We’ve finally arrived at the end of 2024, and what a year it's been. We’ve been treated to all kinds of cinematic goodness since January: there’s been space-bound sequels and dystopian prequels; wholly original, genre-blending flexes from some of the most exciting auteurs working today; emotional animated adventures; heartbreaking historical biopics; bloodcurdling body horrors; quite literally hundreds of beavers; and more.
And so, as we reflect on the year that was, we here at Team Empire have corralled our editors, critics, and contributors (for more on us and our team, head this way) to vote on the best movies of 2024 — based on UK release dates, from 1 January to 31 December. To break down our process a little further, every member of the team submits their own Top 10 of the year, with each vote assigned points based on the rankings given. This is then aggregated into the official Empire Top 20 list that you find here.
The result of this year’s vote is an eclectic, mostly non-franchise list of big-screen bangers that surprise and delight; that make you laugh, make you cry, and make you feel. So without further ado, read on for the full list, counting down from 20:
Top 20 Movies Of 2024
20) Kneecap
Director: Rich Peppiatt
Starring: Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Caireallain, J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, Michael Fassbender
This somewhat-fiction, somewhat-factual musical biopic delivered a slice of pure punk chaos onto the big screen this summer. The members of the real-life titular band star as themselves in this dramatised version of their rise to fame in Belfast, as they fight to preserve their native Irish language in between raves, shags, and dealings with the police. The film’s energy is palpable, hedonism seeping off the screen – but there’s an emotional undertone too, propelled by Michael Fassbender’s terse performance as Naoise’s (aka. Móglaí Bap) absent activist father Arló.
Read Empire’s Kneecap review.
19) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Director: George Miller
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne
Every few years or so, George Miller decides to unleash a bommy-knocker on the world of cinema. So it is that, nine years after Fury Road, we finally got the long-awaited Furiosa origin story — a rare prequel that enriches and complements its cinematic sibling perfectly. With a different energy and distinct narrative structure, Furiosa sprawls outwards, unspooling hardscrabble chapters in the Wasteland to get under the skin of its title character in surprising and engaging ways — bolstered by excellent turns from Anya Taylor-Joy, and youngster Alyla Browne. Given that Miller is a mastermind director, there are astonishing sequences here — a War Rig raid to rival Fury Road’s greatest moments; a propulsive chase as Furiosa’s mother sets out to recapture her lost daughter; a pulse-pounding assault on the Bullet Farm gone horribly wrong. And thanks to Chris Hemsworth’s deranged Dementus, you don’t even miss Max that much. If it’s not quite up there with Fury Road, it’s still a mad, Miller miracle.
Read Empire’s Furiosa review.
18) Civil War
Director: Alex Garland
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons, Nick Offerman
A departure from his typical high-concept sci-fi flicks, Alex Garland’s Civil War is ostensibly a high-stakes road-trip movie. Following a cast of journalists (including Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Cailee Spaeny) as they travel through a divided America to try and interview the President (Nick Offerman), this is more a film about war films than a war film itself, exploring the ethics of war photography and caricaturing the political landscape of the US. Despite mixed opinions about its undefined worldbuilding, the film is undeniably immersive, with impressive set-pieces and some truly heart-palpitation-inducing action — it’s shot like a documentary, and punctuated by stunning still-images (supposedly taken by the characters). The use of soundtrack is notable too; headbanging to De La Soul while watching visuals of an organised execution may not have been on your 2024 bucket list, but it’s a great example of how Civil War muddies the morals of a scene. The whole thing serves to show us just how easily war can be portrayed as both exciting and horrific — it just depends what side you’re on.
Read Empire’s Civil War review.
17) A Different Man
Director: Aaron Schimberg
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson, Renate Reinsve
Part sci-fi, part body-horror, part darkly comedic satire, part identity drama, Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man refuses to be put in a box. It follows Edward (Sebastian Stan, in just one of his excellent performances this year, the other in Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice), an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis. Isolated, stared at by those around him living in a shitty apartment and struggling to find meaningful roles, he undergoes a procedure to cure him, revealing a brand new face underneath. But despite his newfound, conventionally-beautiful looks, his unhappiness persists – compounded by the introduction of the charming Oswald (Adam Pearson, never better) into his life. A strange, funny, twisted, thought-provoking delight, it’s a miracle a film this undefinable exists – but we’re incredibly glad it does.
Read Empire’s A Different Man review.
