Uri Geller was a “Tonight Show” favorite back in the 1970s. He supposedly bent spoons with his mind – and fascinated the audience.
Today, we know that didn’t really work. But in the ‘70s, mentalists, magicians and exorcists were regular late-night visitors.
Using plenty of TV techniques from the era (and referencing films that were big at the time), directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes do a great job of conjuring more than just the devil in “Late Night with the Devil.”
Jack Delroy (David Dastmachian) hosts a girl who supposedly was possessed in "Late Night with the Devil." Ingrid Torelli plays the girl.
This is like a time capsule from the past, letting us wallow in the kind of “pull you in” drama Johnny Carson occasionally embraced.
“Night Owls” host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), however, has more on the line than Johnny did. If this episode scores in the ratings, he could become something more than an also-ran. To hedge his bets, he has an Amazing Randi-like pal, Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), to debunk some of the charlatans and a friend (Laura Gordon) who says a client has gone through a sort of possession.
Together, they make a compelling Halloween late night.
As Delroy unleashes the guests (in a real Tom Snyder way), they try to make a case for their brand of demons.
David Dastmalchian plays the host of a late night show in "Late Night with the Devil."
During the breaks, the Cairneses use flashbacks to other aspects of Delroy’s life, including his late wife’s last days and his involvement in a cult that may be worse than anything he has on stage.
While there’s a “Blair Witch Project” feel to some of this, “Late Night with the Devil” seems like something “Network’s” UBS might have programmed. There’s a voiceover that’s suspiciously similar, too, and a hint of network brass just waiting to pull the plug. The doctor and the little girl, meanwhile, are right out of “The Exorcist.” Ingrid Torelli, who plays the girl, is about as Megan as a character can get without being Megan.
Roll them all together, include commercial breaks, watch as hell breaks loose, and you’ve got a horror film that would fit nicely next to “The Conjuring.”
Dastmalchian isn’t as charismatic as some of the hosts he’s suggesting but he doesn’t get in the way of his directors’ trek through dozens of familiar situations. He’s hosting the obvious; Bliss, though, is just right as the Randi surrogate.
When action calls for special effects, “Late Night” doesn’t quite deliver. It’s easy to see the makeup and the A.I. techniques that enable this to happen. Still, the film has a way of taking hold and making the subject matter matter.
The best movies of 2024 so far
The best movies of 2024 so far
Updated
The year may have just gotten started, but 2024 is already looking to be an exciting year in film if the following list is any indication.
As a result of the monthslong Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strikes last year, industry experts, like those at Deadline, are expecting to see a huge drop in the number of major films set to premiere by the end of the year. Although last year saw 124 wide releases, 2024 expects to see just over 100, which will equate to a roughly $1 billion drop in domestic ticket sales.
That said, we'll still be getting a fair number of blockbusters over the course of the year, with titles like "Madame Web," "Dune: Part Two," "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," "Deadpool & Wolverine," and "Gladiator 2" all poised to hit theaters this year. Those are just a taste of the movies expecting a theatrical release in 2024.
In the first two months of the year, however, we've already seen a number of truly wonderful films hit the big screen—stories that help audiences see the past and their lives just a little differently.
Stacker looked at Metacritic data on the best films of 2024 so far and ranked the top five. Ordered by Metascore, the films had to have been released in the U.S. in 2024 and have at least seven reviews from critics in order to qualify for this list. IMDb user ratings were provided for popular reception context.
Read on to find some new titles to add to your queue and then come back throughout the year as the list, and this year in memorable cinema, grows exponentially.
#25. Ghostlight
- Directors: Kelly O'Sullivan, Alex Thompson
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Run time: 1 hour 55 minutes
A story about the healing power of art, "Ghostlight" follows a grieving construction worker who processes the death of his teenage son through a community theater production of "Romeo and Juliet." Messy, pure, and earnest, the film features an actual family of actors (partners Keith Kupferer and Tara Mallen and their daughter Katherine Mallen Kupferer), making everything feel incredibly real.
