Top 24 of 2024

It’s that time of year again! Exercise and productivity are but a distant memory, the days blur into a booze-fuelled purgatory and I rank my favourite films. This time, I’m listing 24 films that were ‘released’ here in 2024 (I use the term loosely because one doesn’t come out until January 1st and one is technically from 2022). 

The Cannes 2023 program is heavily represented thanks to the strength of last year’s Perth Festival lineup, so thanks to whoever was responsible for that. There are also several actors who appear not once but twice on this list, so congrats to Sandra Hüller, Sebastian Stan, Josh O’Connor, Zendaya, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Plemons and Léa Seydoux for their excellent career choices this year.

And speaking of career choices, I left my job in advertising so I’d have more capacity for things like this. 2025 will reveal if this was a good decision but in the meantime, let’s rank some movies!

24. The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi

The first of Sebastian Stan’s outings in this list is the one where he plays Donald Trump in the 80s. But it’s not a caricature; it’s actually a humanising (but not forgiving) look at the making of the man we all know today. The Apprentice was pretty unfairly maligned when it came out; his supporters wrote it off as election bait for Democrat voters and his detractors didn’t want to see a film about Donald Trump. But Ali Abbasi has made a solid biopic that’s shot like Succession (complete with Jeremy Strong) and serves as a pretty balanced early look at the percolation of a divisive modern figure.

23. The Iron Claw – Sean Durkin

The unfortunately true story of the ‘curse’ that spread through the Von Erich wrestling family is softened slightly in Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw, leaving out the extra death because it would’ve been “too much” for audiences to take. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of tragedy to feast your teary eyes upon. A tale of a father’s abject determination to live vicariously through his sons no matter the pressure it exerts on them, it is one that requires a stiff upper lip and a backup box of tissues. But it’s also a film that makes you believe in the healing power of fraternal love, and the acting chops of one Zac Efron.

22. The Taste of Things – Trần Anh Hùng

Seeing this at Perth Festival meant sharing the outdoor cinema at UWA Somerville with a bunch of food horny Western Suburbs Boomers who couldn’t contain their orgasms as Juliette Binoche made dish after delectable dish for her gourmet suitor/employer. It’s a hot concept, I get it, but I really could’ve done without the assault on my ears. Still, the commotion in the audience didn’t detract too much from the sumptuousness onscreen. The Taste of Things’ portrait of upper class eating in late 1800s France is an aesthete’s delight and a romantic’s wet dream, featuring gorgeous performances by Binoche and her real-life ex-husband/baby daddy Benoît Magimel. And it’s not just the food that treats the senses; there is something quite spellbinding about its cinematography, costume design and use of locations that transforms the film into a moving oil painting.

21. Evil Does Not Exist – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Another Perth Festival entry and another thought provoking slow burn from the writer and director of Drive My Car and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (both of which featured in my Top 22 of ‘22 list). A quiet tale of the ever raging battle between man and nature, Evil Does Not Exist is a film that refuses to give answers, but does present a vaguely threatening warning about the consequences of rampant capitalism for the sake of subsidies. This is a film that I’d like to revisit again as I found myself distracted by the non-diegetic sounds of UWA Somerville on my first viewing. Oddly, a film whose soundscape is made up of woodsy instruments and faint gunshots doesn’t benefit from an outdoor cinema experience.

20. Love Lies Bleeding - Rose Glass

Since her psychologically horrifying debut Saint Maud I’ve felt deep pangs for a second film from Rose Glass. A tedious five years later, I finally got it with Love Lies Bleeding, a lesbian romantic thriller about a gym manager with crime family ties and the object of her affection, a Hulk-coded, steroid enthusiast bodybuilder. This ultra stylised, 80s set Americana tale is like if True Romance took place in a New Mexico town; it’s funny, violent and urgently paced, but at its heart is a love story between outcasts. Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian have infectious chemistry and Ed Harris’s hairstyle channels Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. What more could you want?

19. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – George Miller

It’s hard being the younger sibling of one of the greatest action movies of all time but Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is its own film that, while not reaching the heights of its predecessor, still marks a staggering accomplishment for a 79-year-old pillar of Australian filmmaking. George Miller returns almost a decade after Mad Max: Fury Road to make the film he actually wrote prior, an origin story of Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa. While Fury Road took place over only three days the new film spans 15 years, so the character is played in the first act by child actor Alyla Brown and then by Anya Taylor-Joy after a time jump. Highlights include a genuinely interesting villain in Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus, a properly executed Australian accent from Tom Burke and an appropriately rage-filled performance from Anya Taylor-Joy.

18. Kinds of Kindness – Yorgos Lanthimos

I counted three walkouts during our screening of Kinds of Kindness and I have to say, I’m not surprised. The success of Poor Things may have lulled normies into a false sense of security in entering this, a film that represents Yorgos Lanthimos at his Lanthimost. Co-written by Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou (of Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer), Kinds of Kindness is a triptych anthology of stories all starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe. The narratives are absurd, the comedy is pitch black and the morals are decidedly Greek. Expect cannibalism, cults and all manner of animalistic debauchery set to the music of Eurythmics and COBRAH.

17. Monster – Hirokazu Kore-eda

I haven’t seen anywhere near as many Kore-eda films as I should’ve but I enjoyed Broker and I really enjoyed Shoplifters when they screened under their respective Perth Festival programs. This year’s Festival lineup featured the director’s latest, Monster — a story of a single mother’s altercation with her son’s teacher and the truth of the matter unfolding through three different perspectives. This film really surprised me with the unexpected places its narrative goes; it’s bittersweet in its messages and turns the audience’s biases into a final act gut punch. It also features the final score from legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Vale, Sir.

