「经济学人」2024年最佳电影
Not the same old stories
The best films of 2024, as chosen by The Economist
They feature nuns and cardinals, robots and strippers
“All of Us Strangers” 《我们都是陌生人》
In the year’s most tender and intimate film, a lonely screenwriter (Andrew Scott) visits his childhood home and meets the ghosts of his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell). They were killed when he was a boy, but now he has one last chance to talk to them about their brief time together.
“All We Imagine as Light” 《想象之光》
A sensitive study of three women (Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam) who work together in a bustling Mumbai hospital. By night, the city offers enchanting glimmers of freedom, but the reality of life with little money or independence returns in the morning.
“Anora” 《阿诺拉》
A frenzied farce about a dancer in a strip club (Mikey Madison) who is paid to be the girlfriend of a Russian oligarch’s brattish son. The winner of the Palme d’Or, the top prize at Cannes Film Festival, this is a more complex “Pretty Woman” for a new generation.
“Babygirl” 《小心肝儿》/《宝贝女孩》
A married boss of a robotics firm (Nicole Kidman, at her daring best) has an affair with a manipulative young intern (Harris Dickinson). It could be the premise of a glossy erotic thriller, but “Babygirl” is an edgier proposition, which pays more attention to raw emotion than naked flesh.
“La Chimera” 《奇美拉》/《盗墓奇美拉》
A rumpled English archaeologist (Josh O’Connor) slouches around Tuscany in the 1980s, dreaming of being reunited with a lost love. He helps a rollicking band of grave robbers unearth Etruscan artefacts to sell on the black market. But should some treasures—and some relationships—be left in the past?
“Conclave” 《秘密会议》
Adapted from Robert Harris’s novel, this superbly controlled and slyly funny thriller stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal overseeing the election of a new pope. He soon learns that the front-runners have more secrets than he bargained for.
“Green Border” 《绿色边境》/《边境无间》
Belarus has lured refugees onto its territory, pretending to offer an easy route into the European Union. Polish border guards bar the way; Belarusian guards will not let the migrants turn back. A touching, infuriating tale of how families seeking a better life become pawns of a despot.
“Immaculate" 《无瑕修女》
An American nun (Sydney Sweeney) moves to an Italian convent, only to find that a geneticist-turned-priest is planning to clone Jesus Christ. As exploitative as it sounds, “Immaculate” is one of the most beautifully shot and cleverly constructed horror films in years.
“Love Lies Bleeding” 《血爱成河》
Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian play a small-town gym manager and a bodybuilder who team up against a murderous gun-runner (Ed Harris). This darkly comic crime thriller gets more and more violent, hallucinatory and sensual as it goes along. Be warned, however: it is not for the faint-hearted.
“Monster” 《怪物》
A Japanese widow (Ando Sakura) is frightened by the strange behaviour of her son (Kurokawa Soya). His actions are explained from three angles in three sections, the first a mystery, the second a satirical farce and the third a wistful drama. A deeply humane film.
“Nickel Boys” 《五分钱男孩》
A dreamlike, impressionistic account of two boys (Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson) experiencing a brutally racist reform school in Florida in the 1960s and the aftermath. The period drama is adapted from the Pulitzer-prizewinning novel by Colson Whitehead, which is based on real events.
“Perfect Days” 《完美的日子》/《我的完美日常》
Wim Wenders’s lyrical drama chronicles a few days in the life of Hirayama (Yakusho Koji), a loner who cleans public toilets in Tokyo. As modest as his life might be, Hirayama approaches his work and his hobbies with such dedication that his days do seem close to perfect.
“Robot Dreams" 《机器人之梦》/《再见机器人》
This adaptation of Sara Varon’s graphic novel is set in New York in the 1980s, where an anthropomorphised dog befriends a rusty robot. Every frame is crammed with ingenious jokes, but the film does not have a word of dialogue. Insightful and heartrending.
“Sasquatch Sunset” 《大脚野人日落》
Four shaggy Bigfoots roam around a seemingly unspoilt wilderness. The actors (including Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough) are unrecognisable, but the creatures are distinctive, lovable characters all the same. Both a wonderfully inventive comedy and a haunting eco-fable.
“The Substance” 《某种物质》/《完美物质》
A Hollywood has-been (Demi Moore) pays to have herself cloned, so that her younger, perkier self (Margaret Qualley) can relive her glory days. A colourful lampoon of sexism and ageism in the entertainment industry that mutates into an uproariously gory monster movie.
All films were released in America or Britain this year