What Were the Best Films of 2024?

"Hard Truths"

Marianne Jean-Baptiste sears the screen as Pansy in Mike Leigh's best film in decades, "Hard Truths." She's a perpetually vexed, endlessly ranting and raging wife, mother and sister who proves an initial irritant, but as the narrative unfolds, layers of her steely personality are peeled away to reveal a woman devastated by the crap life cards she's been dealt. It's a towering performance in a film that questions pre-judgment. Leigh wisely refuses to fill in all of Pansy's past blanks which makes the experience all the more fascinating.

"Armand"

Norway's International Feature entry is Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel's bold, boundary-pushing first feature, "Armand," a divisive work that challenges conventional cinematic comfort levels and questions expected human behavior. Armand boasts a daring and mesmerizing performance by Renate Reinsve ("A Different Man") as Elisabeth, a single mom and actress who recently lost her husband and whose 6-year-old son is being accused of being inappropriate with another boy (an understatement). Surreal touches give us insight into the inner life of the main character.