The 2024 fall film festivals — Venice, Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF — are behind us, but critics deliberating their riches continues. IndieWire has polled 66 critics who attended one or more of these festivals to name their picks for best film, best screenplay, best director, and best first feature, and the results are fascinating, if not exactly shocking. (Needless to say, “Joker: Folie à Deux” did not make the cut.)
No films that played at Cannes or festivals earlier than Venice were eligible for consideration here. That means that “Anora,” which won best film, best screenplay, and best director on our Best of Cannes 2024 Critics Survey, was not eligible here. Nor was “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” or “The Substance,” other films that a few of the critics tried to sneak in on their ballots.
But looking at just the films that actually premiered at the fall fests, there was a clear victor: Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” received the most overall votes for both Best Film and Best Director, and placed second behind Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” for Best Screenplay. For the Best Film category, which required a ranked Top 3 (where #1 picks would get three points, #2 picks two points, and #3 picks one point), “The Brutalist” won with both overall votes (25 of the 66 critics included it in their Top 3) and #1 votes (with 11 total #1 placements). The 215-minute A24 film about an architect and Holocaust survivor who comes to America after the war to make his midcentury mark has fueled some real passion among its admirers.
The only other film that comes close to that level of excitement in the Best Film category is RaMell Ross’s “Nickel Boys,” which only received 14 overall votes — but nine of those were #1 votes. “Nickel Boys” appeared at #3 for Best Screenplay and #2 for Best Director.
Rounding out the Top 5 in Best Film are Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door” (which also appeared at #5 for Best Screenplay and #4 for Best Director) and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s “April,” which also had a Best Director nod at #3 for the Georgian filmmaker. And “Conclave,” Edward Berger’s Vatican potboiler starring Ralph Fiennes, rounded out the Best Film list at #5.
Best First Film went to video artist Sarah Friedland’s narrative debut, the touching dementia drama “Familiar Touch,” starring Kathleen Chalfant.
See the full results below.
Best Film
1. “The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet
2. “Nickel Boys,” RaMell Ross
3. “The Room Next Door,” Pedro Almodóvar
4. “April,” Dea Kulumbegashvili
5. “Conclave,” Edward Berger
Best Screenplay
1. “Hard Truths,” Mike Leigh
2. “The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
3. “Nickel Boys,” RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes
4. “Babygirl,” Halina Reijn
5. “The Room Next Door,” Pedro Almodóvar
Best Director
1. “The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet
2. “Nickel Boys,” RaMell Ross
3. “April,” Dea Kulumbegashvili
4. “The Room Next Door,” Pedro Almodóvar
Best First Film
“Familiar Touch,” Sarah Friedland
