It’s four months into 2025, which means it is the perfect time to release a best of 2024 list…. right? Right? Well, better late than never! It’s a slow season for the theaters right now, so if you’re still up for catching up on a few of last year’s releases, here are my recommendations. And if you missed my normal Oscars coverage, I wrote a piece not about the nominees themselves, but the spiritual undercurrents of the awards ceremony, for Byfaith magazine.

2024 was a weird year for movies. Last year’s strikes pushed several movies around in the release schedule, and a gap in the production schedule meant we didn’t get the normal amount of blockbusters or tentpole pics. I found myself underwhelmed on the whole, and my best movie-going experiences tended to be with movies I can’t recommend in good conscience (I love you Madam Web, Kraven the Hunter, and Venom 3). Still, the following are true gems that I think will stand the test of time in representing 2024 well. 

10. Good One

This small, quiet indie never got the recognition it deserved as one of the best scripts of the year. The film follows 16-year-old Sam (Lily Collias) as she accompanies her father (James Le Gros) and his friend (Danny McCarthy) on a camping trip. Various tensions mount between the trio, and Sam becomes more and more aware of how her female body- even among what should be the safe company of her father- makes her other, different, and even vulnerable. The film is incredibly nuanced and the performances are very naturalistic, making this almost feel like a documentary. Even the most shocking moment of the film is done so quietly and deftly that it might take a moment to recognize what has happened– which itself is how many of the most terrible experiences in our lives tend to play out. 

The film reminded me of 2023’s The Starling Girl in how well it understands the unique perils and horror of female adolescence, and the maddening state of being at an age where people will treat you as either a child or an adult based on whatever is most convenient to them. It is a deft picture of how and why some men protect one another’s bad behavior, even at the expense of women they love. And it is a cautionary tale– a sad parable– about the betrayal of not truly listening to one another, of being so caught up in our own insecurities that we become blind to reality around us. Good One does all of this without making any character a villain and without ever hitting a false, preachy, or melodramatic note. It’s an astounding feature-length debut by director India Donaldson, and absolutely worth seeing. 

9. We Live in Time

There are two main criticisms I’ve come across about this romantic drama starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. 

1) It’s a weepy tear-jerking melodrama. To which I say: sometimes you want to enjoy a weepy tear-jerking melodrama, and not many are as well-acted as this one! And few are as romantic and take as big of swings, such as allowing the characters to be truly flawed, even unlikeable. 

And 2), the non-linear storytelling is confusing and doesn’t serve the story. I do agree with this criticism. The film’s choppy nature, moving back and forth along the timeline, doesn’t feel as planned out as a film like Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, which used this same strategy to great emotional effect. While occasionally the film manages to use this framework well, it mostly feels random and a bit alienating. However, the sheer charisma of the actors, and a script that lingers on messier emotional truths than I’m used to seeing from this kind of film, all overcome the flaws and make this a film I’m already excited to rewatch. 

8. I’m Still Here

This year’s best foreign film Oscar winner and one of the best picture nominees, I’m Still Here deserves every accolade it received. It tells the true story of the Paiva family in 1970s Brazil during the military dictatorship. Fernanda Torres is truly incredible as the matriarch Eunice, who holds her family together and seeks justice when her husband, a political dissident, is abducted. The film is excellent as an immersive experience into this moment in history, but it is equally moving as a story about how people possibly continue on with their lives after grave injustice. The film rests on Torres’s shoulders, but the ensemble here is wonderful too. The film’s ability to make you connect and love this family instantly, with their scenes feeling so lived in and natural, is one of the most impressive elements of any film I saw this year. Brave the subtitles and check this one out, I don’t think you’ll regret it.

7. The Book of Clarence

This criminally overlooked biblical epic came out last January, and it’s a shame that the studio seemingly had no faith in it and buried it completely. I’ve written before about my Commandments for Biblical Movies, and that my main criteria for any kind of religious-adjacent movie is that it needs to be, if nothing else, interesting and well-made. The Book of Clarence is bold, self-assured, and idiosyncratic. It tells the (obviously fictional) story of Clarence, a poor man who sees Jesus performing miracles and decides to fake some miracles of his own to get the same attention (and money). 

What sounds on the surface like an irreverent, jokey parody film ends up being a deeply earnest story about doubt and faith. Through its fictional narrative, it ushers you into a distorted wonderland-mirror version of the Gospel that makes you see the actual Gospel narrative with fresh eyes. It’s a parable, and Jesus loves using parables because they disarm us and let the truth sneak past our natural defenses. Book of Clarence turns the typical trappings of sword-and-sandal biblical epics, a film genre we are familiar with, on its head, to tremendous effect. And star LaKeith Stanfield continues to be one of our best actors working today, with, in my opinion, a nearly perfect filmography. Easily the most creative, off-the-beaten-path film on my list. Don’t miss it!

6. The Wild Robot

I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob. The animation is stunning. The score is excellent. Strong voicework across the board. This story about motherhood and community was a balm to my soul. Yes, this is technically based on a children’s book, so it is IP, but it is so lovingly handcrafted that The Wild Robot feels diametrically opposed to the more soulless animated movies of the year (looking at you, Despicable Me 4). While watching, I thought of children in my life I want to show this movie to, to inspire wonder in their hearts and build their moral character. 

The film’s main achievement to me is a deeply countercultural message about how, instead of “finding yourself” by looking within yourself and casting aside all responsibility to other people, you actually become more of yourself within the bounds of community, within the responsibility you have to other people. Being beholden to others is actually part of learning who we really are. The titular wild robot here doesn’t shake her programming on her own; she loses her programming and becomes truly free when she assumes responsibility of caring for a little duckling, and becomes entrenched in the community of animals on the island she finds herself. And even in a Christ-like move, she brings the enemy animals who hate her and each other together at great sacrifice to herself. Jesus loved us and saved us while we were still sinners and enemies to him. The Wild Robot depicts this beautifully. 

