good movies are a miracle
favorite films from 2024+ november RECAP
I went to the movies with my mom a while ago. During the trailer segment, they showed the trailer for Transformer One. A prequel that tells the story of how Optimus Prime came to be. As soon as I realized what the movie was about, I wanted to scream. But I sat in silence and did what I do best—store arguments in the back of my mind to later write them on my phone notes to later write an entire piece about why it bothered me.
This essay was going to be an entirely different thing than what I’m offering you today. I was going to write a lengthy think piece on the state of cinema. I had Marty Scorsese quotes from his New York Times article in response to superhero franchise fans calling him a boring and pretentious filmmaker. I watched videos on color theory, acting methods, and the downfall of TV shows as we knew them. I had all the sources I needed to argue about the decay of cinema. But I realized that there are hundreds of people with more knowledge and who have a better understanment of the subject. I don’t really have much to add to the conversation.
Still, I love film and want to talk about it, so I decided to scrap what I had, and gathered a list of movies released in the last year that I believe are keeping risqué and creativity alive in cinema. This list is short, and only includes movies that I haven’t seen many people discussing. 2024 gave us so many good movie but we don’t really need another piece recommending Challengers, right?
Before showing you the list here is a fragment of what I had wrote that I still want to share:
The other day I was scrolling on TikTok as one does when a video from a screenwriter found me. In it he says, “I do not think people realize how much of a miracle it is when a movie gets released and it is coherent, and I’m not talking about indie films. I’m talking about big-budget studio films with movie stars in them, massive crews, and a whole bunch of studio executives who work on them.” He got me thinking about all the good movies I have watched lately. Films that aren’t precisely small budget productions. Or, if they are small productions, they have big names on the cast. Which then let me to realize that people, young people, are discussing media literacy and movies on social media more than ever before. Watching films and understanding them beyond the surface is now cool, look at how Letterbox rose in popularity over the last three years.
I’m aware that there is more to Letterboxd rise in popularity within the general public. I’m not arguing that young people care more about cinema than past generations. But social media has allowed us to learn (for better and worse) about subjects that we hadn’t otherwise somewhat easily. Movies being one of them. Apart from the funny one-liners and the simplification of plots, Letterboxd reviews prompt us to think about why we like or dislike a film. Its accessibility helps people discover less-known films and engage in discourse with people from all over the world.
I could sit here and complain about how we are living in a world where movies are made for the sole purpose of selling tickets, or how nothing different or risky is being made, or how cinema as an art form is dying, and we need to keep it alive. But this statement doesn’t hold entirely on its own. People keep discussing about color grading in movies deterioating through the years and have started to notice (and complain) about how all we seem to get is biopics, remakes, sequels, and prequels, which tells me audiences yearn for something different.
I am not an expert on film distribution, so I cannot offer any insight on how this part of the industry works, but I do think studios and distribution companies need to stop undermining the audience's intelligence. We want to see movies on the big screen. We want to engage with nuanced characters. We want movies to stay in theaters for more than a week.
One example is the way that movies usually watched by film enthusiasts over 35 have brought young audiences into theaters. Poor Things, an art house film, saw that 70 percent of ticket buyers were under 35. The Substance, a body horror cult classic, was heavily discussed for weeks on social media, and became Mubi’s biggest commercial success.
These two movies had a great cast, directors, and team behind them. Although the themes steer away from what general audiences tend to like, people were excited to go see them and discuss them. I think this is meaningful. When stories like the one Lanthimos and Fargeat created are successful on the box office, it shows production houses that we care for film as art and not only as entertainment. That young people are eager to enjoy and discuss filmmaking.
Of course, these two movies becoming (sort of) mainstream brought an inevitable wave of wrong takes and superficial analysis that was personally painful to see. At the end of the day, general audiences are not used to complex and nuanced stories, but this is why it is so important to push for theater releases. The more people go to the movies to see a story that’s not a superhero movie or an action commercial movie with a simple plot and narrative, the more they will acquire not only taste but the ability to engage with hard subjects.
It’s easy to be cynical about the state of cinema right now. But brave and innovative filmmakers are out there pushing for their stories to be heard and for their movies to be seen. We are doing them a disservice by saying nothing good has come out recently. I believe it is our obsession with the past and nostalgia that keeps us from appreciating what we have in the present.
So, here’s a list of my favorite releases of the last year with unique stories, narration, and/or style.
Monkey man by Dev Patel
Dev Patel stars as ‘Kid’, a young man who infiltrates the enclave of his city’s elite, seeking revenge. This movie is filled with action and blood, but the amazing choreographed fight scenes are the least interesting about it. Based on the story of the half-monkey, half-human Hindu god Hanuman, the plot touches on childhood trauma, Indian political corruption, religion as a tool for control, and the struggles of the Hijra community under repressive governments. I don’t want to give much away of the plot. All I will say is that this was one of the few movies that I gave five stars this year. It is a must-watch.
Lisa Frankenstein by Zelda Williams
Lisa is eccentric and an outcast. She has a crush, a strained relationship with her parents, and no friends other than her stepsister. That is, until she brings a boy back from the dead. The rest was history. I love this film because it is funny and the perfect representation of weird, misunderstood teenagers. The cast, the lighting, the script, and the costume are all great, and even though Halloween is long gone, this is a movie that feels good all year round.
Sing Sing by Gregg Kwedar
A group of men who belong to a theater club use art as a rehabilitation technique while they are on jail. The performances are the best thing about this movie. But I love everything about it: the commentary on the dehumanization of incarcerated people and the corruption of the legal system; the ways in which men can tap into their emotional being; the highlight of art as a healing method; the importance of community. I love it all. If you choose only one movie to watch from this list, make it this one.
Your Monster by Caroline Lindy
Laura’s life falls apart when her boyfriend drops her after having surgery for cancer treatment. She's left alone and sick. Until one day she discovers a monster living in her closet, and they become friends and each other's sole companions.
This is a romantic comedy that is also a musical that is also a horror story. Somehow, it all works. But my favorite part had to be Melissa Barrera’s performance. Especially in the final act. It is the best final act I saw all year.
If you’ll like to read more of my thoughts on movies you can follow me on Letterboxd.
This section of this week’s letter is my November R.E.C.A.P. Enjoy!