‘Dune 2,’ Zendaya Top Letterboxd 2024 Year in Review

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For 17 million film fans on Letterboxd, Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune: Part Two was the spice of 2024.

The well-known movie review app has released its yearly summary for 2024, listing the top films that garnered the most love and admiration from viewers based on their ratings. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi hit was crowned as the number one film of the year in terms of popularity, viewer preference, and repeated viewings. It came as no shock that Villeneuve was also the most-watched director of the year on this platform. Interestingly, users rated the follow-up to Villeneuve’s 2021 movie, Dune: Part One, higher than the original, giving Dune: Part 2 an average rating of 4.4 out of 5, compared to 3.9 for the initial film.

As a film enthusiast myself, hearing news like this fills me with optimism for the future of cinema. Knowing that there’s a vibrant community on Letterboxd, discussing films, sharing lists, and expressing their deep-seated passion – it truly warms my soul. It’s heartening to see such genuine love for movies, regardless of who directed them. A big thank you to everyone involved; your unbiased appreciation goes right to the core of every filmmaker.

For the second consecutive year, Zendaya was the most-viewed actress on the site, with her roles in ‘Dune’ sequel and Luca Guadagnino’s sports drama ‘Challengers’ contributing to her popularity. Conversely, Timothée Chalamet, who starred alongside Zendaya in ‘Dune’, lost his spot as the most-watched actor to Willem Dafoe. Dafoe gained this position due to his appearances in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’, ‘Kinds of Kindness’, ‘Saturday Night’, and ‘Nosferatu’ last year.

2024’s top movies on Letterboxd were determined from a massive collection of over 96 million reviews. Besides Dune: Part 2, several lesser-known films received favorable year-end endorsements by users. The second-best rated movie of the year was I’m Still Here, Brazil’s entry for the Oscars and a film starring Fernanda Torres who stunned with her Best Actress win in Drama at the Golden Globes for her role in Walter Salles’ true-life drama based on Brazil’s military dictatorship of the 1970s. In third place was How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, another strong contender for the Oscars as best international film, and also ranked highest among debut films by directors.

Boonnitipat expressed surprise, stating, ‘I never imagined it would be this good!’ As both a filmmaker and movie enthusiast, I’ve always admired films hailing from lesser-known countries and their smaller production industries. There was something captivating about the novelty and freshness they presented.

In a surprising turn of events, Mike Cheslik’s DIY comedy “Hundreds of Beavers” outshone mainstream competition to claim the title of the highest-rated comedy of the year. It narrowly edged past Sean Baker’s Cannes winner, “Anora,” which ended up in third place but was the highest-rated romance on Letterboxd in 2024. The runner-up position was claimed by another low-budget comedy, “Rap World,” directed by Danny Scharar and featuring YouTube sensation Conner O’Malley. The top European film was a fresh adaptation of the French revenge classic, “The Count of Monte Cristo,” directed by Bille August.

Matthew Buchanan, the CEO of Letterboxd, stated that the top-ranked and widely-loved movies of 2024 are quite diverse: they range from highly anticipated sequels by directors like Denis Villeneuve, such as his continuation of Dune, to revivals of classic French films, all the way down to low-budget indie productions by emerging filmmakers who are forging their own paths in this dynamic industry,” said Letterboxd co-founder and CEO Matthew Buchanan.

Movies that have gained attention in this season’s awards discussion on Letterboxd, a platform loved by film enthusiasts, are titles such as the Palestinian documentary “No Other Land,” which was their top-ranked documentary last year, and Josh Greenbaum’s Netflix documentary “Will & Harper,” which was crowned the most popular documentary of the year.

2024 saw a wide range of opinions among Letterboxd users regarding the flop movies of that year. The Marvel film, Madame Web, which received significant criticism, was both the lowest-rated and most favored movie of 2024. Fans heavily criticized Dakota Johnson’s superhero performance in the film, yet it still garnered the highest ratio of ‘likes’ or hearts despite its low ratings. Harmony Korine’s Aggro Dr1ft was deemed the most controversial film of 2024, as it received a broad spectrum of ratings ranging from five stars to half-stars. This was closely followed by Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.

As we move forward, the movie “Mickey 17” directed by Bong Joon-ho is generating the most excitement among Letterboxd members for its release in 2025.

You can check out the full 2024 Letterboxd year in review below.

Category Winner:
– Highest Rated Film: Dune: Part Two
– Most Popular Film: Dune: Part Two
– Most Popular Documentary: Will & Harper
– Highest Rated Documentary: No Other Land
– Highest Rated Directorial Debut: How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
– Highest Rated Animation: Look Back
– Highest Rated Action/Adventure: Dune: Part Two
– Highest Rated Comedy: Hundreds of Beavers
– Highest Rated Drama: I’m Still Here
– Highest Rated Horror: Nosferatu
– Highest Rated Romance: Anora
– Highest Rated Science Fiction: Dune: Part Two
– Highest Rated Sports: Challengers
– Highest Rated Film by a Woman Director: Laapataa Ladies
– Highest Rated Directorial Debut by a Woman Director: All We Imagine As Light
– Highest Rated Documentary by a Woman Director: No Other Land
– Most Popular Film by a Woman Director: The Substance
– Highest Rated African Film: Flight 404
– Highest Rated Asian Film (Thailand): How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
– Highest Rated European Film (France): The Count of Monte Cristo
– Highest Rated North American Film (USA): Dune: Part Two
– Highest Rated Oceanian Film (Australia): Memoir of a Snail
– Highest Rated South American Film (Brazil): I’m Still Here
– Highest Rated Malayalam-language Film (India): Aattam
– Highest Rated Live-Action Short: Coreys
– Highest Rated Animated Short: Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin
– Most Popular Limited Series: Baby Reindeer
– Highest Rated Limited Series: Samuel
– Highest Rated Documentary Series: DJ Mehdi: Made in France
– Highest Rated Comedy Special: Stand Up Solutions
– Highest Rated TV Special or Movie: One Piece Fan Letter
– Highest Rated Music Documentary: RM: Right People, Wrong Place
– Highest Rated Concert Film: The Pop Out: Ken & Friends

Popularity Winner:
– Most Watched Actress: Zendaya
– Most Watched Actor: Willem Dafoe
– Most Watched Director: Denis Villeneuve
– Most Watched Woman Director: Coralie Forgeat
– Most Watched First-Time Director: Arturo Perez Jr. & Samantha Jayne

Anticipation Winner:
– Most Anticipated Film of 2025: Mickey 17

Engagement Winner:
– Most Obsessively Rewatched: Dune: Part Two
– Most Hearts to Views (highest ratio of likes to watches): I’m Still Here

Polarization Winners:
– Low Rated, Most Loved: Madame Web
– Most Divisive: Aggro Dr1ft

Emerging Talent Winner:
– Ones to Watch: Her Story

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2025-01-08 20:25