16. The Wolves Always Come At Night – Gabrielle Brady

Laziness and the heat almost kept us from attending the media screening of The Wolves Always Come At Night but as the credits rolled I turned to Alex, slightly weepy, and said “I’m so glad we didn’t bail.” From Australian director Gabrielle Brady and co-written by the film’s stars/subjects, The Wolves Always Come At Night is a hybrid film in the vein of Honeyland, meaning it’s part documentary and part narrative recreation. Like that film, it shares themes of climate change and its impact on a remote community reliant on the land and their livestock. But this film is also about mourning a way of life that is, through no fault of the characters’ own, no longer viable. It’s set in Mongolia but its story is as universal as they come.

15. La Chimera – Alice Rohrwacher

Another day, another Perth Festival film. This one is about a gang of grave robbers led by Josh O’Connor who pillage Etruscan artifacts and sell them as a way of making a living. But it’s also a tragic love story about a man searching for something invaluable he’s lost, and dreaming about the last time he saw her. The film is set in the 80s but there’s a sense of its events existing outside of time, with O’Connor’s character travelling unbound by possession, like a man who yearns for the grave himself or a ghost who doesn’t realise he’s already dead. Director Alice Rohrwacher paints her own classic with this film; its sense of mystery is as intriguing as its imagery, and its use of red string is haunting.

14. Tótem – Lila Avilés

A 7-year-old girl named Sol spends the day at the home of her grandfather where her family convenes for a birthday party. But the mood is slightly dampened by the fact that it’s also probably going to be the person’s last party. That person is Sol’s father, who is terminally ill but putting on a brave face. As the day goes on we witness family tensions, sisterly squabbles about whose turn it is to use the sink and murmurs of financial trouble uttered in hallways and heard through eavesdropping. Lila Avilés film is a dance between grief and celebration and features one of those lump-in-the-throat crescendos that I’ve been searching for since Aftersun. It perfectly reflects what it’s like to be a child listening in on adult conversations and trying to understand concepts beyond your level of development. Very surprising, very beautiful.

13. How To Have Sex – Molly Manning Walker

I saw this in a completely empty cinema at Luna SX one night. This makes me both sad (because it’s a great film that more people should see) and relieved (because no one was there to see me cry). Written and directed by Molly Manning Walker in her directorial debut, How To Have Sex is about three 16-year-old English girls who go to a Greek party island for a coming-of-age end of year holiday. It’s the most realistic look at sexual pressure and feeling like you maybe didn’t consent to something that I’ve seen on film. But it’s also about the importance of solid female friendships at this turning point in a girl’s life. This should be shown in high schools.

12. Civil War – Alex Garland

Some see Civil War as a depiction of the un-United States in the not-too-distant future. Others see it as a failed anti-war movie. Its director sees it as a love letter to journalists. One thing’s for sure; Civil War was one of the year’s most talked about, contentious films. It is violent, loud and extremely unsettling, like its trailer led audiences to believe. But it’s also about the unpalatable business of capturing atrocities on camera, and therefore capturing the truth. Kirtsen Dunst and Cailee Spaeny are phenomenal, their mentor/mentee relationship serving as the emotional centre of the story. The film’s sound design is also a highlight; it creates an experience immersive as they come, especially during the climactic final scene. If you’re comfortable being confronted, Civil War is unmissable.

11. The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer

And speaking of confronting images, you simply must try the year’s most essential and uncomfortable experience, The Zone of Interest. I saw this at Perth Festival the week after the audience wouldn’t shut the fuck up during The Taste of Things. Unsurprisingly, proximity to the Holocaust had a more quieting effect. From the director of Under The Skin and Sexy Beast (two films I love) comes a film based loosely on the Höss family and their life in the house that neighboured Auschwitz. But it functions equally as an art installation, its imagery and sound design curating the collective feeling that we shouldn’t just be sitting here listening to the screams in the distance and watching the wives sort through jewellery stolen from the dead. At one point Sandra Hüller’s character talks about why the garden is so lush. We then see carbon-rich ashes flowing into the garden beds. It’s sickening, but don’t you dare look away.

10. Nosferatu – Robert Eggers

When I heard that Robert Eggers was remaking F. W. Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu (itself an unlawful adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel), I got quite excited. Then it sat in development for ages and I completely forgot who was cast as the titular vampire, so I spent half of Eggers’ version enamoured with its aesthetic beauty and the other half trying to figure out who lay beneath the makeup and prosthetics of Count Orlok. That is to say, Bill Skarsgård gives his most immersive and impressive performance to date, alongside equally spirited performances from Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe as Willem Dafoe. If you found Coppola’s 1992 Bram Stoker’s Dracula a bit camp for your tastes, Eggers’ more Gothic, self serious Nosferatu might be more pleasing. Personally, I hold space for both.

9. Challengers – Luca Guadagnino

This year, Luca Guadagnino did the unthinkable — he made tennis hot. With Challengers, he and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes weave a scintillating back and forth between Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, all tennis pros whose personal and professional lives converge through the years and come to a head in the film’s thrilling final game. But this is not your Twilight-loving mama’s love triangle; this is romance as sport and competition for the sake of sexy competition, set to a pulsing score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. I really wasn’t expecting to love Challengers as much as I did but the chemistry of its three central stars and the assuredness of the filmmaking made it an early highlight of 2024.

8. A Different Man – Aaron Schimberg

I love an unexpected surprise and so does everyone I’ve spoken to who’s seen Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man. It’s the story of Edward, a man with neurofibromatosis who undergoes an experimental procedure that leaves him with the objectively handsome face of Sebastian Stan. Unfortunately for him, the woman he’s infatuated with (Renate Reinsve) is a playwright and the lead role in her production calls for someone with that very same genetic condition, for authenticity. Enter Oswald (Adam Pearson), a bubbly, popular man with neurofibromatosis who lives life to its fullest despite (or perhaps because of) his condition. What ensues is a Charlie Kaufman-esque black comedy with a pitch perfect tone and a surreal, unsettling atmosphere that I absolutely loved. It’s a strange, darkly funny and very different film.

