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Best and Worst Films from January 2024

Best Films from January 2024:

3. Wonka

During this month I tried to catch up with numerous new releases and Wonka was among the best of the bunch. This movie gave me so much joy as it’s a truly charming ode to musicals of the past. It’s also a rare children’s live-action movie that was genuinely terrific and endearing. The acting and dialogue were great while the humor was unexpectedly superb. The highlight was Paul King’s confident, artistic and unique directing as he has a knack at these types of stories so evidently. It’s such an underrated flick.

2. Society of the Snow

Society of the Snow is one of the best foreign movies of the year, one that still managed to find hope, optimism and humanity within a story that is inherently dark and terrible. Beautifully shot and featuring excellent sound design, this is a technically polished, entertaining crowd-pleaser that features a couple of genuinely moving moments. It’s such an inspirational survival film that should be required viewing for everyone interested in the genre.

1. All of Us Strangers

Having a uniquely melancholic, otherworldly tone that is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing, All of Us Strangers is a very original fantasy romance that has a deceptively simple, but complex and powerful story that functions as a cautionary tale about the dangers of being overcome by grief. I’d expected so much from this movie going in and thankfully it did not disappoint me. It has the potential to be the best 2023 movie for me personally as it was so deeply relatable in its emotions and protagonist’s experiences. It’s also a terrific showcase for Andrew Scott in what is easily the best and most complex performance of the year.

Worst Films from January 2024:

3. Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves is a typical Kaurismaki movie that has all of his signature filmmaking style, but it’s far from his best works as the characters are uninteresting and the dialogue is too sparse. It’s more of a romantic drama than a comedy, lacking the great humor that you’d expect from this director.

2. Totem

This Mexican film is all about extreme realism, but that reflected badly on its cinematic elements as the movie is cheap-looking, lacking any momentum and weakly developed in characters and plot. It is charming for sure, but still pretty much plotless.

1. Amerikatsi

Amerikatsi is a frustrating Armenian movie that has a naively optimistic and heartwarming approach, one that was ill-fitting for what is a very dark story at its core. It’s a well made movie that has its strong moments, but for the most part it was overly repetitive and annoying.