Last year was unforgettable when it came to the movies that were released. July alone will always be ed for “Barbenheimer,” but that was just one chapter in 2023’s impressive list of highlights. 2024 instantly had the tough task of living up to the previous calendar year, but the world of movies hasn’t disappointed. While there have been some surprises at the box office, 2024 has featured some great quality films in theaters and on streaming.

Among 2024’s best of the best are a few franchise sequels, some fantastic original stories, and even a prequel that didn’t dominate the box office but deserves praise nonetheless. As we’ve learned time and time again, some of the best movies aren’t blockbusters. Whether they are streaming gems or indie titles that require digging deeper to find, it’s always worth considering movies of all sizes. Therefore, the team at Screen Rant put together their list of 2024’s best movies.

For even more movie recommendations, be sure to check out the 10 Best Movies to Watch on Streaming Right Now

20 Babygirl

A Complex And Nuanced Erotic Thriller

Summary: A high-powered CEO risks everything when she embarks on a ionate and illicit affair with her much younger intern.

I found Babygirl incredibly engrossing. It’s always a pleasure to sit down to a film as confidently directed as this one is by Halina Reijn, but a portrayal of desire this nuanced is a rare find, and worth treasuring.

As much as this movie is about sexual fantasy, it doesn’t let its characters become unreal. The central affair is captured honestly, in its thorny totality. A truly great Nicole Kidman shows us how the many roles we play in life overlap, smash together, and blur into one another. Babygirl might be a playful erotic thriller, but overlook it as one of the year’s best movies at your own peril. Read ScreenRant's review of Babygirl here.

- Written by Alexander Harrison, Movies News Senior Editor

19 Abigail

A Deadly Ballerina Takes Center Stage In This Standout Horror

Summary: Abigail is a 2024 horror thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. A group of people kidnap the daughter of a dangerous crime lord only to discover that the little girl is actually a vicious vampire out for blood.

2024 was another great year for horror movies. With notable hits like Late Night with the Devil, Longlegs, Terrifier 3, and Smile 2, there’s another title that stood out for me: Abigail. Rather than lean into the tired tropes that often plague vampire movies, Abigail presented a fresh story surrounding a deadly ballerina.

Abigail featured a great cast, but it was Melissa Barrera and Dan Stevens who made the concept work for me. Once the terror began, it didn’t slow down, making for an exciting game of cat-and-mouse that ended in an absolute bloodbath. Read ScreenRant's review of Abigail here.

- Written by Kara Hedash, Jr. Lead Features Editor

18 Flow

A Beautifully Otherworldy Animation

Summary: A solitary animal named Cat who must find refuge and collaborate with other species on a boat after a great flood devastates their home. As they sail through mystical, overflowed landscapes, the group navigates challenges and dangers while adapting to a transformed world.

Flow has a simple enough premise, but Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis makes a few key choices that elevate Flow beyond its bare bones story.

First, the film is told entirely without dialogue, and is also made entirely using computer graphics software tool Blender. It's jarring at first, but it quickly becomes just one aspect of the film's engrossing otherworldly mood.

What it has to say about survival, resilience, and the awe-inspiring beauty of the strange and unknown is quite profound. It's also a thrilling action-adventure film set against the backdrop of a world that poses more questions than the film provides answers. This could be frustrating, but the film seems to have as much curiosity about this world as the audience. Read ScreenRant's review of Flow here.

- Written by Graeme Guttmann, TV News Senior Editor

17 Hit Man

Summary: Undercover and trying to catch a group of criminals, a Houston police officer poses as a hitman until he falls for a woman on assignment. Finding himself diving deeper into the world of crime, the Houston officer finds it increasingly difficult to escape his new undercover persona.

Last working together on the underrated Everybody Wants Some!!, Linklater and Powell took a wild true story about a fake hit man named Gary Johnson and spun it into something truly unique. Hit Man serves as a thriller, crime drama, and sexy rom-com while giving Powell a hilariously fun batch of fake identities to play around with.

The chemistry between Powell and Arjona was seriously unreal, to the point that I think the casting director deserves a raise. Watching their complicated love story unfold amid Gary’s hit man ploy had me instantly invested. I knew Powell had charm, but damn, he used it like a superpower in this movie.

Honestly, it’s a shame that Hit Man didn’t get a theatrical release because it would have been a blast to watch on the big screen. Read ScreenRant's review of Hit Man here.

Hit Man had festival screenings in 2023, but it wasn't widely released until June 2024.

- Written by Kara Hedash, Jr. Lead Features Editor

16 Twisters

Powell Elevates This Surprise Sequel To A Smash Hit

Summary: A follow-up to the 1996 original film Twister, Twisters is a sequel set years after the original, as Kate Carter, a retired tornado-chaser and meteorologist, returns to the chase with a brand new team.

As a kid, I would’ve picked watching Twister over any Disney movie available at the time. When I envisioned a sequel, I always thought it would be a direct follow-up featuring Helen Hunt’s Jo. Though that wasn’t the case, Twisters still managed to tell a character-driven story, just like the original 1996 movie.

