I’ve seen 84 movies in theaters so far this year — here’s the 5 best and 5 worst

I’m obsessed with the theatrical experience. Multiple times a week you’ll find me at my local cinema checking out the latest releases, and like any self-respecting cinephile, I keep a ranked list of everything I’ve seen so I can track the best (and worst) movies of the year.

While 2024 isn’t over yet, we’ve still got a couple of months left with some heavy-hitters on the horizon, this week I’ve been taking stock of my list, which currently stands at 85 movies in total. I’ve sampled the highs (and the numerous lows) of the big-screen experience in 2024, and I’m here to share the movies you need to watch and the ones you can avoid without fear of missing out.

While this list isn’t final — I have a suspicion it’ll look very different by the end of December — here are the five best movies I’ve seen on the silver screen in 2024 (so far), and the five that made me wish I’d stayed at home and watched something on Netflix instead.

My 5 favorite movies of 2024 (so far)

5. 'The Substance'

I caught “The Substance” as part of a mystery screening event at my local theater ahead of its wide release, which meant I was able to watch without expectations, or even any idea what the movie was about. Maybe it was those conditions that led to my overwhelming positive viewing experience, or perhaps it’s just the fact this Coralie Fargeat-directed flick is one of the most riveting movies of 2024. The way it moves between repulsive body horror and satirical humor is masterful, and the lead performance from Demi Moore is truly stunning.

The movie follows fading star Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore) as she struggles to deal with her time in the limelight coming to an end. When given the chance to try out an experimental substance that morphs you into a younger, perky, better version of yourself for seven days, she initially thinks it’s a miracle cure to all her woes. But when she rashly ignores the clear instructions, things spiral out of control. “The Substance” also stars an excellent Margaret Qualley as the younger version of Elisabeth, and watch out for a smarmy Dennis Quaid too.

4. 'Late Night with the Devil'

One of the key metrics when judging a movie’s quality is how long it stays with you, and “Late Night with the Devil” is still bouncing around my brain even now. It’s been more than six months since I first watched this supernatural chiller on the big screen, and yet its haunting finale has been etched into my memories, and I don’t see it washing away anytime soon. This movie was the refreshing injection the “found footage” subgenre needed, and if I had my way David Dastmalchian would be in the Oscar conversation (sadly, he won’t be. The Academy simply does not care about horror, but that’s a rant for another day).

Presented as a “lost episode" of a late-night talk show, “Late Night with the Devil” centers on a fictional show called “Night Owls”, our Johnny Carson-type is Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian) a charismatic host, who is hiding some serious skeletons in his closet. With ratings in a slump, Jack plans a special Halloween episode that includes bringing a possessed girl onto the set for a live demonstration of her demonic powers. As you could probably guess, the shocking results make for a television viewing experience of almost unimaginable horror.

3. 'Alien: Romulus'

I’ll lay my cards on the table here, I could easily have placed “Alien: Romulus” as my No. 1 pick. “Alien” is my favorite film franchise, and I came into 2024 with “Romulus” as my most anticipated movie of the year, and second place was not even close. After decades of longing for a new “Alien” movie that I could enjoy without having to excuse wonky narrative decisions and illogical lore additions, “Alien: Romulus” delivered exactly what I wanted, a legacy sequel done oh so right. But I will agree that the fan-service winks were a little too much.

Set between “Alien” and “Aliens," this new trip to the darkest corners of space follows a group of miners who break into a derelict research station full of discarded, but still valuable, equipment. What they find is the universe’s most deadly creature, the Xenomorph. The real strength of “Alien: Romulus” is the phenomenal character work, protagonist Rain (Caille Spaeny) and android Andy (David Jonsson) have become two of my favorite leads in the whole “Alien” cannon, and I cannot wait to see where my beloved franchise goes next.

2. 'Challengers'

A movie about tennis really has no right to be this darn engrossing. I love a good sports movie (I must have rewatched “Moneyball” half a dozen times by now), but “Challengers” breaks free of the genre conventions, and becomes something bigger, bolder and more engaging than your usual underdog affair. It’s also cracking with romantic tension, and director Luca Guadagnino keeps the energy high throughout. Plus, I love its use of a nonlinear narrative structure, jumping across the timeline to slowly peel back the layers and reveal shocking twists.

The movie’s real strength is the chemistry between the three leads: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. The two blokes are great, but this is really Zendaya's movie, and she shines so bright she doesn’t even need a spotlight. If you missed the hype, “Challengers” centers on a love triangle between three compelling characters all involved in the world of professional tennis. And while it's the character-driven drama that primarily draws you in, can I also just say, that the inventive way the big championship tennis match is shot is downright marvelous. I’ve rewatched the final sequence a ridiculous amount of times.

1. 'Dune: Part Two'

At this stage of the year, is “Dune: Part Two” the obvious choice for best movie of 2024? Yes, I won’t be winning any points for originality here, but sometimes a movie is a frontrunner for a reason, and in the case of “Dune: Part Two,” it’s because this sci-fi sequel earns its status as an “epic” in every sense of the word. It masterfully expanded on its already fantastic predecessor and it brings to life some challenging source material (Frank Herbert’s novels have been considered unadaptable for decades). Director Denis Villeneuve was already a genius in my book for his work on “Blade Runner 2049” but “Dune: Part Two” cements him as one of the most technically skilled filmmakers in Hollywood right now.

