The 9 films that left their mark on us in 2024

© Pathé/Warner Bros/Metropolitan FilmExport/A24

How good it is to love cinema in 2024. Over the past few months, we have spent (a lot of) time in movie theaters and we can say that we loved it. It's quite simple: in 2024, there was something for everyone in the movie theaters.

There were a lot of good films this year. So much so that we had to debate to offer you our selection of the best feature films of 2024. We thought of everyone. Here are our top films of 2024.

I am very indecisive. To write this article, I wrote down the films that I really liked this year. But when I saw that I was at more than 10, I understood that I was going to have a problem choosing my 3 favorites of 2024. Recently, I shed all the tears in my body in front of The Savage Robot, I was slapped by Dune 2 at the beginning of the year, I laughed a lot in front of The Fall Guy, I was blown away by Flow and I talked at great length about Challengers (which I've seen twice) to anyone who would listen. And right now, the music from Wicked is on repeat in my playlist. But on my (long) list of favorite movies in 2024, which ones do I really want to highlight in this selection ? It was hard but I had to make a choice. Here are, in my opinion, the 3 movies that made my heart beat in 2024.

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Impossible to miss the Count of Monte Cristo. Indeed, it is the cinematic phenomenon of this year. In France, of course, but also outside our borders. If you like swashbuckling films, you have probably been served with the revival of the classic 'Alexandre Dumas carried by Pierre Niney. In any case, I was impressed and I left the dark room with the feeling of having been slapped.

Having just been promoted to captain of a large ship, young Edmond Dantès is the victim of a plot led by an envious and jealous entourage. Thus, on his wedding day, he is arrested and wrongly imprisoned in the Château d'If. For more than a decade! But, fortunately, the prisoner manages to escape and when he reappears, he sports a new identity and a different appearance: he is now the Count of Monte Cristo. And he intends to take revenge on all those who betrayed him.

Magnificent sets, splendid costumes, spectacular fights, impeccable actors, thrilling plot, controlled rhythm… The Count of Montre-Cristo has established itself as the pleasant surprise of this cinematic year.

Another French film that really left its mark on me in 2024 is Fantastic Three. I was immediately intrigued by its poster, and what it gave off. I had the chance to discover the film without having seen the trailer. I didn't really know what to expect and I was absolutely not disappointed.

The Fantastic Threetakes us to a small town in the Ardennes where Max, Vivian and Tom live. They are 13 years old and inseparable. But life is going to put them to the test. Between the closing of the last factory in town, the release from prison of Max's older brother and the summer camp they are trying to finance, this summer marks a turning point in their respective lives.

Under its “coming of age film type overlay that smells of the innocence of adolescence and the freedom of the summer holidays hanging out with friends, The Fantastic Three takes an intense, darker turn that kept me on the edge of my seat until the end of the credits. The performances of Diego Murgia, Jean Devie and Benjamin Tellier are to be commended and we wish them a bright future. For a first feature film, there is no denying it: Michaël Dichter has done well and delivered a work of surprising mastery.

When it was released in Italian theaters in the fall of 2023, There's Still Tomorrow (or C’è ancora domani for those who master the language of Dante) has managed to overshadow Barbie and Oppenheimer. That alone… But since it took a while to reach our green lands, it is in my top of the best films of 2024.

There is still tomorrowhas something to make an impression. Set in post-war Italy, the feature film is shot entirely in black and white.

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We follow Delia in her gloomy and exhausting daily life as a mother of three children and wife of a violent husband. To support her family in this Italy that is suffering the consequences of the Second World War, she takes on a series of odd jobs. Which doesn't stop her husband Ivano from getting angry, insulting her and assaulting her at the slightest opportunity. But Delia's daily life will change when she receives a mysterious letter, she who never receives mail, and her eldest daughter announces her engagement to Giulio. And if she could dream of a better future ?

The feature film stands out as a true ode to freedom and emancipation. If There is still tomorrowtackles serious and important subjects, the film never falls into melodrama and never makes its protagonist a martyr. On the contrary, Paola Cortellesi does not hesitate to distil numerous humorous touches to counterbalance everything. Finely played! This is how There is still tomorrow has become the standard-bearer of a real social problem that is plaguing Italy (but not only). I therefore had to include it in this selection.

Read also – Why this Italian film with 5 million admissions has become a social phenomenon

This sequel to the first part was clearly my biggest slap of the year at the cinema. The criticisms made to Denis Villeneuve of only focusing on aesthetics are totally unjustified for me. On the contrary, he manages to adapt a particularly dense universe and maintain tension throughout the film.

As for the actors, especially Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, I find them impeccable and yet it is not so easy to slip into the skin of their characters. Knowing the continuation of the Dune saga, I can't wait to see this story on the big screen!

Nearly nine years after making everyone agree with Mad Max: Fury Road, the saga is back with Furiosa. In this highly anticipated prequel, we find the excellent Anya Taylor-Joy in the main role. I was a little afraid that the film would just surf on the good recipes of the previous part and bet 100% on the action, and this is fortunately not the case.< /p>

We appreciate seeing this heroine grow in power and we understand her destiny better during the last feature film. Finally, and even if it is a fiasco at the box office , this production is truly a total success in both form and substance.

In a tense political context , Civil Warpaints a picture of an America more fractured than ever. A team of photographers and journalists tries to reach Washington, gradually discovering the gravity of the situation in the country, in the midst of a civil war.

From its screenplay to its direction (documentary style) and the excellent acting (Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura steal the show), Civil War is without a doubt one of the films not to be missed in 2024.

Since Manon has already mentioned the excellent Count of Monte Cristo (which I also recommend), my second film of the year is also French. L'Amour ouf, by Gilles Lellouche, is far from perfect. Some may find it a bit long.

Nevertheless, Gilles Lellouche's direction, which may seem messy, demonstrates his expertise behind the camera. After Le Grand Bain, the man who made his mark in rap videos returns to his first love, with dynamic staging and camera movements that are far from conventional.

L’Amour ouf, it is also a dive into the deep France of the 80s/90s, that of the North, of the slag heaps and the coal factories. A France in which I grew up, which undoubtedly gave this very particular flavor to the film.

And since we are talking about love, that between the two main characters, played by Français Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos (in love in the city as on the screen), transpires at every moment. Our hearts beat wildly, stop, race and then calm down, to the rhythm of a soundtrack from an era that thirty-somethings probably sometimes regret.

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