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Meaning at the Movies | A 2024 recap, and how I learned to love movies even more

When asked about things I like to do in my free time, one of my first answers is almost always watching movies. Now, this isn’t a shock to you at all if you’re reading this, given that my entire blog is based around the movies I watch. But this time, instead of focusing on a single film, I wanted to take some time to write more broadly about just how many movies I watched and loved in 2024. 

In 2024, I watched 187 movies. In more concrete terms, that’s roughly 3.6 movies per week. My year was marked by a few common themes — new releases, horror movies and Richard Linklater. 

In terms of new releases, 2024 was an interesting year. The impact of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike was shown in full force as many major studios were forced to push releases back because of production delays. While some of these films were still released during 2024, like “Deadpool and Wolverine,” “Dune Part Two” and “Wicked,” others were pushed back to later dates. This then left space for many indie darlings to take center stage, as they often had shorter production times and in some cases were granted special permission to continue filming during the strikes. The shift in releases has then resulted in a totally different awards season conversation, with smaller films like “Sing Sing,” “Anora,” “A Real Pain” and “The Substance” dominating the circuit. 

While 2024 may not have been my favorite year for film, it was still a great one. Zendaya dominated my favorite releases of the year with “Challengers” and “Dune Part Two” taking the number one and two spots on my list, respectively. “Dune Part Two” was undoubtedly the perfect way to start the year. It is staggering in its scale, breathtaking in its beauty and packed to the brim with powerhouse performances. I walked out of the theater after seeing it for the first time feeling forever changed.

“Challengers,” which quickly rose to be one of my all-time favorite films, is directed by one of my absolute favorite directors Luca Guadagnino and absolutely took my breath away. It’s propulsive and energizing, sexy and tense and honestly the perfect summer release — which also remains my obsession long past summertime. My other favorites from the year included Alex Garland’s incredible commentary on the horrors of war and the way we witness it — “Civil War,” Coralie Fargeat’s grotesque and incredible body horror film “The Substance” and Brittany Snow (yes, Becca from “Pitch Perfect”) directorial debut “Parachute.” 

This was also a banner year for my ever-growing obsession with the horror genre. I was not only watching horror movies on my own but took a horror film course during the fall 2024 semester, meaning at minimum I was watching at least one horror movie a week while also developing a further understanding of horror film theory and interpretation. This year finally gave me the time to watch many horror classics I’d been missing out on, such as “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Suspiria,” “Night of the Living Dead” and “Nosferatu.” 

I discovered some new favorite horror films for the first time. One of the best 2024 released horror films was undoubtedly Jane Schoenbrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow” which explores trans identity and coming into one’s own through a teenager’s relationship with a late-night TV show. While the film is more surreal than scary, it is also gut-wrenching, jaw-dropping and full of hope and the reminder that there’s still time. 

The other new favorite I discovered this year was Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later.” I watched this for the first time over winter break and have not stopped thinking about it for a second since. It’s a zombie movie set in London starring Cillian Murph that also serves as an incredible look at class and militarization. Its upcoming sequel, “28 Years Later,” is at the top of my list for most anticipated 2026 releases. 

The other dominant force in my viewing this year was director Richard Linklater. I watched Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” for the very first time in January 2024, fell head over heels in love and have been on a Linklater viewing quest ever since. He is a masterclass director in character-driven stories. Often nothing much really happens in his movies — they’re instead about people just being people and finding connection with one another. This style is perfectly in sync with everything I often love about film and quickly helped Linklater to achieve the status of one of my favorite directors of all time. 

The Richard Linklater films I watched in 2024 were “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset,” “School of Rock,” “Hit Man,” “Dazed and Confused” and “Everybody Wants Some!!” Outside of “Before Sunrise,” “Everybody Wants Some!!” is my favorite. I had so much fun watching it, and Glen Powell gave one of his all-time best and most hilarious performances in it. I’m hoping to continue working through Linklater’s filmography in the coming year and to hopefully discover even more favorites. 

All in all, this was a big movie year for me. I watched more films than ever before, found some new favorites and discovered some directors that I really, truly love. I’m so thankful to get to watch so many movies and to get to write about them here! Here’s hoping that 2025 is full of even more great movies, and that just maybe I’ll manage to watch 200 of them before we complete this next trip around the sun.



TPN Digital Manager

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TPN Digital Manager

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