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Indie movie company A24 has built an almost unprecedented level of brand identity and loyalty. Savvy moviegoers actually get excited seeing their rainbow chromatic card in front of movies, despite A24 not being associated with any one filmmaker or medium. It’s simply a soft style that threads through the best movies they put out, not quite definable, that’s catnip to open-minded filmgoers and critics alike.
A24 began in 2013 with A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, directed by Roman Coppola. It was decidedly not a box office or critical success, but does present one of A24’s modus operandi: Giving risky movies from established outsider filmmakers a shot in the theatrical space. You’ll see it again with Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers, Sean Baker’s The Florida Project, Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women, and Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring. Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight won Best Picture in 2017, demonstrating A24 has got their finger on the cultural pulse (with credit to the Academy as well, of course).
Meanwhile, leaning into directorial debuts has paid off dividends, in the form of Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Robert Eggers’ The Witch, and Ari Aster’s Hereditary. Everything Everywhere All At Once became a pandemic-era sensation and rose up as the company’s highest-grossing domestic movie ever – and A24’s second Best Picture winner.
Among the notable additions to the A24 catalogue in 2023 were The Iron Claw, Talk to Me, Past Lives, You Hurt My Feelings and Best International Feature Oscar winner The Zone of Interest. 2024 has brought us titles like the Kristen Stewart romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding, Alex Garland’s conversation starter Civil War, allegorical horror I Saw the TV Glow and the Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh-led We Live In Time, which is in theaters now.
In honor of We Live In Time’s release, we’re counting down at A24’s best movies according to the Tomatometer. The top titles are below. See Rotten Tomatoes for the full list.
15. The Eternal Daughter (2022)
Tomatometer: 95%
Audience Score: 45%
Synopsis: An artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past. Featuring a towering, deeply moving performance by Tilda Swinton, acclaimed filmmaker Joanna Hogg's beguiling latest film is a brilliant and captivating exploration of parental relationships and the things we leave behind.
Critics Consensus: Tilda Swinton² is haunting in the gothic ghost story The Eternal Daughter, an ode to familial female ties that leaves much to unravel after the fog lifts.
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies
Directed By: Joanna Hogg
14. De Palma (2015)
Tomatometer: 95%
Audience Score: 86%
Synopsis: Filmmaker Brian De Palma discusses his body of work, including "Sisters," "Obsession," "Carrie," "Dressed to Kill," "Blow Out," "Scarface," "The Untouchables," "Carlito's Way" and "Mission: Impossible."
Critics Consensus: De Palma may not make believers out of the director's detractors, but they'll likely share longtime fans' fascination with his career's worth of entertaining stories.
Starring: Brian De Palma
Directed By: Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow
13. Amy (2015)
Tomatometer: 95%
Audience Score: 87%
Synopsis: Archival footage and personal testimonials present an intimate portrait of the life and career of British singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse.
Critics Consensus: As riveting as it is sad, Amy is a powerfully honest look at the twisted relationship between art and celebrity -- and the lethal spiral of addiction.
Starring: Tony Bennett, Pete Doherty, Salaam Remi, Nick Shymansky
Directed By: Asif Kapadia
12. Menashe (2017)
Tomatometer: 95%
Audience Score: 65%
Synopsis: Deep in the heart of New York's notoriously secretive Hasidic Jewish community, Menashe, a good-hearted but somewhat hapless grocery store clerk, struggles against tradition to keep custody of his only son after his wife passes away.
Critics Consensus: Menashe offers an intriguing look at a culture whose unfamiliarity to many viewers will be rendered irrelevant by the story's universally affecting themes and thoughtful approach.
Starring: Menashe Lustig, Ruben Niborski, Yoel Weisshaus, Meir Ber Schwartz
Directed By: Joshua Z Weinstein
11. Past Lives (2023)
Tomatometer: 95%
Audience Score: 84%
Synopsis: Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.
Critics Consensus: A remarkable debut for writer-director Celine Song, Past Lives uses the bonds between its sensitively sketched central characters to support trenchant observations on the human condition.
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Seung-ah Moon
Directed By: Celine Song
10. First Cow (2019)
Tomatometer: 96%
Audience Score: 65%
Synopsis: Two travelers, on the run from a band of vengeful hunters in the 1820s Northwest, dream of striking it rich -- but their tenuous plan to make their fortune on the frontier comes to rely on the secret use of a landowner's prized dairy cow.
Critics Consensus: First Cow finds director Kelly Reichardt revisiting territory and themes that will be familiar to fans of her previous work -- with typically rewarding results.
