The Best Movie Moments of 2024

Think about the last movie you watched. Did you like it? Did you not? What, if anything, stands out to you now, after the fact? If you have an answer to that last question, you probably have an idea of what this list is all about. Here, we celebrate not the best movies of 2024 (though that’s coming soon), but the best movie moments. A scene or image that stays with you long after you leave the theater.

So, of course, really good movies like Dune: Part Two or Longlegs might have a few memorable moments. But even bad movies can have good moments, and you’ll find a bit of both on this list. So sit back, relax, and enjoy our recap of the best movie moments of 2024, in no particular order.

Deadpool & Wolverine – “Bye Bye Bye”

Talk about setting the tone right off the bat. Once the opening credits of Deadpool & Wolverine hit the first few notes of the ‘NSync classic, the whole movie falls into place. The silliness, the violence, the nostalgia, everything.

Dune: Part Two –  Riding the Worm

From the minute it was announced Denis Villeneuve was making Dune, we all were waiting to see how he’d film Paul riding a sandworm. And it didn’t disappoint. Just an epic, beautifully shot scene paired perfectly with the Hans Zimmer score. You hear it right now, don’t you?

Transformers One – The birth of Optimus

Transformers One is all about Optimus Prime and Megatron becoming who they are, but as we watch Megatron slowly get there throughout the film, Optimus’ transformation happens differently. He falls to the center of Cybertron and is reborn as the character we know and love. When he reemerges, it’s like you’re watching your childhood come back to life.

The Wild Robot – “Touch the Sky”

How does a robot teach a goose to fly? Well, this incredible montage set to an even better song shows exactly how it happens. It’s a wildly inspirational, moving scene that brings tears to our eyes every time we watch it. And we’ve watched it a lot.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Proximus’ introduction

You may not have seen Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, but you likely remember hearing “What a wonderful day!” close out its first trailer that was attached to every movie. When Kevin Durand’s Proximus finally arrives, he comes in with a lot of swagger and confidence that makes you understand why apes follow him, and how dangerous he could be if he gets what he wants. He is Koba’s ambition mixed with Caesar’s ambition, and you can’t help but wish he was in the movie sooner than he is.

Wicked – “Defying Gravity”

If not for the mantra of “Defying Gravity,” we’d probably not be writing this right now. Elphaba represents to many marginalized voices a figure that inspires us to recognize the power within ourselves to defy the limitations placed on us. You know, to not be afraid to carry ourselves in our authentic truth for the chance to fly with the confidence of a mediocre Omaha carnie who conned his way into a leadership role in the land of Oz.

The Substance – The mirror

The Substance turned heads with its fantastical body horror, but its most haunting scene is its most chillingly real one. It’s when Demi Moore’s character impulsively decides to go on a date—but then, as she’s primping and scrutinizing herself in the mirror, sees her self-confidence spiral into an existential crisis. Combating aging through sci-fi might be more fun to watch, but in that moment The Substance shows it has a real (and relatable) human heart beneath the ooze and sparkle.

Look Back – Kyomoto sends the Yonkoma back

In a film that largely deals with the very real, human tragedies that drive creative passions, Look Back‘s one allowance of the fantastical is a wonderful lucid dream, as Fujino reflects on Kyomoto’s tragic death at art school, finds the comic that started their friendship and partnership as teens, and is magically transported through time, creating an alternate reality where, while the two never become friends, Kyomoto thrives as an artist and is even saved from her grim fate. Recreating the moment in a comic of her own that drifts its way back into the “real” timeline, it’s a moment of surreality that opens Fujino’s eyes to the bond she shared with her friend, even as their passions pulled them apart—connecting them one final, bittersweet time through the act of creation itself.

Abigail – The bloody explosion

It’s clear Radio Silence was having a bunch of fun playing around with vampire stuff while making Abigail. That Abigail hijacks Sammy’s body to do some vampire ballet is delightful on its own, but the movie gives the now-possessed Kathryn Newton character an incredible exit through a clever “Yeah, that makes sense” method of finishing her off. Boom.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire – Kaiju German suplex

America’s latest Godzilla Kong buddy kaiju movie didn’t necessarily have a lot of boxes to check to please kaiju fans. While the flick continued to commit the cardinal sin of giving the majority of its screen time to its ineffective human characters, it went full bonkers on its big monster fights. Key among them being Godzilla and Kong’s tussle where the former suplexed the latter off a pyramid. That popped us in the theater like we were at an AEW show. More of that, please. [Note: Director Adam Wingard told io9 this was an homage to his friend director Jason Eisener, who co-created Dark Side of the Ring.]

