2024 was a strange year in terms of entertainment. The impact of last year’s union strikes hit content throughout the year as some big hitters in film and television pushed to next year due to delays. Yet other seismic shifts were underway that were much more structural in nature.
The lack of mid-budget films was heavily felt as blockbusters dominated cinemas and, even more than usual, many critics top film lists are dominated by indie fare many people haven’t even heard of. It’s even more telling that the films in serious awards contention aren’t in the same league as the best films of the past decade or so going by critical aggregate scores.
TV on the other hand had a bumper year. Despite the ‘Golden Age’ of television now being considered over, there was some genuinely great cinematic series across a number of genres and some returning shows hit new heights.
In gaming, live service had a bit of a reckoning with multiple high-profile failures – but not enough to quell those money-grubbing executive dreams. Meanwhile the dearth of well-budgeted single player titles has reached something of a crisis point, with only the odd one making it out to players.
Metacritic.com has unveiled their annual list of what films, games and TV shows were the best of the year based on the aggregate scores of the top critics.
As per usual, I’ve divided the lists into three sections – films, TV shows and major video games. Each section lists the titles nabbing the best critical scores and those that just missed out. Films have to have over twenty reviews to be considered, which is why some high-scoring works are not included. Here’s the full breakdown:
Best Films
1. “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World” – 95/100
2. “All We Imagine As Light” – 94/100
3. “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “La Chimera,” “Totem” – 91/100
4. “Green Border” – 90/100
5. “Nickel Boys” – 89/100
6. “About Dry Grasses” – 88/100
7. “Good One,” “Hard Truths” – 87/100
8. “Flow,” “I Saw the TV Glow” – 86/100
9. “Close Your Eyes,” “Dahomey,” “Daughters,” “A Real Pain,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” “The Wild Robot” – 85/100
10. “His Three Daughters,” “Sing Sing” – 84/100
Other titles that just missed out include “Babygirl,” “The Beast,” “Challengers,” “Conclave,” “A Different Man,” “Dune: Part Two,” “The Fire Inside,” “Furiosa” A Mad Max Saga,” “Hit Man,” “Nosferatu,” “The People’s Joker” and “The Substance”.
Best TV Series
The reviews for shows on the site are often for the first few episodes of the season, others are for the whole run. As usual, at least eight reviews must be included to be considered:
1. “Somebody Somewhere” S3 – 92/100
1. “Hacks” S3 – 90/100
2. “Evil” S4, “Interview with the Vampire” S2 – 89/100
3. “Baby Reindeer,” “Colin from Accounts” S2 – 88/100
4. “Pachinko” S2 – 87/100
5. “Arcane” S2, “Industry” S3 – 86/100
6. “Sherwood” S2, “Shogun,” “Slow Horses” S4 – 85/100
7. “Fantasmas,” “Rivals” – 84/100
8. “The English Teacher,” “Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show” – 83/100
9. “Girls5eva” S5, “X-Men ’97” – 82/100
Other titles that just missed out include “Bad Monkey,” “Batman: Caped Crusader,” “The Bear” S3, “Black Doves,” “Creature Commandos,” “Criminal Record,” “The Diplomat” S2, “Fargo” S5, “Fallout,” “Get Millie Black,” “Heartstopper” S3, “A Man on the Inside,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “One Day,” “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” “Only Murders in the Building” S4, “Ripley,” “Say Nothing,” “Silo” S2, “The Sympathizer,” “Tokyo Vice” S2, “True Detective: Night Country,” “We Were The Lucky Ones,” “What We Do in the Shadows” S6.
Best Video Games
Scoring for games on the site is messy as episodic releases, DLC add-on packs and iOS games are often given their own scores. To keep the list reasonable, I’m sticking to full-game releases or major DLC only and with a minimum review count of fifteen:
1. “Astro Bot,” “Metaphor: Refantazio,” “Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree” – 94/100
2. “Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth” – 92/100
3. “Animal Well, “Satisfactory,” “UFO 50” – 91/100
4. “Balatro,” “The Last of Us: Part II – Remastered,” “Tekken 8,” “Thank Goodness You’re Here” – 90/100
5. “Castlevania Dominus Collection,” “Destiny 2: The Final Shape,” “Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth” – 89/100
6. “Antonblast,” “Lorelei and the Laser Eyes,” “Paper Mario: The 1000 Year Door” – 88/100
7. “Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics,” “Mullet Madjack,” “Persona 3 Reload,” “Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance” – 87/100
8. “Braid: Anniversary Edition,” “Dragon’s Dogma II,” “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle,” “Neva,” “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown,” “Riven Remake,” “Silent Hill 2 Remake,” “Sons of the Forest,” “Unicorn Overload” – 86/100
9. “Ace Attorney Investigations Collection,” “Frostpunk 2,” “Horizon: Zero Dawn – Remastered,” “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom,” “The Rise of the Golden Idol,” “Solium Infernum” – 85/100
10. “Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy,” “Batman: Arkham Shadow VR,” “Broken Sword – Shadow of the Templars: Reforged,” “Crow Country,” “Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake,” “Fear the Spotlight,” “The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak,” “Shiren the Wanderer 6” – 84/100
Other titles that just missed out include “Age of Mythology: Retold,” “Berserk Boy,” “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” “Dead Rising: Deluxe Remaster,” “Diplomacy is No Option,” “Helldivers 2,” “Infinity Nikki,” “Nine Sols,” “The Plucky Squire,” “Super Mario Party Jamboree,”” “V Rising” and “Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2”.
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