7. Anora – Sean Baker

When I ranked my favourite films of 2022 I listed Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car as my number one film. But if I’m really honest with myself, that honour actually goes to Sean Baker’s Red Rocket. So when it was announced that Baker had a new film coming out that had just won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, I knew the likelihood of it appearing in my Top 10 would be high. His new film is Anora, a stylish, 70s-inspired dramedy about a sex worker and her merry henchmen casing the streets of New York in search of her husband, Ivan. Why? Well, because he’s the son of a Russian oligarch and his parents want the marriage annulled, of course. It’s a film that is far funnier than I expected but also far more poignant. Baker’s affinity for destigmatising sex work and telling stories from the perspectives of marginalised groups is evident again in Anora, a film that explores the aftermath of being disposed of once the elites have had their fun.

6. Anatomy of a Fall – Justine Triet

This was the first film I saw on the first day of 2024 at Perth Festival and for quite a long time, it was at my number one spot. It’s the film that earned Justine Triet her rank as the third female director to win the Palme d’Or (after Julia Ducournau for Titane and Jane Campion for The Piano), and rightly so, because Anatomy of a Fall is a knockout. The French legal drama about whether or not Sandra Hüller pushed her husband out a window features brilliantly written dialogue, a captivating narrative and excellent performances across the board (including French border collie Messi, who won the Palm Dog for his very important role as Snoop). It also subverts gender roles in a really interesting way, exploring what happens when female rejection of the primary caregiver role interferes with the male desire for a traditional household.

5. Dune: Part Two – Denis Villeneuve

I’ve loved every Villeneuve movie I’ve seen but I do remember being a bit ‘meh’ on his 2021 Dune adaptation. Maybe it was the oversaturation of Timmy Chalamet at the time or the film’s unfinished feel — it was only half of Frank Herbert’s first Dune book, after all. This lukewarmness was why I was so shocked to find that I absolutely loved every second of Dune: Part Two, the long awaited sequel that picks up directly where the first left off. Everything about this film is superior; its epic tone, Chalamet’s performance, Zendaya’s character’s involvement and the space politics of it all. But the biggest highlight for me is the evolution of Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica from Paul’s Bene Gesserit mum to the Palpatine-coded, tattoo-covered Reverend Mother. Oh, and Paul’s triumphant ride on the granddaddy sandworm. And Stilgar’s unshakeable faith in the prophecy providing comic relief. And Austin Butler’s black and white gladiator fight. It’s all so good.

4. Hundreds of Beavers – Mike Cheslik

I had a small window of opportunity to see this film at Revelation Film Festival and I’m so glad I took it, because Hundreds of Beavers is an absolute riot. The result of five years of blood, sweat and tears from director Mike Cheslik and writer/star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Hundreds of Beavers is a modern slapstick comedy with entirely homemade visual effects. Tews plays an applejack salesman named Jean Kayak who must hunt, skin and sell the pelts of the pesky beavers who destroyed his business and homestead if he has any hope of surviving the snowy winter of midwest America. The beavers are played by crewmates in costumes that were purchased off a Chinese mascot website and the opening song is written and performed by Tews’ father and his band. So impressive, so funny and a perfect example of the importance of commiting to the gag.

3. Perfect Days – Wim Wenders

Many people ask me “why do you watch disturbing, fucked up movies?” but a person can be two things at once, and I can enjoy the Terrifier franchise AND the contemplative slowburn films of esteemed German directors. And when directors like Wim Wenders have the ability to make a film about a man who cleans public toilets a profoundly moving experience, it makes my ability to enjoy the kaleidoscope of human emotions available onscreen that much more pronounced. Perfect Days is the kind of film, at least to me, that makes the daily grind more tolerable. It’s about accepting that things don’t always go to plan and refusing to wallow in self pity, instead taking little moments to indulge in something beautiful, like light patterns in the trees and cassettes of Lou Reed. Kōji Yakusho’s performance as Hirayama is heartbreaking, life affirming and most of all, a reminder that we do have some control over our days, no matter how much shit (literal or otherwise) comes our way.

2. The Beast – Bertrand Bonello

Then again, overdosing on happy feelings leaves a person vulnerable to disappointment. That’s why I like to balance out my Letterboxd log with experiences that make me feel icky and unsettled, like a vaguely threatening dream that you can’t explain once you’re awake. And that’s why I love The Beast, the biggest surprise I had at the cinema this year. Bertrand Bonello’s sci fi fever dream spans multiple time periods and realities in the life of Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux), a woman who undergoes past life regression therapy to get to the root cause of the ever present and unexplained fear that holds her back from living fully. The film is based on a 1903 Henry James novella called The Beast in the Jungle and is brought spectacularly to life through cleverly incorporated themes of artificial intelligence and the blending of real life events with a science fiction story. It’s Lynchian in its atmosphere, which is the greatest compliment that could be bestowed on a film not directed by David Lynch. The Beast is not for everyone, but one or two of you are gonna love it.

1. The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

Are you really surprised?

Probably not, because The Substance has appeared on almost every Top 10 list I’ve seen this year. But if people had as enjoyable a time as I did at its sold out advanced screening, then it’s no wonder. Coralie Fargeat ramps up the crazy from her feature debut Revenge, this time spinning a body horror fairytale that serves as The Fly for ladies/anyone who’s ever felt a bit disgusting in their own skin. Demi Moore is at her most vulnerable and most powerful as Elisabeth Sparkle, an ageing star who ‘slightly misuses’ a black market drug that creates a younger, more beautiful version of herself called Sue (Margaret Qualley). The Substance is heightened, goopy fun despite being entirely relatable, and its final act had our audience howling. I am utterly obsessed with it and cannot wait to see what Fargeat does next.

