So here we are on the brink of 2025, with the latest reports suggesting that theatrical returns seem to be bouncing back to somewhere in the region of where they were five years ago – even if, as we have noted, the number of cinemas left open and showing films is somewhat smaller than it was. But let's try to emphasise the positive for once even as we consider some of 2024's distinctive features and touch again upon some of its most accomplished films. (These aren't necessarily what I'd call the best films of the year, but they are the ones I enjoyed the most, hence the inclination towards genre movies of different kinds.)

The resurgent box office should probably feel like a surprise given that a) cinema was still feeling the after-effects of the SAG and writers' strikes, resulting in unlikely films like The Bikeriders being pressed into service as makeshift summer popcorn movies (the same thing arguably happened to MaXXXine as well); b) the still-lucrative superhero genre largely took the year off, barring three grim offerings from Sony's Spider-Man villains series and the extremely successful Deadpool and Wolverine; and c) many films intended as blockbusters crashed and burned despite excellent reviews – The Fall Guy would be a representative example of this. On paper this looks like another TV show adaptation, but the cleverness of the script and the charm of Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt's performances meant that it really transcended its origins. A real shame that it didn't do better.

Still, it cracked the year's top 25 at the box office, which a lot of very good films didn't even get close to. Currently at #59 is Heretic, which finds itself in the vicinity of things like Kraven the Hunter, Blink Twice, and Paddington in Peru (which I suspect has seriously underperformed). On one level Heretic is another high-concept horror movie (seemingly the only kind to get any attention these days) about a pair of Mormon missionaries whose latest home visit goes somewhat awry – but on another, it's a clever, thought-provoking film with a tremendous performance from Hugh Grant, who is clearly having the time of his life throughout.

More horror in another summer movie which proves that there may still be life in the old franchises yet. Alien: Romulus is the ninth film in the series, and you would be forgiven for radically downgrading your expectations – though the position of number nine is also held by pretty good films like The Winter Soldier, The Man with the Golden Gun and Destroy All Monsters – but it's actually the most fun and the scariest Alien has been in a very, very long time. The criticism that it is basically just a selection of the best bits from earlier in the series tweaked and reordered is a valid one, and as such it hardly suggests a vision for the future of the franchise, but for the time being this is very impressive.

Turning our attention back to the odd summer of 2024, some peculiar films seemed to benefit from the lack of blockbusters (and the failure of some of the ones that appeared). Amongst these were The Chimera, a subtitled film which did astonishingly well, even though I liked it less than a lot of people, and Challengers (the two films shared the same actor, Josh O'Connor). This is a hard-to-categorise film concerning goings-on between three professional tennis players, with a twisty-turny plot (slightly twisted psychologically too) and a very attractive look and feel to it. It also manages to clearly imply that the pro tennis circuit is a hotbed of filth and debauchery without being at all explicit about it, which is a neat trick.

The English-language remake was still alive and well in 2024, with Speak No Evil a superior example of the form. A nice American couple befriend an English family on holiday, accept an invitation to visit them at their home in the countryside, and then things take a bit of a turn. Purists have objected to the changes made to the original Danish-Dutch film, but I must be less nihilistic than them. A great performance from James McAvoy, and the uneasiness and social awkwardness depicted for most of the film is at least as memorable as the explicit horror of the closing stretch.

Sort of horror-adjacent, but not exactly horror itself, Love Lies Bleeding is an odd combination of elements and influences – a sort of gothic noir western as made by Cronenberg and the Coens, about a romance between a gangster's daughter and an aspiring female bodybuilder and all that results from this. As such it's an extremely accomplished and enjoyable film – a bit graphic in places – confirming the tremendous promise director Rose Glass showed in her debut.

By some metrics you could probably argue that Gladiator II is another of those films which has underperformed a bit – it's just outside the year's top ten, with a lower take than either the most recent Godzilla vs Kong film or Venom 3, though it's still on release so hopefully this may improve. Still, I thought this one was better than the original in many ways – a bit more depth to the plot, more interesting characters, more colour and energy. Whatever Ridley Scott is taking it seems to work.

Hanging in there from the start of the year, I really enjoyed The Holdovers, a warm and understated comedy-drama about three misfits forced to spend the Christmas holidays together in a boarding school. It's a very funny, very charming film, which has unfortunately ended up beset by allegations of plagiarism. That doesn't alter its quality, just the issue of who should get the credit for it, I would say.

In the end, the title of horror movie of the year must go to The Substance, an extraordinary fable about the consequences of the reckless pursuit of youth and beauty, with Demi Moore as a fading star who doesn't want to fade any more and Margaret Qualley as her younger incarnation. 'Graphic' doesn't even begin to do justice to the final act of the film (the special effects department made full use of thirty gallons of fake blood and a fire hose), but it's a tremendously smart and often very funny film. People were walking out of the screening I attended audibly complaining about the grisly spectacle in progress, so this is probably one of the more niche films on this list – but what a niche, what a film.

More humour and charm, more unexpectedly this time, with Anora, just your everyday tale of romance between an ambitious young sex worker and the feckless son of a billionaire Russian oligarch. This is a tremendous movie which sets out to do all sorts of things – it's a comedy, a character piece, several flavours of romance, a blistering takedown of the super-rich – and manages all of them with great aplomb. A bit graphic compared to the average awards darling, but this movie should be everywhere during the gong season next year.

Yes, I know – where's All of Us Strangers, where's My Favourite Cake, where's Dune 2? Bubbling under, bubbling under. What can I say, it's just a cultural fluke – that's where counting in base ten gets you. Oh well. 2025 isn't quite the quarter-century of this column, but it's close enough for it to feel slightly alarming. Nevertheless I shall be sticking with it, because you can never have too many reasons to go to the cinema. Happy New Year, and I hope 2025 brings you what you wish for.

Awix

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