Much of that stemmed from its likable leads, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, whose charisma alone propelled the movie to another level. Of course, the actual tornadoes deserve their own recognition, creating several thrilling sequences that made for a great time at the theater. Read ScreenRant's review of Twisters here.

- Written by Kara Hedash, Jr. Lead Features Editor

15 The Substance

A Nuanced Satire With A Stellar Cast

Summary: Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading celebrity, turns to a mysterious drug that promises to restore her youth by creating a younger, more beautiful version of herself. But splitting time between her original and new body leads to horrifying consequences as her alternate self, Sue, begins to unravel her life in a disturbing body-horror descent.

The Substance is easily one of the best films of the year. Coralie Fargeat delivers a movie that is quite grotesque at times in the execution of its body horror elements. But what really makes The Substance shine is its heartbreaking story. The film's view on beauty, age, and the entertainment industry provides an emotional throughline to connect to.

Demi Moore absolutely deserves an Oscar nomination for how she handled the getting ready for a date scene alone, and Margaret Qualley is exceptional. By the end, Elisabeth and Sue's dynamic helped deliver one of the wildest finales of the year. Read ScreenRant's review of The Substance here.

- Written by Cooper Hood, Theatrical Movies Senior Editor

14 Inside Out 2

A Perfect Pixar Follow Up (That No One Expected)

Summary: Inside Out 2 is the sequel to the 2015 original film, which starred a young girl named Riley with a head full of emotions. - literally. Now Riley is reaching puberty, and a whole host of new emotions are ing the gang - and causing plenty of problems.

Inside Out 2 feels like the writing team was waiting for the right story to percolate over that near-decade between the movies. Once again, while we’re watching a story about a child’s emotions, there is a commonality and an irresistible universality to the observations. This is Pixar’s family approach perfected.

The sequel is funny, uplifting, heartfelt, and most surprisingly, offers a meditation on legacy that will make parents crumble. There is always review of Inside Out 2 here.

- Written by Simon Gallagher, Executive Editor

13 Late Night With The Devil

Creeping Horror That Never Truly Descends Into Camp

Summary: Late Night with the Devil is a horror thriller starring David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy. Delroy is a late-night talk show host in 1977 trying to keep his broadcast on the air. But when he tries to communicate with the devil through a young girl live on the air, things don't go according to plan.

The Cairnes’ brothers Late Night with the Devil is a fine example of the impressive purple patch horror is enjoying, with its boldly ambitious single-location premise conjuring an eerily authentic sense of claustrophobic voyeurism.

Oddly, Late Night with the Devil’s refusal to take itself completely seriously is the secret weapon here. Had the Cairnes brothers played it straight, they would have given viewers every reason to laugh at the melodrama, the costumes, and the Twin Peaks-esque ending. By keeping a knowing wink in the eye and tongue firmly in cheek, everyone ends up laughing nervously together, not sure whether to smile, cry, or run away in fright. And isn’t that what horror should be? Read ScreenRant's review of Late Night With The Devil here.

- Written by Craig Elvy, Jr. Lead Features Editor

12 The Wild Robot

A Perfect Family Film, To Charm Kids And Break Adult Hearts

Summary: The Wild Robot is an animated drama film based on a series of books by Peter Brown. The Wild Robot centers on a robot named Rozzum 7134, who becomes stranded on a deserted island and the guardian of a young orphan.

Chris Sanders' touching tale of a lost robot whose prime directive becomes parenting a gosling still feels like it came out of nowhere, which is a major part of its charm. Starring Lupita Njong'o as the robot helper, it is a beautifully animated family film in the purest sense: appealing to adults with its occasionally profound philosophical moments, and to kids with its playfulness.

It's funny, N'Yong'o and Pedro Pascal give excellent vocal performances, and for anyone who grew up adoring the likes of Wall-E or the Iron Giant, it lands perfectly. Warning: will force all parents through an existential crisis about their kids abandoning them. Read ScreenRant's review of The Wild Robot here.

- Written by Simon Gallagher, Executive Editor

11 Furiosa

A Franchise Expansion That es The Vibe Check

Summary: A prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is an action-adventure film that tells the origin story of the headstrong and fearless Furiosa. Set shortly after the beginning of the "end of the world," Furiosa is kidnapped and brought before a powerful warlord, now forced to work for him. To find her way back home, Furiosa will adapt to the new harsh and arid world as she grows into the Furiosa she becomes known to be.

When Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga was first announced, I’ll it I was a bit skeptical. Well, it’s nice to know a prequel can erase any doubt about its quality by simply being fantastic. Furiosa’s origin story feels fresh, and Anya Taylor-Joy’s version is just as fierce and powerful as Charlize Theron.

Furiosa hits all the right notes, and even goes so far as to explain how Furiosa lost her arm in a harrowing, tension-filled scene. Furiosa’s cast is more than up to the task, delivering layered and, in the case of Taylor-Joy, emotional performances that make each moment sing. Miller clearly put a lot of thought into Furiosa when it would have been easy to phone it in. But the more expansive the Mad Max world gets, the more I want to see of it. Read ScreenRant's review of Furiosa here.

Written by Mae Abdulbaki, Lead Critic & Features Writer