16) Conclave
Director: Edward Berger
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini
Having drawn broad comparisons to Gossip Girl set within the Vatican’s secluded interiors, Conclave is a delectable power-grab drama carried by some seriously thespy performances. A heated election to determine who will replace the recently-deceased Pope is endearing enough, but filmmaker Edward Berger – following up on his multi-Oscar-winning All Quiet On The Western Front – also plunges us into the ornate, disciplined and melodramatic world of the College Of Cardinals. There is simple pleasure to be found in watching one religious loiterer vaping between meetings, or his fellow cardinal scrolling on his smartphone while taking a break from official business, all within the sombre, serious tone of the movie. Steering us through the morally murky politics of his conclave is Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence, a rapidly unravelling hot mess with a habit of switching into seamless Latin while bouncing off of rapturous performances from Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini. Entertaining down the last robe swish. XOXO, The Pope.
Read Empire’s Conclave review.
15) Hundreds Of Beavers
Director: Mike Cheslik
Starring: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Doug Mancheski
As in many other great silent comedies, the hero of Hundreds Of Beavers has a simple goal. Laurel and Hardy had to lug a piano up some steps. Harold Lloyd had to scale a clock tower. Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) has to take down, well, hundreds of beavers (plus a load of other bothersome critters) in order to survive and get the girl of his frostbitten dreams. Aptly for a film about a trapper, Mike Cheslik’s DIY, furry-infested film, made for a budget of under $7,000, absolutely pelts you with jokes: even the timing of the title card, arriving 75 minutes into the chaos, is funny. Hyper-inventive, contagiously silly — think The Revenant meets Super Mario Bros — it is like nothing else you will see this year. (If you do see something else like it this year, please seek medical help immediately.)
Read Empire’s Hundreds Of Beavers review.
14) Hit Man
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, Sanjay Rao
After putting in eye-catching performances in Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone But You, Glen Powell went full movie-star with his magnetic turn — or, more accurately, turns — in Richard Linklater’s true-story-inspired Hit Man, a smoking hot rom-com with an intoxicating noir edge. Here, Powell plays philosophy-lecturer-turned-fake-assassin Gary Johnson, whose unlikely side-hustle gets complicated when — whilst disguised as smooth talking contract killer Ron — he meets Madison (Adria Arjona), a woman trying to escape an abusive marriage, during a set-up. Sparks fly between the pair, the sting collapses, and a whirlwind romance ensues. From there, the heat turns up in every possible way as Gary attempts to keep up his double-life without rousing the suspicions of the feds — or his new girlfriend. Smart, sexy, slick and quick-witted, this is fiercely original filmmaking of a kind that feels increasingly rare. What else can we say? It’s a hit, man!
Read Empire’s Hit Man review.
13) La Chimera
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Starring: Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato
When Greta Gerwig says that a film has made her 'euphorically happy', you’d better take note. Alice Rohrwacher’s sunbathed curio, set in ‘80s Tuscany, stars rakish man of the moment Josh O’Connor as a gifted tombaroli (tomb raider) who is mourning the loss of his girlfriend and lives hand to mouth, making money by stealing artefacts from neighbourhood land. It’s a delightful role for O’Connor, who, armed with just a filthy linen suit and a knack for speaking fluent Italian, showcases irresistible charm. Yet it’s Brazilian actor Carol Duarte as local mother Italia who gets the film’s defining moment — a dazzling, weird, freeing display of choreography that is truly captivating to behold. Around them, Rohrwacher builds a fantastical world full of off-kilter characters and strange, bucolic corners of rural Italy. Paired with one of the most sweet and sincere closing shots that you’ll see this year, you’ll find that La Chimera is simply unmissable.
Read Empire’s La Chimera review.
12) Love Lies Bleeding
Director: Rose Glass
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Katie O’Brian, Ed Harris, Jena Malone
After her slow, unsettling debut Saint Maud, Rose Glass ups the ante with the riotous, pulpy, queer crime thriller Love Lies Bleeding. Kristen Stewart steps into a role she was born to play as gym manager Lou, who falls for bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian, also perfectly cast) when she rolls through town preparing for a competition — but as the pair become more entwined, so too does Lou’s family drama with her abused sister (Jena Malone) and menacing, gun-toting father (Ed Harris). Sex, drugs and violence are combined with Glass’ signature supernatural tinges and magical realism, all set in the sweaty, dusty Albuquerque desert of the ‘80s. Stewart and O’Brian’s chemistry is off the charts, the trippy sequence at Jackie’s bodybuilding contest is one for the ages, and there are enough twists, turns and shocks along the way to keep you on the edge of your seat. Might even encourage you to start doing some regular bicep curls.
Read Empire’s Love Lies Bleeding review.
