The year just passed was an ordinary one for Hollywood. In a sense, that’s good news since the film industry is still on the rebound from the pandemic and a double whammy of strikes.
On the other hand, 2024 is not likely to be remembered as an outstanding era in movie history. How many of the pictures released nationwide last year will stand the test of time remains open to question. Yet some quality productions were discernible as the months passed.
Following, in alphabetical order, are capsule reviews of the Top 10 films of 2024 as selected by the media reviewing service of OSV News. Unless otherwise noted, the OSV News classification is A-III — adults and the Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
Author Barbara Robinson’s 1972 children’s novel “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” comes to the big screen (Lionsgate) in a gentle, family-oriented adaptation, helmed by Dallas Jenkins. As a small-town church prepares for the annual production of its tradition-bound yuletide pageant, the show’s novice volunteer director (Judy Greer) is daunted to find that a brood of notoriously misbehaving siblings (led by Beatrice Schneider) have bullied their way into the principal roles. As narrated by Lauren Graham, this blend of comedy and drama treats with a delicate touch such themes as pigeonholing prejudice and the positive influence of religious role models. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents.
Visual craftsmanship, dramatic force and a powerful performance from Cristiana Dell’Anna in the title role combine to make director Alejandro Monteverde’s “Cabrini” (Angel Studios) a riveting retrospective. As the future saint ministers to Italian immigrants in New York City, she gets only tepid support from Gotham’s Archbishop Corrigan (David Morse) but gains more enthusiastic backing from a newspaper reporter (Jeremy Bobb) and a reformed streetwalker (Romana Maggiora Vergano). The Big Apple’s mayor (John Lithgow), meanwhile, embodies both the misogyny and the ethnic prejudice the indefatigable nun was forced to overcome on her way to founding a charitable empire. (A-II) The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Set in the 1830s, “The Convert” (Magnolia) is a lush and intelligent historical drama in which a lay Protestant missionary (Guy Pearce) with a troubled past arrives in New Zealand to serve the inhabitants of a primitive British settlement there. Director and co-writer Lee Tamahori explores the preacher’s relationships with a widowed young indigenous woman (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne) he takes under his protection and an outcast (Jacqueline McKenzie) from the white community for whom he eventually falls while also charting his struggle against the different forms of savagery practiced by the vendetta-driven Maoris and the law-flouting colonists. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.
The military and the mystical continue to blend in “Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) as the youthful protagonist (Timothée Chalamet) of the 2021 original, now an exile, fights for the desert dwellers (led by Javier Bardem) among whom he’s taken refuge on the titular planet while falling for one of their warriors (Zendaya). Although she advocates a purely secular role for her new love, the lad’s priestess mother (Rebecca Ferguson) continues to insist that he is the messiah figure foretold in various prophecies. Director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve enthralls with sweeping visuals, appealing central characters and an absorbing plot. (PG-13).
“Inside Out 2” (Disney), a worthy successor to the outstanding 2015 animated psychological comedy, returns viewers to the mind of a now-teenage girl (voice of Kensington Tallman) where the onset of puberty finds the personified emotions featured in the first film, led by Joy (voice of Amy Poehler), being displaced by a range of new feelings, Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) foremost among them, and the lass’ previously upright moral core being threatened by a warped ethos based on the longing for popularity at all costs. Keen insight and witty humor are the hallmarks of this Pixar production, helmed by Kelsey Mann. (A-II)
In the fact-based Holocaust drama “Irena’s Vow” (Quiver), a young Catholic Polish woman (Sophie Nélisse) uses her position as housekeeper to a Wehrmacht officer (Dougray Scott) to hide 12 Jews in the cellar of the villa he had requisitioned for his residence. The perils of the precarious situation uphold viewer interest in director Louise Archambault’s inspiring adaptation of screenwriter Dan Gordon’s play. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“One Life” (Bleecker Street) is an understated recounting of the heroic activities of Nicholas Winton (Johnny Flynn), a British stockbroker who, on the eve of World War II, rescued hundreds of children, most of them Jewish, from a brutal fate at the hands of the Nazis in occupied Czechoslovakia, a crusade in which he was aided by his persistent mother (Helena Bonham Carter). As the protagonist reflects on these events in old age (Anthony Hopkins), unexpected developments lead to belated public recognition of his accomplishments. Director James Hawes’ restrained approach allows viewers to appreciate a lesser-known chapter of history.
The 1992 murder of a little boy in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public housing project provides the factual backdrop for the insightful drama “We Grown Now” (Sony Pictures Classics), which follows two 10-year-old best friends (Blake Cameron James and Gian Knight Ramirez) as they pursue the simple pleasures available to them as residents of that facility. Writer-director Minhal Baig’s flair for spotting nuance, capturing emotional reality and depicting family courage gives her script a quiet power. (PG-13)
“Wicked” (Universal), the first installment of a lavish two-part screen version of the long-running Broadway musical, provides an origin story for the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo) who first appeared in L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” It also charts the ups-and-downs of her relationship with her college roommate (Ariana Grande), the future Good Witch of the North. As directed by Jon M. Chu, Winnie Holzman’s script, incorporating the stage music and lyrics of Stephen Schwartz, evokes sympathy for the pathos of its misunderstood and shunned protagonist’s plight while garnering laughs from her roomie’s vain ditziness. The tale’s basic message about standing up against prejudice and persecution is congruent with Gospel values. (A-II)
“The Wild Robot” (2024), an animated adaptation of the children’s book by Peter Brown, written and directed by Chris Sanders, offers solid and refreshing entertainment for the entire family. An orphaned gosling (voice of Kit Connor) bonds with a shipwrecked alien robot (voice of Lupita Nyong’o), who rises to the occasion, adapting her programming to serve as “mother,” teacher, and peacemaker, while a sly fox (voice of Pedro Pascal) instructs her in the predatory ways of the natural world. By turns humorous and heartwarming, the film offers much-needed messages about the sanctity of life, kindness and reconciliation. The OSV News classification is A-I — general patronage.
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