Hidden gems: The 7 best movies from 2024 you might've missed

A coming-of-age comedy. A coming-of-age drama. Horror. Donald Trump.

EW Staff

11 December 2024 at 11:00 am·6-min read

After 2023 saw three first installments topping the box office, 2024 has been the year of the sequel. From Inside Out 2 to Bad Boys: Ride or Die, all 10 of the highest-earning films in the world have been follow-ups to major franchises. In fact, out of the top 20, only Wicked, It Ends With Us, The Wild Robot, and The Garfield Movie are not sequels, and all four of those are based on existing IP.

So, if you’ve been craving something a little more original and off the beaten path, Entertainment Weekly has you covered. From a coming-of-age comedy about growing up in the early aughts to a brooding horror story based on real-life events in 18th-century Austria, there were plenty of worthy titles that flew under the radar this year.

Below, EW highlights our seven favorite hidden gems from 2024.

Mongrel Media / Courtesy Everett Collection; Searchlight Pictures; Amazon Studios; Michelle Faye/Vertical

Dìdi

Sean Wang’s semi-autobiographical love letter to the early aughts (MySpace! AIM! Paramore!) stars Izaac Wang as Chris, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy coming of age during the final months of summer before he enters high school circa 2008 in the Bay Area suburbs. The incomparable Joan Chen elevates the nostalgic feature as an immigrant mother and painter grappling with dreams lost. Plus, Spike Jonze, who heavily influenced filmmaker Sean Wang’s creative trajectory, voices a dead squirrel during a drug-induced haze. What’s not to love? —Jessica Wang

Available to stream on Peacock, or rent/buy on digital platforms.

Suncoast

Nico Parker, daughter of Thandiwe Newton and Ol Parker, steps out of her famous parents’ shadows and shines in this coming-of-age dramedy. She plays Doris, a teenager who, alongside her formidable single mother (Laura Linney), moves her terminally ill brother, who has been in a vegetative state for over a decade, into a hospice for his final days. There, Doris strikes up an unlikely friendship with Paul (Woody Harrelson), an eccentric activist and widower. Set in Florida during the landmark Theresa Schiavo case, it’s a deeply moving meditation on grief and death. Bonus: a killer soundtrack from Este Haim and Christopher Stracey. —Jessica Wang

Available to stream on Hulu.

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Juror #2

Despite the fact that Clint Eastwood’s movies have won Best Picture twice and grossed millions at the box office as recently as 2018, his latest (and possibly final) film was all but buried by Warner Bros. Released only in a handful of theaters across the country, Juror #2 was pretty hard to find on the big screen unless you were actively looking for it. Those who did were treated not just to a well-executed legal thriller with a killer premise (with Nicholas Hoult’s titular juror slowly realizing he may have actually committed the crime at the center of the trial) but also to some deeply resonant ideas about modern American life, especially in this election year. How far will some people go to protect their personal comfort, even if it means innocent people will be punished? At age 94, Eastwood is still asking the big questions. —Christian Holub

Available to rent/buy on digital platforms; premieres Dec. 20 on Max.

My Old Ass

My Old Ass was the exact opposite of a bad trip. Writer/director Megan Park’s delightful coming-of-age comedy produced by Margot Robbie centered on a simple premise — 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) met her 39-year-old future self (Aubrey Plaza) during a ‘shroom trip, high jinks ensued — but the emotional payoff was anything but. The pitch-perfect script and impressive acting made for a hilarious, charming, and surprisingly devastating cautionary tale about life, love, and loss. If you missed it during its theatrical release, don’t worry — it’s now streaming on Prime Video. So come for the cathartic cry session, but stay for the unexpected Justin Bieber homage (if you know, you know). —Sydney Bucksbaum

Available to stream on Prime Video.

The Order

Despite a stellar cast that includes Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, and Jurnee Smollett, this riveting thriller from Justin Kurzel (Macbeth) largely flew under the radar. Law stars as a washed-up alcoholic FBI agent who uncovers the domestic terrorist plots of Bob Mathews (Hoult), a white supremacist intent on inciting a race war. The taut, real-life tale plays as both a solid, gripping piece of old-fashioned movie-making and an insightful probing of the ways that obsession can twist up a man for good or evil. The story’s ties to contemporary America and current right-wing movements is chilling, an all-too-relevant parable for a nation in peril. —Maureen Lee Lenker

Currently in theaters.

Strange Darling

One of the best horror thrillers of the year, Strange Darling is a must-watch for genre fans looking for something fresh. But if you’re the type to research a movie beforehand, try to resist. This is one of those where the less you know, the better. That’s partially because director J.T. Mollner’s script features a Shyamalan-esque twist about halfway through that changes the trajectory of the entire film. Starring budding Scream King Kyle Gallner (Smile 2, Scream) and a powerhouse, career-best turn from Willa Fitzgerald (The Fall of the House of Usher), Strange Darling manages to subvert expectations with every twisty turn. —Mike Miller

Available to rent/buy on digital platforms.

The Apprentice

For a film about the country's most controversial figure, starring a Marvel superhero and a recent three-time Emmy-winner, The Apprentice failed to achieve the two things its subject cares about most: attention and financial success. But as an unflinching origin story of Donald Trump, Ali Abbasi's meticulously researched portrayal of the business mogul's rise from small-time real estate scion to infamous global dealmaker was perhaps doomed to turn off both sides of the aisle. Where some liberals feared the film would be too kind to the president, just as many conservatives (including Trump himself) bashed the story as a bunch of fake news. Those who went to see the bold biopic for themselves were treated to a hilarious, stranger-than-fiction satire of the American dream, featuring stellar, Golden Globe-nominated turns from Sebastian Stan as the Donald, Jeremy Strong as his mentor, Roy Cohn, as well as Maria Bakalova as his first wife, Ivana. —Mike Miller