Holding Space and Whatever the Opposite of That Is: 2024 Movies I Loved and Ones I Didn’t.
- Maggie Lipson
- Feb 6
- 7 min read
By Lisa Perini ‘26 (Reporter)
2024 was quite a year for movies. Looking back on my Letterboxd, I realized I watched over 60 movies in 2024, some that I love so much I rewatched them two or three times. Out of these 60-ish movies, nearly 20 of them were released in 2024. As I reflected on all the worlds I visited by watching these films, I was reminded of the movies I enjoyed every second of. And the movies that made me wish time travel was real so I could go back and unwatch them. So without further ado, here are some of my 2024 movie highlights and lowlights.
Highlight: Wicked
Given the magnitude of its impact on pop culture towards the latter end of 2024, I have to start out talking about Wicked. To provide a brief overview, Wicked is based on the successful Broadway musical, and book sharing the same name, and is the prequel to The Wizard of Oz. It sets up how the Wicked Witch of the West became, well, Wicked and dives into her (Elphaba played by Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda’s (played by Ariana Grande) shared history being roommates at Shiz University. I grew up loving the original Wizard of Oz movie and am an avid theatre kid who’s seen the Wicked musical twice. That being said, I was incredibly skeptical when I saw that Wicked, one of the core stories from my childhood, would be turned into a movie. Multiple factors put me under the impression that it wasn’t going to turn out well. For starters, it was only the first act of the musical but had the runtime of almost the whole stage performance. Too many things have been split up into multiple volumes just to make more money. And on top of that, Ariana Grande was in it. Look, I’ve always been completely neutral about Ariana Grande. She’s a talented singer, but casting her (an A-list celebrity with a massive fanbase) as Glinda felt like just another cash grab. I wasn’t ready to see my childhood be ruined by the big Hollywood execs. And I can gladly say it wasn’t; if anything, this movie reawakened the little girl in me, the one who loved the magical land over the rainbow more than anything. It was truly spectacular in every sense. It’s as whimsical and flamboyant as its predecessors, and Ariana, I’m sorry for ever doubting you. Grande beautifully embodies the character’s bubbly essence, tapping into her Broadway roots, and matches Cynthia Erivo’s character excellently. They had wonderful chemistry and were such a joy to see interacting. They complimented each other in every frame they shared. I genuinely loved every minute of this. Cynthia Erivo was incredible as Elphaba; her voice is magical (something that’s never been a secret), and the way she took on Elphaba was stunning. She was the perfect pick for this.
Lowlight: Incoming
I genuinely have no clue what made me decide to watch Incoming; all I can say is that I’m infinitely remorseful for doing so. There’s no way I can actually justify making this terrible of a decision while being of sound mind and body, so I’m not even going to try. But I will try to guide people to not make the same mistake I did. Where do I even begin? Incoming follows the story of a freshman-year friend group ‘facing the opportunity to climb the social ranks of high school’ by attending the first big party of the year, hosted by the ‘cool older brother’ of one of the boys. In short, second-hand embarrassment up the wazoo. I wasn't really expecting much out of this movie (another time I made the genius decision to not watch the trailer beforehand), but I was not prepared for it to be this foul. You learn to have low expectations when you see an influencer as part of the cast of a Netflix original movie, but for said influencer’s character to be the best part of the movie speaks volumes as to how bad a movie actually is, especially when it includes a ‘solid’ lead actor. (That being said, I’m choosing to believe Mason Thames can, in fact, act if he managed to be cast as Hiccup in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie, but I was not persuaded to feel that way based on this.) However, Loren Gray was the only reason this movie was actually somewhat tolerable. Playing a high-school-aged influencer and the most popular girl in school, Gray’s character brings even more chaos to this dumpster fire of a movie. In a good way, though, or as good as it can get for this terrible movie. With Mason Thames playing the lead member of the friend group, Benj, who’s obsessed with his older sister’s best friend, he’s striving to be the best version of himself to impress her. He’s on “operation: meet cute,” so he goes absolutely insane at the party just to try to talk to her for a bit, and, when that goes wrong, he serenades her in the middle of an assembly to make up for it. On top of that there’s this one teacher that's WAAAAY too involved in his students’ personal lives. Yeah, it’s that type of movie. There were maybe two funny moments. I was only really laughing so I could better hide the pain I felt. This was like if Superbad was actually super bad, and it made me feel a disproportionate amount of anger for the Netflix exec that greenlit this movie. So the next time you see this movie under the Netflix comedy section, do yourself a favor and look the other way.
