body horror moments ever displayed in a major cineplex, The Substance was one of the most thrilling movies to see with a packed theatre crowd this year. This is why we go to the movies.

6. Dahomey

Mati Diop’s Dahomey is a striking blend of documentary and narrative film that feels very of the moment. The film centres on 26 prized works of art seized by France from the former Kingdom of Dahomey (now known as The Republic of Benin). Taken during France’s occupation of the Kingdom of Dahomey, the film captures the works being carefully packaged and returned to their homeland, along with all of the questions that their return brings. 

In addition to capturing the ecstasy and the painful questions the returned objects bring from current residents of The Republic of Benin, Diop adds interstitial moments of the prized treasures narrating their journey home, with all of the bewilderment that move brings after decades in captivity. 

Highlighting issues of cultural identity, colonialism, and the role of art and history in day-to-day life, Dahomey is a fascinating hybrid of a film that accomplishes more in its short 68-minute runtime than most 3-hour epic films could ever hope to encompass. 

5. Challengers

Zendaya had quite the year with Dune: Part Two and Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s sweaty, sexy and often hilarious look at the love triangle between three tennis players.

Essentially a story about what it takes to succeed at the highest level and the scarifies that determination brings with it, Challengers was the most alive movie of the year, a pulsating beast of a movie brought to life with Guadagnino’s stylish direction, a trio of stellar performances, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ thumping electronic score.

4. Anora

No other film this year dominated the conversation quite like Sean Baker’s Anora, a complex and nuanced look at a struggling young stripper (Mikey Madison) and her relationship with “Vanya” (Mark Eydelshteyn), the immature son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.

Writer-director Sean Baker portrays sex workers in his films without judgement; they are never sinners or saints, but complicated young people trying to make the best for themselves in difficult situations. That’s the case here with Anora, a smart and tough woman who seizes onto Vanya when they meet at a strip club. Their meeting soon leads to a whirlwind sexual arrangement and a quick marriage, to the utter disbelief of Vanya’s handlers who intercede in an attempt to break up the unlikely duo. 

A great movie about the underbelly of New York, Anora often plays out like a highly-sexualized update of After Hours, filled with knotty characters that you can’t help but root for. That said, the heartbreaking closing scene throws the entire film into a new light, forcing viewers to decide for themselves how to process Anora’s thrilling yet traumatic experience.

3. Ghostlight

One of two films this year about the transportive power of theatre (alongside the equally great Sing Sing), Ghostlight is the story of a blue-collar construction worker (Keith Kupferer) who unexpectedly finds himself in a production of Romeo and Juliet.

Mourning the death of his son who died by suicide, Dan (Kupferer) is barely keeping it together at his job when a road rage incident brings him into the orbit of Rita (Dolly de Leon) an actor in a local community theatre. Sensing that Dan would be a good fit for their upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet, she eventually convenes Dan to take the part, a development he initially keeps secret from his friends and family. As Dan’s life begins to mirror the events of the Shakespeare play, he undergoes a profound transformation that allows him to look at himself and his life in a new light. 

Directed by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, Ghostlight is a wildly moving and empathetic look at how we process grief and the ultimate power that art can play in our everyday lives. 

2. Dune: Part Two

Dune: Part Two is the rare sequel that not only succeeds on its own terms but also makes the first film a deeper and more rewarding watch.

Denis Villeneuve somehow expands the scope of the initial film and delivers one of the most sweeping and grandiose sci-fi epics in years, filled with strong character work by stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, and jaw-dropping moments of action unlike anything audiences have seen before.

The sandworm riding sequence alone remains one of the most thrilling film sequences of all year and proved that properly-done IMAX sequences are an unbeatable cinematic tool in the hands of the right filmmaker. 

1. Red Rooms

Written and directed by Quebec’s own Pascal Plante, Red Rooms is a throughly upsetting thriller about the dangerous allure of our true-crime obsession. 

Juliette Gariépy plays Kelly-Anne, a Montreal model who becomes obsessed with the trail of Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), who is accused of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering a number of young women during live broadcasts in “Red Rooms,” streaming sites on the dark web where anonymous donors pay for the privilege of watching these horrid acts unfold. 

Sitting in at the trial everyday, Kelly-Anne becomes increasingly unhinged as the trial continues, delving deeper into the dark web to explore the case while her personal life crumbles around her. 

Plante constructs Red Rooms in a fascinating way; Kelly-Anne’s motivations remain a mystery, which leaves viewers emotionally unmoored as the film progressively becomes more distressing as the trial leads towards the eventual video playback of the murders. 

With a remarkable performance by Juliette Gariépy at its core, Red Rooms is an incredibly dark look at the bleakest aspects of humanity and our urge to follow along and elevate these monsters. It’s a stunning piece of filmmaking from Pascal Plante, who just might be Quebec’s next biggest export.