5. The Apprentice

Admittedly, I don’t know who this movie is for. The Apprentice, about the rise of Donald Trump in the 80s and his relationship with lawyer Roy Cohn, does not paint Trump in a good light, so I can’t imagine it will inspire his fans to see the movie, nor change their minds about him. Yet it’s too nuanced to feed the egos of those who disdain him- with only a few exceptions, the movie (admirably, I think) avoids taking easy shots at the things that make up Trump’s popular caricature. While these qualities keep the film from being any kind of box office success, they result in a fascinating picture. 

I think the greatest triumph of the film is that it makes the case that, like all of us, Donald Trump was not made in a vacuum. He is the product of our culture, a consequence of it. And for those of us who hate him, a reminder that we are perhaps not so incapable of being like him as we might think. Even divorced from its real-life counterpart, as a cautionary morality tale and character drama, it absolutely succeeds. And while I’ve never been a huge Sebastian Stan fan, his work here is absolutely exceptional, one of the best biopic performances I’ve ever seen. 

4. Sing Sing

I wrote a lot on Sing Sing and how it deeply moved me, so I won’t elaborate much here, except that Coleman Domingo deserved more than just an Oscar nomination! Like The Wild Robot, this movie is about the need for community and courage to live life with hope. 

3. Thelma

This is still the most entertaining comedy of the year. Featuring a terrific ensemble, a touching portrait of an intergenerational relationship, and action movie homages, this is a crowd-pleaser in the best sense.

2. Conclave

I have had some spirited discussions over this movie! Conclave has sat heavily with me since I saw it. Not just the intriguing thought experiment at the heart of the film (and the twist that infuriated some but I’ve continued to mull over) but its depiction of the business of ministry. Ralph Fiennes is the anchor here as Cardinal Lawrence. Lawrence reminded me of so many pastors and ministry leaders I know– flawed men and women who are weighed down by the responsibility on them, emotionally distant from God but earnestly clawing onto His robes with desperate hands, trying to do the right thing in the meanwhile. They live out the embodiment of Peter’s words: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Watching him navigate the political and the personal, walking into confrontations with hunched shoulders and shaking hands, quietly bearing the brunt of people’s outbursts and slander and anger as he wrestles with God internally, was one of the most thrilling experiences of the year. It’s a stunning performance and a must-see film.

1. A Real Pain

I’m astounded by how good this is. No notes from me, Mr. director/writer/actor Jesse Eisenberg. Nothing in this film strikes a false note. Kieran Culkin’s performance is flashy in a way that made it a guarantee he would receive more attention than Eisenberg’s (even though Eisenberg’s performance is a very important and compelling counterbalance. The film also has an excellent ensemble surrounding the two leads). But I’m not cynical about it because I don’t think there’s another actor working right now who has the live-wire energy of Culkin. It has the best characteristics of his Roman Roy performance but is still distinct. He is electric to watch, and props to Eisenberg for giving him a great script. There was not a moment of this movie where I wasn’t totally engrossed. A Real Pain asks thoughtful questions about grief and how we experience and express it differently (and what outward displays of pain get socially acknowledged, and which do not). It’s a small movie, but despite its conventions (road trip indie! There’s one every year) it still felt different from everything else I saw this year.

Honorable Mentions: Nosferatu, Civil War, Between the Temples, The Brutalist, A Quiet Place: Day One, The Promised Land, His Three Daughters, and Juror #2

Worst Movies of the Year: Megalopolis, Drive Away Dolls, and Deadpool and Wolverine

– Madeleine D.

I know we’re four months into 2024 now, but in my opinion, it’s never too late to do a top-ten movie list! Some of these films only recently hit streaming, so it’s a perfect time before the summer movie season to catch up on some of the best that 2023 had to offer. 

2023 was the year of strikes, streaming, and surprises, with superhero movies across the board flopping at the box office, and Barbie and Oppenheimer creating one of the biggest box office events we’ve seen in years. If my top ten list were to have a theme, though, it would be that of mid-range movies (and foreign films) showing they still have a place in a crowded, blockbuster-centric media market. 

I have not seen: The Iron Claw, Ferrari, Napoleon, Poor Things, Beau is Afraid, Origin, Alice Darling, Saltburn, Polite Society, All of Us Strangers, The Creator, and Flora and Son

10. The Zone of Interest

As I wrote in my analysis of the film’s Oscar chances, The Zone of Interest is one of the most brilliant historical films I’ve ever seen, telling a story about the Holocaust that is unrelenting in its brutality without ever showing any violence on screen. It is confrontational to modern audiences and applicable to modern tragedies as much as it is an examination of the past. It sticks to its guns and is directed with clarity and precision by Jonathan Glazer. 

It’s a testament to this craftsmanship that one of the most powerful moments of the film happens after the movie ends, with the ending credits containing the most disturbing piece of music I’ve ever heard. Listening to it, I felt suffocated, unable to move in my seat as the lights began to rise. It felt like the musical equivalent of a panic attack, “the acoustics of hell”. I have never had that kind of an experience in a movie theater before, and the film completely earned it. The Zone of Interest is a must-see, and I hope its legacy spans far past this year.

9.  Reality

This film, which was only released on Max, tells the true story of Reality Winner (Sydney Sweeney), an NSA translator who was arrested and sentenced in 2017 for leaking intelligence regarding Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. All of the film’s dialogue is verbatim from the FBI interrogation transcripts, and it shows in real-time the arrest of Winner. 

