“Anora,” “Wicked,” “Conclave,” “Emilia Perez” and “Nickel Boys” were named to the American Film Institute’s list of the 10 best films of 2024, the AFI announced on Thursday.
Also on the list: “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Dune: Part Two,” “A Real Pain” and “Sing Sing.”
The list is a solid summation of the films expected to compete for awards in what appears to be a wide-open year, mixing blockbusters like “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” with critics’ favorites (“The Brutalist,” “Anora”) and small indies (“Sing Sing,” “A Real Pain”).
High profile films missing from the list include “Gladiator II,” “Blitz,” “The Piano Lesson,” “His Three Daughters” and “Nosferatu.”
The films that appeared on the AFI list and on the National Board of Review’s top 11 films, which were announced on Wednesday, were “Anora,” “Wicked,” “Conclave,” “A Real Pain,” “Sing Sing” and “A Complete Unknown.” The AFI jury bypassed a few of the NBR picks, including “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Juror No. 2” and “Queer.”
The list gave a boost to Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” which has had an up-and-down week: On Tuesday, it won the New York Film Critics Circle award as 2024’s best film, but on Wednesday it didn’t make the National Board of Review’s top 10 list and it only received one Independent Spirit Award nomination, for director. It was also the first major recognition for Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez,” which could receive more good news next week in the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards nominations.
The AFI’s list of the year’s top television programs included “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Hacks,” “A Man on the Inside,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “Nobody Wants This,” “The Penguin,” “Shogun,” “Shrinking” and “True Detective: Night Country.”
The British limited series “Baby Reindeer” received a special award, similar to the ones that in the past have gone to non-U.S. films like “The Artist,” “Roma,” “Parasite” and “Belfast.”
The American Film Institute has been giving out annual awards since 2000, with the current format of 10 films and 10 television shows beginning in 2002.
Since the Academy Awards went from five to 10 nominees in 2009, about 80% of the Oscar Best Picture nominees have first been chosen for the AFI list or have received special awards as foreign productions. The two groups have never matched completely, though nine of the 10 Oscar nominees in 2010 were on the AFI list and the 10th, “The King’s Speech,” received a special award.
Last year, eight of the AFI honorees were nominated for Best Picture, with the exceptions being “May December” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse,” which Academy voters bypassed in favor of “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest.”
The AFI lists are chosen by juries made up of academics, filmmakers, actors, historians, journalists and critics. The honorees will be saluted at a luncheon on Friday, Jan. 10.
The lists:
AFI MOTION PICTURES OF THE YEAR
“Anora”
“The Brutalist”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Perez”
“Nickel Boys”
“A Real Pain”
“Sing Sing”
“Wicked”
AFI TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR
“Abbott Elementary”
“The Bear”
“Hacks”
“A Man on the Inside”
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith”
“Nobody Wants This”
“The Penguin”
“Shogun”
“Shrinking”
“True Detective: Night Country”
AFI SPECIAL AWARD
“Baby Reindeer”
