When looking at the best movies of 2024, one thing was obvious: This was the year of highly-anticipated sequels. We saw several inventive new additions to beloved franchises—including Dune Part 2, Inside Out 2, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga—but also unexpected follow-ups to classics like Twisters and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, just to name a few.
That doesn’t mean there wasn’t any originality this year. Golden Globe nominees like Anora and The Substance gave us the drama to match an already-dramatic year IRL. You’ll want to make time to catch those before the Oscars air in March 2025.
And we can’t forget that the best movies of 2024 didn’t just shine on screen—these films inspired some of our favorite memes of the year, too. In fact, we’re still holding space for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity.” There was also some truly jaw-dropping fashion from stars on their press tours. (See: Zendaya for Challengers, Anya Taylor-Joy for Furiosa, and everyone in Dune.)
So without further ado, these are the movies that filled our worm-shaped popcorn buckets in 2024.