The film’s greatest strength is its acting. Josh Hamilton, who I’ve loved since his role in Eighth Grade, is a scene-stealer as one of the FBI agents. Sydney Sweeney, who has gained a lot of momentum with several other recent projects like Anyone But You, is very impressive here, balancing the ambiguity of Reality’s motivations with the seemingly naive, innocent way she presents herself. What’s most striking about the film is just how… well, real it is. Movies about spies, espionage, political intrigue, and law enforcement are often predictable, overly quippy, and full of tropes. Here, the characters act like real people- awkward attempts to be polite, asking about things like taking care of pets and using the bathroom, and making jokes to ease the tension. And because it is a verbatim transcript, the film also lets the politics speak for itself, in a way that is gripping, refreshing, and unsettling to watch.

8. Priscilla

Sofia Coopola’s sensitive, thoughtful story of Priscilla Presley is a beautiful contrast and companion piece to Baz Lurhamn’s 2022 Elvis biopic (which I also loved). The two could not be more different stylistically, and that’s what makes them a glorious double-feature. 

Some have found Priscilla frustrating, saying it does not help us understand the real-life Priscilla Presley very well. The movie ends, fairly abruptly, once she leaves Elvis. If you are hoping for a true biography of the full life of Priscilla Presley, Coppola does not deliver. But I think Coppola was drawn to this story because of the way Priscilla’s experiences with Elvis touch on so many themes in Coppola’s work: rich women trapped by their wealth, young women coming of age, complicated relationships with older men, the loneliness of all of these things. The Priscilla here is archetypal, even though my experiences are nothing like hers, I saw glimpses of myself, my own life, in hers. Because of this, in another year saturated with biopics, Priscilla stood apart. 

7. Killers of the Flower Moon

As someone from Oklahoma, I am always thrilled to see Oklahoma represented in media, and in the past few years, a few high-profile projects (Reservation Dogs, Tulsa King, the upcoming Twisters) have begun to bring more attention to the state. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon tells one of the darkest chapters of the state’s (and country’s) history, in this sprawling epic, based on the book by David Grann. 

When I first saw the film, my conclusion was that it was well-made, well-acted, and compelling, but suffered from a lack of focus. The book focuses more on the FBI, and it is structured so that the tragedy unfolds slowly, with the sheer number of murders piling on and on, suffocating the reader and building momentum so it is a big shift and relief when the FBI shows up and the conspiracy begins to be discovered. The movie suffers from not building momentum in this way, leading to a leisurely pace that doesn’t convey the overwhelming nature of this conspiracy to the audience. The film centers on Ernest and Mollie Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone), but drifts away from Mollie about halfway through and struggles to make us connect deeply with any of the other Osage characters. 

I think all of those problems still remain. But as time has passed, the film has lingered with me. I remember the gut-wrenching moments of betrayal between Earnest and Mollie. I think about Martin Scorsese, showing up at the end of the film, indicting both himself and the audience for consuming tragedy for entertainment. I think of the beautiful Oklahoma plains, lovingly filmed, and the depiction of Osage culture that I had never been exposed to before. It has stayed with me in a way some of the other big award films of the year have not. 

It might not be remembered as one of Scorcese’s best, but I do think everyone should (if you have the endurance) see it. 

6. Godzilla Minus One

While Oppenheimer may have been the bigger movie about WWII nuclear warfare and survivor’s guilt, Godzilla Minus One is my personal favorite of the two. This Japanese production gets back to the basics of Godzilla’s origins with a story about a Japanese WWII kamikaze pilot who deserts his mission and survives the war. When Godzilla begins terrorizing Japanese shores, the pilot sees this as his chance to atone for his guilt. 

I’m writing this after seeing Warner Brother’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the fifth film in the “MonsterVerse” franchise. I enjoyed the film- it is exactly the movie you think it is: loud, big, dumb, silly, unnecessary, and a really good time. In Godzilla X Kong, Godzilla is nothing more than an animal. A smart animal, and sometimes even nearly like a superhero. But there is no meaning to Godzilla or his presence- he’s just there to fight other kaiju and be a nuisance to the human world. Meanwhile, Godzilla Minus One tells an emotionally resonant story about its human characters, and is also able to 1) comment on Godzilla as an enduring cultural symbol, 2) make commentary on Japan post-WWII and 3) have a universal theme about choosing to live. It’s a genuinely moving movie that also has impressive action scenes and visual effects (that it won the Oscar for!) Even if you don’t usually enjoy monster/kaiju movies, I think there is something here for everyone. 

5. The Starling Girl

After peaking too early in the year, The Starling Girl lost any chance at awards momentum and has been overlooked by many this year. This is a shame, as it has really stuck with me and remained one of my favorite films of the year. I’ve already written about its thoughtful portrayal of a fundamentalist religious community and the way it captures young women stuck in purity culture. Something that has also come to mind is how, like Priscilla, this also explores questions of agency in an age-gap, imbalanced power-dynamic relationship, from the woman’s perspective, with a female director/writer. Two movies aren’t enough to signal a trend, and they certainly aren’t the first, but I am curious if films like these are connected to the fallout from the #MeToo Movement. Directly after the watershed moment of that movement in late 2017, we had multiple films come out that drew upon the themes of the movement and/or directly showed how it came about, such as Women Talking, She Said, The Invisible Man, Tar, The Assistant, and Bombshell, among others. But now we’re getting some other films which are exploring the grey zone of these dynamics and relationships, less concerned with clarity and condemnation and more with pondering how these relationships happen and what they feel like to the people in them. It’s fascinating to see, and I want to see more movies like The Starling Girl get made. 

