In the modern Hollywood ecosystem, it’s rare for people to know or care about a movie studio and what films it’s bringing to the table. For some time, A24 has been the exception to that rule and has built a reputation as one of the few studios genuinely caring about the quality of the movies coming from the studio.
Now that the studio has signed an exclusive streaming relationship with Max for its new releases, we’re looking at some of the best movies the studio has released over the years. These include great dramas, laugh-out-loud comedies, and a few outstanding horror movies. Keep reading for our picks for the best A24 movies.
Moonlight (2016)
111m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe
Directed by
Barry Jenkins
Watch on Amazon
The movie that won A24 its first best picture Oscar in truly shocking fashion, Moonlight is one of the smartest coming of age stories ever told. Split into three sections that each focus on its central character at a different age, the film features an incredible ensemble cast and a subtle script that emphasizes the complexity of its central character’s life and makes every moment feel fully rich and alive. Director Barry Jenkins, working off a script from Tarell Alvin McCraney, made a name for himself in the way he chose to tell this story, and the cast he assembled were all perfectly suited to their roles.
Lady Bird (2017)
94m
Genre
Drama, Comedy
Stars
Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts
Directed by
Greta Gerwig
Watch on max
Greta Gerwig is an immense talent, but we didn’t know that until Lady Bird. Her first solo directorial project, Lady Bird, is a semi-autobiographical look at what it was like to grow up as a teenage girl in Sacramento in the early 2000s. In many ways, Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson is just an average kid trying to fit in. She flits in and out of a couple of relationships, briefly breaks up with her best friend, and ultimately realizes that as difficult as her mother is, their relationship is the most important thing in her life. Lady Bird is basically perfect.
Minari (2021)
115m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Steven Yeun, Han Yeri, Youn Yuh-jung
Directed by
Lee Isaac Chung
Watch on max
The story of a Korean family who moves to Arkansas and attempts to build a home for themselves there, Minari is fundamentally a film about the importance of family to shaping the person that you become. Featuring a remarkable central performance by Steven Yeun, the family’s patriarch and a man determined to make his new life work, Minari is not shot with the sense of importance that many films of its kind have. Instead, it feels intimate and small in a way that only supports the underlying story it’s telling.
Aftersun (2022)
101m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Brooklyn Toulson
Directed by
Charlotte Wells
Watch on Netflix
A heartbreaking story of a father and daughter on a vacation together in the mid-1990s, Aftersun is about all the things about your parents that you can’t fully understand as a child. Although most of its action occurs in the past, Aftersun cleverly interweaves the daughter living her life today and reflecting on all the things she missed back then, but it never has a heavy hand. Thanks to an exquisite, excruciating performance from Paul Mescal, Aftersun is heartbreaking from the moment the opening credits role.
The Florida Project (2017)
112m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe
Directed by
Sean Baker
Watch on max
Sean Baker may be the best director working today at telling the stories of people living on the fringe of society, and The Florida Project is his best work on that front to date. Telling the story of a mother and daughter living in a crappy Orlando-area motel, the movie is primarily told from the child’s perspective as she begins to understand the destitute circumstances she’s living in. Featuring a wonderful supporting performance from Willem Defoe and plenty of great work from more untrained actors, The Florida Project reminds us how much we ignore the world around us.
Past Lives (2023)
106m
Genre
Drama, Romance
Stars
Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
Directed by
Celine Song
Watch on Amazon
Spanning a huge swath of time, Past Lives tells the story of two people who were childhood sweethearts in South Korea before one person moved to Canada and then eventually the United States. When they see each other decades later, those old feelings are rekindled, even though they now know their romance is impossible. Featuring two staggering central performances, Past Lives is all about how our lives are shaped by the paths we take and how we mourn for what we never had, even when we’re happy with what we’ve got.
First Reformed (2018)
113m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric the Entertainer
Directed by
Paul Schrader
Watch on Amazon
Ethan Hawke delivers one of the best performances of his career in First Reformed, which tells the story of a smalltown priest whose life spirals out of control following a conversation with an unstable environmental activist and his wife. Directed by Paul Schrader, the film is dark, moody, and despairing but also gorgeous and gut-wrenching in a way few movies can achieve. In a legendary film career, this may be Schrader’s very best work, partly because it speaks to the moment we’re living in all of its doom and gloom.
Saint Maud (2020)
85m
Genre
Horror, Mystery, Drama
Stars
Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lily Frazer
Directed by
Rose Glass
Watch on Amazon
Telling the story of an unstable young nurse who becomes a devoted Christian and convinces herself that she needs to convert her hospice patient, Saint Maud is a representative of everything that A24 has been able to accomplish in the realm of horror. This film, in particular, features a star-making performance from Morfydd Clark and one of the most shocking and upsetting endings you’ll likely see in any horror movie. Before those final moments, though, the movie is a remarkable exercise in building tension as you come to understand Maud and all the ways she fails to understand the world around her.
