Strong performances, astute directing and behind-the-lens talent abounded in 2024. Along with stellar non-fiction, animated, first films and honorable mention movies. Use this guide to hunt down stunning performances, great writing and behind-the-camera feats that served films well and will impress you, too.
Honorable mention films: Bob Marley: One Love, Challengers, A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part Two, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Green Border, Hard Truths, Heretic, The Idea of You, The Order, A Quiet Place: Day One, A Real Pain, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, Twisters, Wicked.
Best Directors: Brady Cobert (The Brutalist), Edward Berger (Conclave), Jon M. Chu (Wicked), Dev Patel (Monkey Man), Ivan Reitman (Saturday Night).
Best First Films: Monkey Man (Dev Patel), The Piano Lesson (Malcolm Washington), The Fire Inside (Rachel Morrison), Thelma (Josh Margolin), Fancy Dance (Erica Tremblay).
Best Foreign Language Films: All We Imagine as Light, Dahomey, Emilia Pérez, I’m Still Here, Sujo.
Best Documentaries: Daughters, Luther: Never Too Much, No Other Land, Sugarcane, Union.
Best Animation: Flow, Inside Out 2, Piece by Piece, The Wild Robot
Best Actors: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Gabriel LaBelle (Saturday Night), Dev Patel (Monkey Man).
Best Actresses: Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), Mikey Madison (Anora), Lupita Nyong’o (A Quiet Place: Day One).
Best Supporting Actors: Yura Borisov (Anora), Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Denzel Washington (Gladiator II).
Best Supporting Actresses: Leonie Benesch (September 5), Joan Chen (Didi), Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson), Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez), Ariana Grande (Wicked).
Best Screenplays: Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard), Monkey Man (Dev Patel, Paul Angunawela and John Collee), Saturday Night (Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman), Sing Sing (Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar), The Brutalist (Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold).
Best Cinematography: All We Imagine as Light (Ranabir Das), The Brutalist (Lol Crawley), Dune: Part Two (Greig Fraser), The Fire Inside (Rina Yang), Monkey Man (Sharone Meir).