10 Favorite Movie Scenes of 2024

Here are ten of my favorite movie scenes from the year.

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Scott's Self-Indulgent Movie Podcast · Episode 915: 10 Favorite Movie Scenes of 2024

2024 was a great year for movies whether you wanted to be grossed out, inspired, moved, or maybe you just wanted to fist pump because that victory was earned. But the thing I loved this year was seeing so many unexpectedly moving or hard-hitting moments from genres or films that are more known for their overall vibe including horror, action thrillers and animation. 

With that in mind, here are ten of my favorite movie scenes from the year. And as always this isn't a comprehensive list, so if you have favorites you want to celebrate, let me know!

P.A.C.E from Rebel Ridge

There's not a ton of action in Jeremy Saulnier's latest offering, but what's there is crunchy and supremely satisfying. And while I was tempted to pick Terry Richmond's series of non-lethal takedowns in the film's frenetic finale, nothing reads as "action movie" as this scene.

At this point Terry is at his wits' end. He's been robbed by the police, negotiations with the corrupt police chief played by Don Johnson failed, and his backup money has gotten an unwelcome raid from another law enforcement agency. He's hit "fuck it" territory and arrives at the front of the police station looking to get what's his.

What follows is a clever combination of action hero monologuing, as Terry goes through the military acronym he's been using to try and fix this problem PACE, with cuts back to the station where the Chief's officers realize that Terry isn't just some soldier. He's the guy who used to train servicemen in unarmed combat. "He's on the Wikipedia page!" is an all-timer action hero reveal.

And just as the Chief is realizing he might be in trouble and pulls his gun, Terry grabs it like it's nothing. He then proceeds to disarm both the chief and his gung-ho officer with grappling techniques while keeping his human shield intact and sending all the necessary parties inside.

But the real star of this show is Aaron Pierre's acting as he tears through this monologue turning his facial reactions and emotions on a dime. See him shifting from the seemingly jovial "there it is!" as Johnson smiles a shit-eating grin about his handiwork before saying like you "just ate shit." Everything about his body language and face tells us he's at his wit's end and that the Chief is in danger, even before the Google results reveal Terry's terrifying skill set.

It's a been a slow burn to get to this moment, and it's very satisfying to see Terry finally live up to his brooding potential.

"No, I Want To Kill Him!" from Transformers One

Even at its best, the Transformers franchise has never been known for hard-hitting or insightful drama (see Hasbro killing off Optimus Prime and most of the original Autobots in the original animated movie to sell new toys). Which is why this scene, in a movie mostly meant for kids, hits like a mack truck (pun intended).

This scene comes on the heels of Orion Pax and D-16 uncovering the "big lie" of their world. That not only is Sentinel Prime is liar who deceived all of Cybertron and betrayed them to their greatest enemy, the Quintessons, he also removed every Transformers ability to transform before they were given life.

And the reactions from Pax and D-16 make it very clear why they are destined to become Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Orion is upset and wants to expose Prime to Cybertron and put things right. And he hopes his best friend will join him. But to D-16, who worshipped the ground Sentinel Prime walked on and believed in the big lie as much as anyone, doesn't want justice. He wants revenge. Or as he puts it. After Pax asks him "Don't you want to stop him?"

    "I want to put Sentinal in chains and march him through the mines so everyone can see him for the         false Prime that he is. I want him to suffer and then to die, in darkness!"

It's a startlingly dark turn that feels astonishingly realistic for a kids movie. Because not everyone who hears the "truth" can handle it like Optimus. And will do anything they can to seek out power to prevent this feeling from ever happening again...

Lawrence Meets With Benitez from Conclave

The premise of Conclave deceptively simple. The Pope has died and a new one has to be selected. And now a group of allegedly holy men will bicker, backstab, bribe and expose each other's secrets to become the most powerful Catholic in the world. All of which has been viewed through the exasperated lens of Cardinal Lawrence, who not only doesn't want to be Pope, but is questioning his faith entirely.

A faith that has been restored after a progressive candidate spouting out messages of love, Cardinal Benitez has been elected Pope. But one of the attendees is disturbed and rushes to confess something to Cardinal Lawrence, who seeks then seeks out Benitez.

The reveal is simple, but has terrifying potential if revealed. Benitez is intersex. He has a uterus and ovaries. But unlike everyone else in the film, Benitez gives this information freely to Lawrence, who asks why Benitez didn't have said reproductive organs removed.

"I am as God made me" he says. Not only that, but the late Pope, whom Lawrence clearly loved, knew the whole time and orchestrated Benitez's promotion to Cardinal and his arrival at the Vatican.

I love this scene not just because of Benitez's pure heart and demonstration of what faith can/should look like and a major blow to the patriarchal structure that the Papacy has upheld for years (whether they know it or not). But because it renews Lawrence's faith. In the late Pope's machinations and Benitez's pure heart he sees divine intervention and hope for the Church's future.