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All in all, 2024 was a pretty rad year for film. I watched 228 of them in total, 83 of which were new releases. I was introduced to the classics of Kurosawa. And John Ford. And Howard Hawks. And Alfred Hitchcock. I watched It’s a Wonderful Life for the first time ever. And Rocky II (and III, and the one with the ‘Happy Birthday Paulie’ robot)!

And if the world doesn’t end in 2025, I hope to watch more.

Top 10 of 2023

Well, that escalated quickly.

2023 was an embarrassing low point in international (and local) human history and very few of us will emerge from it in a better state than we entered. On the plus side, there were some wonderful moving pictures to distract us, at least for some of it.

Before I rank them, a few caveats:

1. We are from Perth, Western Australia. Bands won’t come here and it sometimes takes an extra six months to a year for movies to get cinema releases (if they even do). As such, some of the films on this list are from ‘2022’. But not my 2022.

2. Following on from the point above, many acclaimed ‘2023’ films won’t come out here until next year and are thus absent from this ranking. I’m looking at you, Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest.

3. Last year I ranked my Top 22 films of 2022. This year, I earned myself a more consuming job and no longer have time for such frivolity. I can give you 10.

So without further faffing, join me in a countdown.

10. Dream Scenario – Kristoffer Borgli

December contributes a hefty 50% share to this list, and what a thrill it was to see banger after banger as the year wound to a close. Its first representative comes from Norwegian writer/director Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself) and follows an achingly ordinary man named Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) as he suddenly appears in the dreams of many. At first, Dream Paul is a useless bystander – a witness to the outlandish worlds of the collective subconscious. But as time goes by, the nature of a weak man left to fester becomes much more aggressive and bleeds into the world above. Dream Scenario is both satirical and sincere, painting a fascinating and tragically realistic story of a man who never really advocates for himself, and so falls prey to the narratives of others. It’s a high point in Cage’s filmography and another insight into Ari Aster’s (who produced the film) interest in exploring the messy, impotent side of masculinity.

9. Godzilla Minus One – Takashi Yamazaki

While rumours of the film costing a measly $15 million are - according to its director (and writer, and visual effects maestro) - false, this beast of a picture is proof that a gargantuan story will always trump a gargantuan budget. This ‘zilla follows the eponymous kaiju not giving a single fuck that Japan is at its absolute lowest point post-World War II as he sends them into negatives (hence the title). The people must put their hope not in the government that sent their fathers, sons and brothers to their graves, but in a failed Kamikaze pilot with hopes of retribution and a bunch of other regular folk who’ll fight because they want to, not because they’re told to. Godzilla Minus One is, for lack a better word, awesome. It’s big and melodramatic, like the blockbusters of yesteryear that placed heart at the same priority as spectacle. And it’s every bit as visually impressive as many films five times its scale. That so few people here have seen it is a damn shame, but strong word of mouth and rumours of a black and white encore may see the view toll grow.

8. Robot Dreams – Pablo Berger

New York in the 1980s would normally conjure associations of greed being good and coke being a drug, not a drink. But Pablo Berger’s gorgeous animation of loneliness, friendship and finding the right fit paints a much more mature and affecting portrait of the city that never sleeps (but definitely dreams). It starts out simply: Dog is lonely, Dog buys Robot off home-shopping channel, Dog builds best friend and is no longer lonely. But when Dog doesn’t realise that a trip to the beach will cause incapacitating rust to his new friend, the story takes a hard right turn. Robot Dreams, without an utterance of dialogue but with a fondness for Earth, Wind & Fire’s biggest earworm, touches something deep within the audience, no matter their age or level of life experience. Thinking about it still puts a lump in my throat.

7. Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan

The best thing about Christopher Nolan’s latest is that its biggest moments live in hushed conversations in private rooms, making that one loud exception all the more powerful and dreadful. Oppenheimer explores the sins of men and the chain reactions they spark, focusing not on the big bada boom so much as humanity’s inability to put something back in the box once it has fulfilled its terrible purpose. Cillian Murphy earns his lead role and then some after a lifetime of collaboration with Nolan, and Emily Blunt’s ferocity as his character’s complicated wife is the most valid justification for an IMAX close-up. We flew across the country to see Oppenheimer (again) in the format its director intended, a trip we’re hoping to financially recover from some time next year. Worth it.

6. Triangle of Sadness – Ruben Östlund

In Titanic (the film and the doomed ship), only the rich got lifeboats. But in Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, only those capable of providing for others (i.e. the help) get to eat. This Palme d’Or winning black comedy sees its socioeconomic-spanning group of characters (mostly) survive a mutiny on a luxury yacht, only to discover that social hierarchies are skewed in a deserted island scenario where cash is no longer king. This film has everything an embittered 21st century person could want: retribution for income inequality, drunken communist rants from Woody Harrelson and a healthy amount of upper class vomit. That we saw this film in the economy section of an outdoor cinema while a rogue Kookaburra stole double cream brie from the first class residents up front made the whole experience that much more satisfying. Eat the rich? In this economy? Don’t mind if I do!

5. The Holdovers – Alexander Payne

If you were to take Vice Principal Vernon out of The Breakfast Club and replace him with Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeonly history teacher, stir in a healthy dose of 70s cinema aesthetic (and music) and let the magic bubble up to the top, you might end up with something like The Holdovers. It’s rare to encounter a truly crowd-pleasing indie film that so beautifully captures contrasting experiences, but then, Payne has always understood high school (Election) and the pangs of middle age as experienced by difficult men (Sideways). Featuring terrific performances from Giamatti, Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, this one hits like a Cat Stevens song in a particularly rough period of one’s life. 

