The Under-The-Radar Movies Of 2024

Josh O'Connor in "La Chimera;" Pamela Anderson in "The Last Showgirl;" Julio Torres and Tilda Swinton in "Problemista;" George MacKay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett in "Femme;" Willa Fitzgerald in "strange Darling;" Izaac Wang in "DIDI" and Kimball Farley in "Hippo". Everett Collection

 The year 2024 proved that big budgets aren’t everything, with a new wave of independent filmmakers crafting stories that resonated with audiences and critics alike. These underdogs of the silver screen reminded us that sometimes, the smallest films cast the biggest shadows, deadline.com.

Notable highlights in this year’s extensive festival offerings range from the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize winner In the Summers, directed by Alessandra Lacorazza; Pamela Anderson’s triumphant return to the screen in The Last Showgirl; and the Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner The Seed of the Sacred Fig, from Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof.

Deadline’s recommendations, which range from Dìdi, Girls Will Be Girls, Sebastian and La Chimera among others that you may have missed, should be added to your end-of-year watch lists.

Scroll down to see the full list.

La Chimera

La Chimera is a Italian comedy-drama directed and written by Alice Rohrwacher. The film follows Arthur (Josh O’Connor), a British archaeologist recently released from prison for antiquities theft. As he returns to Italy, he becomes entangled in a network of grave robbers, searching not just for ancient artifacts but also for Chimera—a lost love, Beniamina.

Sebastian

Sebastian is a drama directed by Finnish-British writer-director Mikko Mäkelä starring Ruaridh Mollica as Max, a 25-year-old aspiring writer living in London, who begins a double life as a sex worker in order to research his debut novel. As the lines between fiction and reality blur, Max grapples with issues of identity, intimacy, and the exploitation of personal experiences for artistic gain.

DIDI

Dìdi (弟弟), The semi-autobiographical film world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic competition as well as the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Ensemble. Directed by Sean Wang, the coming-of-age story takes place in 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, as an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy Chris Wang (Izaac Wang), aka Dìdi, learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.

In The Summers

Winner of the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, In The Summers, directed by Alessandra Lacorazza follows siblings Violeta (Lio Mehiel) and Eva (Sasha Calle) who live in California with their mother. Every summer they travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to spend time with their loving but unpredictable father, Vicente (René “Residente” Pérez Joglar).

Over the course of four formative summers that span adolescence to early adulthood, Violeta and Eva learn to appreciate their father as a person, his flaws and limitations inseparable from his passion and tenderness.

KNEECAP

When fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of self-confessed “low life scum” Naoise and Liam Og, the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, KNEECAP fast become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue. But the trio must first overcome police, paramilitaries, and politicians trying to silence their defiant sound.

Girls Will Be Girls

A model student, 16-year-old Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) is the first-ever female prefect in charge of enforcing rules at a straitlaced Indian boarding school in the Himalayas. Despite her ambition and primness, she can’t help but fall for new student Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron) However, her curious, rebellious, coming-of-age is disrupted by her young mother (Kani Kusruti), who never got to come of age herself.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner The Seed of the Sacred Fig, a dramatic thriller, written and directed by Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof, follows a family thrust into the spotlight when Iman (Misagh Zareh), a newly appointed investigating judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, becomes a target. As political unrest erupts with the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, Iman realizes his job is even more dangerous than expected. The disappearance of his gun from his own home fuels his paranoia and doubt within his family.

Problemista

Problemista is a surreal comedy written, directed, and starring Julio Torres as Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador who is struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast (Tilda Swinton) becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream.

Strange Darling

Strange Darling is a psychological thriller directed by JT Mollner, that follows a one-night stand gone wrong that escalates into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree. A woman, known as “The Lady,” (Willa Fitzgerald), and a man, known as “The Demon,” (Kyle Gallner) engage in a dangerous game of sexual role-playing that spirals into a deadly cat-and-mouse chase. This film is a standout horror release of 2024.

Femme

Femme is a psychological thriller directed by Sam H. Freeman and NG Choon. The film follows Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), a dazzling London drag queen known as Aphrodite Banks. After a brutal attack by Preston (George MacKay) and his gang, Jules withdraws from the world, haunted by the trauma. Months later, a chance encounter in a gay sauna allows Jules to confront his attacker. In a twist of fate, Jules begins a clandestine affair with the closeted Preston, meticulously planning his revenge.

MadS

MadS directed by French director David Moreau, opens the story with Romain (Milton Riche), an eighteen-year-old who has just graduated and makes a stop at his dealer’s place to try a new pill. As he heads off to a party, he sees an injured woman on the side of the road and decides to help her, but when she gets in his car, she suddenly smashes her own head against the dashboard, bleeding out until she dies. Is this a bad trip? Or is it something else? One thing is for sure, it’s only the beginning of the night.

MadS is a fresh and innovative take on the outbreak genre, confined to a single evening and is a standout release of 2024.

The Last Showgirl

The Last Showgirl, the Gia Coppola-directed drama stars Pamela Anderson as Shelly, a seasoned Las Vegas showgirl, who has been a star at the Le Razzle Dazzle, a classic Vegas revue. But her world is shattered when the revue is unceremoniously canceled to make way for a modern act, leaving her and the other dancers with a mere two weeks’ notice to face an uncertain future.

Hippo

Hippo, directed by Mark H. Rapaport and starring Kimball Farley in the titular role as Hippo, follows a peculiar adolescent, and his Hungarian step-sister Buttercup (Lilla Kizlinger) who struggle to come of age in late 1990s America, under the roof of their mother (Eliza Roberts) who has been institutionalized at least once. Narrated by Eric Roberts, this film is a quirky and stylish cinematic gem that recalls the offbeat charm of Napoleon Dynamite.

Last Summer

Last Summer (L’Été dernier) is a French erotic drama film directed by Catherine Breillat. The film follows Anne (Léa Drucker), a lawyer who lives in Paris with her husband Pierre (Olivier Rabourdinand their two young daughters. When Pierre’s rebellious 17-year-old son, Théo (Samuel Kircher), moves in, Anne gradually engages in a passionate relationship with him, putting her career and family life in danger.

The End

Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End is a musical satire that follows a wealthy family holed up in a lavish salt mine bunker after the apocalypse. The arrival of an unexpected guest forces them to confront the absurdity of their privileged existence. The film stars Tim McInnerny, Michael Shannon, George MacKay, Tilda Swinton, Bronagh Gallagher and Lennie James.