Our Favourite Movies Of 2024... So Far

Well, here we are! We're in the eighth month of 2024 (gosh, that's gone quickly!) and as we start to approach the end of summer and big blockbuster period, let's take a look back at some of the best films to hit UK cinemas in 2024 so far!

Dune: Part 2

Dune: Part 2 is the massive, long-awaited second instalment in the Denis Villenauve’s trilogy of sci-fi space epics based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name. Featuring a ridiculously star-studded cast including Timothee Chalamet, Zendeya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken and I could keep going but in the interest of this entry not being exclusively names, I’ll stop there.

Denis Villeneuve has made a career of creating aesthetically stunning, atmospheric huge worlds filled with vivid colours and wonder. Most notably (other than Dune), Blade Runner 2049- another sci-fi epic and sequel to the 1982 film by Ridley Scott. Before that, he was making waves with films like Arrival, Prisoners and Sicario.

Dune: Part 2 expands on so much of what made the first film as special as it was, but this time, there is a lot more going down. The first of Villenauve’s Dune was a sensory (well, sight and sound) marvel and laid down a lot of foundation for what was to come and although to be honest, very little actually happened in terms of its story, it was insanely engrossing because it did everything else so well. In Part 2, pair all that with a much bigger series of events and you have one of the best sci-fi epics of the year and possibly all-time.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Obnoxiously rev your engines because we headed back to the wasteland this year to learn the origins of Charlize Theron’s character from Mad Max: Fury Road in the form of Anya Taylor-Joy. Taylor-Joy is consistently finding herself in the centre of some of the biggest films of recent memory and with Furiosa, comes perhaps her biggest yet.

A prequel to the 2015 film with Tom Hardy in the titular role, Taylor-Joy is the titular Furiosa as she journeys through the vast open deserts of the Mad Max universe’s apocalyptic future to take revenge on Dementus for kidnapping her and murdering her mother. It chronicles her rise to the one-armed Imperator we saw in Fury Road.

Furiosa is brutal, dark and high-octane just as you would expect. It expands wonderfully on George Miller’s world as Taylor-Joy cements herself as a leading action-heroine and Chris Hemsworth forges one of recent memory’s greatest, most sadistic and most darkly hilarious on-screen villains.

In A Violent Nature

In A Violent Nature is the feature-length debut of director Chris Nash. It is a slasher film in the vein of Friday the 13^th with a disfigured masked killer hunting people in the woods, but it approaches it a little differently. Referred to as an “ambient slasher”, IAVN has a much slower, more methodical pace employing characteristics typically seen in art-house cinema. From implicative transitions to long shots of the meat-hook-wielding killer walking through tall grass, this isn’t a slasher quite like you’ve seen them before.

In A Violent Nature follows the misfortunes of a group of friends who find a locket hanging from the remains of a fire tower. They take it (because why wouldn’t you, right?) and inadvertently resurrect the corpse of Johnny. Johnny just wants his locket back, but unfortunately, he’s willing to commit heinous crimes in order to get it.

What makes IAVN so interesting is that it follows the killer from an over-the-shoulder point of view, oftentimes feeling like there should be a controller in your hand as you play Dead by Daylight. The off-camera conversations being had by mysterious civilians around Johnny as he prowls add another layer to the atmosphere in much the same way as Jason Vorhees’ footsteps do from the other side.

Robot Dreams

Pablo Berger’s Oscar-nominated bittersweet animated buddy movie is set in an anthropomorphic New York in 1984. It revolves around the friendship between a lonely dog and his robot build-a-friend. Upon first glance, Robot Dreams seems like a Pixar-esque tale of heartwarming companionship between a rather unlikely pairing, and in some ways, it is exactly that.

Dog watches life go by from his modest apartment, looking for distractions to take his attention away from the happy couple across the street, by playing Pong against himself and lifelessly scrolling through the television channels until he stumbles across a commercial promising him just what he’s been looking for: a friend.

