The Skinny's Films of 2024: Our Writers' Top 10s

As much as I enjoy The Skinny's annual film of the year list, created by aggregating our film writers' individual top ten ballots to find our collective favourites, the individual lists are much more useful. They are where you'll find the acquired tastes; the weirder, spikier, less easy to love films that were championed by only a few of our critics. Some of the films that fall into this category are Monkey Man (Dev Patel), Occupied City (Steve McQueen), Black Dog (Guan Hu), Slow (Marija Kavtaradze), Bird (Andrea Arnold) and Trap (M. Night Shyamalan), to name just a few of the films that received a solitary vote. These films might not have found enough traction to make the top 20 list, but they are worth seeking out all the same.

Please do use these individual lists to seek out some of the films you might have missed, or simply scroll down to find the writers whose taste you're most simpatico with. You can also rummage around in our honourable mentions to discover the great films that didn't quite make the cut and read about the stinkers of the year we could not stand. The rep-cinema fans among our ranks also reveal their favourite rereleases of the year. Dig in! [Jamie Dunn]

The Skinny's Film Writers' Top 20 Films of 2024

1. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
3. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
4. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
5. Anora (Sean Baker)
6. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
7. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
8. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
9. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt)
10. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass)
11. Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
12. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
13. Monster (Hirokazu Koreeda)
14. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
15. Red Rooms (Pascal Plante)
16. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
17. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Radu Jude)
18. The Beast (Bertrand Bonello)
19. Sing Sing (Greg Kwedar)
20. Janet Planet (Annie Baker)

The Skinny's Film Writers' Individual Ballots

Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers.

Jojo Ajisafe
1. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
2. Anora (Sean Baker)
3. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
4. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
5. Didi (Sean Wang)
6. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
7. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
8. Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann)
9. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
10. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)

Honourable Mentions: Piece by Piece (Morgan Neville), The Sweet East (Sean Price Williams), The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)
Rereleases of the Year: Coraline (Henry Selick), Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle)
Stinker of the Year: It Ends With Us (Justin Baldoni)

Nathaniel Ashley
1. American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)
2. Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann)
3. The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders)
4. Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve)
5. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
6. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
7. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
8. A Quiet Place: Day One (Michael Sarnoski)
9. Monkey Man (Dev Patel)
10. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)

Honourable Mentions: Hit Man (Richard Linklater), Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos), The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
Stinker of the Year: Deadpool & Wolverine (Shawn Levy)

Alex Barrett
1. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Radu Jude)
2. The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung)
3. Abiding Nowhere (Tsai Ming-liang)
4. Citizen Saint (Tinatin Kajrishvili)
5. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
6. Kidnapped (Marco Bellocchio)
7. American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)
8. Hit Man (Richard Linklater)
9. His Three Daughters (Azazel Jacobs)
10. Eight Postcards from Utopia (Radu Jude and Christian Ferencz-Flatz)

A still from Hirokazu Koreeda's Monster.

Anahit Behrooz
1. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
2. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
3. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
4. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
5. Monster (Hirokazu Koreeda)
6. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
7. Anora (Sean Baker)
8. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
9. Occupied City (Steve McQueen)
10. Crossing (Levan Akin)

Honourable Mentions: Queer (Luca Guadagnino), Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi), Bye Bye Tiberias (Lina Soualem), Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass), All We Imagine As Light (Payal Kapadia)
Rerelease of the Year: The Fall (Tarsem Singh)

Heather Bradshaw
1. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. Robot Dreams (Pablo Berger)
3. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
4. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni)
5. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
6. Sasquatch Sunset (Nathan Zellner, David Zellner)
7. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
8. Black Dog (Guan Hu)
9. The Civil Dead (Clay Tatum)
10. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt)

Honourable Mentions: Hollywoodgate (Ibrahim Nash'at), The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer), Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl [haven't seen it yet but a guaranteed 5 stars from me]
Rerelease of the Year: Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay), Coraline (Henry Selick)
Stinker of the Year: Anyone But You (Will Gluck)

