The 33 best movies of 2024 and where to watch them (2024)

So, what is the best movie of 2024? Zendaya's tennis drama Challengers, Dev Patel's amazing directorial debut Monkey Man, Oscar winner Poor Things, or perhaps it is yet to arrive in cinemas?

There are many months ahead to go over the candidates and come to a decision, so make sure you're all caught up with all new 2024 movie releases as soon as possible.

There are some notable mentions – good movies that didn't make it into the list, like Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt's action comedy The Fall Guy, the musical stage adaptation The Color Purple, Jodie Comer's survival drama The End We Start From, and Olivia Colman's charming comedy Wicked Little Letters.

Here are our picks for the best movies of 2024 so far.

One of the most critically-acclaimed movies of the year, The Wild Robot is a must-see for all kinds of audiences.

The animated story follows an assistant robot named ROZZUM unit 7134, or Roz for short (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o), after it becomes shipwrecked on an uninhabited island.

Unable to find humans to help, as it's programmed to do, the robot is forced to adapt to the brutal conditions, learning all animal languages and surviving the elements. Eventually, Roz finds a family of its own alongside cunning fox Fink (Pedro Pascal) and helpless gosling Brightbill (Heartstopper star Kit Connor).

The voice cast also includes Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry and Ving Rhames.

With gorgeous animation and an emotional story, The Wild Robot is an unmissable gem in 2024.

Watch now: Cinemas
Release date (UK): October 18, 2024

You might not have heard of this one, but Strange Darling is actually the best thriller of 2024. And the least you know about the story, the better.

The movie opens with a woman (Reacher star Willa Fitzgerald) who is running from a mysterious predator (Kyle Gallner) through the Oregon wilderness. Not everything is as it seems, though.

Even if it's been compared to Quentin Tarantino's movies because of its non-linear structure and brutal violence, Strange Darling is totally unique.

As one of the year's best, the movie is a wild ride that saves all its secrets until the very end.

Watch now: Prime Video (US only)
Release date (UK): September 20, 2024

Sebastian Stan has received high praise for his performance as Donald Trump in The Apprentice, but his best movie this year is the excellent A Different Man.

Written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, the movie sees Stan play aspiring actor Edward, who undergoes a medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance, since he's convinced all his problems are due to his facial disfigurement.

However, once the disfigurement is gone, he becomes obsessed with reclaiming what he lost as another aspiring actor with a facial disfigurement, Oswald (Adam Pearson), proves to be everything he couldn't.

A Different Man is a surreal and provocative tale about self-confidence and prejudice.

Watch now: Cinemas
Release date (UK): October 4, 2024

Beetlejuice is back in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a fun and nostalgic sequel to Tim Burton's iconic 1988 film.

The movie makes sensible use of the fan-service card while introducing some exciting new elements and characters, as well as an expansion of its hilariously bureaucratic Neitherworld.

Set over three decades after the original movie, the story follows Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and her teenage daughter Astrid (played by Wednesday star Jenna Ortega) as they return to the little village of Winter River. When Astrid gets in trouble in the land of the dead, Lydia asks Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) for help.

Catherine O'Hara is also back as Delia Deetz, as the original cast is joined by Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Danny de Vito.

Read our review of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Watch now: Cinemas
Release date (UK): September 6, 2024

Jane Schoenbrun's new movie I Saw the TV Glow is not only a must-see movie this year, but one that is bound to become a cult classic.

The story follows Owen (Justice Smith), a lonely teenager living in the suburbs who gets introduced to a mysterious late-night TV show called The Pink Opaque (which was inspired by '90s shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twin Peaks and The X-Files).

As he escapes his troubled home every Saturday night to watch the show with his moody classmate Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), Owen's reality starts changing. To say more than that about the story would be spoiling the mind-boggling experience it offers.

I Saw the TV Glow is a visually stunning journey that feels deliciously bizarre and totally exciting. You might want to watch it more than once!

Watch now: Prime Video | AppleTV
Release date (UK): July 26, 2024

Twisters is one of the best movies of 2024, and a perfect summer blockbuster.

Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones and Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell star this movie, which is not exactly a direct sequel of Twister but a brand-new story about fearless people chasing tornadoes.

