The movie year, jumbled a bit by , might feel like it鈥檚 only just getting going. The box office is, finally, booming But at the year鈥檚 midway point, a lot of terrific movies have already come out 鈥� more, maybe, than you might realize.
Not even counting some of the movies that had qualifying releases last year 鈥� two of our favorites were and 鈥淭贸tem鈥� 鈥� 2024 has accumulated a wide range of standout movies big and small, with and without sandworms. Here are our favorites:
鈥淚 Saw the TV Glow鈥�
鈥� a dramatic leap forward for filmmaker and a transfixing trans parable 鈥� is one of the most exciting movie events of the year. The film, available for digital rental, is a chilling 1990s coming of age in which a 鈥淏uffy the Vampire Slayer鈥�-like series called 鈥淭he Pink Opaque鈥� offers a possible portal out of drab suburban life and other suffocations. It feels chillingly, beautifully ripped out of Schoenbrun鈥檚 soul 鈥� and it鈥檚 got a killer soundtrack. 鈥擟oyle
鈥淒une: Part Two鈥�
Its box office supremacy may have been eclipsed by some animated feelings, but 鈥� 鈥� is still the most dazzling cinematic spectacle to have graced theaters in 2024. 鈥� 鈥� was always going to be a hard act to follow, but 鈥檚 continuation of Paul Atreides鈥� rise manages to be both thrilling and deeply unsettling 鈥� a cautionary tale about a would-be messiah who you can鈥檛 help but root for. Thanks a lot for the moral crisis, Chalamet. 鈥擝ahr
鈥淩obot Dreams鈥�
Look, I don鈥檛 make the rules. But it turns out that an animated movie about a dog and a robot is one of the best New York movies in years, not to mention a surprisingly mature tale of loving and losing for a movie where the effects of rust are quite central to the narrative. But an Oscar-nominee directed by Pablo Berger, is charmingly its own thing. 鈥擟oyle
鈥淐丑补濒濒别苍驳别谤蝉鈥�
It鈥檚 rare when a film seems to impact the culture immediately 鈥� feeling both zeitgeisty and forward thinking, but did just that. It might not have broken the box office, but Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O鈥機onnor ignited our imaginations, drove trends/made everyone feel like a fashion insider for a moment (Jonathan Anderson tennis core, anyone?) and anointed a new kind of internet boyfriend: The hot rodent man. 鈥擝ahr
鈥淔耻谤颈辞蝉补鈥�
There is just no living up to ; it鈥檚 too good. But still contains some of the action best sequences of the year and very possibly Chris Hemsworth鈥檚 finest hour. Maybe it鈥檚 a little overlong and lacks the punch Charlize Theron brought to 鈥淔ury Road.鈥� But filmmaking like this is about as hard to come by in summer moviegoing as water is in the 鈥淢ad Max鈥� wasteland. 鈥擟oyle
鈥淟ove Lies Bleeding鈥�
felt like a cult classic from the beginning. This is a fairly difficult feat for a brand-new film, but a testament to her wholly original creation about female bodybuilders, toxic masculinity, featuring what Coyle aptly dubbed a 鈥� 鈥� performance and Ed Harris with a deeply upsetting rat tail. With otherworldly visuals and a lusty, sweaty, dangerous tone, it feels 鈥渇lung out of space鈥� to quote Carol Aird. 鈥擝ahr
鈥淕reen Border鈥�
Polish director Agnieszka Holland鈥檚 latest is easily the most searing, unforgettable and essential movie of the year so far 鈥� which doesn鈥檛 exactly mean it鈥檚 an easy watch. Holland鈥檚 film is a refugee drama set along the two-mile-wide exclusion zone around the border between Poland and Belarus based on some of the real life experiences of migrants in recent years. Refugees, including a family from Syria, find themselves used as pawns by both countries and pushed 鈥� even literally thrown 鈥� back and forth across a barbed-wire fence in wooded borderlands. 鈥淕reen Border鈥� was the subject of when it premiered last fall at the But as a migrant tale of go-there-not-here, 鈥淕reen Border鈥� resonates far wider than just Eastern Europe. 鈥擟oyle
鈥淭丑别濒尘补鈥�
I have a tendency to overuse the word delightful. But I鈥檇 take them all back to give it to 鈥� ,鈥� in which June Squibb plays a 90-something grandmother on a mission to get $10,000 back from some scammers. , is firing on all cylinders, playing her actual age with actual limitations with a fierce determination and comedic brilliance opposite the gone-too-soon Richard Roundtree. It鈥檚 one of the easiest of this year鈥檚 films to recommend to just about anyone 鈥� minimal explanations or justifications required. 鈥擝ahr
鈥淕丑辞蝉迟濒颈驳丑迟鈥�
The therapeutic powers of theater play a prominent role in two of the year鈥檚 best movies. There鈥檚 the upcoming a stunning, based-on-a-true-story film about incarcerated men rehabilitated through a drama program. (A July 12 release, it falls outside our cutoff.) And there鈥檚 a sublime little gem of a movie about a Chicago family struggling to process tragedy. They鈥檙e played by real-life family: Keith Kupferer (as the father), Tara Mallen (as the mother) and Katherine Mallen Kupferer (as the daughter). The dad, an unexpressive construction worker, is reluctantly coaxed into a community theater production of 鈥淩omeo and Juliet.鈥� 鈥淗e鈥檚 Romeo?鈥� someone says. Directing duo Kelly O鈥橲ullivan and Alex Thompson (鈥淪aint Frances鈥�) insure a movie that could have turned saccharine never waivers in its sweet, everyday tenderness. 鈥擟oyle
鈥淓vil Does Not Exist鈥�
If 鈥淭丑别濒尘补鈥� is a sweet glass of afternoon lemonade, 鈥� 鈥� is a bitter, but rich, digestif. Ry没suke Hamaguchi鈥檚 film is a chilling slow-burn about a small Japanese mountain village and the big city company who wants to set up a glamping site there. While an 鈥渆co-drama鈥� probably doesn鈥檛 sound especially exciting 鈥� there鈥檚 lots of talk about septic tanks and water purity 鈥� this film鈥檚 power sneaks up on you building up to a haunting conclusion. 鈥擝ahr
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Also: 鈥淭he Beast,鈥� 鈥淕irls State,鈥� 鈥淒o Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World,鈥� 鈥淭he Fall Guy,鈥� 鈥淗ow to Have Sex,鈥� 鈥淭he Bikeriders,鈥� 鈥淗it Man," 鈥淲icked Little Letters,鈥� 鈥淧ower,鈥� 鈥淚 Used to Be Funny,鈥� 鈥淭uesday.鈥�
Jake Coyle And Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
