all the movies in 2024 that had me by the throat

a 3-part series in the making if you will

December 9, 2024. 

There’s exactly 23 days until January 1st. New year, new possibilities. There’s an unspoken merriment if you will in the air. Ever since I was a kid I always loved this time of the year. People are so much nicer I feel. Maybe it’s all the movies I’ve watched that have depicted this reality for me. 

The random acts of kindness of paying for someone’s coffee or giving compliments to strangers. Because I truly do think there’s always a certain ambiance around this time of the year. 

New year's resolutions, new goals, new hopes and dreams. It makes you reflective of all that you’ve done the past year. It’s made me think of all the things I’ve consumed that have opened up my perspective on things one way or another. The music I’ve listened to, the museums, the shows I’ve gone to see.

Especially the movies I viewed that truly left me speechless. In a 3-part series I want to talk about 11 movies that truly left an impact on me in 2024. 

Priscilla - watched in january 2024 (Released in 2023, Directed by  Sofia Coppola)

Released in France on January 3, 2024. I went with a friend to see it in person. I have to preface that from the ages of 9 years old to 12 years old I was…infatuated with Elvis Presley. In fact anything from the old Hollywood era had me by the throat. The glitz, the glamour. Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Eartha Kitt, Dorothy Dandridge. You name it, I loved it. Seeing the reality of something so different from our modern world was so surreal to me. The untouchable element was so alluring. 

When I saw that a biopic of the one and only Priscilla was out, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see her side of the story. I always knew the story of their tumultuous relationship from Elvis’s point of view. But seeing hers as well was important to me. 

Learning about her upbringing, how they met, how they became the iconic couple so many try to imitate, where life took her after their separation…etc

It did not disappoint in the very least. It brought new light to what I previously thought I knew about their story-tale. 

Poor Creatures - watched in february 2024 (Released in 2023, Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos)

I’ve watched this movie 3 times. The visuals are…indescribable. It follows the journey of Bella, a young woman who previously had killed herself in a past reality but was brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist, you could say. 

We follow her as she runs off with a lawyer and travels to Budapest, Lisbon, Paris, Glasgow, and London.

It’s a touching and moving experience as we see her discover her identity, creates her thoughts and beliefs, free from prejudice. As a Frankenstein-inspired movie there’s a lot of scenes that can make you feel uncomfortable and consider your morals. 

But I think that’s what I loved about it. It makes you question your beliefs, the taboo of it all. The innocent yet disturbing reality that we all discover in life as we explore different elements in our sexual identities, the way we view things, and the societal norms we presume on one another.

I don’t want to spoil anything as it’s fairly still newly released so I’ll just leave it at that for you to discover.

thoughts shared on Letterboxd after seeing it the first time:

“Mind blowing film. Maybe watching it high was an addition but everything about this movie is superb. The visuals, the characters. Emma Stone & Mark Buffalo really outdid themselves in this. Was truly transfixed for the 2 and a half hours this played. My friend and I didn't even speak not once during that time. It's like Barbie on steroids. Everyone needs to see this.”

As the 2 yappers my friend & I are, not speaking once during the showing really highlights to you how transfixed we were.

Mulholland Drive - watched in february 2024 (Released in 2001, Directed by David Lynch)

The man behind Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, and Twin Peaks. David Lynch, one of my favorite directors. 

I’ve always heard about this movie and have seen the iconic pictures on people's Pinterest boards countless times. So, when I saw they were showcasing it at a cinema near me I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see it in the flesh. 

We follow the journey of Rita and Betty. Betty is a lively, motivated actress, who moved to California from Ontario to follow her dreams. Rita, a woman who is almost shot at by her chauffeur on Mulholland Drive. She ends up being saved when a car crashes into them. Dazed and confused, she unquestionably finds herself in the apartment of Betty’s aunt where Betty is staying. The two then discover a large amount of cash and a blue key in Rita’s purse. 

Through their expedition of trying to recover Rita’s memory, we discover the identities of Camilla Rhodes and Diane Selwyn. Diane Selwyn, a depressed and struggling actress who starkly resembles Betty.

Diane has these fantasies about her past relationship with Camilla Rhodes, a successful woman who looks like Rita. 

​​“It'll be just like in the movies. We’ll pretend to be someone else.”

There’s a lot of theories about this movie but one that I found that really intrigued me was that the first half of the movie is a dream and the second half is the reality of Betty’s life (aka Diane). Diane, being a struggling actress, yearns for a better life and beautiful success story as most artists do that want to make it on the big screens. 

During the beginning we see her fantasy. She’s full of hope and with the love of her life (Rita aka Camille). In the second half we see the reality of her life that’s full of pain and loneliness. 

It’s a dreamlike entertaining film that holds such replay value. A lucid trip winding into the reality of life in Hollywood Hills.

I think Naomi Watts was perfect for the role which relates to the audience the typical starving artist that gets swallowed and spit out by the Hollywood machine. I had so much sympathy for Diane as we learn the reality of her life in the second half of the movie. 

Realizing the tragic story of how little her dreams came to be and how she became a shell of former self. 

That there is no true love for her, that her love affair with Camille was not as deep and true as she thought it was to be. Where for Camille it was nothing but just a good time. And it ultimately leads to her demise with a vengeful Diane hiring a hitman to kill Camille, and Diane taking her own life.

There is a lot of relatability in this movie. In the aspects of failed love interests. Where we learn that we’re not as important to someone as we once thought. Or that sometimes we’re not able to make it in our dream jobs whether it’s creative or a typical 9-5. 