4. The Teacher’s Lounge

In a less competitive year for international features, The Teacher’s Lounge would have won the Oscar. This German drama about a middle school teacher (an astounding Leonie Benesch) whose effort to solve the mystery of theft in her school blows up into a full-out war between students and faculty, is a parable about our current moment. Questions of surveillance, censorship, the media, cancel culture, and multiculturalism all play out in a 7th-grade classroom. The movie is tense, thought-provoking, and incredibly well-written, acted, and directed. I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

3. Master Gardener

This is one of the strangest films of the year. I don’t understand what writer/director Paul Schrader was thinking or going for here (although I sure did try!) and, unlike the two other films in his “Man in the Room” trilogy, I’m still not sure if it’s actually good. But I saw this film in July, and it’s remained compelling to me since. It’s provocatively weird and uncomfortably earnest, and I’ll always admire a film that goes for it, even if the “it” is a bit baffling. 

2. Past Lives

The directorial debut by Celine Song, Past Lives is a meditative drama about a Korean-Canadian woman who reconnects with her childhood crush, and wrestles between her desires about what could have been with him, and her marriage to an American man.

What’s remarkable about Past Lives, beyond its lush cinematography and excellent cast, is how it is able to tell a specific, unique story about Asian-Canadian/American immigration and being torn between cultures, and also a universal story about unmet desires, regrets, and layered, unexplainable relationships. I thought about dozens of people watching Past Lives: my childhood best friends, my what ifs, the people I’ve met recently who I wish I could have known as children, my family and the pain of being apart from them, and the feeling of being in a place where no one is from where you grew up, so they’ll never really know that part of you. This film elicited a deeply emotional response from me, and I can’t imagine it wouldn’t do the same to anyone else. 

There are other layers here that I love, well put in this review by Brett McCracken. While the film didn’t win either of its Oscar nominations, I hope the recognition it did get will ensure that we see more from Celine Song; she’s a talent to watch.

1. The Holdovers

It’s rare that I see a movie and immediately know the next time I’m going to rewatch it. But before I even finished The Holdovers, I knew I was going to watch it again the following holiday season, and hopefully, for many holiday seasons to come. Even beyond its retro ‘70s aesthetic, The Holdovers feels timeless, and I think that comes from its disarming sincerity. From the trailer, you know exactly what you’re getting: a Christmas tale about a group of curmudgeonly misfits bonding together. And for the most part, the movie tells that story completely straight, without a hint of irony, a dramatic twist, or any undercutting of the emotional beats. As I watched the film, I kept expecting the film to take a more cynical turn, or shy away from the more melodramatic moments. But it never did. The film is not at all boring or predictable to watch- there are many unexpected story points and the way the characters develop is nuanced and engrossing- but the movie doesn’t try to subvert expectations. But by telling its story so well, it somehow does that anyway. Next time you’re feeling a bit melancholy and need good company, give The Holdovers a shot.

Honorable Mentions:

Nyad, Theater Camp, Next Goal Wins, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, Haunted Mansion (look, I liked it!!!), You Hurt My Feelings, May December, Anatomy of a Fall, The Color Purple, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margret, and The Deepest Breath

Worst movies of the year: Ant-Man: Quantumania, Foe, & My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

The Real Winner of the Year: Music in movies. This year we got the likes of

• “I’m Just Ken,” from Barbie
• “Peaches” from Super Mario Bros Movie
• All the songs in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
• “Wild Uncharted Waters” from The Little Mermaid
• The musical adaptation of The Color Purple
• The musical planet in The Marvels
• “Camp Isn’t Home” from Theater Camp
• Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce in theaters 

Runner up: Fantastic new young actors! We had Dominic Sessa in The Holdovers, Abby Ryder Fortson in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Leonard Stettnisch in The Teacher’s Lounge, and Milo Machado Graner in Anatomy of a Fall. I hope to see all of them again soon.

– Madeleine D.

The Oscar nominees are out, and while you might have heard quite a bit about the various snubs (was Greta Gerwig robbed?!) you might not have heard as much about some of the actual nominees. For that, I offer up this guide to the ten Best Picture nominees and give you some background on the nominees, an evaluation of their awards chances, and my own thoughts on the films. I hope this guide can help you in your journey of winning your Oscar ballot and beating all of your friends appreciating this great year of cinema. 

American Fiction

American Fiction stars Jeffery Wright as Monk Ellison, an author fed up with the publishing industry’s treatment of Black writers and literature. He swears not to stoop to the levels of artistic degradation he sees in his contemporaries, yet when his estranged family faces several crises, in desperation, he writes a novel that embodies everything he hates. When it becomes an unexpected success, Monk finds his life spiraling as he tries to keep up his lie. 

The film received five nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor for Jeffrey Wright, Best Supporting Actor for Sterling K. Brown, Best Original Score, and Best Adapted Screenplay by Cord Jefferson (based on the book Erasure by Percival Everett). This is also Jefferson’s directorial debut. While the trailers make this seem like a full-on comedy (and there are some very funny scenes of satire), the majority of the film is actually a serious family drama. 

It is unlikely that American Fiction will win in any of its categories due to bigger contenders. Its best chance is Adapted Screenplay, which tends to reward more experimental films that don’t win best picture but are highly respected (such as last year’s Women Talking, 2019’s JoJo Rabbit, 2018’s BlacKkKlansman, 2017’s Call Me By Your Name). I think American Fiction’s greatest competition in that category is Barbie. There doesn’t seem to be much momentum for American Fiction yet, but perhaps the film can rally and secure that win. 

