top 5 movies from 2024 I just can't shake

It wasn't on purpose but when coming up with the movies I remember most that were released in 2024, they ended up being all connected in some capacity to themes of horror movies which is no surprise to anyone who knows me why they might be my top 5.

I grew up with horror as one of the only genres that didn’t pretend people were okay. Even when it is messy or badly made, horror rarely lies about fear, shame, loss, or desperation. I connected to it before I could explain why, but reading House of Psychotic Women helped clarify a lot. That book ties horror to the emotional landscape of the person watching it. That’s how I see it. Horror reflects what people are scared to say out loud. It shows how trauma and repression mutate when they are not acknowledged. Especially for women, queer people, or anyone marginalized, horror becomes a space where the internal gets externalized. You watch someone fall apart on screen because no one taught them how to name what is happening.

That matters to me. These movies aren’t just about entertainment. They are about where the tension lives when survival is quiet, when relationships are coded, and when identity is shaped more by fear than by freedom. Horror doesn’t always get it right, but when it does, it says the things that regular dialogue never touches.

1. Blink Twice

This worked because it understood that horror doesn’t need to be supernatural to be terrifying. It came out during a cultural moment where conversations around trafficking are getting louder again, but not more informed. People are framing Hollywood and power structures in these overblown, almost cartoonish ways, like it’s satanic panic part two. This film didn’t do that. It kept the violence clean, believable, and closer to how it really works. It’s coercion, not spectacle. That restraint made it feel more dangerous. It also called out the complicity of people who want to help but still want to benefit. That is the horror.

2. It’s What’s Inside

The tech angle here is good, but what I really liked was the emotional structure underneath. It’s a closed circle drama with just enough science fiction to amplify everything already wrong with the group. The technology becomes an excuse for people to say what they were already thinking. I’m into stories that show how intimacy turns into resentment when people lack the language to name what they want. This reminded me of how friend groups that become emotionally or sexually intertwined often unravel without ever directly confronting the problem. It’s also a smart reflection on how society punishes vulnerability unless it’s packaged as productivity.

3. Love Lies Bleeding

This is the kind of movie that doesn’t flinch. Kristen Stewart is locked in. She’s existing as someone who is constantly desired, but uninterested in being available. That already sets a tone. I have a family member who did competitive bodybuilding, and the depiction of hormone use, discipline, and bodily exhaustion was spot on. Add in financial pressure, survival work, and power dynamics within family, and the story stops being about subculture and becomes about survival. The sex and violence are not for shock. They are outcomes of needing something badly and having no safe way to get it. I also liked how the film didn’t try to clean up the ending. It let the chaos sit.

4. I Saw the TV Glow

This one plays more like a memory than a narrative. It captures how alienating it can feel to never fully see yourself reflected in the world around you. The TV becomes both the symbol of connection and distortion. You see yourself, but only through a version someone else wrote. There is a lot here about queerness and repression, but it doesn’t over-explain it. It shows how watching something, loving it, and needing it too much can make everything else harder to manage. It reminded me that sometimes the most surreal stories feel the most grounded when you’ve spent years trying to act normal in a space that won’t let you be real.

5. Maxxxine

This movie keeps up the momentum of X and Pearl but stands on its own. It plays with the aesthetics of sleaze and celebrity without falling into cliché. Maxine isn’t a scream queen, she’s someone who is trying to push past every system that wants her to fail. The violence is constant but not excessive. It reflects the daily pressure of being watched, being underestimated, and still moving forward. I appreciated that the film didn’t redeem her or punish her. It just lets her survive, which is its own statement. Also the pacing and lighting are tight. You can tell the director is pulling from real exploitation history and not just doing retro for style.