A24 is a production company that deals with a number of indie films and smaller budget works that have unique styles about them. While many of their films are less loved by fans than critics, there are plenty of fascinating releases in A24’s repertoire that should be viewed at least once. That said, which are A24’s best horror movies?
8 Hereditary (2018)
The highest-grossing A24 film to date, Hereditary is about a strange family that struggles with a mysterious presence after their mysterious grandmother dies. Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, and more feature in a film that holds the kind of eerie terror many entries in the genre struggle to maintain for more than a few minutes of their runtime.
Hereditary is a confusing flick that deals with many hidden themes lying under the surface of what is seen on the screen. Incredibly, it was also the film directorial debut for Ari Aster, whose style has been praised by critics but is inconsistent with mainstream audiences, but it is one of the best movies about demonic possession.
7 The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017)
A surgeon meets a young man named Martin that turns out to be the son of a patient who died on his table recently. The surgeon brings Martin home to meet his family and discovers that he has the ability to slowly kill his entire family if he does not choose one of them to die himself in retribution for the death of Martin’s father.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer deals with deep and powerful themes as well. With a huge cast that includes Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Barry Keoghan, the project boasts impressive performances to boot. While the film doesn’t use jump scares as much as many films in the genre, the uncomfortable psychological aspect of the plot and every scene provide plenty of terror for viewers.
6 Green Room (2015)
A punk band gets their gig canceled, and a new one is organized for them at a bar. When it turns out to be a neo-Nazi bar, they decide to go ahead with the gig but become trapped in the green room when the skinheads that inhabit the bar murder a member of another band.
The film was praised for delivering the kinds of thrills expected in the genre while having uncommonly excellent acting and a wickedly smart sense of black humor about it. Patrick Stewart stars as the leader of the Neo-Nazis and brings one of the more unique performances of his career, and the film gets rid of a lot of slasher movie clichés.
5 The Witch (2015)
One of the earliest successes in the horror genre for A24, The Witch stars Anya Taylor-Joy in a breakout role as a daughter accused by her family of witchcraft. When William’s family is forced to leave their town due to a religious dispute, a witch takes aim at them and slowly picks them off as William and his wife Katherine become more suspicious of their daughter.
The film is part of the sub-genre known as elevated horror, as are many of the A24 efforts in scarier films. Aside from a sense of dread that pervades every scene, and performances that are powerful, the film also has incredible direction in another directorial debut, this time from Robert Eggers.
4 The Monster (2016)
A mother is driving her daughter to stay with her father, who the daughter has requested to live with permanently. When they hit a wolf that had already been attacked by some other, unknown creature, they become trapped. Along with the mechanic and EMTs they call, they try to survive the wrath of the unknown creature.
Again dealing with interesting themes and containing an intimate horror story that focuses on the performances of the two leads, The Monster is an interesting look at mother/daughter relationships and bad parenting. Fortunately, it still has enough action to be more pleasing to mainstream audiences than some other “elevated” horror films from A24. It also delivered an excellent final girl performance.
3 X (2022)
Taking inspiration from classic horrors such as Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, X tells the story of a group trying to make a pornographic film in 1979. They intend to make the film in the guest house of an elderly couple’s farm, but the old couple begins to kill them off suddenly.
Dealing with aging and lost youth as a theme to help audiences feel sorry for Pearl, the murderous elderly woman, Xbrings a new and clever twist to the slasher genre, and it has a mysterious prequel film already in post-production!
2 The Lighthouse (2019)
Robert Eggers’ follow-up to The Witch was a period piece set on an island where a new worker arrives to take on a lighthouse keeper contract. He is bullied and worked extremely hard by the long-time keeper, and they alternate between fighting with each other and becoming closer. Meanwhile, the man starts to have hallucinations and questions his own mental state.
With the creepily uncomfortable style of horror and the excellent performances by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse is another excellent work by Eggers but again failed to fully capture mainstream audiences with its at times confusing narrative and unclear themes.
1 Midsommar (2019)
Like Eggers, Ari Aster went for something different in his follow-up to Hereditary. What he came up with can be most accurately described as a horror epic. Florence Pugh stars as a young woman who goes with her boyfriend and his friends on a trip to a reclusive Swedish commune.
When they arrive, terrors slowly seep in and without relying on jump scares or murder, the film causes continued dread in all members of the audience. From a shocking opening to the slow-build terror of the lengthy film, Midsommar is one of the most disturbing experiences in mainstream media over the last few years.
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