As the final weeks of 2024 roll on, more and more critics and publications will release lists of the best films of the year. But The Playlist missed covering one of the most anticipated annual lists when it hit social media last week: the Top 10 Films of 2024 for the esteemed French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema.
Not to worry, we’ll cover it now, although fair warning: Cahiers’ choices stem from theaters that hit French cinemas this calendar year, so there’s a bit of carry-over from 2023. But let’s tackle the journal’s #1 film first, Alain Guiraudie‘s “Misericordia.” Guiraduie’s latest, about a string of deaths in a small French town that leads to an unexpected romance, still awaits an official US theatrical release date. But rest assured that the film will get one: it scored high marks with critics at its world premiere at Cannes and had a successful festival circuit, showing at Telluride, TIFF, NYFF, and elsewhere. And the comparisons to Guiraduie’s acclaimed 2013 “Stranger By The Lake,” another queer thriller, expect this one to make its way to your local arthouse in the first half of 2025.
Now, on to the rest of the list. Todd Haynes‘ “May December” takes the #2 spot, Hong Sangsoo‘s “In Water” is at #3, while Jonathan Glazer‘s “The Zone Of Interest” comes in at #4. All three films were released stateside late last year, but they only hit French theaters in 2024, hence their appearance. #5 goes to Payal Kapadia‘s Cannes 2024 favorite “All We Imagine As Light,” while Rodrigo Moreno‘s “The Dilenquents (a Cannes 2023 fave) lands at #6. Then Ryasūke Hamaguchi‘s latest “Evil Does Not Exist” is at #7. It’s worth noting that Hamaguchi’s previous film, “Drive My Car,” also made the Cahiers 2021 list, but that one was unranked.
Two French-language releases that still seek US distribution and an auteurist genre pic round out the rest of the list. #8 goes to the late Sophie Fillières‘ “This Life Of Mine,” her last film before her death. The film, about a woman’s solo trip to the Scottish Highlands, premiered at Cannes as the Opening Night film of the Directors’ Fortnight section. M. Night Shyamalan‘s “Trap” lands at #9; no surprise there, as Cahiers editors love their American auteurs. And Jonás Trueba‘s “The Other Way Around” completes the list at #10, a comedy about an actor and filmmaker who decide to end things romantically after fifteen years together; that one also had a world premiere at Cannes.
Check out the entire list below, and stay tuned for more 2024 Best Of lists at The Playlist as December marches on.
- “Misericordia” dir. Alain Guiraudie
- “May December” dir. Todd Haynes
- “In Water” dir. Hong Sangsoo
- “The Zone of Interest” dir. Jonathan Glazer
- “All We Imagine as Light” dir. Payal Kapadia
- “The Delinquents” dir. Rodrigo Moreno
- “Evil Does Not Exist” dir. Ryasūke Hamaguchi
- “This Life of Mine” dir. Sophie Fillières
- “Trap” dir. M. Night Shyamalan
- “The Other Way Around” dir. Jonás Trueba
