The Wasteland Reviewer

The Wasteland List: Top Films of 2024

Who doesn’t love a good list? We love the process of looking through our favorite things and ordering them and putting them in a list. Being able to look through your favorite films and shouting them out is a great feeling. Now it is time for The Wasteland Watchlist!

Top Films of 2024

A Complete Unknown

James Mangold captures some old-fashioned studio filmmaking magic to tell the story of Bob Dylan’s rise and the seismic shifts he created in the folk music scene all anchored by an awards worthy performance from Timothee Chalamet.

Challengers

Luca Guadagnino crafts a high energy, tense, and complex love triangle with dynamic filmmaking, sharp editing, and a killer score that highlights the incredible skills of Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor as three complex characters stuck in a tight knit web.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Dr. George Miller expands the demented and wild world of The Wasteland with the epic tale of how a young, kidnapped child became the hero we loved in Fury Road through big scale world-building, kinetic action, and mind-blowing visuals.

Nosferatu

The haunting and terrifying classic of early cinema gets new life from director Robert Eggers who crafted an impeccability designed gothic horror romance that is full of terror, lust, and soul which is brought to life by a stellar ensemble led by the dynamic Lily Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgard (who completely disappears into the role of Count Orlok).

Dune Part Two

The second piece of the grand science fiction saga of Arrakis and the rise of Paul Atreides is a towering achievement of big budget filmmaking with Denis Villeneuve capturing grand scale, dense world building, and impressive visuals that all support the talented cast led by Timothee Chalamet’s towering performance.

Anora

Sean Baker offers up a fever dream of a modern Pretty Woman story that quickly subverts expectations to offer up a thrilling and darkly hilarious drama anchored by the alluring and charismatic Mikey Madison in this gorgeous and stylish tale.

Robot Dreams

One of the most emotionally resonant animated films in recent memory with a dialogue-less and dream-filled journey of a robot and his dog who have a loving relationship that evolves and challenges our expectations for relationships with some of the most moving needle drops around.

Sing Sing

Colman Domingo leads a beautiful and moving drama about a group of performers in a prison theater who grow and fight to keep their humanity inside this cold structure that highlights a cast full of authentic performances and a poignant story of growth.

Flow

One of the boldest animated pieces of art this year is a wondrous journey through an epic world with immense scale and incredible details as a crew of animals join on a boat engulfed in beautiful animation, sprawl action, and a moving score.

Exhibiting Forgiveness

This deeply resonant drama explores the life of an artist and how this shapes his relationships in his life as well as the challenge of reconnecting with an estranged father as this beautiful and moving film is carried on the shoulders of impressive performances from this cast (led by Andre Holland).

The Wild Robot

In a year filled with beautiful, animated fantasy/sci-fi films, Dreamworks builds a compelling tale of technology and nature in harmony with exquisite voice casting and deep emotional resonance in a world of beautiful animation and a killer score.

Ghost: Rite Here Right Now

Few concert films have crafted a compelling story about one of its artists going through well crafted growth while still delivering a big bold concert with amazing production value, creative costuming, and banger tracks from start to finish (even in the credits).

National Anthem

This is a wonderfully queer and beautiful story about humanity and the connections we build with each other and how a young man can find himself and real connection on an isolated ranch all built around a charismatic and engaging cast of diverse individuals.

Daddio

A film so simple with just a woman and her cab driver stuck on a long drive reaps so much emotion and character depth thanks to its killer one-two punch of Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn that will surprise you around every corner with its humanity and rich themes.

Look Back

An amazing story of friendship and artistry that is somehow devastating, uplighting, and emotionally resonant all wrapped in a nice runtime that doesn’t reach an hour which is brought to life in quality anime style and moving voice performances.

Blink Twice

Zoe Kravitz captures incredible style and hilarious dark comedy in this mysterious thriller with a dynamite cast including a darkly charming Channing Tatum and plenty of complex layers of thematic expression around sexism, body autonomy, and abusive relationships.

Ennio

Arguably the greatest composer of all time certainly deserved a truly epic tribute in the form of a three-hour documentary that captures the grand scale of his work and the impressive longevity of his career that is filled with incredibly talented commentators and highlighting the iconic scores throughout his life and career.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Christopher Reeve was a beautiful soul who fought a great fight to overcome such a horrific accident in his life and his story is told with strong storytelling and deep emotional resonance through never-before-seen home video footage and from the lips of those who loved him.

I Saw the TV Glow

The boldest and most ambitious film on this list is a fever dream of a trans allegory that captures a strange tale of nostalgia, reality, and identity through the imagination of Jane Schoenbrun and the impressive performances of Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine.

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger

The tale of your favorite director’s favorite directors makes for a compelling cinematic essay brought to life on screen with Martin Scorsese offering up compelling film analysis on the whole filmography of the incredible filmmakers, Powell & Pressburger, who still await the attention and praise they truly deserve.

The Nature of Love

A compelling and sultry romance that navigates the potential roadblocks of classism that can get in the way of love as well as an exploration of lust that grows between a high society woman and working-class man brought to life by authentic and impactful performances from start to finish.

A Storm Foretold

Roger Stone is a specter in modern politics who was part of the foundation that led to the rise of Trump and this unbelievable documentary follows his movements in the lead up to the 2020 election as one of the architects of the “Stop the Steal” movement and the insurrection on January 6^th lets the audience behind the curtains to see this political wizard and grifter at work.

Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces

Morgan Neville, one of the premiere documentarians in pop culture, captures the life of one of entertainment’s greatest comedians in a two-piece presentation that captures the high energy life of comedy and isolation in Martin’s early career and a more mellow and introspective peak at him today.

The Last Stop in Yuma County

Jim Cummings leads a crew of great character actors in a film drawing upon great Coen crime thrillers that can mix humor with awkward violence while capturing big impactful thrills with narrative twists, needle drops, and sly writing.

Memoir of a Snail

Adam Elliot is a storytelling genius with his stop motion work as he tells the bittersweet and harrowing tale of Grace Pudel with eerie production/character design, a mosaic of unfortunate events in her life, and an impressive voice cast led by the dynamic and moving turn of Succession alumna Sarah Snook.