I’m a huge media consumer and love diving into movies across a variety of genres — romance, thriller, comedy, film noir, and so much more! Within 2024, I’ve watched about 200 movies, but a few stood out so much that I wouldn’t mind rewatching them over and over. Here are five films I watched last year that I absolutely loved and highly recommend because I know they’d be well worth your time!
1. Watching the detectives
Watching the Detectives is about a video store owner named Neil, a film noir fanatic who loves living his life through the movies he watches and is a bit of a prankster. His girlfriend, however, thinks he’s too childish and tells him to essentially grow up and get out more. While dwelling on what she said, a new character named Violet enters his life. She is said to be a femme fatale (French for “fatal women”) and turns Neil’s life upside-down with her love for adventure and thrill. With being out of his comfort zone and going on out-of-character adventures with Violet, Neil thinks about whether the excitement he feels is what life is all about, or if he should leave it to the movies to handle that.
This movie was one of my favorites because not only does it have a few of my favorite actors (Cillian Murphy and Lucy Liu), but the storyline and banter between the characters are just too cute! Watching the Detectives isn’t meant to be a serious movie, but more so a fun, silly-goofy one that you’d want to watch with friends on a movie night! If you are interested in watching a lighthearted rom-com about a crazy girl taking charge and making sure this random guy she just met has the best time ever, this movie is for you!
2. The truman show
The Truman Show quite literally revolves around this man named Truman (obviously). However, everyone but Truman himself knows he’s on television. Truman’s entire life since he was a baby has been broadcast live, with cameras everywhere following his every move. Not only that, but every person in his life including family and friends are paid actors. The executive producer of the show, Christof, took many measures during the thirty years of Truman’s life to make sure he would not know the truth. Eventually, Truman starts to get more and more suspicious and discovers that maybe nothing in his life is real. With that realization in mind, will he do something about it? Or will he play the part and pretend not to know in the first place?
This satire-induced comedic drama was a masterpiece. It had me on the edge of my seat and it was so hard to predict what would happen next. This movie shows the obsession that people have with reality TV and how hard it is to know what is real and what isn’t when it comes to what is shown on the screen. Definitely one of my favorite movies made in the ’90s.
3. Bride and prejudice
Bride and Prejudice is an adaptation of the original book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen but with a Bollywood twist! Manorama and Chaman have four daughters who are all of marrying age. While they frantically look for perfect men to marry their daughters off to, their eldest daughter, Lalita, is in no rush to get married. She wants to get married for love, not for their status and wealth. She goes on many outings with potential suitors but none of them peak her interest. At least, that was how she felt until the American, William Darcy, made his way into her life. They slowly begin to fall for each other, but will misunderstandings and cultural differences keep them apart?
I loved the Pride and Prejudice novel when I was younger so when I learned about this movie, I was so excited to watch, especially knowing about the South Asian representation! The music, the storyline, the casting lineup, literally everything about it was perfect! This movie was super entertaining and I would definitely watch this rom-com with my friends on a girls’ night! I definitely recommend this movie to all my sappy-loving girls out there. Not to mention the female lead is none other than Aishwarya Rai!
4. my best friend’s wedding
When they were younger, best friends Julianne and Michael promised each other that if they were both single by the age of 28, they would marry each other. Days before Julianne’s 28th birthday, Michael announces that he is getting married to this beautiful young woman named Kimberly. Realizing she’s been in love with him after all these years, Julianne decides she wants to stop the wedding and profess her love to him before it gets too late. With only four days left before the big day, will she be able to successfully sabotage the wedding and steal Michael’s heart from Kimberly?
This rom-com is a classic and will make you laugh out loud! It discusses love and life in such a tender way that would melt anyone’s heart! My Best Friend’s Wedding is my comfort movie and I love to watch it when I need a good laugh. I feel like Julia Roberts was perfect for this role and embodied the character perfectly! For the readers who enjoy romance, laughs, and drama, this movie is a must-watch!
5. little miss sunshine
Olive has the opportunity to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant! The problem is that the pageant is soon in California while they live all the way in New Mexico. To make sure she gets there on time for the pageant, the Hoover family consisting of Olive, her father, mother, uncle, brother, and grandfather all hop into their VW bus and trek cross country to get to California! With the whole family cooped up together for a long period of time, tensions are high and their tolerance point is reaching its limit. Will Olive get to the pageant in time to compete? Or will she miss it due to the problems that the family caused during the journey?
This movie was so cute and heartwarming! This movie has literally everything from scenes of anger, sadness, happiness and so much more. I loved learning about each of the characters and their personalities. This movie was incredibly touching and I was super surprised because I went into this movie without knowing anything except Steve Carell is in it. I’d recommend this feel-good movie to anyone who has a heart! My favorite comedic drama movie I’ve ever seen.
Everyone has a different palette when it comes to knowing what they want to watch but I hope you enjoyed reading my reviews and decide to watch one of them! If you do, hopefully, you’ll feel the way I felt when watching these too!