In an industry where what works is the norm, creativity emerges like an oasis in the desert. This is the case with the current film landscape, whose billboard seems to be haunted week after week with stereotypical proposals and totally repeatable experiences, spit out of dollar-hungry franchises and sold in the form of a prequel or sequel (sometimes even simultaneously). The big fiction conglomerates like ‘Star Wars’ or the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ (now much bigger after its semi-intelligent transfer to television), the continuations of mythical sagas from the last century (‘Matrix Resurrections’, ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’ and ‘Scream’, to name three very recent examples) and the spin-off / reboot of endless sagas like ‘Fast & Furious’ or ‘Jurassic Park’. Perhaps the worst thing about this nostalgia-filled industry is the isolation it ends up causing in other, more heterogeneous or varied types of products.
It is there, within this very small spectrum that remains free, that the production and distribution company A24 is based. Considered by many to be the Mecca of new American independent cinema, this company has already established itself (just a decade ago) as the most reliable alternative when looking for other titles that break the established mold.. Founded in 2012 by three friends named Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges, A24 has specialized in works that are eccentric in their aesthetic conception and completely disturbing in their conception of the plot. The first step was already a declaration of intent: the irreverent ‘Spring Breakers’ put A24 on the map. In the following years the company collaborated with established personalities both behind the camera (such as Denis Villeneuve with ‘Enemy’ or Sofia Coppola with ‘The Bling Ring’) and in front (Scarlett Johansson in ‘Under the Skin’). or Jessica Chastain in ‘The Most Violent Year’).
A24 ended up exploding in 2015 with ‘The Witch’ (an outstanding Robert Eggers debut film), ‘Ex Machina’ (which won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects) and ‘The Room’ (with a Brie Larson who also won an Oscar). To the recognition of the public and specialized critics, it was necessary to add that of the Academy, which ended up being confirmed when ‘Moonlight’ snatched the Oscar for best film from ‘The City of Stars: La La Land’. The resounding success of Barry Jenkins has raised the A24 to the altars of worship. Since then, a good handful of works have been produced that have rockily established themselves in the viewer’s collective imagination, such as’ Hereditary ‘,’ Lady Bird ‘,’ Midsommar ‘,’ El reverendo ‘,’ Langosta ‘,’ Minari . Story of My Family ‘,’ Lamb ‘,’ Diamonds in the Rough ‘or’ The Sacrifice of a Sacred Deer ‘, as well as catapulting well-known personalities such as Robert Eggers, Greta Gerwig, Yorgos Lanthimos, Saoirse Ronan or Anya Taylor- Joy.
The 10 best A24 movies
10 ‘hereditary’
Ari Aster’s first feature film would flow with astonishing craftsmanship through the curse of a headless family following the death of Graham’s grandmother and matriarch. With a Toni Collette left without her Oscar and an already iconic Milly Shapiro in the famous scene with the car and the pole, ‘Hereditary’ has come to lay the foundations for A24 and its particular way of understanding psychological terror.
Inherited in eCartelera
9 ‘What Silver Lake Hides’
Sam lives bored in his Los Angeles apartment, until he starts connecting the dots in an atmosphere reminiscent of the best Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch. After approaching terror with “It Follows”, David Robert Mitchell featured a gorgeous Andrew Garfield to tell his version of the entertainment media infrastructure, conspiracy messages and subliminal advertising in “Under the Silver Lake”.
What Silver Lake hides in eCartelera
8 “A ghost story”
The first collaboration between David Lowery and A24 saw Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara in the love story par excellence. ‘A Ghost Story’ collects the most popular aesthetic of the ghost with a sheet on his head to turn and humanize him. A devastating portrait of the fading of memories over time and the pain of loss.
A ghost story on eCartelera
7 ‘The lighthouse’
After “The Witch”, a formally flawless Robert Eggers takes pictures in black and white to place Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as two deranged sailors destined to (dis) understand each other. ‘El Faro’ reflects on the myth of Prometheus and the greed that condemns menas well as confirming the director as one of the kings of current auteur cinema.
The lighthouse in eCartelera
6 ‘In the 90’s’
After making us laugh with his roles in “The Wolf of Wall Street” or “The University Departed”, Jonah Hill would save our hearts by making his behind-the-scenes debut with the nostalgic “In the 90s”an autobiographical film (with a broken family and unexpected friendships involved) and a gift for the generation born and raised in the 1990s.
In the 90s in eCartelera
5 ‘X’
The 70s, the porn industry and a lot of horror genre conventions that Ti West will move and remove for her tremendous “X”. The director contrasts religious conservatism with rampant frivolity in the American era of the sexual and social revolution.. A fun and winning cyclical reflection on decrepitude and desire.
X in eCartelera
4 ‘Locke’
Steven Knight (creator of “Peaky Blinders”) is enough 80 minutes, Tom Hardy and a car to compose a claustrophobic and relentless story of inherited redemption, righteousness and failure. Ivan Locke is a construction foreman who, one night, makes a decision that changes his life. A runaway forward and a collapsing family balance the scales of a morally sound decision that redefines the meaning of honesty.
Locke in eCartelera
3 ‘The Green Knight’
David Lowery would collaborate again with A24 to adapt the anonymous 14th century poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. Starring a great Dev Patel as Gawain, the film (which sadly went straight to the platform) chronicles the adventures of King Arthur’s nephew, whose pursuit of honor will make him reflect on repentance, courage and honor. Featuring a staging never seen in medieval fantasy from “The Lord of the Rings”, “The Green Knight” is an odyssey of mythology and self-discovery with giants, witches, ax trees and talking foxes.
The green knight in eCartelera
Two ‘Ex machina’
The revolution of the machines in a sexual, sensual and empathic way. Alex Garland’s debut film (screenwriter of “28 Days Later”) led us to a charismatic Oscar Isaac and a hypnotic Alicia Vikander to tell us about the humanity of artificial intelligences, as well as the blurred boundaries between reality and simulation. An excellent and disturbing atmosphere, which the director would have captured in other works such as the miniseries ‘Devs’, completes a masterpiece of contemporary science fiction.
Ex Machina in eCartelera
1 ‘Mid summer’
After a painful breakup and many visions of “The Wicker Man”, Ari Aster will make the best and most elegant film of A24: “Midsommar”. I would distill its essence after “Hereditary” and opt for a popular horror in broad daylight in which a sectarian tribe addicted to psychiatric drugs leads the (never better) Florence Pugh by the hand to become the iconic May Queen. A dark and engaging summer festival ideal to always usher in your summer and set your past (and future) demons on fire.
Midsommar in eCartelera
non stop
The last A24 ball was, without a doubt, “All at the same time everywhere”. The return of the Daniels (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) after ‘Swiss Army Man’ sparked universal acclaim and made the film starring Michelle Yeoh the highest-grossing film from the very young studio. It seems that the thing has no intention of stopping, so we take advantage of the arrival in theaters of ‘Men’, Alex Garland’s new supernatural and terrifying thriller to review the top ten A24 titles to date.
Source: E Cartelera