#22. Evil Does Not Exist
- Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Run time: 1 hour 46 minutes
The winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 80th Venice Film Festival, "Evil Does Not Exist" is a Japanese film about the residents of a small village who are pushing back against the development of the forest they live near. Described as "sparsely written" and "unsettling in tone" by NPR, "Evil Does Not Exist" is far from predictable with an ending that leaves audiences with plenty to think about.
#20. Between the Temples
- Director: Nathan Silver
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Run time: 1 hour 51 minutes
Jason Schwartzman stars in this comedy-drama about a widowed cantor whose grade school music teacher seeks his wisdom in prepping for her adult bat mitzvah. Aptly described by The New York Times as a "coming-of-middle-age story," "Between the Temples" offers a unique look at how our toughest moments are often dotted with comedy. The movie's chaotic, improvisational camerawork helps to create a viewing experience "as volatile and hilarious as it is sweet and profound," per The Associated Press.
#19. Sing Sing
- Director: Greg Kwedar
- Metascore: 84
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Run time: 1 hour 45 minutes
A prison drama unlike any you've seen before, "Sing Sing" is about a man who has been imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit but finds purpose in a theater group composed of fellow incarcerated men. Colman Domingo plays the lead role, and much of the cast is comprised of formerly incarcerated actors who participated in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, a decision that gives the project an authenticity it may not have had otherwise.
#18. His Three Daughters
- Director: Azazel Jacobs
- Metascore: 84
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Run time: 1 hour 41 minutes
Exploring themes of sisterhood, loss, and grief, "His Three Daughters" follows three estranged sisters as they reunite to prepare for their father's death in his tiny New York City apartment. Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, and Natasha Lyonne, the Netflix original is being touted as one of the best dramas of the year and has even garnered Oscar buzz for Lyonne in the Best Supporting Actress category.
#15. Daughters
- Directors: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae
- Metascore: 85
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Run time: 1 hour 48 minutes
"Daughters" made its debut at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won awards from audiences and festival insiders alike. This emotional documentary follows four girls preparing for a father-daughter dance with their incarcerated dads. It jumps back and forth between the girls' lives and their fathers' as they go through an intense 10-week parenting course in preparation for the event. The movie provides a fresh look at the way the American prison system affects all of those it touches.
#14. The Wild Robot
- Director: Chris Sanders
- Metascore: 85
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Run time: 1 hour 42 minutes
An adaptation of the book series of the same title, "The Wild Robot" is a family-friendly animated movie about a robot named Roz who must figure out how to survive after being shipwrecked on a remote island. Featuring the voices of Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, and Catherine O'Hara, among others, the film has a timely message for audiences about chosen families and what defines a family in the first place. Critics have praised how deftly "The Wild Robot" melds its sincere message with laugh-out-loud humor, noting that, unlike other kids' movies that force some nudge-nudge-wink-wink jokes for adults, the film is truly for everybody.
#13. Close Your Eyes
- Director: Víctor Erice
- Metascore: 85
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Run time: 2 hours 49 minutes
"Close Your Eyes" is a pessimistic meditation on memory, identity, and cinema from 84-year-old Spanish director Victor Erice. Told across two timelines, it follows the disappearance of an actor in the middle of a film shoot in the '90s and the present-day reinvestigation of the mystery. Clocking in at almost three hours, its leisurely pace won't be for everyone, but those willing to go along for the ride will be rewarded with a touching, thought-provoking ending.
#11. Good One
- Director: India Donaldson
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Run time: 1 hour 29 minutes
"Good One" follows 17-year-old Sam (Lily Collias), her father, and her father's longtime friend as they embark on a weekend hike in the Catskill Mountains. The journey, which may sound picturesque on the surface, proves to be anything but when the men let past issues bubble to the surface and put Sam in a position that's well beyond her years. Critics rave about almost every aspect of "Good One," from Collias' performance to the cinematography, sound design, and director India Donaldson's absolute refusal to hold audiences' hands through its murky ending.
