A24’s Primetime—starring Robert Pattison as Chris Hansen, the host of the controversial NBC reality series To Catch a Predator—hit theaters this past weekend to critical acclaim and Oscar buzz. The movie, the 12th film A24 has released this year, is yet another win for the beloved big-screen brand.
Founded in 2012 as an indie upstart, A24 is now in its teen years. With the success of movies like Marty Supreme ($192M worldwide box office) and Backrooms ($394M worldwide), the studio/distributor has officially leveled up to mid-major. Much like Miramax in the 1990s, A24 has transcended the “arthouse” label to become a major cinematic player—both in terms of box office, audience anticipation, and awards.
Perhaps more importantly, A24 continues to deliver a unique and exciting slate of movies year after year. They work with some of today’s most interesting writer-directors (Alex Garland, Sean Baker, Ari Aster), dabble in both genre and prestige pictures, and pick up buzzy festival favorites (like 2026’s The Invite, which they grabbed out of Sundance). Any movie that comes out with the A24 tag has my attention.
My Favorite A24 Movies by Year (2021-2026)
Over the past five years, A24 has released 87 movies (and counting). Here are my favorite of those movies from each year, as well as the movie currently leading the pack in 2026…
2021: Zola
While the obvious choice for the best A24 movie of 2021 might be the Oscar-nominated Minari, I fell harder for Zola—a movie probably best known for being based on a Twitter thread. But don’t let that description keep you away. Zola is both smarter and funnier than you might expect, with a lights-out cast that includes Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas “Cousin Greg” Braun, and Colman Domingo.
The plot: After Paige’s Zola befriends Keough’s Stefani, they head on a chaotic, increasingly dark road trip to the seedier side of Florida. Domingo, per usual, is stellar. But it’s Paige who really pulls you into this one (why isn’t she a major star yet?). This would make a great double feature with Sean Baker’s Anora.
2021 A24 Releases:
Saint Maud
Minari
False Positive
Zola
Val
The Green Knight
Lamb
The Souvenir Part II
C’mon C’mon
The Humans
Red Rocket
2022: X
2022 was a big year for A24. Everything Everywhere All at Once became (at the time) the company’s highest grossing movie ($148M worldwide) and wound up racking up Oscar wins (including Best Picture). Aftersun was another critical darling this year (it has a mighty 95 metascore on Metacritic). Here’s the thing: I don’t really like Everything Everywhere All at Once and the style of Aftersun just really isn’t my flavor. So neither of those are my pick.
My choice is writer-director Ti West’s horror movie X—the first film in a trilogy that also includes another 2022 A24 film, Pearl, and 2024’s MaXXXine. While those movies are fine (Pearl, in particular, gets a lot of love), I think X is on another level. Tracking a crew filming a porno on a Texas farm in the 1970s when they encounter an old couple who are a little off their rockers, the movie is a throwback to exploitation horror past with a modern twist and an excellent Mia Goth.
2022 A24 Releases:
After Yang
X
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Men
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Bodies Bodies Bodies
Funny Pages
Pearl
God’s Creatures
Stars at Noon
Aftersun
Causeway
The Inspection
The Eternal Daughter
The Whale
2023: Talk to Me
Past Lives was probably A24’s most beloved movie of 2023. And I have to give credit to Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid for being nothing like anything else I have ever seen before and probably will again (a true swing, even if it doesn’t always hit). But the best A24 of this year was once again a horror movie that rises to the top of the genre.
Unlike X, which delivered a fun, playful take on horror films of the past, Talk to Me delivered a truly scary tale grounded in the current moment. Directors Michael and Danny Philippou aren’t afraid to go real dark with this one; but they’re also so creative with the audio and visual elements of the film that it’s more exhilarating than somber. Perhaps the best and freakiest thing about the movie is it feels exactly like how today’s teens would treat a supernatural artifact with the power to unleash hell.
2023 A24 Releases:
When You Finish Saving the World
Close
Sharper
Showing Up
Beau Is Afraid
You Hurt My Feelings
Past Lives
Earth Mama
Talk to Me
Medusa Deluxe
Dicks: The Musical
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Priscilla
Dream Scenario
The Zone of Interest
The Iron Claw
2024: A Different Man
I like a good number of A24’s releases from this year—including Civil War, Love Lies Bleeding, Heretic, The Brutalist, and Y2K. And even some of the ones that didn’t quite work for me—like Babygirl, I Saw the TV Glow, and MaXXXine—I still appreciated the effort. But the movie that has stuck with me the most, and the one I think more people need to see, is A Different Man.
This movie does something far different (and funnier) than I expected. It also changed the way I think about Sebastian Stan, who proves he’s much more than just a Marvel chess piece here. Stan plays Edward, a wannabe actor whose face is covered with tumors—a condition that impacts not only his career but his personal life. After undergoing a procedure that changes his appearance, Edward finds his world shifting in troubling ways. It’s a movie that would make a perfect double feature with The Substance.
2024 A24 Releases:
Problemista
Love Lies Bleeding
Civil War
I Saw the TV Glow
Tuesday
Janet Planet
MaXXXine
Sing Sing
The Front Room
A Different Man
We Live in Time
Heretic
Queer
Y2K
The Brutalist
Babygirl
2025: Marty Supreme
Here is a year where I have to go with the obvious pick. Marty Supreme was, until Backrooms came along, A24’s most successful movie (earning nearly $100M in the U.S. alone). It also garnered nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Josh Safdie), and Best Actor (Timothée Chalamet).
The accolades were earned, this is a lively, propulsive movie with great music, production design, and the best use of Chalamet as full-fledged movie star. It’s also got an unique and eclectic supporting cast that includes Odessa A’zion, Tyler, The Creator, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin O’Leary from Shark Tank, and legendary filmmaker Abel Ferrera. It’s a fun movie to watch (and rewatch) for the all the influences it bakes into an original meal.
2025 A24 Releases:
Parthenope
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Opus
Death of a Unicorn
Warfare
The Legend of Ochi
Friendship
Bring Her Back
Materialists
Sorry, Baby
Eddington
Highest 2 Lowest
Ne Zha II
The Smashing Machine
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Eternity
Marty Supreme
2026 (So Far): The Invite
The leader of the pack for me at this point is The Invite. Directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton, this dinner-party-that-goes-off-the-rails comedy/drama is among my favorite films of the year. Working with a sharp script by Rashida Jones and Will McCormick, Wilde digs deep into the details here (she’s a top-tier director) and gets great performances across the board.
For me this towers over the competition. I liked (didn’t love) The Drama, thought Backrooms was undercooked, and found How to Make a Killing miscast and milquetoast. I haven’t seen Tony, Onslaught, and Primetime yet (all movies I’m interested in). And still to come are Misty Green, The Debut, You Can See Everything, and Club Kid. So any one of those could take the mantle before the end of the year.
2026 A24 Releases:
The Moment
Pillion
How to Make a Killing
Undertone
Mother Mary
The Drama
Backrooms
The Death of Robin Hood
The Invite
Tony
Onslaught
Primetime
Misty Green (not released yet)
You Can See Everything (not released yet)
Club Kid (not released yet)
The Debut (not released yet)
Great list and well reasoned, I now need to see Zola and A Different Man. Admittedly I haven’t seen a lot of these, but I would got with Green Knight, X, Beau is Afraid, Civil War, and Friendship
I’ve got different picks to you but really like how you laid it out. 2024 is a bit of a swing miss year for me compared to the rest. I’d have The Green Knight. After Yang. Zone of Interest. Civil War (maybe) Marty. The Drama.