11) I Saw The TV Glow
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Starring: Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine
This year saw the release of an extraordinary film about the potency of nostalgia and the power of fandom. No, we're not talking about Deadpool & Wolverine, much as we loved the arrival of Marvel Jesus in the MCU. We are in fact talking about writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s stunning sophomore feature, I Saw The TV Glow. A queer psychological horror that's as emotionally profound as it is unapologetically weird, Schoenbrun’s late 90s set gem follows Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), two outcasts who bond over their shared obsession with a TV show that gives them a chance to escape. To say much more would honestly be to spoil the wonder of watching Schoenbrun’s singularly strange yet beautiful progeny for the first time, but suffice it to say that once you have fallen under The Pink Opaque's spell, you'll never be the same again.
Read Empire’s I Saw The TV Glow review.
10) Perfect Days
Director: Wim Wenders
Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano
There’s something indescribably rewarding about watching Wim Wenders’ ruminative study of a Tokyo toilet cleaner simply living out his days. The self-imposed stillness and moments of quiet reflection experienced by protagonist Hirayama, played with exquisite nuance by Kōji Yakusho, are bewitching against the lush, surprisingly stunning world of Japan’s outdoor public restrooms. To say that little happens in the film is a stretch; through interactions with strangers, colleagues and a visiting niece, we see glimpses of Hirayama’s psyche and past life. But it’s the private choices that he makes — the cassette he chooses for his drive to work, the perfect moment to photograph on his break, the way he organises his home — that help us get to know him best. A subtle symphony created from everyday events that will stay with you for a very long time.
Read Empire’s Perfect Days review.
9) Dune: Part Two
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken
If you thought Denis Villeneuve’s first outing to Arrakis was epic in scale, then Dune: Part Two proved that actually, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Picking up where Dune left off, with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) part of the Fremen clan, the sequel charts his rise through the ranks, earning the Arrakis natives’ respect, and, eventually, the messianic title of Lisan al Gaib — all whilst dealing with his growing relationship with Chani (Zendaya), and war with the Emperor (Christopher Walken) and Harkonnens (including Austin Butler’s ferocious Feyd Rautha), closing in. More meandering than the first instalment, Dune: Part Two is no less spectacular, with Villeneuve delivering massive battles, stunning sandworm sequences, and the distinct black-and-white visuals of Giedi Prime. An incredible display of cinematic desert power.
Read Empire’s Dune: Part Two review.
8) Poor Things
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley
We were all left holding onto our top hats by The Favourite provoc-auteur Yorgos Lanthimos’ multiple Oscar-winning adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s cult classic novel. Both a strangely beautiful coming-of-age tale and a truly wild steampunk feminist reframing of the Frankenstein myth, Poor Things sees a never-better Emma Stone lead an all-star ensemble (Mark Ruffalo! Willem Dafoe! Ramy Youssef!) as Bella Baxter, a young woman who undertakes an Odyssean journey of self-discovery after being resurrected by a mad scientist (Dafoe). With its Gilliam-esque acid trip visuals, bold embrace of female sexuality, and carefully executed high-wire balancing act between gonzo absurdism and emotionally precise introspection, Lanthimos’ sci-fi fable truly has to be seen to be believed. And even then, you’ll still probably be left wondering if the whole thing was just some weird, wonderful, unapologetically bawdy fever dream after all.
Read Empire’s Poor Things review.
7) The Substance
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
One for the body-horror heads! French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat follows up her visceral, rage-filled rape-retribution debut Revenge with this equally extreme exploration of female competition, aging, beauty standards and more. Demi Moore gives perhaps her most vulnerable, full-throated performance ever as Elisabeth Sparkle, a middle-aged fitness TV show host who injects herself with the mysterious titular concoction, birthing a new, younger, better version in Margaret Qualley’s Sue. Fargeat’s world is precise, hyper-stylised, and revels in the grossness of all things bodily – especially in the bonkers, blood-soaked final act – and the film manages to be thought-provoking throughout, and then gloriously cathartic in its pulpy, B-movie-esque ending. Respect the balance. Try the Substance.
Read Empire’s The Substance review.
6) Robot Dreams
Director: Robot Dreams
Starring: Ivan Labanda
Based on Sara Varon’s wordless 2007 graphic novel, Pablo Berger’s virtuosic 2D animation Robot Dreams is so much more than the robot-and-his-dog buddy comedy audiences may have been expecting. Set in an anthropomorphised early ‘80s New York, Berger’s simply (but never simplistically) drawn movie introduces us to a lonely dog whose search for friendship leads him to order and build himself an ‘Amica 2000’ robot companion. But whilst a delightful Earth, Wind & Fire soundtracked montage revels in showing our inseparable bot-and-barker duo venturing out into the world together, tragedy strikes when a trip to Coney Island leaves a rusting Robot stranded on the beach. It’s from here that the film transcends itself, with Robot and Dog’s heartfelt yearning to be reunited — episodically chronicled in a series of gorgeously imaginative flights of fancy — augmenting a soulful exploration of the fragile beauty of our connections and the lasting, transformative power of love.