Longlegs – Singing

Longlegs is a lot of things. A supernatural crime thriller. An Alan Wake gamer’s love for atmospheric aesthetics committed to film, and a horror movie for annoying friends to check out. But the standout moment of the film is the incomparable Nicolas Cage cutting directly through its tension and supplanting it with more dread with his impeccable singing voice. Love that man.

Piece by Piece – “Rump Shaker”

The decision to make a biographical documentary in Lego seems odd, until you find yourself simultaneously learning Pharrell Williams was a huge part of the 1992 song “Rump Shaker” becoming a hit and then you watch the music video remade in Lego. It just all makes sense.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – “The Stowaway”

She’s about to get away. The plan has been unfolding for years. But then the War Rig is attacked and Furiosa is foiled. She must now join in on one of the biggest, most impressive action set pieces ever put on film. Explosions, flying, motorcycles, guns, it has it all, and gives the character another path out.

Alien: Romulus – Floating

In zero gravity, Rain uses her pulse rifle to pick off aliens as they fly through the air towards her. The shots make them explode into green, acid goo, which then remains floating in the air. Just incredible.

Twisters – Fireworks

For a sequel movie called Twisters, this blockbuster film had a disappointingly small amount of twirly bois in it. Be that as it may, the film managed to make us go “Hell yeah” watching Glen Powell fly into a tornado and shoot fireworks.

Dune: Part Two – Paul vs. Feyd

The climax of Dune: Part Two is a spectacle and a grim, inevitable horror in equal measure. Those two ideas coalesce in the final knife battle between Paul, ascendant in his position as the Fremen’s would-be righteous crusader, and the demented Feyd-Rautha. Like the films’ best sequences, it’s less defined by dialogue or the flow of the fight itself, but by images that burn into your mind: Paul and Feyd, backlit in shadow, as they lower into their battle stances, or the horror on Chani’s face as she watches it unfold, her blue eyes picked out in the darkness. It’s an intimate yet deliciously tense climax—a victory that feels like anything but.

Deadpool & Wolverine – The Void crew (and the line)

The unhinging of the Fox universe only worked by going all out in a pivotal highlight of the film with the appearances of iconic characters from that era of Marvel films with Blade, X-23, Elektra, and even the character who never got a chance at the plate, Gambit. Channing Tatum had long been attached to portray the X-Men character and instantly became a cultural icon with the utterance of ” WoooI’mAboutToMakeANameForMyselfHere!” stealing the screen time and cementing himself as the character we never knew we needed.

Terrifier 3 – The shower

With every new Terrifier movie, there’s an understanding that audiences will be rewarded with ever-more excruciating levels of gruesome violence. Terrifier 3’s shower scene, featuring Art the Clown, a chainsaw, and two dopey college kids (including a true-crime junkie fixated on Art’s macabre folk-hero status), is a visceral wonder, capable of making audiences, scream, cackle, and want to barf all at once.

Madame Web – Cassie Webb Driving an Ambulance (That She Stole) Through a Calvin Klein Ad and Directly Into Ezekiel “Ceiling Guy” Sims

Is Madame Web a good movie? Depends on who you ask. But there is no more absurd and delightful a character arc in a superhero film this year than Cassie progressively stealing car after car and crashing them into places and people over the course of the film, climaxing in the only hero moment there could be in a film like this: Cassie careening a whole-ass ambulance through an early-aughts Calvin Klein ad, directly into the face of Ezekiel Sims as he’s about to fulfill his desires of murdering her wayward young charges. It’s so silly. It’s so good. We have no choice but to stan a queen committing grand theft auto for good.