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#10. Pictures of Ghosts
- Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Run time: 1 hour 33 minutes
In this documentary, filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho revisits his life in Brazil, recalling its glory days through the prism of the various cinemas he frequented as a child. The New York Times praised the film, which combines both new and archival footage, for the way it inspires a "rumination on life, death, family, movies, and those complicated, invariably haunted places we call home." Meanwhile, IndieWire hailed the documentary's celebratory spirit, noting that Filho gives it "a joyful rhythm, full of hope and wonder."
#9. About Dry Grasses
- Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Run time: 3 hours 17 minutes
This Turkish-language drama centers on a teacher who finds his future threatened after a female student alleges inappropriate contact. As is the case with many of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's projects, the movie is slow and sparse, with a strong emphasis placed on still photography. The New Yorker called it "nimble, alert, and alive," stressing that it "brims with a bitingly melancholy Chekhovian spirit," something that's sure to appeal to certain moviegoers.
#6. Sugarcane
- Director: Emily Kassie, Julian Brave NoiseCat
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Run time: 1 hour 47 minutes
National Geographic documentary "Sugarcane" looks at the abuse and death that transpired in a Canadian Indian residential school system, following survivors and investigators as they learn what went on behind closed doors in one of the more troubling parts of the country's history. While the movie is a difficult watch, it's also a powerful one, relying not on talking-head or gritty reenactment approaches, but rather inviting audiences to sit alongside those most affected by the program. A must-see, "Sugarcane" won the Directing Award for documentaries at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
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#4. Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus
- Director: Neo Sora
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Run time: 1 hour 43 minutes
Called "a parting gift from a master musician" by The New York Times, "Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus" is the pianist's final performance. There are no interviews or introductions in the film, it's simply 103 minutes of the Japanese artist sitting at his piano playing some of his greatest hits. While it may not sound like the most exciting film the year has had to offer, the space it offers for contemplation is unlike anything else the big screen has given us.
#1. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
- Director: Radu Jude
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Run time: 2 hours 43 minutes
In this black comedy, a production assistant is tasked with shooting a workplace safety video, only to find their plans upended when an interviewee makes a surprising statement. Completely unique in its form (it's a mix of new footage; edited excerpts of another 1981 film, "Angela merge mai departe"; and the main character's TikTok videos), Variety called the movie a "dizzying, dazzling feat of social critique, an all-fronts-at-once attack on the zeitgeist, and a mischievous, often hilarious work of art about the artifice of work."
Data reporting by Luke Hicks and Rob Powell. Story editing by Jaimie Etkin and Carren Jao. Copy editing by Tim Bruns.
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#24. Janet Planet
Updated
- Director: Annie Baker
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Run time: 1 hour 53 minutes
Set in the early '90s, this drama follows a hippie mother (Julianne Nicholson) and her preteen daughter (Zoe Ziegler) over the course of one slow summer as they spend nearly all of their time together and confront changes in their relationship. The movie is the feature directorial debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker, who also wrote the screenplay.
#23. Crossing
Updated
- Director: Levan Akin
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Run time: 1 hour 46 minutes
Following a promise she made to her dying sister, a retired teacher heads to Istanbul in search of her transgender niece. Her path soon crosses with a young man on a quest of his own, and the story of "Crossing" unfolds from there. The setting and cinematography are half the draw here, which, combined with the quiet emotional through line of the film, make "Crossing" one of the year's most worthy watches.
#21. Terrestrial Verses
Updated
- Directors: Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Run time: 1 hour 17 minutes
In this Iranian film, directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami follow nine individuals as they face off against different iterations of power in the Middle Eastern country. At times comedic and difficult, the stories examine the way certain codes of behavior (whether dictated by culture or religion) can often be used as a channel for more deeply held prejudices.