The story follows Kate Cooper (Edgar-Jones), a former storm chaser that gets lured back into the fields of Tornado Alley by her friend Javi (In The Heights' Anthony Ramos). Their paths cross with Tyler Owens (Powell), a reckless "tornado wrangler".

Directed by Minari's Lee Isaac Chung, Twisters is a fun ride with spectacular set pieces and a compelling enemies-to-lovers storyline. Crazy tornadoes are back and we're here for it!

Read our review of Twisters.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Release date (UK): July 17, 2024

One of the sweetest movies of the year, Thelma is an unexpected revenge comedy inspired by the likes of Mission: Impossible.

Academy Award nominee June Squibb, in her first-ever leading role at age 94, plays a woman who refuses to stay put after falling victim of a scam. While her family worries about her ability to still live by herself, she embarks on a journey to get her stolen money back.

The movie also stars Gladiator II and The White Lotus star Fred Hechinger as Thelma's grandson Danny, with his parents played by Parker Posey and Clark Gregg.

The late Richard Roundtree plays Thelma's friend Ben, who helps her track down the scam perpetrators and let her use his precious two-seat mobility scooter.

Read our review of Thelma.

Watch now: Out in cinemas
Release date (UK): July 19, 2024

Nicolas Cage is absolutely terrifying in Longlegs, one of the best horror movies of the year.

A much darker version of The Silence of the Lambs, the follows a gifted FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), who is recruited by Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) to hunt a Satanic serial killer called Longlegs (Cage). He's been on a killing spree for decades, leaving a trail of notes filled with occult symbols nobody has been able to decipher.

This is not a jump scare kind of movie, but a deeply unsettling and chilling horror movie that will leave you shaking. Longlegs is a must-watch of 2024.

Read our review of Longlegs.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Release date (UK): July 12, 2024

While we wait for the Abbott family's return in A Quiet Place 3, fans can now find out where it all started.

A Quiet Place: Day One is a prequel film set against the original alien invasion, which gave way to the post-apocalyptic state we see in 2018's A Quiet Place and its 2020 sequel.

The movie introduces characters Sam (Lupita Nyong'o) and Eric (Joseph Quinn) as they're thrown together in New York City during the invasion.

Pig's Michael Sarnoski takes over from John Krasinski on directing duties, and the result is unexpectedly emotional and still terrifying.

Read our review of A Quiet Place: Day One.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Release date (UK): June 28, 2024

Only a few months after winning her second Oscar, Emma Stone is back alongside Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos for a deranged new film.

Kinds of Kindness is a "triptych fable" with three independent stories (except for the mysterious RMF, who appears in all of them) starring Stone, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Willem Dafoe, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie and Hunter Schafer.

You won't see a movie quite like this one this year — if you manage to stick with it through its lengthy runtime, you'll be rewarded with a bizarre experience that will have you wincing, laughing and thinking.

Read our review of Kinds of Kindness.

Watch now: Disney+ | Prime Video | Microsoft Store
Release date (UK): June 28, 2024

The Bikeriders is probably the coolest movie of 2024, and not just due to those to-die-for leather jackets.

Directed by Jeff Nichols and inspired by Danny Lyon's 1968 photobook of the same name, the movie follows a Midwestern motorcycle club known as The Vandals, which morphed into a sinister gang over time.

Jodie Comer is a charismatic narrator through a story about tough men, unchecked testosterone and loud motorbikes, with Austin Butler oozing bad-boy sensuality at every turn and Tom Hardy nailing his usual tortured-man routine.

The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus, Bullet Train's Mike Shannon, and Narcos actor Boyd Holbrook also star in this film, which earned a superb critical reception upon release.

Read our review of The Bikeriders.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store | Peacock (US)
Release date (UK): June 21, 2024

Almost a decade after its release, Inside Out is back with an exciting sequel featuring more relatable emotions like Anxiety (voiced by Stranger Things star Maya Hawke).

With Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale replacing Bill Hader) and Disgust (Liza Lapira replacing Mindy Kaling) back to business, Inside Out 2 follows teenager Riley as she faces new challenges as a young woman.

Directed by Onward's Kelsey Mann, the movie follows its predecessor's success, already soaring at the box office as one of the biggest movies of 2024. The sequel will eventually have a Disney+ release.

Read our review of Inside Out 2.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Release date (UK): June 14, 2024

Netflix's Hit Man is out now on Netflix after a limited cinema release, which is great news for viewers eager to enjoy one of the best movies of 2024.

Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell plays Gary Johnson, an undercover cop posing as a hitman. As he becomes smitten with a "client", Maddy Masters (Good Omens star Adria Arjona), he finds his job becomes increasingly difficult.

The film is directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Linklater and Powell, based on an article of the same name that appeared in 2001's Texas Monthly magazine.

Hit Man is a smart, playful, steamy romantic comedy that explores fascinating philosophical issues while still being utterly goofy.

Read our review of Hit Man.

Watch now: Netflix
Release date (UK): June 7, 2024

If you're looking for a challenging watch this year, let that be The Beast. Bertrand Bonello's new movie is outstanding, a bold, romantic sci-fi epic that defies categorisation.

Inspired by Henry James's 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle, the movie follows fated lovers Gabrielle (an excellent Léa Seydoux) and Louis (1917's George MacKay) through diverse reincarnations in 1910, 2014 and 2044.

Their connection survives through these three distinct time periods, even if the memories of their past lives are forgotten. The movie explores how to love and find happiness in a world always on the verge of disaster.

Read our review of The Beast.

Watch now: MUBI | Prime Video | iTunes
Release date (UK): May 31, 2024

Anya Taylor-Joy takes over from Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa for this critically acclaimed prequel, which strengthens the character's legend after her first appearance in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Directed by George Miller, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga starts when a young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is snatched from her home in the Green Place of Many Mothers by a biker gang run by the Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Forced to survive at all costs, Furiosa grows up to be a lethal woman in search of vengeance, and a way back home.

It might not be as good as Fury Road (which, to be fair, is one of the best movies of this century), but Furiosa is a sensational action movie that expands Mad Max's mythology.

Read our review of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Release date (UK): May 24, 2024

The Planet of the Apes franchise keeps growing with a new sequel following the events of Matt Reeves' 2017 movie War for the Planet of the Apes. Now, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set 300 years after Caesar's lifetime.

When a new tyrannical ape leader builds his own empire perverting Caesar's legacy, a young ape named Noa (Owen Teague) and a feral woman named Mae (The Witcher's Freya Allan) embark on a journey that will cause them to question everything they know.

Directed by The Maze Runner's Wes Ball, this new movie opens a promising new chapter (a reboot of sorts) for the franchise.

Read our review of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Release date (UK): May 9, 2024

Josh O'Connor is having such a sensational year that the excellent Challengers is not even his best movie of 2024 – La Chimera is a spellbinding masterpiece.

Alice Rohrwacher's new movie follows Arthur (O'Connor), an Englishman leading a band of grave robbers (or tombaroli) in 1980s Italy.

Arthur is able to sense the presence of underground burial chambers that have remained hidden for centuries, so he disturbs the land of the dead in order to steal their treasures while he obsesses over his disappeared girlfriend Beniamina.

La Chimera is about working-class chimeras and hopes of prosperity, as a troubled man chases ghosts in a dreamlike land.

Read our review of La Chimera.

Watch now: MUBI
Release date (UK): May 10, 2024

Kristen Stewart's new movie Love Lies Bleeding has received raving reviews, quickly becoming one of the best movies of 2024.

Directed by Rose Glass (Saint Maud), the movie follows a reclusive gym manager who falls hard for an ambitious bodybuilder named Jackie (the sensational Katy O'Brian, who's just been cast in the next Mission: Impossible).

The blossoming relationship between Stewart and O'Brian's characters ends up in a path of violence, which pulls them deep into the web of a criminal family.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Release date (UK): May 3, 2024

Not long after Dune: Part Two, Zendaya comes back to the big screen with Challengers, also starring The Crown's Josh O'Connor and West Side Story's Mike Faist.

The story follows Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), a former tennis prodigy who is forced to shift her career after a bad injury, ending up coaching her husband Art Donaldson (Faist). When she recommends he takes some time on the Challenger circuit to rebuild his confidence, they are reunited with Patrick Zweig (O'Connor), Art's former best friend and Tashi's ex.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino (known for Call Me by Your Name and Bones and All), Challengers brings a love/sex triangle to the tennis court with plenty of sexual tension. In the ending, it's not about who wins the match, but who gets to enjoy every minute.

Read our review of Challengers.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
Release date: April 26, 2024