I personally didn’t enjoy American Fiction as much as I wanted to. I think Jefferson has a lot of interesting ideas and a few of them are brilliantly executed, but only a few of them. I think the movie buckles under the weight of too many threads and ideas that aren’t fully explored or resolved. I also found the family drama a bit stilted. While I don’t know if this role as Monk’s brother is his best role, I love Sterling K. Brown and would be thrilled for an upset win for him, although he is in what may be the most competitive category of the whole ceremony. Jeffrey Wright is also excellent and very deserving, although he is up against Cillian Murphy and Paul Giamatti, so a win is very unlikely. While it might not walk away with anything, I do hope this gives Jefferson’s career momentum so he can make another film. He’s certainly a filmmaker to watch and I look forward to his next project. 

Anatomy of a Fall

Anatomy of a Fall, one of two international features on this list, is a French drama about a writer (Sandra Hüller, who also stars in The Zone of Interest) who is accused of pushing her husband to his death out of a window, a crime to which their blind son is the only witness. The film is half family-drama, half-court drama, with explorations of gender politics, marriage, and morality. And, like American Fiction, it is about a writer and the level of identification an artist may or may not feel with their material, and if we can morally judge a writer for what they write. The entire cast here is excellent. Milo Machado Graner, who plays the son, is a wonderful discovery; I hope he gets more work. While at times slow, the film ended up grabbing me with the careful way the pieces of the puzzle are unveiled in this compelling mystery.

It is nominated in four other categories: Best Actress for Sandra Hüller, Best Director for Justine Triet, Film Editing, and Original Screenplay. It is unusual that it is not nominated for Best International Feature (the reason why is quite a saga), but even if it were, it would have still been competing against fellow Best Picture nominee The Zone of Interest and dark-horse contender Society of the Snow. In the end, I don’t think Anatomy of a Fall will take home any awards. It did win Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes, so that would be my strongest guess for a win, but I think if the Academy takes a democratic approach this year, they’ll use this screenplay category to reward The Holdovers or Past Lives. It would be a shame for it to not get any wins, but I’m glad it is getting the attention it deserves with the nominations. 

Barbie

Barbie was one of the most talked-about films of the year, breaking multiple box office records and being widely well-received and reviewed. If you somehow didn’t know, it is about Barbie (yes the toy doll) leaving Barbieland and going into the real world and fighting the patriarchy.

Despite its success, there has been a noticeable souring towards the film, starting with Jo Koy’s comments on the film in his Golden Globes monologue. Then the nominations came out and there was an uproar about the perceived snubs of Greta Gerwig for director and Margot Robbie for Best Actress, particularly in light of Ryan Gosling’s Best Supporting Actor nomination as Ken (ignoring that America Ferrera did get a Best Supporting Actress nomination). Then there was a backlash to the backlash, saying the uproar over the snubs distracts from Ferrera’s success and they are not really snubs. I think all of the talk has made it much harder to predict how Barbie will end up faring– will Academy voters, sick of the drama, ignore the film? Or will they feel bad for Gerwig and Robbie and award the film? Do they see the box office and critical acclaim as enough? 

I enjoyed Barbie (and I particularly enjoyed the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon), but it did not move me deeply. But it did truly move and capture the imaginations of many people I know, men and women alike, and it created ongoing conversations about feminism, film, and the history of Barbie toys and pop-culture significance the whole year. I think there is something deeply impressive in that. Regarding the perceived snubs, I do not think Robbie was snubbed. I think she gave a great performance that grounded the movie, but I think her biggest contribution to the film was her work as a producer, for which she is recognized with the best picture nomination. 

As for Gerwig, I think there is an interesting contrast in how Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig have been treated in terms of being considered “auteurs.” The narrative around Oppenheimer has been incredibly Nolan-centric, focusing on his love of cinema, and how he did not compromise on his desire to use certain filming techniques, to shoot on film, and to use practical effects. This is his magnum opus. Meanwhile, the narrative around Barbie has been much more democratic, with Gerwig and Robbie giving much praise to their cast and to each other. However, I would argue Barbie is as distinctly directed as Oppenheimer, with its successful elements very indebted to Gerwig’s artistic point of view and themes that can be seen in her earlier works of Little Women and Lady Bird (yes Nolan has been working a lot longer, but also Gerwig has only made three films and all of them have been nominated for best picture). While Gerwig certainly received praise for Barbie, I have to wonder if the narrative around the film had been more focused on her, if that would have helped her be seen as an auteur worth recognizing.

That being said, she still has other shots at winning an award. Outside of Best Picture and the Supporting Actor and Actress, it was nominated for Costume Design, two Best Original songs for “What Was I Made For,” and “I’m Just Ken,” Production Design, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. My hunch is that Barbie will get a few of the technical awards, and one of the songs (I think “I’m Just Ken” should win, but “What Was I Made For” is also excellent and probably feels more respectable to the Academy). I think it is in a neck-and-neck race against American Fiction for screenplay, with maybe the perceived snubs meaning people will choose Gerwig to make up for the slight. If Barbie goes home empty-handed, there will be plenty of commentary on whether it was because of misogyny or not. But it is worth considering that the Academy has a history of not rewarding films that are big blockbusters, which Barbie certainly was. But as long as Ryan Gosling performs “I’m Just Ken,” at least we, the audience, will be winners. 

The Holdovers

Full transparency: The Holdovers is my favorite film of the year. The story of a curmudgeonly teacher at a New England boarding school who bonds with a student and a cook left over the winter break is perfectly and sincerely made. I can see myself watching it for holidays to come. Initially, the buzz around its debut at Telluride made it seem for a moment like it was the Best Picture frontrunner, but its awards momentum has since dwindled, although it remains a favorite among many.