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#17. Chicken for Linda!
Updated
- Directors: Sébastien Laudenbach, Chiara Malta
- Metascore: 84
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Run time: 1 hour 13 minutes
In this animated film, a mother sets out to make amends with her daughter by cooking her favorite meal, despite her lack of culinary knowledge and a strike that's essentially shut down their city. The French project is playful and emotional, exploring themes like grief and memory in ways that will appeal to audiences of all ages.
#16. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Updated
- Directors: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui
- Metascore: 84
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Run time: 1 hour 44 minutes
"Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story" sets out to show that "Superman" star Christopher Reeve was just as much a hero in real life as he was on-screen. The intimate documentary covers the whole of the actor's life, from his early days in Hollywood in the 1970s through his meteoric rise as the man of steel. From there, the film explores the 1995 horseback riding accident that left him paralyzed, his second act as a disability rights advocate, and his death at 52 in 2004.
Moving and emotional, the film contains never-before-seen footage from the Reeve family's personal home movie collection as well as lengthy interviews with his three children and Hollywood A-listers like Whoopi Goldberg and Susan Sarandon.
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#12. I Saw the TV Glow
Updated
- Director: Jane Schoenbrun
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 5.8
- Run time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Dubbed "weird and transfixing" by NPR, "I Saw the TV Glow" centers on two teenagers who bond over a supernatural TV series only to have their lives go off the rails years after the show's cancellation. Produced by Emma Stone and Dave McCary's company Fruit Tree, the movie stars Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine and is far more unsettling than the previews may have led viewers to believe.
#8. Green Border
Updated
- Director: Agnieszka Holland
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Run time: 2 hours 32 minutes
Described by RogerEbert.com as "the best and most important film to be released in the U.S. so far this year," "Green Border" examines the ongoing European refugee crisis. Set on the border of Belarus and Poland, the movie is gorgeously shot in black and white and manages to perfectly walk the line between real and melodramatic. It's a must-watch for any politically minded viewer.
#7. La Chimera
Updated
- Director: Alice Rohrwacher
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Run time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Set in the '80s, "La Chimera" centers on a lovelorn archaeologist who unwittingly finds himself as the head of a ragtag gang of grave robbers, stealing artifacts and passing them on to a mysterious buyer. The Guardian called it "uproarious and celebratory," noting that its tone—and the way it teems with life—is one of the best things about it. Meanwhile, Slant loved the way it wrestles with time and its effect on all of our lives.
#5. Tótem
Updated
- Director: Lila Avilés
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Run time: 1 hour 35 minutes
The National Board of Review named "Tótem" one of the best international films of the year, which is as winning of an endorsement as one could hope to receive. The Mexican project is about a 7-year-old girl celebrating her father's birthday and struggling to come to terms with the fact that it will likely be his last. Variety called the movie "lifelike and lived-in" and commended filmmaker Lila Avilés' "generous, open-ended" style.
#3. Here
Updated
- Director: Bas Devos
- Metascore: 92
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Run time: 1 hour 24 minutes
Dubbed "a celebration of connection" by The New York Times, Bas Devos' "Here" follows the lives of a Romanian construction worker and a Belgian-Chinese academic who studies moss. Their lives, which have almost no reason to intersect, inevitably do in the most unusual of places. The quiet film is beautifully photographed and captures a sense of connection where "nothing much and everything happens—or could," according to the Times.
#2. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Updated
- Director: Thien An Pham
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Run time: 2 hours 59 minutes
Straddling the line between surrealism and realism, "Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell" centers on a young Vietnamese man navigating the unexpected loss of a family member and grappling with larger questions of faith, god, and the afterlife. At the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the movie won director Thien An Pham the Camera d'Or, the award given to the best debut feature. Outlets like IndieWire have gushed over the project's unique cinematic style (there are long, uninterrupted shots that run for up to 20 minutes at a time), which has earned praise from critics internationally.