4. Tár – Todd Field

16 years after his sophomore feature Little Children, Todd Field decided that the world might like to see Cate Blanchett as a narcissistic maestro with skeletons in her closet and carefully suppressed guilt somewhere in the space where her heart should be. He was absolutely right. Tár is a haunting psychological drama that forces its audience to follow, at best, an insufferable egotist and at worst, a person responsible for some very unsavoury acts, and trusts that we’ll be intrigued enough to stay in our seats. While there were a few who threw in the towel during our screening, I found myself as enamoured by the film as Tár’s students are by their flawed but fabulous teacher. Is it a ghost story or a fabricated biopic with an unreliable narrator? ¿Por qué no los dos?

3. Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos

“What a pretty little retard,” says a young man in response to a babbling Emma Stone in the opening sequence of Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest and most batshit (and that’s saying something) film. Based on a 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray and co-written by Tony McNamara (The Great and The Favourite), the film follows a young woman whose previous life informs her current one, but certainly will not dictate it. Poor Things is a Victorian creation tale of self-discovery and female sexual appetites in which Frankenstein’s horny monster discovers a hunger for all of life’s delights and disappointments. It features stunning performances from Stone, Willem Dafoe and a completely left of centre Mark Ruffalo, for whom I have a whole new level of respect. The film won’t be for everyone but then, if you don’t enjoy bright absurdism and black and white depictions of farm animal hybrids, life doesn’t hold much for you anyway.

2. Past Lives – Celine Song

While several films this year made me weep stoically, only two made me burst into big ugly tears. Celine Song’s directorial debut Past Lives is one of them. A film about the parts of self that get left behind in leaving a mother country, the narrative sprang from a real moment in Song’s life. In some sort of Schrödinger's cat scenario, she found herself wedged between her present American husband and her past Korean boyfriend, who had come to New York for a visit (and perhaps for some closure on an unfinished chapter in his own life). Past Lives is a simple story executed in the most magnificent fashion by someone with the maturity and quiet confidence to do so. There are no villains and no easy choices, and it’s the film’s realism that makes its cathartic conclusion as much of a release for the audience as it is for its heroine.

And in a move that should surprise no one…

1. Aftersun – Charlotte Wells

The other semi-autobiographical, female-directed feature debut that made me cry inconsolably at its close, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun was always going to be the one to beat for 2023. Going down the Kodak rabbit hole was Wells’ jumping off point and it becomes Sophie’s (Frankie Corio) as she concurrently experiences and looks back on her final holiday in Turkey with her dad Calum (Paul Mescal). Sophie is kept at camera’s distance from the realities of Calum’s emotional state but we are more privy to the signs of his fracture. As we jump forward in time we meet Sophie as a parent herself, still trying to reconcile her memories of the man she thought she knew with one who is no longer in the picture. Aftersun holds within it mystery, realism, heart and sweetness. But most of all, it has a sense of nostalgia so powerful it hurts. And when you can’t afford therapy, finding it in a film is a godsend.

Honourable mentions to ease my guilt

It was really difficult to whittle my selection down to 10. And while it may be cheating, here are five films that almost made the list. 

May December — Todd Haynes

Due to the threat of extreme recency bias, I’ve deemed this one ineligible to feature in my Top 10. It’s also a film that requires a moment for digestion, and I’m waiting to see how the discomfort settles.

Women Talking – Sarah Polley

Incredible cast, wonderful dialogue and important subject matter. If it weren't for the strength of December, it might’ve made it.

Maestro – Bradley Cooper

I don’t care what cynical people on Letterboxd say – it’s not Oscar bait if it’s actually good. And Carey Mulligan alone could have easily made this list.

Talk To Me – Danny and Michael Philippou 

It’s not often you see a properly good indie horror film (and a homegrown one at that), but to get one from two silly YouTubers who happen to have a firm grasp on their first feature is a real treat.

Saltburn – Emerald Fennell 

Barry Keoghan sucking cum out of a drain and dancing naked in his new mansion. Enough said.

And with that, bring on 2024!

Top 22 of ‘22

OUR PICKS FOR THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR

Welcome to our first official ranked list! It looks a little different to other 2022 Top Movie lists and there are a few reasons for this:

1. WE LIVE IN PERTH - the bleached butthole of the world that, while aesthetically pristine, is not often catered to. We’re lucky to get films in the same year as international release dates, if at all (still salty about Saint Maud and The Green Knight). For this reason, 2022 mainstays like Aftersun, Tár and Triangle of Sadness don’t make an appearance because we won’t get to see them until next year.

There are also a couple of films that came out so late in 2021, we didn’t manage to see them before the 2022 new year. Our excuse? A belly full of Christmas leftovers and the refusal to venture out into 40-degree heat.

2. THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY HOURS IN A DAY. It’s hard enough to make time for feeding the cats, watering the verge and remembering to eat vegetables; while we didn’t see as many films as we might’ve liked, we did better this year than last.

3. THE *s ON SOME PICKS SIGNIFY THAT WE FULLY UNDERSTAND “tHaT mOvIe DiDeNt cOmE oUt iN 2022”. It did for us - see reason #1.

So without further ado, enjoy our Top 22 of ‘22!