While it has nominations for picture, Film Editing, and Original Screenplay, it is in the actor and supporting actress categories that the film has the strongest chance. Paul Giamatti won the Golden Globe for the film in the musical or comedy category, as did Da’Vine Joy Randolph for supporting. However, Giamatti will now be going up against Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer, who won the Golden Globe for drama. This is a classic toss-up: will the Oscars want to award a long career like Giamatti, or an exciting (relatively new-ish) up-and-comer like Cillian Murphy? My bet is on Murphy, but I think we’ll only really be able to tell where the momentum is close to the ceremony. 

 Randolph’s main competition should be Danielle Brooks, who accomplished something in The Color Purple that I will never forget– truly a lightning bolt of a performance. However, I did love Randolph’s work here, and The Color Purple’s award chances have significantly fallen, and with that, Brook’s opportunity. Otherwise, America Ferrera is the dark horse contender if the Academy rallies around Barbie. I don’t see The Holdovers going home completely empty-handed though, between Giamatti and Randolph. And it shouldn’t- go see it!

Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese’s epic about the murder of the Osage in 1920s Oklahoma scored ten nominations, including Best Director, Robert De Niro for Best Supporting Actor, Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing, Score, Original Song (“Wahzhazhe (A song for my People)”), and Production Design. Leonardo DiCaprio was notably snubbed, after receiving a Best Actor nom from the Golden Globes.

The film’s best shot seems to be Lily Gladstone, who won the Golden Globe in the drama category, but she faces fierce competition from Emma Stone for Poor Things, who won the Golden Globe in the musical/comedy section. Stone has already won an Oscar (for La La Land), and there seems to be a strong push for Gladstone, making her my choice. The second best guess would be a director win for Scorsese, although all signs are pointing towards Christopher Nolan.

Most award seasons tend to have a movie that garners tons of nominations and acclaim but walks away empty-handed (including Scorsese’s own Gangs of New York and The Irishman, both films with over 10 noms but no wins). If Gladstone doesn’t win, that could be this film’s fate, which I think would be a shame. While I feel there were some structural issues in the film that weakened the momentum of the story, in comparison to the book, and the effort to center the Osage people derailed by Marty’s love of gangster stories and Leonardo Dicaprio, I think the film overall was incredibly powerful, well-told, and memorable. 

Maestro

Maestro, a biopic about the life of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, and written, directed, and starring Bradley Cooper, has been a strange film in the awards race. There seems to be an air of obligation around its nominations, with the general sense being that yes, this is a very well-made film about an important subject, and Cooper swings for the fences, and Carey Mulligan is very good…but also isn’t it a little obnoxious how self-important and perfectly awards-tuned this film is? Doesn’t it sometimes border on feeling like a sketch about an award-winning film? I’ve yet to hear anyone say Maestro is their favorite film of the year. It all makes me wonder if Maestro actually has enough support from the Academy to garner a win, especially after not taking anything home at the Golden Globes and the snub of Cooper for director.

It’s nominated in seven categories, with Cooper and Mulligan for lead actor and actress, Cinematography, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Original Screenplay. I would gladly give it Cinematography, I think that is the best part of the film and representative of its technical brilliance, but even that seems unlikely, as does any other win. I’m not heartbroken over this; while there are moments I appreciated in the movie and I think the lead performances are indeed excellent, the film was confusingly structured and I walked away not feeling like I understood Bernstein’s career, his marriage, or his inner life well. It felt like the movie was so concerned with being grand that it forgot to be good.

Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer has garnered the most nominations with thirteen. My prediction, based on its Golden Globe wins and buzz, is that it will win six of them: Director for Christopher Nolan, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. for Best Supporting, Cinematography, Film Editing, and Score. I do not think it will win Best Supporting Actress for Emily Blunt (a nomination that puzzles me; Blunt did her best with the material but I didn’t find the role or her casting to be unique or revelatory), Costume Design, Adapted Screenplay, Sound, Production Design, or Makeup and Hairstyling.

Oppenheimer feels like the ideal movie to award- it was critically acclaimed, a giant box-office success (but not toooo successful, and in part due to Barbie/Barbenheimer), an awe-inspiring ensemble, and a chance to give Christopher Nolan a career award and right the wrong of the snub of The Dark Knight, which arguably haunts the Oscars to this day. It’s also a biopic and a World War II movie and a movie about a tortured scientist genius, all of which tend to do very well with the Academy. It’s a great awards narrative and a very respectable choice. Oppenheimer was not one of my personal favorite films of the year, but I appreciated what it accomplished and the epic scope of the story it told. It was tremendously acted and crafted. I wouldn’t be opposed to any of those wins, and I certainly think it represents and defines 2023 in film more than many of the other nominees. 

Past Lives

Past Lives is my second favorite film out of these nominees. Written and directed by Celine Song, starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro (all three of whom I would have loved to see nominated), the film follows Nora (Lee), a writer whose family immigrated from South Korea to Canada when she was young, leaving behind her childhood sweetheart, Hae (Yoo). Nora marries an American man (Magaro), but feels herself torn between her husband and her past when Hae comes to visit her in New York, reuniting the two after 24 years.

There’s so much to be said about this movie, which I’ll talk more about in my next post about my favorite films of the year (stay tuned!). But I agree with all the critics who say it is one of the best films of the year and has an incredibly tight script, wonderful performances, and explores its subject matter gracefully and with focus and tenderness. The movie only has two nominations, for Best Picture and Original Screenplay for Song. While The Holdovers and Anatomy of a Fall give it hard competition, since it has barely a chance at best picture (I think its acclaim peaked too early), I’d love to see Past Lives win for screenplay. Don’t miss this one!

