NYFF: The Best Movies and Performances at the 62nd New York Film Festival

It’s over. Folks, we can put a bow on the New York Film Festival for 2024. Moreover, that’s pretty much it for festivals this year for me, allowing me to really settle in with my own bed (though, yes, I sleep at home during NYFF). Listen, I’ve been very tired! Each year, NYFF puts on a classy and diverse show, with the 62nd installment no exception. So, with the festival now in the books, it’s time to share with you all my final thoughts. As always, when a fest ends, we commemorate it by having me give out some awards/prizes, as well as a general sense of what it was like. Today, obviously, will be no exception!

Once again this year, I was lucky enough to see several of the higher profile NYFF titles at previous festivals. So, while the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival did some of the heavy lifting for me, there were plenty of big movies I still saw in the Big Apple. Those were highlighted by Blitz, Nickel Boys, Queer, The Room Next Door, and The Shrouds.

Below, you can see what I found to be the various NYFF highlights. I’ll include the top films and performances, as well as a full ranking from what I saw. Well, why don’t we get down to it now? Behold the best of the fest…

The Best Films

I’d already seen and fallen for Anora prior to this festival starting, but that simply was the heads and tails best film of the fest. NYFF had a very eclectic selection of movies, and there were a few things I didn’t like, but this one was the top tier highlight, with Maria not too far behind. A tier below were things like The Brutalist, The Friend, and A Real Pain, but Anora was top dog. Among the things I first saw at the fest, The Room Next Door stands tall, but Anora is by far the tallest of the lot.

The Best Performances

I was taken with several performances during the festival, much like with the others this year. For me, it was Mikey Madison in Anora and Angelina Jolie in Maria as the very best of the bunch. Other highlights from the actors and actress at NYFF include Adrien Brody in The Brutalist, Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain, Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez, and Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez. There was certainly no shortage of strong acting found within the fest.

NYFF Awards

Best Film: Anora (Runner Up: The Friend and Maria)

Best Director: Sean Baker for Anora (Runner Up: Brady Corbet for The Brutalist and Pablo Larraín for Maria)

Best Actor: Adrien Brody for The Brutalist (Runner Up: Daniel Craig for Queer and Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain)

Best Actress: Mikey Madison for Anora (Runner Up: Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez and Angelina Jolie for Maria)

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain (Runner Up: Mark Eydelshteyn for Anora and Guy Pearce for The Brutalist)

Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez (Runner Up: Felicity Jones for The Brutalist and Saoirse Ronan for Blitz)

Best Screenplay: Anora (Runner Up: The Friend and A Real Pain)

Full NYFF Ranking

14. Queer

13. Nickel Boys

12. Elton John: Never Too Late

11. The Shrouds

10. Union

9. Rumours

8. Blitz

7. The Room Next Door

6. Emilia Pérez

5. The Brutalist

4. A Real Pain

3. The Friend

2. Maria

1. Anora

Stay tuned to see how the NYFF titles do throughout the rest of the year!