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from Inside out 2 on Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceall but one of the 10 highest grossing movies of 2024 sequels (BAD is the only outlier). Which shouldn’t really surprise anyone. For decades, the top of the box office has been ruled by sequels, prequels, reboots, and reimaginings. But since when does the overall haul of a movie reflect its quality?
The truth is that in 2024, as in most years, some of the most compelling films to be released will be titles you’ve probably never heard of (which is bad). You have plenty of time to correct that mistake, starting with these 10 unseen gems.
Anora
if Beautiful Woman didn’t get her Extreme Hollywood Makeover, and instead was shot as the dark, drug-fueled tale of sex and violence that first landed on the desks of studio executives, it might seem Anora. Ani (Mikey Madison) is a sex worker in New York City whose life has been turned upside down by Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the fun-loving though flamboyant daughter of a Russian oligarch. After paying Ani $15,000 to spend the week with him, the two fly to Las Vegas, where Vanya proposes—mostly so he can get a green card and avoid returning to Russia, but also because he promises he loves her. Ani. When Vanya’s parents learn of his engagement, they send a couple of trusted henchmen to extricate their son from this new romantic entanglement, no matter the cost. Madison (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood2022 that is Yelling) is a total revelation as a fierce princess at the heart of this “fairytale.” It ends in sadness, sure, but also in self-discovery. Writer-director Sean Baker (Red Rocket, The Florida Project, Tangerine) but has also succeeded in changing the conversation about sex workers and other marginalized people to create a new kind of love story. while Anora received a limited theatrical release, five Golden Globe nominations—including nods for Madison, Baker for Best Director and Best Screenplay, and a Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy nomination—should bring the project more deserves attention.
The Bikeriders
Austin Butler gives off serious James Dean vibes as Benny Cross, the unsavory member of Chicago’s Vandals Motorcycle Club. When the film opens in 1965, Benny seems to have it all: He’s the right-hand man of Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy), the club’s founder, and has just met—and quickly married—Kathy Bauer (Jodie Comer). , a newcomer to the motorcycle club world. This proved to be both a help and a hindrance to Benny over the next decade, as the film traces the rise of the Vandals and how the nation’s extreme failure has entered its DNA. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, the film is based on Danny Lyon’s 1968 picture book of the same name, which traces the evolution of the real Outlaws MC in Chicago. Come along for the ride.
Blink Twice
Zoë Kravitz proves she really can do it all as cowriter, producer, and (first-time) director behind this harrowing meditation on the power of extreme wealth. Cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) and her best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) are working at a cocktail party when they meet Slater King (Channing Tatum), a famous tech billionaire bag. -o just resigned as the head of the company he founded because of some. kind of questionable behavior—the details of which are not yet fully known. He and Frida hit it off, and he invites both women to join him and a group of friends on his private island for a weekend of partying and revelry. That’s exactly what they get, though Frida can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. That paranoia is heightened when Jess suddenly disappears and King’s other guests don’t seem to remember her being there in the first place. Blink Twice isn’t a perfect movie, but Kravitz’s willingness to boldly tackle dark issues in a smart and darkly funny way heralds his standing as a daring filmmaker on the rise.
Show Forgiveness
Tarrell (André Holland in a career-best performance) is a successful painter and a loving husband and father, who believes he has moved on from the abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of his father, La’Ron (John Earl Jelks ). But when La’Ron returns after years of estrangement seeking to reconnect with his son, old wounds resurface for Tarrell, whose own mother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor ) desperate to see father and son reunited. Renowned artist Titus Kaphar mines his own haunted history for this gut-wrenching, semi-autobiographical, meditation on family, generational trauma, and the power of forgiveness—if you can find your way through it.
knee
Just because knee hit the festival circuit doesn’t mean it’s earned all the attention it deserves. Rich Peppiatt makes his feature directorial debut with this fascinating film about the eponymous hip-hop trio, founded in Belfast in 2017 and still going strong. The real-life members of the band—Liam Óg “Mo Chara” Ó Hannaidh, Naoise “Móglaí Bap” Ó Cairealláin, and JJ “DJ Próvaí” Ó Dochartaigh, who raps in a mixture of English and Irish— play themselves in this hilarious comedy, set in 2019. More than a musical biopic, it’s about the continuing effects of The troubles and the “ceasefires babies” following it. But it’s also about how three young artists use music to both share a political message and save their native (and dying) language.
Juror #2
Since its release in 1992’s UnforgivableClint Eastwood earned 11 Oscar nominations and won four of them, including two Best Director statuettes. Which made Warner Bros.’s decision to bury Juror #2—which some have suggested was Eastwood’s last film—is even more surprising. Especially considering how good it is. Clint loves a good ethical dilemma (see: Million Dollar Baby), and Juror #2 presents an interesting one: What if you were called to sit on the jury in a high-profile murder case … only to realize that you may have caused the death of the victim? That’s the question Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) must grapple with in this addictive courtroom game.
Monkey Man
Oscar nominee Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) steps behind the camera to make his feature directorial debut with this action-packed revenge thriller. Years after witnessing his mother’s brutal death at the hands of Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher), a corrupt police officer, Kid (Patel), chooses to lean on an eye-for-an-eye approach. While working at an underground fight club where Singh regularly shows up, Kid lays out an ambitious—and cruel—plan to get revenge on his mom.
My Old Donkey
As far as movies are marketed, there are some movies that market poorly. while My Old Donkey got a big dose of promotion, thanks in part to having a lovable cynic Aubrey Plaza as one of its stars, it may have lost a large part of its audience by showing it which is a drug induced. Fantastic Friday-see you-The Lakehouse image type. In fact, it’s a wonderfully funny and heartwarming coming-of-age movie in which 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) is encouraged to use her last summer at home before transferring to college as a time to slow down and truly appreciate the people (read: parents) and places (read: home) too many teenagers take for granted. Yes, Plaza appears as Elliott’s older self—and that’s what imbues him with such wisdom—but his screen time is more limited than you might think. So appreciate every moment of that, too, while you can.
The Order
Jude Law is a great play against type as Terry Husk, a veteran FBI agent tasked with investigating a baffling string of daytime robberies that escalate in terms of violence. Eventually, Husk becomes convinced that the crimes are the work of a white supremacist group that uses the stolen money to finance a violent uprising. Husk’s investigation pits him against Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult again, in an equally strange-and anti-type-performance), the unlikely leader of a neo-Nazi who group known as The Order. The film is based on a true storyand adapted from the 1989 book by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt The Silent Brotherhood.
Rebel Ridge
Director Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room, Killing Party) makes his return to the big screen for the first time in six years with this captivating crime thriller that will be remembered as the film that made Aaron Pierre a bona fide star. Terry Richmond (Pierre), a former Marine, travels to Shelby Springs, Louisiana, to bail out for his cousin Mike (CJ LeBlanc), who has gotten himself into some kind of trouble. Richmond soon found himself in the crosshairs of the local police department, when the authorities illegally seized the money he was carrying with him, which happened to be his life savings. Finding justice in this small town is not as simple as filling out a complaint form. The local police, led by Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson), have no plans to let Richmond ruin the good thing they’ve been working on.