The bond is instant, Robot approaches “The Big Apple” with wonder as Dog rediscovers the wonders of the city. There is a bump in the road, however, or rather a splash, as Robot stiffens after playing in the water at the beach, and gets stuck there as it closes until the next summer. After failed attempts to re-enter, Dog desperately waits for the beach to re-open so they may be reunited.

Boasting a simplistic and very clean animation style which is the same as the graphic novel by Sara Varon upon which it is based, Robot Dreams doesn’t contain any dialogue. It is tender, empathetic, honest and able to appeal to all age groups. Kids will respond to the cute characters, colours and music and adults to its emotional depth and maturity (as well as the cute characters, colours and music).

The Iron Claw

If there is any film that can claim utter travesty for receiving no major award nominations, it’s Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw. The Zac Efron-led family tragedy of one of professional wrestling’s most famous- and famously cursed- families is harrowingly tragic, but also manages to be a heartwarming tale of family and brotherhood.

The Iron Claw chronicles the story of the Von Erichs, a family of professional wrestlers helmed by their matriarch known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, and his sons Kevin (Efron), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) David and Mike. Fritz never quite reached the height that he desired and thought he deserved in his career and so attempts to live vicariously through his son’s accomplishments, and will push them to an unhealthy extent in order to achieve those accomplishments.

The Iron Claw is not only a heart-wrenching family tragi-drama that will resonate with anybody regardless of one's knowledge of the subject matter or lack thereof, but also a bleak insight into the world of professional wrestling during its hey-day in the 1980s. From the toll the profession takes on both the body and the mind to having to mask it all to maintain a persona and a career, and the drug-reliant lives that many fall into to in order to sustain it.

Perfect Days

In a filmic landscape filled with sci-fi epics and action blockbusters, Perfect Days showcases the plainness of everyday life. A Japan-Germany co-production by prolific German writer-director Wim Wenders and co-writer Takuma Takasaki, Perfect Days follows the daily routine of sixty-something-year-old Hirayama, a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He lives a quiet life on his own with his passion for music cassettes and books, going largely unnoticed by the general public.

You’re probably thinking that this sounds super depressing and it seems like it should be, however it serves as more a gentle reminder to find fulfillment in the small things in life. In today’s world which is oversaturated by social media and so-called influencers giving a lot of people the idea that they should be living a certain way, Perfect Days paints a life-affirming meditative picture of appreciation.

About those cassette tapes, Hirayama’s musical taste is a prevalent feature throughout the film, with tracks from 60s and 70s by artists from his native Japan as well as recognisable western artists such as the Kinks, Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Otis Redding and Nina Simone. They embody the Oscar-nominated film and its message well, acting as little windows into Hiyama’s soul.

Honourable Mention: Deadpool & Wolverine

At the time of writing, Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which is currently in cinemas, is the second-highest-grossing film of 2024 so far. The film is a super fun, super meta, surprise-appearance-filled melting pot. Essentially a giant tribute to the Fox-Marvel Universe, Deadpool & Wolverine is expectedly full of cameos, throwbacks, alternate characters and would-have-beens.

Whilst the film is a fun fan-service-fuelled affair, the story is paper-thin and feels a lot like a filler episode, with the events of the previous two films, other than by way of a few returning characters, hardly being mentioned at all. In fact, the majority of the featured characters here are brand new (or risen from Fox’s past).

Having said all that, it's almost completely made up for by the opening dance number featuring "God's favourite idiot" throwing it down to NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye”, in which Deadpool not only shows off his killer moves but also his killer killing abilities in all of their violent and hilarious absurdity.

It’s not the best Marvel entry and not even the best Deadpool entry, but it works very well for what it’s supposed to be.

If you wanna know our favourite albums of the year so far, check this out:

• Our 5 Favourite Albums Of 2024... So Far

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• 5 Of Our Favourite Summer Horror Movies