How good it is to love cinema in 2024. Over the last few months, we have spent (a lot) of time in cinemas and we can say that we loved it. It’s quite simple: in 2024, there was something for everyone in cinemas.
There have been a lot of good films this year. So much so that we had to debate to offer you our selection of the best feature films of 2024. We thought of everyone. Here are our top films of 2024.
I am very indecisive. To write this article, I put down on paper the films that I really liked This year. But when I saw that I was more than 10, I understood that I was going to have a problem choosing my 3 favorites for 2024. Recently, I shed all the tears in my body in front of The Wild RobotI took a slap from Dune 2 at the start of the year, I laughed a lot at The Fall GuyI was amazed by Flow and I spoke at great length Challengers (which I saw twice) to anyone who would listen. And at the moment, the music of Wicked are on loop in my playlist. But on my (long) list of beloved films in 2024, which ones do I really want to highlight in this selection? It was hard but we had to make a choice. Here, in my opinion, are the 3 films that made my heart beat in 2024.
The Count of Monte Cristo
Impossible to miss the Count of Monte Cristo. Indeed, it is the cinematic phenomenon of this year. In France, of course, but also outside our borders. If you like swashbuckling films, you have probably been served with the revival of the Alexandre Dumas classic carried by Pierre Niney. In any case, I was impressed and I came out of the dark room with the feeling of having been slapped.
Having just been promoted to captain of a large ship, young Edmond Dantès is the victim of a plot led by an envious and jealous entourage. This is how, on the day of his wedding, he was arrested and then wrongly locked up in the Château d’If. For over a decade! But, fortunately, the prisoner manages to escape and when he reappears, he has a new identity and a different appearance: he is now the Count of Monte Cristo. And he intends to take revenge on all those who betrayed him.
Magnificent sets, splendid costumes, spectacular fights, impeccable actors, thrilling plot, controlled pace… The Count of Montre-Cristo has established itself as the pleasant surprise of this cinematographic year.
Fantastic Three
Another French film had a big impact on me in 2024. It’s about Fantastic Three. I was immediately intrigued by his poster, and what it conveyed. I was lucky enough to discover the footage without having seen the trailer. I didn’t really know what to expect and I was absolutely not disappointed.
Fantastic Three meets us in a small town in the Ardennes where Max, Vivian and Tom live. They are 13 years old, and they are inseparable. But life will put them to the test. Between the closing of the last factory in town, the release of Max’s big brother from prison and the summer camp they are trying to finance, this summer marks a turning point in their respective lives.
Under its “film” type overlay coming of age which smells of the innocence of adolescence and the freedom of summer vacations to hang out with your friends, Fantastic Three There is an intense, darker turn, which kept me in suspense until the end of the credits. The performances of Diego Murgia, Jean Devie and Benjamin Tellier are to be saluted and we wish them a bright future. For a first feature film, there is no denying it: Michaël Dichter has done well and delivered a surprisingly masterful work.
There is still tomorrow
When it is released in Italian cinemas in the fall of 2023, There is still tomorrow (Or It’s ancora domani for those who master the language of Dante) managed to overshadow barbie And Oppenheimer. Just that… But as it took a long time to reach our green lands, it is in my top of the best films of 2024.
There is still tomorrow is enough to make an impression. Taking place in post-war Italy, the feature film is shot entirely in black and white.
We follow Delia in her gloomy and exhausting daily life as a mother of three children and wife of a violent husband. To support her family in this Italy which is suffering the consequences of the Second World War, she takes on odd jobs. Which doesn’t stop her husband Ivano from getting angry, insulting her and attacking her at the slightest opportunity. But Delia’s daily life will change when she receives a mysterious letter, she who never receives mail, and her eldest daughter announces her engagement to Giulio. What if she could dream of a better future?
The feature film stands out as a true ode to freedom and emancipation. If There is still tomorrow addresses serious and important subjects, the film never falls into melodrama and never makes its protagonist a martyr. On the contrary, Paola Cortellesi does not hesitate to distill numerous humorous traits to counterbalance everything. Finely played! This is howThere is still tomorrow has become the standard bearer of a real social problem which is plaguing Italy (but not only). So I had to slip it into this selection.
Also read – Why this Italian film with 5 million admissions has become a social phenomenon
Dune: Part Two
This sequel to the first part was clearly my biggest slap in the face of the year at the cinema. The criticisms made of Denis Villeneuve for focusing solely on aesthetics are, for me, totally unjustified. On the contrary, he manages to adapt a particularly dense universe and maintain tension throughout the film.
As for the actors, notably Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, I find them impeccable and yet it is not so easy to slip into the skin of their characters. Knowing the rest of the Dune saga, I can’t wait to be able to watch this story on the big screen!
Furiosa: a Mad Max saga
Nearly nine years after getting everyone to agree with Mad Max: Fury Roadthe saga is back with Furiosa. In this highly anticipated prequel, we find the excellent Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role. I was a little afraid that the film would just ride on the good results of the previous part and focus 100% on the action, and that is fortunately not the case.
We appreciate seeing this heroine gain strength and we understand her destiny better during the last feature film. Ultimately, and even if it is a fiasco in terms of the box office, this production is really a total success in both substance and form.
Civil War
In a tense political context, Civil War paints the portrait of an America more fractured than ever. A team of photographers and journalists try to reach Washington, gradually discovering the seriousness of the situation in the country, in the midst of civil war.
From its script to its production (documentary style) including the excellent acting (Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura shine on the screen), Civil War is undoubtedly one of the films that should not be missed in 2024.
Love phew
Since Manon has already mentioned the excellent Count of Monte Cristo (which I also recommend), my second film of the year is also French. Love phewby Gilles Lellouche, is far from perfect. Some may find it a little long.
However, Gilles Lellouche’s production, which may seem messy, demonstrates his know-how behind the camera. After The Great Baththe man who cut his teeth in rap videos returns to his first love, with dynamic staging and camera movements far from conventional.
Love phewit is also a dive into the deep France of the 80s/90s, that of the North, of the slag heaps and coal factories. A France in which I grew up, which undoubtedly gave this very particular flavor to the film.
And since we’re talking about love, the one between the two main characters, played by Français Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos (lovers in the city as well as on screen), transpires at every moment. Our heart beats wildly, stops, races then calms down, to the rhythm of a soundtrack from an era that thirty-somethings no doubt sometimes regret.
