The year is nearly over, and with it, the obligatory top 10 films of the year list. While I generally tend to resist lists as they have a habit of codifying consensus (see my inevitable number one) rather than challenging the status quo¹As well as a traumatising stint doing just lists for Taste of Cinema, where people really got mad about pointless shit, making me vow to do as few lists as possible., the end-of-year wrap-up is too hard to resist. Both an easy win in terms of an article and a fun piece to write, it offers me the opportunity to flailingly make sense of the cinematic landscape amidst an endless sea of new, buzzy cinema releases and an ocean of festival gems — with far too many out there to even attempt to see.

I wish I had seen more. But I say that every year. Part of being a movie lover is being constantly disappointed — either with the glut of terrible shite being peddled as important art from directors who should honestly be doing a lot better (Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier; Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach; Mickey 17, Bong Joon-Ho, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Scott Cooper; Die My Love, Lynne Ramsey; Highest 2 Lowest, Spike Lee) or with the tens of brilliant films I have yet to see, and might probably never see,  as Rotterdam and Berlinale rear their heads with the shining, irrestible allure of the new.

Anyway, every year, I try to write down what I like, with the full knowledge that every list is, by its very nature, an incomplete failure and probably not even worth reading. Enjoy! And scroll to the bottom for favourite discoveries and editor-at-large Jared’s top 10!

1. One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)

I’m still debating whether Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn or Benicio Del Toro had the best performance here. Like three sides of a triangle, you need all three insane contrasts (weed dad, extreme racist, the Modelo man) for the film to work so well; and my God, is this equal parts hilarious and nail-bitingly thrilling movie already something of a modern classic! Adored almost every second of this.

2. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (Christian Gudegast)

Big Nick (an incomparable Gerard Butler, feature image) is back, except this time, gurning around the south of France while trying to ingratiate himself with Serbians, he refers to himself as “Big Nicko” and regularly shouts “Fuck NATO.” Butler’s larger-than-life cop is one of cinema’s greatest antiheroes, given extraordinary depth here in Gudegast’s delicious, often-silly riff on Ronin (John Frankenheimer, 1998). The highlight of the film, and perhaps of the entire year, is the almost wordless heist scene at the centre, startling in its technical precision and masterful use of tension. I hope the Den of Thieves franchise goes on forever. Big Nick is too big for just two films.

3. Sirāt (Oliver Laxe)

I rarely get surprised by movies. Characters are archetypes. Tropes repeat themselves. Plots unravel with rote predictability. But amidst Sirāt’s stunning techno-vistas, non-stop pulsating soundtrack and iconique images of vans going nowhere fast through the unforgiving desert, there are at least two moments of complete and utter shock. I’ve never seen so many people in a cinema so damn tense during that spellbinding sequence.

4. I Saw the Face of God in the Jet Wash (Mark Jenkin, short)

Jet Wash moves insanely fast, taking us on a wild tour through the Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Cornwall, Normandy and then finally Venice Beach, LA, as Jenkin — who also released a feature this year, Rose of Nevada, which I didn’t see — constantly riffs on feelings, places and movies. It’s simply a beautiful experience.

5. The Disappearance of Josef Mengele (Kirill Serebrennikov)

I saw this at 11 am a couple of weeks ago at B-Ware Ladenkino. The perfect time for a powerful portrait of a remorseless Nazi bastard hiding out in South America. I had heard Serebrennikov fell off a bit, having not seen any of his work since Leto (2018). But this was truly excellent. So maybe the rumours were wrong.

6. I Only Rest in the Storm (Pedro Pinho)

Three and a half hours of neo-colonialist bisexual chaos. Well worth the runtime.

7. The Luminous Life (João Rosas)

Every year, a Rohmeresque movie usually makes the list. His spirit will never die. Check out our definitive interview with Rosas here!

8. After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino)

Definitely not worth going to Guadagnino for any meaningful statement on the culture wars. Best seen as a Tár-esque (Todd Field, 2023) portrait of a Gen X lady who refuses to accept a changing world. Major swing for the kooky Italian after the abysmal Queer (2024).

9. Pillion (Harry Lighton)

Talking of Queer culture, Harry Lighton’s adaptation of Box Hill (Adam Mars-Jones, 2020), telling the story of a mild-mannered sub (Harry Melling) and his whirlwind relationship with a mysterious dom (Alexander Skarsgård) is so much fun because it is so British. Both a wonderful romantic comedy in the vein of Richard Curtis and a minutely expressive exploration of power dynamics in gay relationships.

10. Reflection In a Dead Diamond (Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani)

The only Berlinale film in my top 10 (last year had four). Says it all, really, about the decline of the once-great German film festival. Still, a great Competition choice from Tuttle; I hope she makes more like this next year.

Honourable mentions: Radu Jude’s two movies, Good Sister (Sarah Miro Fischer), A Useful Ghost (Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke), The Ballad of Wallis Island (James Griffiths), Broken Voices (Ondřej Provazník), Out of Love (Nathan Ambrosioni), A Poet (Simón Mesa Soto), Peak Everything (Anne Émond), Mirrors No.3 (Christian Petzold), Kika (Alexe Poukine), Ultras (Ragnhild Ekner), Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie), The Housemaid (Paul Feig), If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (Mary Bronstein), Fiume o morte! (Igor Bezinović), Black Bag (Steven Soderbergh), the last part of Resurrection (Bi Gan), whatever the Hong movie was.

New To Me Favourite Films (Unranked)

The War of the Roses (Danny DeVito, 1989, above)

Adventures in Babysitting (Chris Columbus, 1987)

Breathless (Jim McBride, 1983)

No Mercy (Richard Pearce, 1986)

Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat (Johan Grimonprez, 2024)

Single White Female (Barbet Schroeder, 1992)

Police Story 4: First Strike (Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai, 1996)

Belly (Hype Williams, 1998)

9 1/2 Weeks (Adrian Lyne, 1986)

Malice (Harold Becker, 1993)

52 Pick Up (John Frankenheimer, 1986)

All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979)

Cruising (William Friedkin, 1980)

Freeway (Matthew Bright, 1996)

Spring Night (Kang Mi-ja, 2024)

Body And Soul (Robert Rossen, 1947)

Gloria (John Cassavetes, 1980)

Jared Abbott’s Top 10

1. Pillion
2. Reflection in a Dead Diamond
3. The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
4. Sirāt
5. One Battle After Another
6. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
7. The Piano Accident (Quentin Dupieux, above)
8. I Only Rest in the Storm
9. A Poet
10. En El Camino (David Pablos)

Jared Abbott’s Favourite Discoveries

Impulse (Sondra Locke, 1990)

La Paloma (Daniel Schmid, 1974)

The Cat (Dominik Graf, 1988)

Voyeur (Chuck Vincent, 1985)

No Mercy, No Future (Helma Sanders-Brahms, 1981)

Mantra (Ken Camp, 1992)

Ballads (Naoyuki Tomomatsu, 1993)

Utopia (Sohrab Shahid Saless, 1983)

La Casa Que Arde de Noche (René Cardona Jr., 1985)

Heaven (Diane Keaton, 1987)