Louis Cammell
1. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
2. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
3. Look Back (Kiyotaka Oshiyama)
4. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
5. Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
6. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
7. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
8. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
9. Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle (Susumu Mitsunaka)
10. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)

Honourable Mentions: Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve), Alien: Romulus (Fede Álvarez)
Rereleases of the Year: The Fall (Tarsem Singh), Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow), Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi)

Eleanor Capaldi
1. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass)
2. Sometimes I Think About Dying (Rachel Lambert)
3. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
4. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
5. Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann)
6. Slow (Marija Kavtaradze)
7. Paradise Is Burning (Mika Gustafson)
8. Janet Planet (Annie Baker)
9. Girls Will be Girls (Shuchi Talati)
10. Ama Gloria (Marie Amachoukeli)

Honourable Mentions: Silver Haze (Sacha Polak), The Teachers' Lounge (Ilker Catak), Tiger Stripes (Amanda Nell Eu), Crossing (Levan Akin), Queen of My Dreams (Fawzia Mirza)
Release of the Year: Alma's Rainbow (Ayoka Chenzira)

A still from About Dry Grasses, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

Philip Concannon
1. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
2. About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
3. All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia)
4. The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung)
5. A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)
6. Anora (Sean Baker)
7. Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (Johan Grimonprez)
8. Juror #2 (Clint Eastwood)
9. His Three Daughters (Azazel Jacobs)
10. That They May Face the Rising Sun (Pat Collins)

Honourable mention: La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher), Close Your Eyes (Víctor Erice), Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Radu Jude), Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola), Rumours (Guy Maddin, Galen Johnson, Evan Johnson)
Rereleases of the Year: Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick), Lone Star (John Sayles), One from the Heart: Reprise (Francis Ford Coppola)
Stinker of the Year: Timestalker (Alice Lowe)

Joe Creely
1. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. The Beast (Bertrand Bonello)
3. Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (Johan Grimonprez)
4. About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
5. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Radu Jude)
6. The Delinquents (Rodrigo Moreno)
7. Janet Planet (Annie Baker)
8. Made In England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger
(David Hinton)
9. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
10. Edge of Summer (Lucy Cohen)
Honourable Mentions: Copa 71
(Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine), Sleep (Jason Yu), Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
Rereleases of the Year: Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky), Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay), Lone Star (John Sayles)
Stinker of the Year: Starve Acre (Daniel Kokotajlo)

Zoe Crombie
1. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
2. Look Back (Kiyotaka Oshiyama)
3. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
4. Monster (Hirokazu Koreeda)
5. The Promised Land (Nikolaj Arcel)
6. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
7. Sing Sing (Greg Kwedar)
8. The Colors Within (Naoko Yamada)
9. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
10. The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Honourable Mentions: Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt), Io Capitano (Matteo Garrone), Strike: An Uncivil War (Daniel Gordon), Strange Darling (J.T. Mollner), Hundreds of Beavers (Mike Cheslik)
Rerelease of the Year: The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola), Coraline (Henry Selick), My Neighbour Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki)
Stinker of the Year: It Ends With Us (Justin Baldoni)

Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey in Luca Guadagnino's Queer.

Rory Doherty
1. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
2. Trap (M. Night Shyamalan)
3. Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
4. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
5. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
6. Janet Planet (Annie Baker)
7. Red Rooms (Pascal Plante)
8. Queer (Luca Guadagnino)
9. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
10. A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)

Honourable Mentions: Close Your Eyes (Víctor Erice), Black Box Diaries (Shiori Ito), Chime (Kiyoshi Kurosawa), Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller), Anora (Sean Baker)
Rereleases of the Year: The Fall (Tarsem Singh), The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola), Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan)
Stinker of the Year: The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Katie Driscoll
1. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
2. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass)
3. Anora (Sean Baker)
4. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
5. The Sweet East (Sean Price Williams)
6. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
7. The Outrun (Nora Fingscheidt)
8. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt)
9. Strike! An Uncivil War (Daniel Gordon)
10. Hoard (Luna Carmoon)