Read Empire’s Robot Dreams review.
5) Anora
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian
The director of Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket returned with another immersive, high-energy, incredibly humane dissection of the American Dream this year, scooping the Palme D’Or at Cannes Film Festival with romance-slash-comedy-slash-drama Anora. Baker’s casting of Mikey Madison, as the titular sex worker who falls into a whirlwind affair and impulsive marriage with the son of a Russian oligarch, is a stroke of genius, and ‘Ani’ is truly a star-making role for the actor. She is completely magnetic throughout – through the neon-doused club montages, the farcical physical comedy set-pieces, and the gut-wrenching emotional moments. You’ll never hear Take That’s ‘Greatest Day’ the same again.
Read Empire’s Anora review.
4) Challengers
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist
Luca Guadagnino serves up an absolute ace with his erotically-charged tennis thriller Challengers, which sees a trio of young tennis champs Tashi (Zendaya), Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor) enter into a toxic triangle of love, lust, and ruthless ambition. Spanning over a decade, with our leads meeting as teenagers before becoming friends, enemies, lovers and spouses, writer Justin Kuritzkes’ script perfectly weaves together the desires of all three characters, the power dynamics constantly shifting, the audience always kept guessing who’ll come out on top. All three actors are remarkable, the chemistry between every combination of them making their ongoing romantic chaos more than believable, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ synthy score keeps your pulse pounding. It’s sexy, it’s sweaty, and Guadagnino’s innovative cinematic treatment of the tennis itself has to be seen to be believed. Now, anyone for a churro?
Read Empire’s Challengers review.
3) The Holdovers
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph
That Alexander Payne’s story of Christmas-based alienation and eventual connection hit UK cinemas several weeks after the festive season ended is bonkers — but, in its own way, proved that his winter comedy-drama is a film for all seasons. Paul Giamatti is perhaps the best he’s ever been as curmudgeonly classics teacher Paul Dunham, forced to oversee the ‘Holdovers’ during the Christmas holidays — the kids who, for whatever reason, can’t go home. He’s matched perfectly by Dominic Sessa who, in his very first screen role, gives as good as he gets, snarling up a storm as disaffected teen Angus. But it’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s grieving cook Mary who steals the show — the trio’s individual frostiness melting away as the days pass, and they gain a better understanding of each other, and themselves too. Both appropriately chilly and wonderfully warm — and gut-bustingly funny to boot — it’s a sweet tale with little sentimentality. An instant Christmas classic.
Read Empire’s The Holdovers review.
2) The Zone Of Interest
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Starring: Sandra Hüller, Christian Friedel
Jonathan Glazer examines the mundanity of evil in the voyeuristic, stomach-churning The Zone Of Interest, which plants the audience in the walls of the home of Auschwitz camp commandant Rudolf Höss, him and his family living a charmed life as a horrifying genocide is enacted next door. Glazer sits the cameras inside the meticulously crafted set and lets them roll, capturing the day-to-activity of Höss (Christian Friedel), his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and their kids, as they try on the spoils of their Jewish victims, chastise the help, and host a pool party, all soundtracked by gunshots and death. It’s truly chilling, quietly immersive, and endlessly upsetting, quite rightly winning the Oscar for Best International Feature Film at this year’s awards, with Glazer giving a spine-tingling speech about the continuing relevance of a film like this. The final few minutes with Höss looking to the camera, seemingly staring in the modern-day aftermath of his crimes, swallowed up by darkness and an atonal, swampy score, will stay with you forever.
Read Empire’s The Zone Of Interest review.
1) All Of Us Strangers
Director: Andrew Haigh
Starring: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, Jamie Bell
Whether All Of Us Strangers is a ghost story, a romance, a fantasy spawned from the mind of its grief-stricken protagonist, or all of the above, remains very much up for debate. The great beauty of Andrew Haigh’s supernaturally-inflected piece, though, lies in the way its raw emotion more than sustains any interpretation. Andrew Scott is on career-best form as forty-something gay writer Adam, who — in between cathartic visits to his childhood home, where his dead parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy) somehow live on — finds himself falling for Harry (Paul Mescal), seemingly the only other soul in his purgatorial London high-rise. On the one hand an achingly romantic tale of queer longing and self-discovery, and on the other a searing exploration of the blood-deep ties that bind parents and their children, Strangers offers a love story for the ages on multiple levels. And that ending? Oh boy…
Read Empire’s All Of Us Strangers review. And head here to read Andrew Haigh's reaction to winning Empire's Best Movie of 2024.