Madame Web – Cassie Webb completely ruins the vibes at Mary Parker’s baby shower

Superhero stars are, typically by their nature, charismatic characters. But there rarely has been one with a charmingly camp dearth of charisma quite like Dakota Johnson’s Cassie Webb. She manages to turn what should be an excruciating moment in a lesser film—Cassie, decidedly not a social butterfly, awkwardly navigating the baby shower for Mary Parker’s son, Peter Parker, you know, that guy, as she can only celebrate the beauty of motherhood by reminding every woman in the room that a) her mom, who was researching spiders in the Amazon, died giving birth, and b) death in childbirth statistics are just fun party facts to have on hand. We may never see another performance like Dakota Johnson’s in a superhero movie (she said as much after Madame Web bombed), but that’s just maybe because we don’t deserve it.

Civil War – The White House

The finale of Civil War sees the journalists make it to the heart of the country, the White House, for both a shocking showdown with the president and a powerful, heartbreaking ending for one of our characters. It’s an unforgettable, poignant, and brutal way to end such a unique film.

Longlegs – “I wore my long legs today”

Longlegs is unsettling from the moment it opens. As a little girl walks across her snowy yard, we hear a familiar voice call out “Cuckoo,” and even if you know Nicolas Cage is playing a creepy serial killer in this movie, you are not prepared for your first glimpse of him, which will imprint his wide-open mouth and weirdly fumbling hands on your nightmares. It’s a masterstroke of sound design, editing, eerie dialogue, framing, and carefully chosen imagery, and sets the tone for what’s to come.

I Saw the TV Glow – “I’m sorry”

I Saw the TV Glow isn’t a movie for everyone. But this seminal film about the anxieties of life passing you by, coupled with its trans allegory, hit home with its final scene which sees an aged Justice Smith emphatically apologize to a party at a discount Chuck E. Cheese. If that sentence confuses you, take that as your signal to watch the film and find out why it was such a moving scene.

It’s What’s Inside – The first swap

When you sit down to watch this underrated Netflix thriller, it’s best to have no clue what it’s about. That way, the first moment the characters all use the device to swap bodies, revealing the ride you’re about to take, it’s an unforgettable mind fuck.

Inside Out 2 – Panic attack

Whew, were we relieved to be on our SSRIs while watching this movie. This moment encapsulates what it’s like to experience a panic attack and freeze. To be candid, it was almost too real and something we showed my parents which helped them understand what it’s like to be driven by that frazzled, frizzy-haired orange feeling 24/7.

Abigail – Abigail versus the crooks

The “good guys” in Abigail are so incredibly out of their depth, it’d all be hilarious even if the movie weren’t a comedy. Never is it more clear these idiots aren’t built for this when Frank, Sammy, and Peter try to three-on-one fight the “young” vampire and get just utterly decimated without any effort on Abigail’s end. It was so funny to watch in the theater, we think someone rows ahead of us was in danger of dying with how much cackling they were doing.

Dune: Part Two – The opening

Dune: Part Two is filled with many visually stunning sequences, but it starts with an absolute banger in the nearly silent stalking of the Harkonnen jump troopers navigating through the dust and sands searching for Paul and Jessica. The vivid colors of the black armor against the oranges of Arrakis, the tension, the contrast of the way the troopers bound up the rocks to how their bodies crumple and fall as the Fremen pick them off. Denis Villeneuve has described himself as a director of images more than the text of the script, and in a move filled with potent imagery, the opening still stands as one of its most sumptuous setpieces.

Trap – Random shirtless serial killer

Trap is a silly movie that we’ll forever cherish having experienced first in a theater with like-minded moviegoers wondering if M. Night Shyamalan still had it. While that point of contention will remain unknown, the latter half of the movie having Josh Hartnett shirtless for no reason whatsoever garnered uncomfortable laughter in the audience that I’m sure he was going for.

The First Omen – Birth

It’s not just a baby, it’s the Antichrist. And it’s not just a horror movie, it’s the prequel to the freaking Omen. Damien’s birth was obviously going to be memorable no matter what, but The First Omen’s climactic c-section scene—which we know leads into one of horror’s most famous cinematic classics—still feels genuinely unpredictable. Twins, you say?

Bad Boys: Ride or Die – Reggie popping off

Bad Boys: Ride or Die has some of the nuttiest, most fun action of the year, and it’s constantly obsessed with topping itself. One of its biggest crowd-pleasing highlights, though, was seeing Marcus’ son-in-law Reggie put his marine training to use and utterly decimate the bad guys as they try to take the Burnett family. Whether you know the history of Reggie’s character or not throughout the series, it’s an incredible moment in an incredible movie.

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