Honourable mention: The Apprentice (Ali Abbasi)
Stinker of the Year: The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Jamie Dunn
1. Monster (Hirokazu Koreeda)
2. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
3. Crossing (Levan Akin)
4. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
5. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
6. Anora (Sean Baker)
7. Problemista (Julio Torres)
8. Red Rooms (Pascal Plante)
9. Dahomey (Mati Diop)
10. Hoard (Luna Carmoon)

Honourable Mentions: Between the Temples (Nathan Silver), Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos), Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass), The Beast (Bertrand Bonello), Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
Rerelease of the Year: Lone Star (John Sayles), My Neighbour Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki)
Stinker of the Year: The Exorcism (Joshua John Miller)

​​Lucy Fitzgerald
1. Sing Sing (Greg Kwedar)
2. The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders)
3. The Apprentice (Ali Abbasi)
4. The Room Next Door (Pedro Almodóvar)
5. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt)
6. Hit Man (Richard Linklater)
7. Drive-Away Dolls (Ethan Coen)
8. Gladiator 2 (Ridley Scott) [even though I've not seen it yet...]
9. Didi (Sean Wang)
10. Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve)

Honourable Mentions: The Fall Guy (​​David Leitch), Madame Web (S.J. Clarkson), My Old Ass (Megan Park), Civil War (Alex Garland), A Family Affair (Richard LaGravenese)
Rereleases: Before Midnight (Richard Linklater), Interstellar (Christopher Nolan), The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)
Stinker of the Year: Argylle (Matthew Vaughn), Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola), Joker: Folie à Deux (Todd Phillips)

A still from All We Imagine as Light.

Patrick Gamble
1. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. Samsara (Lois Patiño)
3. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
4. All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia)
5. Dahomey (Mati Diop)
6. Janet Planet (Annie Baker)
7. Red Rooms (Pascal Plante)
8. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Radu Jude)
9. Starve Acre (Daniel Kokotajlo)
10. Close Your Eyes (Víctor Erice)

Honourable Mentions (of films with no UK release): Man Number 4 (Miranda Pennell), Listening All Night To The Rain (John Akomfrah), The Periphery of the Base (Zhou Tao), Like a Sick Yellow (​​Norika Sefa)
Release of the Year: Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini)

Tony Inglis
1. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
2. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
3. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
4. The Beast (Bertrand Bonello)
5. Monster (Hirokazu Koreeda)
6. Crossing (Levan Akin)
7. Anora (Sean Baker)
8. Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
9. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
10. Bird (Andrea Arnold)

Honourable Mentions: Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt), Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt), Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola), The Holdovers (Alexander Payne), Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus (Neo Sora)
Stinker of the Year: Blitz (Steve McQueen)

Ross McIndoe
1. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
2. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
3. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
4. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
5. Civil War (Alex Garland)
6. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
7. The Outrun (Nora Fingscheidt)
8. Sing Sing (Greg Kwedar)
9. Sleep (Jason Yu)
10. Baby Assassins 2: Babies (Yugo Sakamoto)

Honourable Mentions: Trap (M. Night Shyamalan), The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung), The Holdovers (Alexander Payne), Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass), Kill (Rodger Griffiths)
Rerelease of the Year: It Happened One Night (Frank Capra)
Stinker of the Year: Back to Black (Sam Taylor-Johnson)

Iana Murray
1. Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
2. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
3. Queer (Luca Guadagnino)
4. Anora (Sean Baker)
5. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
6. Dahomey (Mati Diop)
7. Monster (Hirokazu Koreeda)
8. All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia)
9. Didi (Sean Wang)
10. Sing Sing (Greg Kwedar)

Ben Nicholson
1. Omen (Baloji)
2. Man Number 4 (Miranda Pennell)
3. Abiding Nowhere (Tsai Ming-liang)
4. American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)
5. for here am i sitting in a tin can far above the world (Gala Hernández López)
6. Red Rooms (Pascal Plante)
7. Workers’ Wings (Ilir Hasanaj)
8. 78 Days (Emilija Gašić)
9. Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann)
10. About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Stinker of the Year: Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (Kevin Costner)

A still from Radu Jude's Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World.