The Final Scene from Immaculate

In case you wanted proof that Sydney Sweeney is a serious actor, the final minutes of Immaculate provide enough emotional rawness and fury to fill 3 more movies.

By this point, the conspiracy involving Sweeney's Sister Cecilia has been revealed and unraveled. She is the latest line in a number of nuns who were "chosen" to be the incubator for a new messiah, birthed from DNA taken from a nail that pierced Jesus' skin on the cross.

And just when her escape seems imminent, Cecilia goes into a quick and agonizing labor that ends with our new mother biting through the umbilical cord and proceeding to bludgeon the baby to death.

And while that's the bloody mess I'd expect from a horror movie full of violent and horrific imagery related to women's bodily autonomy, there's an odd feeling of triumph in this scene.

We get to see Cecelia's grit and power finally prevail over an organization that performed a medical rape and impregnated her against her will. How powerful the woman they tried to use for their own purposes is who just delivered a malformed creature of science, by herself.

A church that was using her body as an incubator for their "messiah" Not only that, but she also deems the creature she's birthed as an abomination that she has every right to remove and destroy. F*** their god. F*** their savior. I determine who and how my body is used. And I'll destroy a scion of Christ with a rock if I have to. Because claiming rape as a miracle is more sacrilegious than anything Cecelia does in this scene. 

What's Wrong With Chad? from My Old Ass

The majority of My Old Ass is a very effective coming-of-age movie as our 18 year-old protagonist tries to make the most of the summer before she goes away to college...who also happened to have a mushroom trip where she connected with a 39-year old version of herself whom she's been texting with. While 39 year-old Elliott has been mostly helpful, she has one request that doesn't make sense: don't start anything with Chad (a seemingly normal young man who just entered Elliott's orbit).

But after old Elliott went dark for a week, and young Elliott couldn't deny their chemistry any longer, Elliott and Chad have finally consummated their attraction. An act that startles old Elliott so much that she decides to reach out, in person. Young Elliott is understandably flustered and doesn't understand why she should stay away from Chad, who has been nothing but sweet, funny and kind. 

What's wrong with Chad? Young Elliott demands. And finally old Elliott breaks.

"He died" she says. There's nothing that can be done to stop it. And she wanted to spare young Elliott that pain.

But Young Elliott doesn't accept that. She says that she deserves to make mistakes and live her own life and love Chad for as long as she has. Old Elliott is about to resist when...Chad arrives. And Old Elliott gets another chance to see the love she lost, and at young Elliott's behest, gets to embrace him one last time.

This is what makes it click for Old Elliott. That her younger self was right. That she needs to allow her younger self to live her own life, and that she needs to keep living her own versus living in the past.

Not only is this an emotional wallop that devastated me upon first watch, but it's also a perfect example of saving your gimmick's best trick for the end, when it really matters.

Owen Cries for Help from I Saw the TV Glow

There's a lot of reasons folks have sung this indie darling from Jane Schoebrun praises. The emphasis on feeling and metaphor over literalism. The heavy nostalgia for 90s young adult fiction. And the movie long allegory about the trans experience viewed through the lens of our lead character Owen, who always feels distant from everyone else around him.

All of which can felt/seen in the movie's devastating final scene as an Owen finally breaks down. 

After turning down his friend Maddy's invitation to be buried alive and reawaken in "reality," Owen has been silently suffering for over a decade working a customer service job at a family entertainment center. Until one day...it overwhelms him. He declares that he feels like he's dying and begins wandering around the facility begging for help, but nobody responds. And things reach a fever pitch as Owen enters the bathroom and then opens his chest to reveal that his favorite show growing up "The Pink Opaque" is playing on a television inside his body. And just when he's achieved bliss, we're thrown back to reality where Owen apologizes for his outburst.

As this scene, can, and certainly has, resonated with trans audiences, there's a universal ache in this scene that makes its metaphor universal. The feeling of being trapped. That you want to go back. To undo a mistake. To scream for help. But in the end...it's to no one. And you go back to your day. Push it all back down and go to work. Even if you're dying inside.

Dementus' Monologue from Furiosa: A Mad Max Story

The two rulers of the wasteland operate under contrary ideas. Immortan Joe leads with oppressive order and structure. And Dementus. Dementus is pure chaos with no regard for who lives, who dies, and what kind of carnage lays in his wake.

And toward's the film's end, he's on the wrong end of Furiosa's wrath and a gun as she's finally tracked down the man that killed her mother and her friend and is ready to make him pay. 

This should be the triumphant final kill. The moment where Furiosa gains her revenge and satiates her blood lust. But Dementus, keeps interrupting. And worse. He makes sense. He lays out how and why revenge won't satisfy her. And that he can't give her what she wants.

At the same time, he's also unraveling his ethos and his origin. That his family was taken from him (likely killed), that he desperately wants to feel something (hence all of the wild actions he takes including attaching that drill to his nipples earlier on), and talking through Furiosa's blows

“if I could give you that I would! But I don’t fear the loss of Bliss in heaven. Nor retribution in hell. And I’ve got a fiendishly high pain threshold.”

