A24 Ranked

A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges and named after the Italian motorway Katz was driving on when he decided to found the company.

The idea behind the studio was to share movies told from a distinctive point of view and the logo was designed to be modern but also to echo the golden age of Hollywood.

Looking back, it seems that A24 seized upon a desire for non franchise films in an era dominated by them. Their strategy was perfectly executed as they focused on substance rather than volume. They had a clear brand and identity and each film had to be curated as such. Just like any good product in the market.

I think it’s clear that their biggest strength has been empowering writers and directors to have free license and to make full use of their own artistic expression. Creatives such as Ari Aster, the Safdie and Philippou brothers, Yorgos Lanthimos, Robert Eggers, and Greta Gerwig have all been given opportunities to bring their unique and refreshing voices to an industry where there had been a growing rhetoric that “everything’s already been done”.

Film fans are critical enough now to realise the impact of big studio interference and the dangers of allowing people in suits who have never been (and never will be) creatively inclined to make creatively inclined decisions. This is A24s superpower and point of difference.

The studio has now gone on to either produce or release over 180 pictures and in 2023 became the first independent studio to win Best Picture, Best director, and all four acting categories in a single year at the Oscars.

As I have seen quite a few A24 films, I will use a tier system rather then ranking from worst to best. I’m not sure if other film nerds are the same but my side companion IMDB usually prevents me from watching movies below a 6.0, so for that reason the tiers will be starting on—-

Nothing to Write About

The Green Knight, The Lobster, The Disaster Artist, Lamb

But I’ll try anyway…The films on this tier were all good. I honestly don’t think I have seen a bad A24 movie and I have no intention of watching Death of a Unicorn.

With this category, there just wasn’t really anything to sink my teeth into or grab my interest beyond the stunning visuals or interesting concepts. Lamb in particular was one I struggled to get my head around, the concept was just too weird and I couldn’t take the half lamb half boy seriously.

Damn that was pretty good

The Lighthouse, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Friendship, Ex Machina, Talk to Me

Each of these films had a unique angle and atmosphere that made you feel like you were waiting for a jump scare that never came. That’s the best kind of jump scare in my book.

Each of these films is offbeat and off kilter to reality as we know it but just about grounded enough in reality to make each setting believable and relatable.

B24

The Smashing Machine, Good Time, The Florida Project, Hereditary, Uncut Gems, Heretic, Eddington, Everything Everywhere All at Once

A lot of really really good movies on this tier, but the top tier can’t be top heavy or it dilutes the best ones. Each of these movies combines an original concept or approach that blends genre and makes it hard to compare to what has come before. These are the kind of films that get people using the word A24 as an adjective.

There is also a common theme across these movies of panic attack inducing anxiety. I love it.

Puts the A in 24 Tier

Room, Moonlight, Ladybird, Midsommar, The Whale, Marty Supreme

What separates these movies from the other tiers is emotional resonance. Each one leaves you with a reflection to make on life.

Each one has a theme or premise that is funnelled through the main character whose shoes we step into as the audience. The unique struggle that the character is facing and the challenges they must overcome to get to the place they want drives the viewer through the story as we encounter each hurdle through this characters POV. Grabbing an audiences perspective and placing it in the shoes of another is a very difficult thing to do. Highlighting the flaws of each character is the key ingredient as the one thing that everyone can relate to it is being flawed in our own unique way.

These characters are not perfect, but the films are.