The Best 2024 Film in Every Genre
I’ve said this before & will say it again. 2024 was a great year for film. Something else I’ve said before & will say again is that I find film genres incredibly interesting & have spent a lot of time researching the differences in genres. With those things being said, I am going to look at 25 different genres & let you know the best 2024 film for each. Some films obviously fall into a couple of genres so I carefully curated this list. Only 2024 movies that I SAW in 2024 are eligible.
Action: Carry-On is ‘Die Hard’ reborn. That is a huge amount of praise because I think ‘Die Hard’ is the best action movie EVER. Taron Egerton was a brilliant action lead & Jason Bateman very much broke type playing a threatening villain. There were a handful of other brilliant action movies in 2024, so I’ve placed them elsewhere on the list since they’re a lot of dual genre movies. This one itself is also dual genres, as I firmly believe it is a Christmas film.
Adventure: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is technically defined as an ‘action adventure’ film as are both the predecessors. While I don’t think it follows the traditional quest format of an adventure film, I do think it fits into the genre. These are incredibly fun films & it definitely surpasses the 1st & 2nd in quality. The other adventure film that had this spot until I saw Sonic 3 was the Mark Wahlberg led ‘Arthur the King.’
Animated: Transformers One takes the cake here & was a great origin story for a popular franchise. The friendship between Optimus Prime & Megatron was well established and the eventual turn of Megatron was really well done. The voice acting was great, especially from Brian Tyree Henry, & the animated was really good. Some other films that contended were ‘Inside Out 2,’ ‘Kung Fu Panda 4,’ & ‘Despicable Me 4.’ ‘The Wild Robot’ is definitely notably missing, but I actually still haven’t seen it.
Biopic: The Young Woman and the Sea was actually the only true biopic I saw in 2024. I also saw ‘Unfrosted’ but think it took enough creative liberty to not qualify. I wasn’t able to watch ‘A Complete Unknown’ until 2025, so it also didn’t qualify. 'The Young Woman and the Sea’ was truthfully a little boring, but it wasn’t a bad film & Daisy Ridley gave a good lead performance.
Christmas: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a film that will now be annually rewatched on Christmas. It brought me to tears & was really, really well done. The performances from unknown child actors were really incredible & it had the feel good emotions a Christmas movie should have. Some other notable Christmas films I saw were ‘Red One’ & ‘That Christmas,’ as well as the aforementioned ‘Carry-On.’
Comedy: The Fall Guy could also be described as an action movie, but I’ve stuck it here because it did have me cracking up. Ryan Gosling continues on his tear of utterly hilarious performances in a very solid film. The film also features very funny performances from Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, & Winston Duke. Heck there’s even a funny cameo from Jason Momoa. The premise is one that could be utterly hilarious or seriously dark depending on the choices of the writing, and they went with the former & were successful (at least in my book).
Coming of Age: Snack Shack is one of the best & most underrated films of 2024. Go watch it. It follows two teenage boys (Conor Sherry & Gabriel LaBelle) in early 90s Nebraska who try a few different schemes to make some money over the summer. Simple premise, flawless execution. ‘Dìdi’ also deserves a mention here.
Crime: Rebel Ridge is perhaps more of an action thriller, but I’m going to put it in the crime drama since the protagonist is going head to head with law enforcement (though they are corrupt so I guess they’re really the ones committing crimes). Aaron Pierre really did his thing in this film & I really felt like it needed a mention so here it is! Crime comedy ‘The Instigators’ was also solid.
Documentary: Music by John Williams was truthfully the only 2024 documentary I saw, but it was quite good. I think John Williams is the GOAT when it comes to film scores, so seeing he & some peers discuss his countless iconic scores was a very fun watch. It also puts into perspective how his songs are truly synonymous with modern society.
Drama: Twisters may seem out of place as a drama. But listen, ‘Disaster’ is a subgenre of drama, so even though the film had many comedic elements, it still is a movie about tornadoes and the threats they pose, so I' will stick with this. Despite being very dramatic it remains an incredibly fun movie & Glen Powell is absolutely fantastic in it.
Dystopian: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was another very solid entry in the storied franchise. Though it was a step down from the previous trilogy, it gets a new era of the world we know kicked off really well. It introduces some interesting characters, but an even more interesting world that I am excited to see explored more. Another dystopian film I enjoyed last year was ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.’
Fantasy: IF is a great family film that encompasses the joys of childhood and what we lose when we grow up. Featuring a ton of fun characters & some emotional moments, the film is a very enjoyable watch for the whole family. The dark fantasy ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ was another one I saw.
Historical: Gladiator II was just any utterly fun film. I know it’s ironic that it was panned for its historical inaccuracies & this is the genre I’ve chosen for it, but keep in mind the genre isn’t ‘Historically Accurate,’ just historical. So sharks are allowed in the Colosseum.
Horror: Nosferatu was a solid movie in what is my least favorite genre of film, though I also logged and somewhat enjoyed ‘A Quiet Place Day One’ & ‘The Piano Lesson.’ A film with solid performances and great cinematography, its one that I appreciated, but won’t revisit.
Legal: Juror #2 from Clint Eastwood was really the only legal drama film I watched from 2024 and features a solid performance from Nicholas Hoult. Though the mystery wasn’t as intriguing as I hoped it would be, it was still a decent film.
Musical: Wicked WAS SO GOOD.
Mystery: Conclave doesn’t feel like a mystery film until about halfway through. It really is more of a dramatic thriller, with the main mystery coming from the uncertainty of who the next Pope is going to be. I promise it is not near as boring as it sounds though.
Romance: Challengers the film where the sex scenes felt like tennis matches and the tennis matches felt like sex scenes.
Rom Com: Hit Man really may be one of the all-time rom coms. Mostly due to the awesome performance of leading man Glen Powell & his chemistry with co-star, Adria Arjona.
Sci-Fi: Dune: Part Two is genuinely one of the greatest films ever. Point blank period.
Sports: Rez Ball is a lesser known film on the list, but is a very emotional film with solid performances from lesser known performers. The film also has REALLY well done basketball scenes which really adds to its appeal as, well, a basketball movie.
Superhero: Deadpool & Wolverine was really the only good superhero movie to come out. Unless you wanted me to put ‘Madame Web’ here? Which if you did, please consult your physician.
Thriller: Monkey Man is honestly another action movie, but it does have some major elements of a thriller. The other option was ‘Trap’ which was also good, but ‘Monkey Man’ beats it out because I think its a film that would be very rewatchable due to its well done fight scenes & narrative.
War: Blitz was the only film I watched about a real war. There were a couple fake war movies (Civil War), but I typically only count movies about real wars as war movies. Anyways, this one is set during WWII and tells a very heavy story about a mother and son who are separated & the toll it takes on them.
Western: Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter One was honestly really bad, but was the only choice I had.
