COPY’s Favorites of 2024: Film & TV
COPY loves you, Josh O’Connor.
By THE COPY TEAM
12.24.2024
Taylor
La Chimera (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)
It’s a grief-soaked love story. It’s a critique of capitalism. It’s a whimsical fairytale. It’s an excavation of history. It has been a long time since I loved a movie like I love this one. Aspects of it remind me of Paris, Texas, one of my all-time favorite movies that I’ve thought about almost every day for like six years. Thank you to New York City’s own IFC Center for showing La Chimera for twenty-five weeks straight (the theater’s longest-running film in a decade) so I could experience it on the big screen. IFC Center, if you’re reading this, you should play that shit again.
La Chimera (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)
Phil
Anora (dir. Sean Baker)
Sean Baker does it again. Every terrifying moment is also hilarious. Every hilarious moment is also terrifying. It takes a skilled filmmaker to make fiction feel like a cringe documentary. Sean Baker wants to remind you that devotion both destroys you and makes you human. Cover your tits in glitter, wear a scarf in the cold, and cry.
Anora (dir. Sean Baker)
Myka
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof)
Lessons learned: death must precede birth. The decaying shrines our fathers worshiped must collapse. Teenage girls are revolutionaries.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof)
Theodora
Anora (dir. Sean Baker)
So many things to love in this movie: the protagonist’s accent, Brighton Beach, silly Russian (and Armenian) goons. A totally original story that still feels like an original tale of woman. To tweak a Jenny Holzer truism: in a dream, she saw a way to survive and she was full of joy.
Slow Horses (on Apple TV)
The fourth season of Slow Horses premiered this fall, and while it is my least favorite season so far, it is still great. The show is a British spy thriller situation but also very funny with incredible actors and an original theme song by Mick Jagger, a fan of the novels on which the series is based. Considering we are in the thick of holiday season, you may need something appropriate for parents and children alike that’s still engaging and fun. This is that show! Plus, a diversity of accents; what more could you want?
Slow Horses (on Apple TV)
Amelia
La Chimera (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)
Boys (Josh O’Connor specifically) can be witchy, too. I look for dowsing rods anytime I’m in the woods now.
Eno (dir. Gary Hustwit)
The man, the myth, the legend. There are 52 quintillion possible iterations of this generative documentary, and I want to know how AI selects and arranges the clips. This documentary is a beautiful ode to the creative process—or at least that was the iteration I saw.
Victoria
Say Nothing (FX/Hulu miniseries)
I love nuanced retellings of history, excellent and faithful book adaptations, when actors are good at their jobs, and the concept of a united Ireland in my lifetime. Each time I tuned in to watch, I was unable to stop gripping the arms of my couch. The episode about the London car bombings is one of the greatest pieces of television of the decade. Never let Anthony Boyle shave his mustache.
Conclave (dir. Edward Berger)
It’s not just a juicy, gossipy tale about one of the most political events in the Catholic Church, but it’s also such an earnest exploration into the fact that fallible and flawed human beings are often at the helm of weighty, lofty decisions. There’s so much pressure in this film—pressure to don the clothes of the second-most important members of the Catholic Church with honor, pressure to represent all perspectives of the faith, pressure to act in God’s will—and the pacing, writing, directing, acting, and cinematography perfectly deliver that tension to the watcher. I also can’t deny the charm of a plot-relevant cardinal red vape pen.
Conclave (dir. Edward Berger)
Brooke
Challengers (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
I laughed, I cried, I sweat, I danced, I loved, I lost. It ended, and I immediately wanted to watch it again. A perfect movie!
Challengers (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Lizzie
La Chimera (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)
This is a special movie that is aware of its own beauty in a completely humble way. Its beauty is taken as a fact; you are never hit over the head with it. It washes over you like a wave of heat, and not only if you’re seeing it in an 80º theater where the AC is broken, like Taylor and I did. It feels nostalgic but not indulgent, it leaves you aching but not defeated, and it creates its own lovely magic without over-explaining it to you; you walk away having simply come to understand its loveliness. This movie reminded me of a lot of others, but in the best way.
Halle
My Old Ass (dir. Megan Park)
I went into this movie expecting a lighthearted, if somewhat clichéd, rom-com and came out in tears. It quickly became one of my favorite films of 2024. The story follows a young girl on the cusp of independence who, after a bad trip, finds herself in conversation with her future self. What could have been a predictable premise evolves into a poignant exploration of love, sexuality, and the pursuit of happiness. One moment had me laughing out loud, the next wiping away tears. This movie left me feeling hopeful in the purest, most unexpected ways.
My Old Ass (dir. Megan Park)
Auveen
Anora (dir. Sean Baker)
Sean Baker is a magician. A crafted masterful tale of a Cinderella story gone wrong. A total rollercoaster pumping you with adrenaline from start to end. The way you continuously root for Ani/Anora, despite her perhaps questionable choices, is a testament to the way Baker crafts his characters and stories with such sincere empathy. Could this be the best picture of the year? (Look out for my COPY Oscars article.)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof)
A story where lives are on the line both on and off the screen. Filled with tension, thrill, and matters of life and death, this family drama-turned-thriller is a showcase of modern-day Iran, where women are silenced and artistic expression is an impossible privilege. Rasoulof directed this movie in secret and continues to sacrifice his life to authentically tell this story of the reality behind two daughters in Iran and their relationship with their father who works for the dictatorial regime. A true testament of bravery.
Mallory
Challengers (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
I’m an erotic thriller lover to my core! There were so many other fantastic films I saw this year, but Challengers takes the cake as my favorite. The performances, score, and editing were phenomenal. (Not to mention, Josh O’Connor became my new hyperfixation immediately after viewing it.)
Social Studies (miniseries dir. Lauren Greenfield)
Photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield used hundreds of hours of screen recordings from real teenagers’ phones to offer a candid glimpse into what today’s youth are experiencing in this fascinating docuseries. While it did make me a little depressed, I can’t deny that this is an incredibly impressive feat and an extremely necessary watch.
Social Studies (miniseries dir. Lauren Greenfield)