Dune: Part IIhas shown up on many critics' lists ofthe best films of 2024, including MovieWeb’s list. It’s an epic film from a great director who has been expanding our notions of what science-fiction films can be sinceArrivaland thenBlade Runner 2049, andDenis Villeneuvehad made tense masterpieces even before then (such asIncendies, Sicario, andEnemy). While he’s too humble to include his own film, Villeneuve has revealed his own picks for the best movies of 2024.
Villeneuve’s picks are fairly standard awards fare — they’re neither too international or arthouse (such as other list-toppers likeAll We Imagine as Light, The Beast, Hard Truths, Flow, Green Border) nor big blockbusters (Wicked, Gladiator II, Deadpool and Wolverine). He has chosen an historical epic that will likely sweep the Oscars (The Brutalist), a beautifully poetic indie about the lives of two Black men (Nickel Boys), a star-studded drama about religion and power (Conclave), a boundary-pushing adaptation with a subversive lead performance (Queer), and a controversial French film about a transgender crime lord (Emilia Pérez). Villeneuve toldTotal Film:
“I really lovedJacques Audiard’sEmilia Pérez. I thought that it was very original and inspiring. Jacques Audiard’s movies always give me a boost of energy, he’s one of our best filmmakers. I also loved The Brutalist by director Brady Corbet and Nickel Boys [RaMell Ross] too, as well as Conclave by Edward Berger […] Oh, I also loved Queer by Luca Guadagnino, which I thought was very inspiring. Daniel Craig gave an incredible performance.”
“It’s been a great year,” Villeneuve also said. “I’m impressed by many films this year, I just mentioned these ones and I haven’t seen everything yet.”
Related:Denis Villeneuve’s 10 Best Movies, According to Rotten Tomatoes
Denis Villeneuve’s Favorite Films of All Time
Writing forThe New York Timesin 2017, Villeneuve previously named his favoritefilms of the 21st century. His favorite is a tie between two films from 2007 —There Will Be BloodandNo Country for Old Men. “I’m driven by the impact these movies had on me then, and still today,” writes Villeneuve, adding:
“There are specific shots that went directly through my skull, like a bullet spreading particles of my brain on my walls. Like the shot of Daniel Day-Lewis baptizing a baby with oil, making There Will Be Blood an instant new classic. I felt the same way watching the Coen brothers’ opus No Country for Old Men. The image of the policeman’s boots making dark marks on the floor as he is being strangled by the nightmarish killer, portrayed by Javier Bardem, has haunted me since then.”
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From there, Villeneuve highlightedA Prophet(directed by the same man asEmilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard),Under the Skin, Children of Men, Inception, Amores Perros,andDogville.He also highlighted an earlier film by a director who has become increasingly famous. “The madness inDogtooth(2010) is the most refreshing thing I’ve seen in a long time. Yorgos Lanthimos may be one of the most exciting filmmakers working today,” wrote Villeneuve ofThe FavouriteandPoor Thingsdirector. “I’m still laughing at the crazy adults running to catch airplanes falling into their garden, because their father convinced them that they were fruit dropping from the sky.”
From earlier comments Villeneuve has made in a variety of places, the filmmaker lovesVertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dead Ringers, Lawrence of Arabia, Seven Samurai, Blade Runner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, mother!, and more. He is a big fan of Steven Spielberg, and has a surprising love for that director’s recent film,The Fabelmans. “The Fabelmansis the best movie ever made about the power of cinema,” Villeneuve said in a recent tribute to Spielberg at the DGA Awards (viaIndieWire). “It’s a miracle. To say that I was deeply moved by this movie is an understatement.The Fabelmansis a pure act of artistic generosity made by one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.” Says one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.