There’s so much to praise about “Dune Part Two”, the characters run the gamut from compelling to detestable, with some blurring the lines between the two over its length 166-minute runtime. The performances are almost universally Oscar-worthy with Timothée Chalamet soaring, Rebecca Ferguson stunning and Zendaya shining (once again!). Perhaps its only real flaw is that its grandiose finale culminates with several juicy plot points unresolved, and the wait for the follow-up adaptation of “Dune Messiah” already feels torturous. I need it now.

5 worst movies of 2024 (so far)

5. 'Night Swim'

It’s been a rough year for Blumhouse Productions. While “Night Swim” isn’t the worst effort the horror-focused production company has released in 2024 (we’ll get to that shortly …), its biggest crime is that it’s a movie about a haunted swimming pool that doesn't have fun with that silly premise. This should have been a self-aware B-movie that revels in cheese, and instead, it’s all played frustratingly straight. This means that when you start laughing — and you will laugh during some parts — you’re laughing at the movie rather than with it.

“Night Swimg” sees a former professional baseball player, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), move his wife (Kerry Condon, who does try her best with some poor material) and family into a new home after being forced into retirement due to multiple sclerosis. When their new backyard pool proves to have miraculous healing powers, Ray thinks it’s a gift from above, but the murky waters hide something sinister. “Night Swim” could have been fun but it’s just very dull.

4. 'Madame Web'

Sony’s latest attempt to get its stalled Spider-Man Universe moving quickly became the internet’s punching bag back in the spring, and while I think some critics were overly harsh (this is not the worst superhero movie ever, not even close), it’s hard to muster anything but an incredibly lukewarm defense, because “Madame Web” is still pretty bad. I appreciate Dakota Johnson’s dry humor, even if it sticks out like a sore thumb here, and there are definitely some “so bad, it’s good” moments to be found, but in a superhero movie era stuffed with high-quality offerings, it’s very hard to view this messy effort as anything but a flop.

“Madame Web” claims to tell the “origin story of one of Marvel publishing's most enigmatic heroines” but you really don’t get that sense from the final product. Instead, “Madame Web” is a movie that very clearly went through serious production woes, and boy does it show on the screen. The editing is a mess, the dialogue often doesn’t match with characters’ mouths (indicating extensive post-production ADR), and even the effects look cheap. But hey, at least we got a lot of memes out of it, which is more than can be said for my next pick …

3. 'Argylle'

I was never a fan of the “Kingsman” franchise, so considering that even fans of this Matthew Vaughan action-comedy would likely describe it as “‘Kingsman’ but not as good” means that it’s little wonder to see it appear on this list. “Argylle” strips away the solid action sequences of Vaughan’s previous spy franchise, but keeps the juvenile tone and irritating characters, only to then dial them up tenfold. It also boasts one of the most misleading marketing campaigns I’ve ever seen promoting Henry Cavill and Dua Lipa as the leads when the pair make little more than a cameo with Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell the true stars.

I could maybe have forced myself to just go with the flow in “Argylle” and embrace its childish humor and woolly plot if it was a zippy spy movie designed to be enjoyed quickly and then never thought about again. But “Argylle” adds insult to injury by demanding almost two and a half hours of your time. By the halfway point I was desperate to be free from the headache-inducing prison that is “Argylle." I can stomach a bad movie, but a bad long movie is just the worst.

2. 'Afraid'

If you're after a horror movie that you can laugh at for pretty much the entirety of its (mercifully brief) 84-minute runtime, “Afraid” fits the bill, but if you’re looking for even minor thrills or scares, this Blumhouse effort will leave you disappointed. It’s not just the terrible screenplay that lets “Afraid” down but also the clumsy attempts at social commentary. Pitched as a cautionary tale that explores our growing dependency on technology, and the emergence of A.I., this is like an episode of “Black Mirror” written with all the subtly of a punch to the face.

Curtis (John Cho) is a loving family man, happily married to Meredith (Katherine Waterston) and with three growing kids. They’re the quintessential American family. But their seemingly blissful domestic life is threatened when they are selected to test a new digital assistant called AIA. At first, this smart device seems capable of meeting the family’s every need, but as the technology fully integrates itself into their lives AIA begins to display sinister intentions. And it all culminates in an ending that is truly remarkable in its sheer stupidity.

1. 'Megalopolis'

I have a strict rule that if I start watching a movie, I finish it. I’ve only broken it once (and it had nothing to do with the quality of the movie), but “Megalopolis” seriously tested my resolve. As I sat through this numbingly incomprehensible slop, my mind wandered to all the other things I could be doing, and the exit door looked mighty tempting. More out of stubbornness, and a sense that I couldn’t fairly rake this movie over the coals without having seen it through to the end, I soldered on. But in hindsight, I probably should have walked out.

Nothing about “Megalopolis” works. The movie’s logline tells me there’s a plot about a visionary architect named Cesar (Adam Driver) trying to build a futuristic utopia named Megalopolis, but frankly, you could have fooled me as the movie I watched was barely decipherable garbage. The cast performances are universally awful — apart from Aubrey Plaza who clearly recognized she was in pure trash and so hams it up big style — and the overarching themes are so self-indulgent it’s almost insulting. Francis Ford Coppola is a visionary filmmaker, and if this truly is to be his final movie, what an especially horrible note to go out on.

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