CLAPPER

As is annual tradition, the Clapper staff have come together to vote in nominees for 9 different categories celebrating the best of film in 2025! Each staff member was allowed to pick 5 nominees on a ranked ballot, with the final nominees being the top 5 with the total combined scores. If there is a category with more than 5 nominees, that means there was a tie in points.

No matter what side one stands on, it is undeniable that society is at a point of political upheaval. As sides grow more divided and frustrated, largely led by social media and corrupt algorithms, which seek to widen this divide and promote extremist viewpoints, more and more are asking what they can do to shape the world in their vision, and are taking action to fight for their side.

Over the last decade, Andrew Ahn has proven himself to be a defining queer artist. Engaging authentic portrayals of the complexity of the modern queer experience, Ahn has crafted moving looks both of queer trauma and queer joy in a way few voices have been able to accomplish. Ahn's newest feature, a remake of Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet, continues the work Ahn has done in Spa Night and Fire Island to translate this unique lived experience onto the big screen.

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe was blowing up in theaters throughout the late 2010s, the universe was also being expanded on the small screen on Netflix. Hosting an incredibly well-received series of shows that connected different characters and stories on a smaller scale around New York City, these shows quickly grew their own unique audience. The cornerstone show of this lineup was Daredevil, which ran for 3 seasons between 2015 and 2018.

After the heights reached by the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Avengers: Endgame in 2019, many were on the edge of their seats to see what the cinematic universe had in store next for a new generation of superhero leads and dangerous threats with the ultimate promise that it would once again lead to a grand satisfying conclusion of epic scales.

To celebrate the year of 2024 in cinema, Clapper contributors were offered the chance to write small vignettes about their favorite films of 2024 which have been compiled into this article. Here are Clapper’s favorite films of 2024! The social politics of being a man are much more complicated than they seem, and oftentimes it verges on silly before it angles into tragedy. That's what The Bikeriders is all about: men trying on an identity that leads to unexpected ends.

During its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, something fascinating occurred regarding the critical response to Coralie Fargeat’s latest movie, The Substance. On the one hand, predominantly white men lapped the movie up, calling it an instant classic, a smart subversion of the body horror genre, and a whip-smart takedown of the patriarchal society’s obsession with female beauty, body standards, and their image.

Consigned to the margins for decades, Native American storytelling is more visible and vibrant than ever. This makes a crowd-pleasing sports drama like Sydney Freeland and Sterlin Harjo’s Rez Ball a welcome addition to Netflix, but don’t expect there to be any surprises in store. All of the familiar tropes are there. Not only is this a sports film, but a sports film about underdogs, with the usual set of stock characters, story beats and setbacks along the way.

As the world of animation has expanded and Disney lost much of its grip as the dominant force in Western animation throughout the 2020s, DreamWorks Animation has taken a rocky road as the studio has attempted to re-engage the general public on the studio's legacy and push forward with new ideas that could continue to grow the awareness and adoration towards the company.

After a career of bouncing around various horror projects with none breaking through with an overly notable amount of success or attention, it is without a doubt that 2022's X was a massive turning point for filmmaker Ti West.