There’s a lot of moments where you can see yourself in Diane’s shoes, and the cinematography of this is what makes it a David Lynch classic. Released in 2001 if you haven’t gotten the chance to see it, I highly recommend you do to experience the film for yourself. 

Eyes Wide Shut - watched in march 2024 (Released in 1999, Directed by Stanley Kubrick)

“What the fuck” was my first and only thought after seeing this movie. I’ve heard a lot of hearsay about this movie's esoteric symbolism. I think this is the kind of movie you either love or hate. Everyone I know has a strong opinion on it. 

It follows the story of Bill, a well off doctor who seems to have the perfect wife, perfect family, and all around perfect life you could even say. It isn’t until his wife Alice admits that she fantasizes about sleeping with other men that trouble seems to follow. This ego shattering reality of his wife’s fantasies quickly absorbs him whole.

He falls into a dangerous game of escapism as he goes out one night and finds himself around temptations, nearly sleeping with a sex worker. He randomly encounters an old friend at a bar, a musician named Nick who informs him about the crazy sex parties he plays at. Bill, seeking to escape, asks Nick for the password of entry as everyone is given a particular code assigned to them.

This is where he mistakenly partakes in joining an underground sex group that he will later realize is not easy to get out of.

There's a captivating scene where he’s in a shop called Rainbows Costumes owned by a Mr.Milich as he’s trying to get the right attire to join this group which includes having a cloak and mask. And Milich's daughter, a young girl, whispers in his “you should have a cloak lined with ermine.” Ermine for context is an expensive fur made from the weasel family known for its signature black spots and is typically worn by kings, queens. Which I think is important to note in the small details of this story.

He gets embroiled with elite and dangerous people who are all about having a good time and indulging in their lewd sexual fantasies in an extremely discreet manner. He realizes that everyone he knows that are of class and wealth are in this secret group, his friends, his coworkers. We see as the more he tries to do the right thing the more and more he is sapped into the dark and mysterious web of the unknown.

There’s one scene in particular that had me at the edge of my seat as he gets outed during a ritual ceremony by the leaders for being an intruder. We see as everyone in the group, the guests, the gatekeepers, are not happy that their rituals have been interrupted. He tries to play it cool and act as though he belongs but he surely doesn’t as doesn’t know the password to enter. 

He says the password that was given to him by Nick, but by the time Bill gave the password at the gate, it was already established that he was an imposter because Nick had already arrived prior.

When Bill was driven to the house, the leaders of the group knew that an intruder was about to enter and they also knew that the intruder had to be linked to Nick, Bill’s musician friend. They could have turned him back but they chose to let him in, to find out I presume on how their security had been tampered with.

A naked woman, a worker in the sexual activities, saves him as she sacrifices herself redeeming him to be set free. We see briefly in earlier shots that she was warning Bill to leave, that this place is not for him but he didn’t listen. In an earlier scene we see that this is the same woman who was saved by Bill from overdosing on speedballs on a night gone wrong, with Bill’s friend as she was his sex worker.

Merely making it out alive, he soon recognizes that he's being followed by a member of this group warning him to not return. Near the ending scenes, Alice is sleeping and Bill's mask is beside her on a pillow releasing a wave of emotion resulting in Bill crying, waking up Alice. They have an intense but much needed talk about everything that’s taken place and it ends with them committing to their marriage, choosing to let the past be and move forward. A pivotal moment where I think he realizes how close he was to destroying the life he’s built with Alice, all for nothing in the end. 

In a later scene, Bill and Alice are taking their daughter Christmas shopping and Alice states a reflective monologue: “I think we should be grateful. Grateful that we've managed to survive through all of our adventures, whether they were real, or only a dream.”

This movie is a must see as it never ever allows us to predict the next scene or know exactly what is even going on. It’s not the type of movie where you can follow clearly what’s taking place, you have to think about things thoroughly and come to your own conclusions. If you’re into occultism like me there’s a lot of good symbolism that can leave you contemplating for days on what it’s all really mean. 

It explores the fragility of masculinity, in that a mere fantasy of Bill’s wife can make him go on a whirlwind of events into self-destruction. It explores women’s sexuality as a lot of the concepts of sex work are so openly displayed. As well as the concept of marriage, and the decay of it at times, along with as the metaphysics of love for sex and the importance for secrecy in relationships at times. 

The soundtrack is amazing, depicting every emotion each scene has. It’s even more interesting as Bill played by Tom Cruise and Alice played by Nicole Kidman were going through their own marital troubles during the making of this movie in 1999. In a way it makes the acting of Alice’s disliking for Bill in some scenes feel very real.

The ending is so subtle when a single word uttered by Alice to Bill serves as a potential remedy to all of their troubles earlier. It depicts clearly the human experience in that sometimes we get so in over our head about somethings that we don’t realize the repercussions of our actions. 

We’ll never truly know whatever happened to Mandy, the woman that saved Bill, or Nick, the musician that betrayed the trust of a very private group. This allure is what makes this another Stanley Kubrick classic in my personal opinion. With all the hysteria about the potential real and symbolical meaning of this movie, it makes you wonder what’s the true theme behind the curtains. It paints a dark underbelly picture of the potential elite’s dark reality that only some will ever truly know.

Being the last work of the late and legendary movie director Stanley Kubrick, it holds a special place at heart. 

**

See you next week for the 2nd half of the movies!

Thanks for reading as always <3