Poor Things

This is the one nominee I have not seen, so I cannot speak to the quality of Poor Things, I can only give it some context. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, The Lobster), this Frankenstein-esque tale of a woman brought to life and setting out on a journey of self-discovery has been garnering buzz for a long time. It won the Golden Globe for musical or comedy (Oppenheimer won for drama) and won a Best Actress award for Emma Stone, whose performance has been near-universally praised. Outside of Best Picture and Actress, the film is also nominated for Director, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Score, Production Design, Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Mark Ruffalo.

I’m very fond of Ruffalo (mostly because of his work in one of the greatest films of all time) and I think people forget that he has a strong awards history- this will be his fourth Best Supporting Actor nomination (the others being for The Kids Are Alright, Foxcatcher, and Spotlight). I’m not sure this is his best performance (in fact, I sincerely doubt it when we’ve got Dark Waters, Zodiac, Infinitely Polar Bear, and, of course, Now You See Me 2) and he’s probably going to be beaten by Marvel co-star Robert Downey Jr, but this is a nice career boost for him. Along with a potential win from Stone over Lily Gladstone, I could see the film winning Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Production Design.

While there is a lot of love for Poor Things, it has also been controversial due to its extreme sexual content and questions over whether it is truly as empowering as it seems. I think this might mean there is a quiet but substantial section of the Academy that will not vote for it for Best Picture. It’s the dark horse contender, but I still think Oppenheimer is the one to beat. 

The Zone of Interest

The Zone of Interest is the most unsettling, unique film of the year (except perhaps for Poor Things). The movie focuses on Auschwitz commander Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig as they raise their family and chase domestic bliss in their home right outside of the concentration camp. The film never directly shows what is happening inside the camp. Instead, it’s all about the details. Screaming and gunshots can be heard faintly in the distance in nearly every scene. A servant washes blood off of Rudolf’s boots. The children swim in the pool, and in the background a train passes by. The family sits around the dinner table and an imposing tower of the camp stands behind them. The movie is all about being complicit, about how seeking comfort can lead to willful ignorance and detachment. It is about the Holocaust, yes, but it is also about all of us.

The film has been criticized by some for not directly showing the atrocities in the camp, but I think that is completely missing the entire point of the film. That is a strength of the movie, not a flaw. We’re to the point where there is an entire genre of Holocaust films that has its own tropes and cliches. How have we turned one of the greatest human atrocities into something predictable? Zone of Interest, in its radical detachment, interrogates this entire genre. If we’re hoping the Oscars reward novelty and breaking boundaries in film, I think Zone of Interest deserves some wins.

The film received five nominations, with Best Director for Jonathan Glazer, Adapted Screenplay, Sound, and International Feature. I would personally vote for Jonathan Glazer for Best Director, but I think it is almost certainly going to Nolan. Zone of Interest should, and most definitely will, win for Sound and International Feature (especially since it’s not going up against Anatomy of a Fall in that category). Very well deserved.

In Summary:

I predict will win: Oppenheimer

Dark horse pick: Poor Things 

My personal favorites: The Holdovers, Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, Killers of the Flower Moon

FX and Hulu’s The Bear recently dropped its second season. The show, which came out in relative obscurity last summer but then exploded in popularity, has become a phenomenon and is being hailed as one of the summer’s best shows. The first season followed Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), a fine dining chef, as he returned to his hometown of Chicago to take over his deceased brother’s floundering sandwich shop. Season 2 finds Carmy and the staff shutting down the sandwich shop and opening a fine dining restaurant, The Bear, in its place. The real heart of the show is its ensemble of the rough-around-the-edges kitchen staff, and season two finds many of them embarking on journeys of professional and personal growth. The show has many themes- the ruthlessness of the culinary world and the toll it takes, family trauma, found family, the sacrifices it takes to become the best, and cooking as hospitality.

Woven in with all of those themes is a beautiful ode to vocation, and an honest one. And as I watched, I saw in some of the character’s stories illustrations of some of the core Christian doctrines around vocation. The Bear is not an explicitly religious show, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be deeply insightful, even biblical, about the nature of work. So that is what I want to explore here: how The Bear, particularly in this season, gives us insight into how a Christian can think about vocation.

In Tim Keller’s book, Every Good Endeavor, he starts off by analyzing a short story by J.R.R Tolkien, called Leaf by Niggle. In the story, a painter named Niggle tries to paint a gorgeous tree. He spends his life on this painting, yet due to circumstances and his perfectionism, he is only able to paint one really good leaf on the whole tree. Then Niggle dies, feeling like a failure. In the afterlife, Niggle is invited to a heavenly country, where he sees the tree he had always imagined in his mind and tried to paint. The tree is real. The tree is real and beautiful and will be enjoyed forever in this heavenly place. In retrospect, we see that Niggle’s life on earth was about reflecting and imitating and making known to others this real, beautiful thing- even though his efforts were small and clumsy. Because the tree is real, Niggle’s painting, no matter how incomplete, had meaning. 

In this, we see a vision for Christian vocation that is both realistic and beautiful. As Christians, we believe that God is in the business of restoration, and he is truly making all things new (Revelation 21:5). He has not abandoned Earth; he is restoring it and will bring it to perfection in the fullness of time. And in the meanwhile, he delights in using our human work to bring about that restoration. That restoration comes because we know and believe in a deeper truth, which is that of the work and love of Jesus. What the world sees as lost causes, the Christian can see as a yet-to-be-used canvas of God’s mercy. That is, in essence, Niggle’s Tree, the truth that a Christian can work from and find hope and inspiration in. Our efforts– artistic or otherwise– are best when they are reflections of God’s truth and his plan for the world. 