22. Skinamarink - Kyle Edward Ball

Nasty, atmospheric and difficult to make out, Kyle Edward Ball’s feature length debut Skinamarink is a crackly VHS of your worst childhood nightmares. Two very young children awaken in their house to find their father gone, along with the windows and doors to the outside world. Banding together, they set up their fortress of comfort in the living room strewn with Lego, basked in light from an old TV playing disturbing vintage cartoons. The film is set in 1993 and so resembles a family video - except that our home movies weren’t taken during the dead of night and our parents were always there to film. Ball has a knack for capturing the uncapturable and inexplicable fears that live in a child’s mind (or in our memories of being a child) and has been honing this ability on his YouTube channel Bitesized Nightmares, where he takes requests from commenters and creates evocative videos that answer them. Skinamarink is undeniably slow and might test the patience of some viewers, but for the tolerant few, it’s a film that succeeds in ways very few others have and will stay with you long after you turn out the lights.

21. Hatching - Hanna Bergholm

Another in a year of confident and magnetic feature debuts, Hatching sees first-time director Hanna Bergholm bring to term a fascinating horror tale bursting with allegory. A young gymnast named Tinja struggles under the talons of her social media influencer mother and transfers her darkest and innermost feelings to a monster living in her wardrobe. Receiving a surplus of attention from its chosen mother, the entity within hatches into a version of Tinja that for many years has been kept beneath a shell, exacting horrible ‘justice’ on those who’ve hurt its mother. Similarities to Livid (in the dichotomy of beauty and horror, as well as the cruel mother/daughter relationship) are evident but Hatching is very much its own beast - a fabulous first entry into what will surely be an interesting filmography.

20. The Souvenir: Part II - Joanna Hogg*

The second serving of Joanna Hogg’s semi-autobiographical movie about movie making sees Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) trying to process her grief over the abrupt end to her relationship by funnelling it into her final student film. The Souvenir: Part II is appropriately more self-assured than its predecessor and at the same time, more fraught with mystery as Julie attempts to understand her former lover now that is gone. Memorialising the man she thought she knew proves very difficult as Julie struggles with her role at the helm of a film and the frustrations of her cast and crew, ultimately discovering more about herself as a woman and as an artist. If The Souvenir was a coming-of-age journey for a budding creative, then Part II sees its heroine find her footing and move on from the mystery of first love and loss.

19. Speak No Evil - Christian Tafdrup

At what point does politeness become dangerous? For Danish couple Bjørn and Louise, it’s the very moment they accept an overly familiar holiday invite from an odd Dutch pair they met in Tuscany a few weeks prior. Christian Tafrdup’s darkly satirical Speak No Evil pushes his characters (and audience) to the absolute limit of what is acceptable and asks why we tolerate discomfort for the sake of fleeting peace. The protagonists are given many opportunities to leave the increasingly awkward and uncomfortable stay, speak out against blatant displays of abusive parenting and remove their own child from a very bad situation, and their failures to do so every single time will have you yelling at the screen and numb to their inevitable punishment. This isn’t a film for those with weak stomachs and low frustration tolerance but for fans of the disturbing and the depraved, your fancies will be tickled.

18. The Lost Daughter - Maggie Gyllenhaal*

The subject of unnatural mothers is not often explored in film due to our presumed discomfort with the idea but in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s feature debut The Lost Daughter (based on the book by Elena Ferrante) it is unapologetically front and centre. Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley play the same woman in the present and the past as we see one struggling to cope with her daughters and one who talks of them as if they were make-believe. There’s a fantastic sense of mystery to this film and, as is the case for all who meet her, we never really know Leda. Her most telling scene involves an outburst in a Greek movie theatre towards some very dangerous people suffocating the room, a release she’s perhaps been holding in her entire life as a mother who really shouldn’t have become one.

17. The Stranger - Thomas Wright

Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris take turns roleplaying cat and mouse in Thomas Wright’s The Stranger, a somewhat true crime caper that hits close to home (for Australians, at least). Released initially in theatres before settling on Netflix, this is a film that we had the privilege of seeing in a secluded theatre with a sinister sounding aircon unit, amplifying the quiet terror unfolding in front of our eyes. Both leads deliver career-best performances and Wright structures the narrative in a way that elevates the film from other police procedurals. The scares are psychological, the dialogue is frighteningly realistic and the result is an uncanny distortion of hero and villain.

16. The House - Emma de Swaef and Marc James Roels, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, and Paloma Baeza

Four directors, three stories, one house. This collaborative stop-motion animated effort spans three generations (human and anthropomorphised mice, bugs and cats) in the same house throughout time. The first, a horror-of-sorts with the most interesting design for fuzzy human faces, follows a young girl called Mabel (voiced by Mia Goth) whose parents are dazzled by a sinister architect and convinced to move into a luxurious but mysterious mansion with dark secrets and constant renovations occurring behind the scenes. While the following two segments don’t quite match the brilliance of the first, The House is a fantastic rumination on greed and the inability to let go, featuring wonderful voice performances, impressive animation and an unbeatable sense of eeriness.

15. A Hero - Asghar Farhadi*

Prison works a little differently in Iran and for two days, inmate Rahim is allowed out to pay a debt owed to his brother-in-law. Chance has it that his girlfriend finds a handbag full of gold currency during this time, but after checking its value at a local dealer (and the handbag being discovered by his sister), Rahim decides it’s all a bit hard and he’d be better off just returning the bag to its original owner. In Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero, Rahim discovers the many different narratives that can be spun from a simple act of ‘kindness’ and the result is a fascinating study of human morality and false spectacle. Whether the film’s narrative belongs to Farhadi or there’s some merit to his alleged (and ironic) theft, it doesn’t really take away from its success in delivering its message.

14. Flee - Jonas Poher Rasmussen*

Rasmussen immerses his audience entirely in his friend’s harrowing (and until recently, secret) story of seeking refuge in Denmark and the long journey faced by himself and his family in fleeing Afghanistan in the 80s. Through archival footage and animation, this documentary uncovers from Rasmussen’s subject ‘Amin’ (with whom he has been friends since adolescence) information that not even Amin’s Danish boyfriend knows. Deeply moving and stranger than fiction, Amin’s story feels like a burden being lifted as he shares each snippet with us after years of anxiety and fear of being discovered and sent back to his country of birth. We can’t pretend that the party boat anchored on the Swan River playing the worst, most obvious ‘hits’ of the last 30 years did not somewhat detract from the impact of our outdoor screening, but it certainly served as a fitting reminder of how lucky we are to be annoyed by such trivialities.

13. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy - Ryûsuke Hamaguchi*

Anthology films run the risk of unevenness in their stories and there will always be stronger entries (for instance, The French Dispatch’s ‘The Concrete Masterpiece’). While this is somewhat true for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, all three segments manage to comment on one facet of human existence. “Magic (or Something Less Alluring)” tackles jealousy and maturity in knowing when to stop torturing someone you once loved, and “Doors Wide Open” illustrates the power that human error can have on some and the immunity others seem to have to the justice of karma. But it’s the last segment that hits hardest and in “Once Again”, two women concurrently mistake each other for someone from their respective pasts and help each other move on in tremendously affecting fashion.

12. Everything Everywhere All At Once - Daniels (Kwan & Scheinert)

It had been six years since the fabulously flatulent Swiss Army Man burst onto screens and we would wonder, from time to time, “what are the Daniels up to?” 

“A lot,” it appears, as their new film Everything Everywhere All At Once takes the cake for the most bombastic multiverse movie (perhaps ever) and most entertaining mother/daughter relationship since one of its stars swapped bodies with a teenage Lindsay Lohan. This is a film that rightfully puts Michelle Yeoh front and centre (and side, and corner, and beyond) and ushers in one of the most triumphant returns to Hollywood in casting Ke Huy Quan as her skilled-with-a-fanny-pack husband. If the line "In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you," didn’t elicit an audible sob, you are broken and cannot be fixed.

11. Bones and All - Luca Guadagnino

Teenagers can be a bit dramatic when they’re in love and it’s not unheard of for declarations of wanting to consume each other to be thrown around. But in Luca Guadagnino’s cannibal romance Bones and All, these declarations are quite literal. We follow Taylor Russell and It boy Timmay Chalamet in a road movie that explores unconditional love and unquenchable hunger, all while being hunted by a particularly terrifying Mark Rylance. A horror-intolerant friend attended this film alone after reading only an excerpt of a review and was not prepared for the fleshiness and brutality depicted on screen. But she did say that it stuck with her (unwelcomely) long after the session ended, so we’ll call that another win for Guadagnino.

10. Top Gun: Maverick - Joseph Kosinski

We have tried (many times) to appreciate Tony Scott’s Top Gun but the sad truth is that it’s just not a very good film. Iconic Kenny Loggins soundtrack and homoerotic volleyball notwithstanding, the original is severely lacking in thrills for a movie about flying. Thankfully, Tom Cruise is a man with a death wish who will stop at nothing to put himself in harm’s way and capture it spectacularly on film. The result is Top Gun: Maverick, two hours of the highest octane flight simulator you could ever hope for, with necessary throwbacks for lovers of the original and some welcome fresh blood (particularly in Miles Teller and Glen Powell). Are there some cringey romantic moments that we could do without? Of course, but if an age-appropriate romantic subplot makes it into the highest grossing film of the year and doesn’t take away from the planes and the navy banter, we’re fine with it. Top Gun: Maverick spent an outrageous amount of time in theatres and if that doesn’t signify that the well-made blockbuster is not dead, nothing will.

9. You Won’t Be Alone - Goran Stolevski

Who would’ve thought that a witch pulling her victim’s entrails into her chest and assuming their form could lead to such a tender story? Macedonian Australian director Goran Stolevski succeeds the task in his debut feature You Won’t Be Alone, a coming-of-age witchy drama about a 19th century peasant girl and her various iterations of shapeshifterdom in Macedonian village life. Like the extraterrestrial femme fatale in Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin, Stolevski’s heroine learns about life, love and loss through her interactions with regular folk as she is hunted by her supernatural supervisor, a ‘Wolf-Eateress’ named Old Maid Maria. The result is a beautifully realised dark fantasy with striking visuals and a short but impactful appearance by Noomi Rapace.

8. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio - GDT & Mark Gustafson

The very long wait is worth the reward, for after 15 years we are graced with the Pinocchio that Carlo Collodi intended - one full of heart, charm and splinters. The modern master of dark fantasy spins a tale of flawed fathers and righteous disobedience, articulated through visually stunning stop motion animation and musical numbers beautifully performed by his voice cast. This Pinocchio, from the outside, is a product of his drunk and heartbroken creator’s pain - unrefined pine, nails and all. But within this little wooden boy is an unbreakable optimism and goodness that doesn’t need refining at all. It is those around him - father figures Gepetto and Sebastian J. Cricket - who will benefit from Pinocchio’s defiant spirit and questioning nature. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, for Pinocchio springs into being during Mussolini’s fascist reign in 1930s Italy, a plot point only del Toro could introduce with a straight face and also pull off.

7. The Quiet Girl - Colm Bairéad

Not a dry eye was to be found in our sparsely attended session of The Quiet Girl, the powerhouse feature debut from director Colm Bairéad. The reason for the wet season? Bairéad’s less-is-more approach to showing the mundanely universal in his tale of a 9-year-old Irish girl sent off to stay with a childless couple in the countryside while her overpopulated family welcomes another child. Cáit (the girl in question) thrives under the care of Eibhlín and Seán, whose beautiful rural abode and collaborative way of life provide the love and attention lacking in Cáit’s regular home. But summer holidays don’t last forever and with Cáit’s return to silence and solitude on the horizon comes the bittersweet realisation that she can’t stay in paradise with her chosen parents. This is a deeply affecting and gorgeously shot film that hits with a quiet sense of confidence - a whisper ringing louder than a yell.