Starring: John Magaro, Orion Lee, Alia Shawkat, Toby Jones
Directed By: Kelly Reichardt
9. Aftersun (2022)
Tomatometer: 96%
Audience Score: 81%
Synopsis: At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal). As a world of adolescence creeps into view, beyond her eye Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, Sophie's tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't, in Charlotte Wells' superb and searingly emotional debut film.
Critics Consensus: Led by Frankie Corio's tremendous performance, Aftersun deftly ushers audiences to the intersection between our memories of loved ones and who they really are.
Starring: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Kayleigh Coleman
Directed By: Charlotte Wells
8. The Florida Project (2017)
Tomatometer: 96%
Audience Score: 81%
Synopsis: Set in the shadow of the most magical place on Earth, 6-year-old Moonee and her two best friends forge their own adventures, while Moonee's struggling mom and a kindhearted motel manager protect the kids from the harsh reality that surrounds them.
Critics Consensus: The Florida Project offers a colorfully empathetic look at an underrepresented part of the population that proves absorbing even as it raises sobering questions about modern America.
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Valeria Cotto
Directed By: Sean Baker
7. Earth Mama (2023)
Tomatometer: 97%
Audience Score: 75%
Synopsis: With two children in foster care, Gia, a pregnant single mother pitted against the system, fights to reclaim her family. In her close-knit Bay Area community, she works to make a life for herself and her kids.
Critics Consensus: Heavy yet hopeful, Earth Mama is a moving look at single motherhood on the margins that features outstanding work from writer-director Savanah Leaf and star Tia Nomore.
Starring: Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander, Doechii, Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Directed By: Savanah Leaf
6. The Farewell (2019)
Tomatometer: 97%
Audience Score: 87%
Synopsis: Billi's family returns to China under the guise of a fake wedding to stealthily say goodbye to their beloved matriarch -- the only person that doesn't know she only has a few weeks to live.
Critics Consensus: The Farewell deftly captures complicated family dynamics with a poignant, well-acted drama that marries cultural specificity with universally relatable themes.
Starring: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Gil Perez-Abraham
Directed By: Lulu Wang
5. Minari (2020)
Tomatometer: 98%
Audience Score: 87%
Synopsis: A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Critics Consensus: Led by arresting performances from Steven Yeun and Yeri Han, Minari offers an intimate and heart-wrenching portrait of family and assimilation in 1980s America.
Starring: Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Youn Yuh-jung, Will Patton
Directed By: Lee Isaac Chung
4. Moonlight (2016)
Tomatometer: 98%
Audience Score: 79%
Synopsis: A look at three defining chapters in the life of Chiron, a young black man growing up in Miami. His epic journey to manhood is guided by the kindness, support and love of the community that helps raise him.
Critics Consensus: Moonlight uses one man's story to offer a remarkable and brilliantly crafted look at lives too rarely seen in cinema.
Starring: Mahershala Ali, Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes
Directed By: Barry Jenkins
3. Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (2022)
Tomatometer: 98%
Audience Score: 90%
Synopsis: Marcel is an adorable one-inch-tall shell who ekes out a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of a sprawling community of shells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a mysterious tragedy. But when a documentary filmmaker discovers them amongst the clutter of his Airbnb, the short film he posts online brings Marcel millions of passionate fans, as well as unprecedented dangers and a new hope at finding his long-lost family. A beloved character gets his big-screen debut in this hilarious and heartwarming story about finding connection in the smallest corners.
Critics Consensus: Poignant, profound and utterly heartwarming, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is animated entertainment with real heart.
Starring: Jenny Slate, Rosa Salazar, Thomas Mann, Isabella Rossellini
Directed By: Dean Fleischer-Camp
2. Eighth Grade (2018)
Tomatometer: 99%
Audience Score: 83%
Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school -- the end of her thus far disastrous eighth-grade year.
Critics Consensus: Eighth Grade takes a look at its titular time period that offers a rare and resounding ring of truth while heralding breakthroughs for writer-director Bo Burnham and captivating star Elsie Fisher.
Starring: Elsie Fisher, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger, Imani Lewis
Directed By: Bo Burnham
1. Lady Bird (2017)
Tomatometer: 99%
Audience Score: 79%
Synopsis: A teenager (Saoirse Ronan) navigates a loving but turbulent relationship with her strong-willed mother (Laurie Metcalf) over the course of an eventful and poignant senior year of high school.
Critics Consensus: Lady Bird delivers fresh insights about the turmoil of adolescence -- and reveals writer-director Greta Gerwig as a fully formed filmmaking talent.
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges
Directed By: Greta Gerwig