Highlight: We Live in Time
From the moment I saw those first paparazzi pictures of Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh on the set of We Live In Time, I was sold. I was so sold that I did no research on what the movie was actually about and only watched the fun press tour clips before seeing it. This gave me the impression that this was going to be a romantic comedy. Thankfully, I received a warning beforehand from people who had seen it, letting me know about how much of a tearjerker it would also be. We Live In Time tells the story of Almut (Florence Pugh), an aspiring chef, and Tobias (Andrew Garfield), a representative for the fictitious cereal company Weebatix, and how fate put them together in the unlikeliest of ways. We Live In Time intertwines the past and present as we see the journey of our two protagonists. I can’t say too much without giving it all away, but Almut and Tobias experience every up and down together. However, their love remains constant. It was simultaneously sweet and gut-wrenching, and I still haven’t entirely recovered. It was yet another reminder to make the most of the time we have – we don’t have control over how much time we have, but we can fully control how we use it. Saying I adored this movie was an understatement. Florence and Andrew work so well together, and I truly hope we get more movies of them in the future. They managed to take on every aspect of a relationship, from when it’s all new and exciting to when things become difficult beyond imagination. I was invested in every second of it, feeling all the feelings while on this emotional rollercoaster. In the best way. To me, it’s a reflection of our world. No important journey will be linear, and nothing truly meaningful will ever be joyous 100% of the time. It’s the downsides that make us human. Loving someone, even when the odds are stacked against you, strengthens this love and connection. It’s how you know it’s something real. Not to sound cliché, but you can’t have a rainbow without rain. We get to appreciate the joys more after facing the sorrows as well. And this movie is packed with sorrow. As much as I do love this movie and everything about it, I know not all this sadness is everyone’s cup of tea, and I feel the need to let people know just how sad this movie is. No amount of tissues would be enough for me during this movie. But I was also met with a new level of clarity afterwards.
Lowlight: Babygirl
One of my favorite parts about watching movies is going to the theaters to see them. To quote Nicole Kidman, I go to that place for magic. Watching Babygirl was anything but magical. I wasn't sure what to expect; it seemed to have solid reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and Letterboxd when it came out (both of which have dropped since), but I also knew of people who deemed this movie nearly unwatchable. So, I took the gamble. Babygirl tells the story of a powerful CEO (Nicole Kidman, ironically) who begins an affair with one of her much younger interns (Harris Dickinson). It was under the genre of ‘Thriller,’ but it was the least thrilling thing I’ve seen in a while. It makes every other terrible movie I’ve seen feel like a solid contender for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. For starters, there was not one single likable character. As much as I wanted to root for Nicole Kidman or Harris Dickinson, or anyone else for that matter, no one ever did anything to make me feel like doing that. Kidman’s character, Romy, acts completely irresponsibly and then is all sad when she has to face the consequences of her actions. Samuel, portrayed by Harris Dickinson, only says things that would get him arrested and/or written up to HR for workplace harassment. There’s also a complete lack of chemistry between them, almost as if neither of them wanted to be there acting out the borderline consent violations that were nearly every single one of their interactions. To go along with that, the script seems like something ChatGPT would write. This movie felt like the longest two hours of my life, but it was also so fast-paced like they were just trying to get it over with. I’ve suffered so you all don’t have to. There were some great movies last year, and this definitely was not one of them.
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