6. Boiling Point - Philip Barantini*

If you think The Bear is a harrowing look at the very real struggles faced by hospo staff on the reg, just wait until you reach Boiling Point. The consistently brilliant Stephen Graham stars as Andy, an ill-prepared and tightly wound head chef of one of London’s most critically revered restaurants, who sees it all fall apart on the busiest night of the year. Filmed in what-isn’t-but-seems-like one take, Boiling Point spans a failed health inspection, a drop-in from a nosy ex-business partner and a note about an allergy that may not have been entered in the system correctly. As the gaps in Andy’s management strategy start to show, the anxiety in the audience starts to whistle, resulting in a tense and thrilling film that will make you wonder how the hell anything ever makes it onto the plate and into your ungrateful lap.

5. The Banshees of Inisherin - Martin McDonagh

They say it’s harder to break up with a friend than a romantic partner and it would seem that, with his latest film, Martin McDonagh very much concurs. The Banshees of Inisherin marks a reunion for McDonagh’s electric In Bruges duo Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as Pádraic (the dumpee) and Colm (the dumper), going head to head in a game of who can make the other more miserable now that they won’t be drinking pints together. Set on a fictional isle off mainland Ireland, the inhabitants of Inisherin witness the very real infighting of the 1923 Irish civil war from the safety (or perhaps, insignificance) of their humble hills. As Colm faces his (not quite impending) mortality and discovers a newfound desire to create a legacy, Pádraic remains more concerned about what is in his donkey’s droppings. Featuring astounding supporting performances from Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan, Banshees takes the charm and dark wit of In Bruges and adds dashes of folklore and sombre existentialism, resulting in a new highpoint for McDonagh’s filmography.

4. The Innocents - Eskil Vogt*

Not since It Follows have we left the cinema feeling such prickly discomfort and in Eskil Vogt’s The Innocents, children are anything but. A small group of Norwegian kids living in the same residential complex discover that they have supernatural powers and while some use them for good, one misses the memo. Vogt is a frequent collaborator of Joachim Trier’s, co-writing the screenplays for three of Trier’s films, including the mesmerising Thelma. Echoes of the eponymous heroine’s poor control of her talents exist here but in a scarier, more threatening and uninhibited way. The split between the child world and the adult world is both wondrous and terrifying and shows just how little overlap or input the parents of the protagonists have. If Stand By Me featured fewer trains and more telekinetic wrath, you’d end up with something like this.

3. The Worst Person In The World - Joachim Trier*

The trials of late 20s and early 30s womanhood are explored with depth and humour in Joachim Trier’s romantic dramedy about Julie (Renate Reinsve), a young person who doesn’t quite know what she wants out of life (or relationships). Changing degrees with a frequency akin to toothbrush heads, Julie jumps from a relationship with an older creative to one with a barista her own age whom she meets purely by chance through crashing a party. The things that used to frustrate Julie about her former boyfriend are now what she yearns for in her new relationship, but the timing never seems to work out between Julie and whoever her current partner is. This is an affecting and relatable film, not just for millennials with common ground but for anyone who has ever felt as though they just can’t get anything right.

2. Red Rocket - Sean Baker*

The sheer confidence to open his third feature with NSYNC’s bounciest banger is reason enough to love Sean Baker, but Red Rocket is so much more than its clever musical choices. Simon Rex reaches down and flops his talent out for all to see as Mikey, a retired porn actor and the most regrettably endearing life ruiner to grace our screens since Good Time’s Connie. Despite the horrendous effect Mikey has on every single person he encounters, Rex makes him oddly lovable for a masochistic audience perhaps charmed by similarly destructive men in their past. In choosing to blend a cast of professionals and non-actors, Baker strikes the perfect ratio of realism and dramatic cautionary tale, shrouded in a gorgeously vibrant Texas captured on 16mm film.

1. Drive My Car - Ryûsuke Hamaguchi*

From the year’s most accomplished director (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi) comes an engrossing study on the grieving process of an actor and stage director whose wife cheats on him (and then goes ahead and dies). Yūsuke Kafuku spends the remainder of the film trying to come to terms with his loss while attempting to produce and direct a production of ‘Uncle Vanya’, all while dealing with a glaucoma diagnosis which renders him unable to drive his prized vintage Saab 900 Turbo. He hires a young driver, Misaki, who herself is clinging to unresolved feelings from the past, and the two strike up an unlikely bond. Is the key to self-development the friends we make along the way? Maybe, but the smooth ride of an immaculately-kept 90s automobile likely has a positive effect on healing. Hamaguchi has a deep understanding of the complexities of relationships and our lasting impact on each other and it’s such a treat to have had two wonderful examples in 2022.

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And because 22 places weren’t enough to entirely narrow down our favourite movies of 2022, please allow some HONOURABLE MENTIONS for films that are vastly better than anything Marvel put out this year:

• Memoria - Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s ballsy art piece probably deserves a spot on the list but unfortunately, we were surrounded by jabronis at our viewing, somewhat ruining the whole experience and our ability to focus.

• Barbarian - Zach Cregger’s solidly good popcorn horror movie is a bunch of fun.

• Men - Alex Garland’s weakest film is still stronger than most.

• After Yang - Kogonada’s beautiful (if a little too short) exploration of artificial intelligence and tea requires a rewatch.

• Petite Maman - it’s hard not to compare anything Céline Sciamma makes to Portrait of a Lady on Fire but this tender story of processing grief and emotions as a child is just lovely.

As the hand edges closer to 12 on this December 31st, we will be demolishing garlic prawn pizza, swatting away mozzies and watching Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave at Perth Festival to round out 2022. 

Enjoy your NYE and we’ll see you at the movies next year!