Yet at the same time, we live in a broken world, and are sinful, imperfect vessels. Therefore, none of the good work we do will be complete in this world. Like Niggle, circumstances, and our own selves, get in the way of good work. Most of the time, our work will not look fruitful at all; it will look like failure, or an incomplete mess. This is the result of the curse given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 after they sin. God tells them work will no longer be always pleasurable or easy. It is now cursed, characterized with “thorns and thistles”, and only “by the sweat of your face” (3:18-19). Both of these realities hold comfort. When our work is frustrating, we find comfort in the truth that it is that way because of sin, and we can’t expect our work to always be good. This protects us from the bitterness and resentment that comes with unrealistic expectations. But at the same time, our work is always inherently valuable when it is done to please God, because it is like the leaf- it is connected to something that is real and perfect, even if our efforts are not.

In The Bear, various characters get glimpses of “the tree.” They get a glimpse into what a beautiful, perfected version of their work is, and it is what pushes them to strive harder to better their own craft and, more importantly, value the human relationships their work gives them. This is best illustrated in episode 7, “Forks,” which follows Richie as he interns as a stage at a high-end restaurant. He arrives at the restaurant angry at the position and bitter about his life; he lacks purpose and fears he will soon be driven out of Carmy’s restaurant, a restaurant he’s not even sure he wants to work in but is the only place he’s ever fit in. 

But as his work goes along, he gains an appreciation for the staff who work there. He sees the pride the employees take in their work, and how they are able to link all of their work to the relational interactions they have with guests. The hospitality of the restaurant is not ultimately about the quality of the food, it’s about the way food and presentation can be used to make someone feel seen, and therefore cared about. When Richie serves a special deep-dish-pizza-inspired plate to some guests visiting Chicago, he is connecting with them through service, and the delight both he and the guests experience is transcendent. That is the tree, that is the vision of what fine dining can be that Richie takes back with him when he goes back to The Bear. And even though his time at The Bear won’t necessarily be made up of transcendent moments (the opposite, actually), the newfound respect for himself and his vocation fuels him and makes the way he does his work more beautiful and purposeful, no matter the actual impact of the work itself.

Meanwhile, Tina, Ebra, and Marcus are also all sent off to nurture their talent, with the first two going to culinary school and Marcus taking an apprenticeship in Copenhagen to study under a dessert chef. After butting heads with Sydney in the first season, Tina has now softened and become more open to change and focused on sharpening her craft. This openness earns her the rightful role as Sydney’s sous chef and this season she flourishes. Ebra is hesitant and intimidated by culinary school, but eventually finds the courage to continue. And Marcus is finally given the space for his interests to be nurtured, and is reminded of something important by the other chef, Luca, which is that there is freedom in realizing you can’t, or won’t be the very best, and that humility actually allows you the chance to learn. And, Luca adds, that you have to spend time out in the world to be any good in the kitchen. Which is to say, we can’t be solely defined by our work.

One of the best moments of the show happens in the penultimate episode, when Natalie admits to Sydney she hasn’t eaten that day, so Sydney makes her an omelet. Sydney later tells Carmy that that was the best thing she did that day. Sydney is being reminded of the tree– that this job is about serving and loving someone else with the gifts she’s been given. That is what the restaurant is ultimately for. 

Tina lays down her pride to become better than she ever thought she could be. Marcus and Ebra take the leap to invest in their gifts and embrace the humility it takes to get better. Richie learns how to work with a purpose that is outside of himself. Sydney is reminded of the true heart of her work.

But Carmy, tragically, is the one who doesn’t learn any of this. During the opening night of the restaurant, Carmy gets locked into the walk-in fridge. Despite his setback, the staff is able to handle the rest of the night without him, successfully finishing the night. But Carmy can’t handle it. Instead of being proud of the fact that his staff was strong enough to handle things without him, he spirals, even ending up (accidentally) telling his girlfriend Claire that their relationship was a waste of time and focus. 

Richie then calls him out, comparing Carmy to his mother Donna (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), who we are introduced to in a flashback episode. In that episode, Donna, on the brink of a meltdown, makes the family an extravagant holiday meal, but no one can enjoy it because she’s martyring herself over it. She complains that she’s overwhelmed, then won’t take any help offered to her, and when the meal is done, she won’t accept or believe any amount of compliments about it. She desires to cook for her family as an act of love and sacrifice, but she is so consumed with herself that it isn’t anything but a narcissistic act of attention.

Carmy might not be so far gone, but in that moment, that’s what he’s doing. He is not enjoying the restaurant for what it is and for the satisfaction of using his gifts and blessing others with it; or seeing his staff step up and do their jobs beautifully. Instead, he’s mourning that, by being stuck in the fridge, he is not being able to prove himself and justify all he’s sacrificed. And that is what makes it impossible for him to believe in the chance at a romantic relationship, or any life outside of the kitchen. As long as he finds all his worth in his job, he can never imagine a life outside of it. A Christian view of vocation counteracts this, because Christians don’t find their worth and identity in themselves or their skills, they find it outside of themselves in Christ. Carmy has chased his dreams and given it everything he has, but it hasn’t made him happy, because the perfect “tree” will always be beyond himself and his own abilities.

The season ends with uncertainty: the staff has experienced some triumphs, and the restaurant’s first night was a success, but various relationships are in a precarious place, and Carmy is once again his own worst enemy. Most of the characters, through their experiences this season, have seen the tree. They have seen the deeper reality underneath their work, and it has resulted in more humility, teamwork, and respect for one another. But will they be able to hold on to that vision and mindset against hardship?

I can only imagine what will be cooking (sorry not sorry!) for season three.

– Madeleine D.