Blows rain down again:

 “again. Do it again!”

Before his final words:

“ if you can’t do me quick. You’re going to have to do me slow. But you are never going to get anything close to what you want.”

And, contrary to the stories others tell, a switch flips for Furiosa. That traditional revenge, that she's been gunning for the entire movie, won't work. It's this moment that leads her to consider a more suitable revenge for Dementus. Because if killing him won't do the job...maybe forcing him to live and nurture will do the trick...

A great all-time villain moment for a seemingly simple character.

The Opening from The First Omen

A good horror movie cold open reels the audience in. A great horror movie cold open does that while while terrifying them about what's in store. The open for Arkasha Stevenson's prequel is the latter.

The scene is familiar in the possession horror subgenre. We've got a priest, Ralph Ineson's Father Brennan going to confession. Only, he's not the one confessing. Charles Dance's Father Harris is. And while we can't entirely make out what happened, the spliced images of what he had a hand in are terrifying and worthy of a confession.

But the scene's real mastery is how it offs Dance's Harris with misdirection with the broken stained glass window that it had already primed the audience to look at while a sharpened pipe streaks through the frame and then Harris. We know it's bad, but the camera and Stevenson play coy and refuse to give us the aftermath as Father Brennan looks on horrified at his colleague Harris.

All of which leads to a one two punch of the gory reveal of Harris' fatal injury and an unsettling smile that reminds us, in case we didn't already know, there's evil at work.

Date Prep from The Substance

Considering the explosion of gruesome imagery in Coraline Fargeat's body horror hit, you'd expect it's most impactful scene to feature violated flesh or buckets of blood. But as I indicated in my review, that parade of limbs and distorted physiques only suits to enhance its quiet moments.

The scene takes place right before Elisabeth, who is now living most of her time as Sue, is set to go out on a date with the kind-natured Fred, an old high school friend. So she gets on a nice dress, does up her makeup, and is ready to go out with a fella who talks about her like she's 22 and the most beautiful woman in the world. It's what she should want and need right now.

And she can't get out of the door. 

Every time Elisabeth is about to leave she's taunted by the image of Sue (her but not her) on a billboard overlooking her apartment and goes back to the mirror to redo or add more makeup. Or cover up part of her chest. Soon Elisabeth is having a full blown breakdown as she begins to streak her lipstick across her face and the minutes turn into hours and day turns into night. All before Elisabeth drags herself into bed, as kind/understanding messages from Fred ping her phone.

Demi Moore is so raw in this scene, perfectly capturing the insecurity that comes with aging while also being confronted by what our society deems attractive and sexy and feeling like you're coming up short. She knows this isn't healthy for her. We know this isn't healthy for her. And she can't stop herself. Because she cannot love herself as she is.

The insecurity that led Elisabeth to try the Substance is alive and well, and she's likely just hit her point of no return...

The Panic Attack from Inside Out 2

I go into every Pixar movie waiting for the "moment." That one scene where the movie levels the audience with a simple emotional moment that's so effective that you want to fall into a million pieces. But this one felt finely tuned to devastate me personally.

Our girl Riley has spent the majority of the movie fumbling through hockey camp as one of her newest emotions, Anxiety, has taken the driver's seat away from Joy. And in the midst of a scrimmage, and presumably Riley's best chance to impress the high school coach, she's lost control. She's playing and acting like a jerk and in her singular drive to win checks and hurts one of her best friends, Grace.

Fully aware of how that moment looked and felt, Riley retreats to the penalty box. Then she starts breathing fast. Her vision blurs. She even clutches her chest. She is completely overwhelmed by her anxiety that is now a whirlwind that cannot be stopped.

Joy, determined to help Riley, breaks through the malestrom and finds Anxiety who is paralyzed and non-corporeal behind the controls and ever so gently, pulls Anxiety's hand off the controls and establishes Riley's original sense of self. But the storm isn't settled.

It's at this point that Joy makes an unexpected choice and embraces all of Riley. The good, the bad, the happy and the anxious. A literal manifestation of the realization that we all contain so many parts and pieces. And finally the storm passes.

As someone who has experienced multiple panic attacks in my life, this hit home. So hard. It felt like the panic attacks I've had, including the whirlwind of negative thoughts and how inescapable it feels. Even the pained look and tears on Anxiety's face as Joy enters the flurry of red/orange feels right.

But what made me bawl was watching Riley overcome...and finally find Joy. Riley looks up from the box to see Bree and Grace have come over to check in on her. And she tearfully admits that she's not ok apologizes and embraces her friends, who weren't going anywhere to begin with. 

And after all of that release, Joy is called to console to guide Riley. Riley's happy. She's playing the game she loves with her friends and it looks and feels easy. The anxiety isn't gone, but it's taken a backseat in this moment. She is starting to accept every part of her and it feels complete.