Carmen Paddock
1. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
3. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
4. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
5. Hundreds of Beavers (Mike Cheslik)
6. Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)
7. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Radu Jude)
8. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass)
9. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
10. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)

Honourable mention: Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola); transcends the good and bad binary
Stinker of the Year: The Critic (Anand Tucker); rancid on every level!

Emilie Roberts
1. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
2. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
3. Anora (Sean Baker)
4. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt)
5. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
6. Small Things Like These (Tim Mielants)
7. The Apprentice (Ali Abbasi)
8. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
9. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
10. Riddle of Fire (Weston Razooli)

Rereleases of the Year: Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay), Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle), Trainspotting (Danny Boyle) [woo Scotland]
Stinker of the Year: It Ends With Us (Justin Baldoni)

Ellie Robertson
1. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass)
2. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
3. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
4. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
5. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
6. Anora (Sean Baker)
7. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
8. The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)
9. The Outrun (Nora Fingscheidt)
10. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt)

Honourable Mentions: Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi), Timestalker (Alice Lowe), Hoard (Luna Carmoon)
Stinker of the Year: Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola)

Jeremy O. Harris and Ayo Edebiri in The Sweet East.

Rafa Sales Ross
1. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
2. The Beast (Bertrand Bonello)
3. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
4. Disco Boy (Giacomo Abbruzzese)
5. Slow (Marija Kavtaradze)
6. Daughters (​​Angela Patton, Chad Morris)
7. No Other Land (Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal)
8. The Sweet East (Sean Price Williams)
9. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
10. Sky Peals (Moin Hussain)

Honourable: Queer (Luca Guadagnino), Orlando, My Political Biography (Paul B. Preciado), Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass), Small Things Like These (Tim Mielants), Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt)
Stinker of the Year: The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Stefania Sarrubba
1. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
2. Strange Darling (J.T. Mollner)
3. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
4. Anora (Sean Baker)
5. The First Omen (Arkasha Stevenson)
6. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
7. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
8. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass)
9. The Room Next Door (Pedro Almodóvar)
10. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)

Honourable Mentions: Blink Twice (Zoë Kravitz), Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Ariane Louis-Seize), Robot Dreams (Pablo Berger), Stopmotion (Robert Morgan), Woman of the Hour (Anna Kendrick)
Rereleases of the year: Mean Girls (Mark Waters), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper), Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa)
Stinker of the Year: Mean Girls (Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr.)

Peter Simpson
1. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
3. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
4. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt)
5. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
6. Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve)
7. Red Rooms (Pascal Plante)
8. Between the Temples (Nathan Silver)
9. The Outrun (Nora Fingscheidt)
10. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)

Honourable Mentions: Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola)
Stinker of the Year: Irish Wish (Janeen Damian)

A still from Hoard.

Josh Slater-Williams
1. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller)
3. River (Junta Yamaguchi)
4. A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)
5. Evil Does Not Exist (Ryūsuke Hamaguchi)
6. Exhuma (Jang Jae-hyun)
7. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
8. Hoard (Luna Carmoon)
9. The Box Man (Gakuryu Ishii)
10. Look Back (Kiyotaka Oshiyama)

Honourable Mentions: All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh), Hit Man (Richard Linklater), Challengers (Luca Guadagnino), Between the Temples (Nathan Silver), The First Omen (Arkasha Stevenson)
Rerelease of the Year: My Neighbour Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki), The Fall (Tarsem Singh)
Stinker of the Year: MaXXXine (Ti West)

Xuanlin Tham
1. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
3. Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
4. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
5. Memories of a Burning Body (Antonella Sudasassi Furniss)
6. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
7. The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung)
8. Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle (Susumu Mitsunaka)
9. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
10. Orlando, My Political Biography (Paul B. Preciado)

Rerelease of the Year: The Matrix (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski), Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow), Network (Sidney Lumet)
Stinker of the Year: The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)