Film Review: My Top Picks of 2024

What ever happened to physical media?

I've discussed at length with friends and colleagues how we're experiencing a collective nostalgia for physical media. Streaming platforms sound great at first glance, but when you're paying for six different subscriptions and they all keep raising their prices, it's no surprise that you might start longing for physical media ownership to come back into fashion.

2024 was a great year for film, and for a lot of cinephiles, having a physical catalogue with DVD copies of our favourite movies is a great conversation starter when hosting dinner parties and inviting friends over for movie nights. "Wanna scroll through my watchlist on Netflix?" just doesn't hit the same.

To circumvent my hesitations about streaming platforms, I've spent a lot of my time at my local movie theatre. I've seen so many great films this past year, but these would have to be in my top picks:

1. Nosferatu, dir. Robert Eggers

2. The Substance, dir. Coralie Fargeat

3. Monkey Man, dir. Dev Patel

This is not to say that these were the peak of cinema for 2024, but simply that I enjoyed these films the most out of everything I happened to catch in theatres last year. There were a few I missed (I still haven't watched Challengers) but being home-bound after ankle surgery kind of disrupted my theatre visits.

Nosferatu, dir. Robert Eggers

There was so much I loved about Nosferatu, I may consider writing a standalone piece on it. But as an English Litearture graduate who loves a good period piece, there is nothing more satisfying to me than when the tones and ambience of a classic piece of literature are exceptionally well understood by the director. I thought Eggers did a fantastic job of intepreting Bram Stoker's Dracula and previous iterations of Nosferatu, and I was expecting to love this movie the moment I heard it was in production. The attention to detail was all I could have wanted — the opening shot alone left me breathless — and I am of the opinion that this movie was sorely overlooked at the Oscars. And the costuming? I'm still dreaming of Ellen's wardrobe.

I know the online discourse of this movie has gotten a bit out of hand, with many audience members arguing over what Orlok's role in the movie is supposed to represent. I view Orlok as the physical manifestation of Ellen's sexual repression and shame. When she calls out for him, she is isolated; in her nightmares of him, Ellen experiences sexual ecstasy that riddles her with insurmountable guilt and shame. In this way, he is an extension of her subconscious and exists only because of her repressed desires.

I think the time period, or more specifically, the general apprehension towards thinking of and discussing 'taboo' topics like a woman's sensuality in 1830s Europe needs to be acknowledged when discussing this piece. Despite not necessarily agreeing with a lot of the public takes I've seen about Orlok's symbolism, I find it incredibly gratifying when a film can be interpreted so differently and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading through everyone's reviews. My conclusions after watching Nosferatu are that I want more female-centred gothic horror, and I need a resurgence of period pieces based on literary classics.

The Substance, dir. Coralie Fargeat

Speaking of women dominating the horror genre this year, The Substance was so refreshing to watch. It felt quite nostalgic, with the 80s costuming and modern-day cell phones giving the film a hazy time period that can't quite be narrowed down. To this day, I don't think I've ever seen a film like this.

First, the Oscars: Demi Moore absolutely deserved that Oscar for her performance, and I am glad that Hollywood is beginning to tiptoe towards accepting aging women. Older women are so often forgotten about, or purposefully left out of narratives in film and media — or otherwise, they're pushed into more 'age appropriate' roles and are no longer allowed to be desirable, aspirational, sexy. It's no secret that in most media portrayals, women can only be pretty for a short window of their lives. It's been documented and discussed to death in university courses and film commentaries, yet I've never encountered a work that attacks this phenomenon so unapologetically. It was violently honest. I loved every second of it. I also know it hit home for Demi Moore as well (her speech nearly brought me to tears), and in an age of TikTok influencers pushing anti-aging products as soon as they hit 20, the reception of this movie's core messaging was reassuring.

I'm not typically a big horror fan. Especially body horror: I definitely had to psych myself up to seeing this film in theatres. I would probably go so far as to admit that body horror is one of the most unnerving sub-genres out there; even childbirth scenes make me queasy. But The Substance was so worth it, and I'm eager to see what other projects Fargeat releases in the years to come.

Monkey Man, dir. Dev Patel

This movie didn't get quite the reception I thought it would when it was announced. Many thought that it was a bit trite, underbaked, and did not capture all the complexities of India's caste system that Patel attempted to tackle in the film. I will admit, there are aspects of this movie that are fuzzy in my mind — this movie was my first outing since my surgery. I was sat with my friends in the front row, craning our necks the entire time because I couldn't walk up stairs, and yet I still came out of that experience absolutely amazed.

Action isn't typically a genre I get excited for. Usually, if I'm paying to see an action movie in theatres, it's because I'm tagging along with my partner or a friend who really wants to see it (I always say yes because I love going to the movies). But the second I saw Dev Patel's name on the project, and then again when Jordan Peele was announced as producer, I knew I needed to see it.

I was not disappointed. Monkey Man was a fast-paced glimpse into the political and social ramifications of the nationalist party, and I appreciated how Patel portrayed so many different social groups in the film despite that being quite rare for blockbuster action movies (how many times has John Wick advocated for marginalized trans people of colour?). I thought Patel effectively used the overarching plotline of avenging his mother to weave in other stories, like those of the ostracized hijra community. Nevertheless, I should acknowledge that I grew up in Vancouver, BC and am Sri Lankan, not Indian, so a lot of the political and religious subtext probably went over my head. I think Monkey Man would be a great rewatch after reading up on some of the communities and political struggles addressed in the film.

What's next for me? I'm eagerly anticipating the Sense and Sensibility adaptation that actress Daisy Edgar-Jones teased on her Instagram. I'm a fan of anything Austen, and at first glance, Edgar-Jones seems like a great fit to play Elinor Dashwood. Let's just hope that this adaptation is nothing like director Carrie Cracknell's 2022 adaptation of Persuasion...