2024 was a big year for me and the A Cloudy Picture site! I wrote about film more than ever before, was on the jury for the Real to Reel Film Festival and The Arts & Faith Top 25 Crime and Punishment Films, and in even bigger news, was invited to be a member of the North Carolina Film Critics Association, voting in their 2024 awards.
So to cap off the year, I’m proud to share the first annual Cloudy Picture Awards, presented to my favorite films and filmmakers from 2024 in eight categories. If you’re interested in learning more about the winners and nominees, I’ve linked out to my writing on the films when able.
The Cloudiest Picture
For those that may not be familiar with the meaning behind my website’s name, I titled it after 1 Corinthians 13:12 - “Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror. Later we will see him face to face. We don't know everything, but then we will, just as God completely understands us.” As such, the award for The Cloudiest Picture is presented to the film that I found to carry the most Christian depth and meaning, showing us a “cloudy picture in a mirror” of God.
Winner
2024 was a rich year for spiritually significant films, but my favorite of the bunch was CONCLAVE, a fascinating evaluation of faith, or more specifically, religious organizations. In fact, the film is never critical of faith itself, but of its saddening deformities and misuses in the Church. We’re shown the sacred pageantry that occurs during the conclave, but it feels empty, or often even sacrilegious given the characters’ hearts and actions.
Nominees
Best Picture
This award is for the best overall film of 2024, regardless of spiritual significance (though you’ll find a lot of overlap between the two lists!).
Winner
Dune: Part Two is an overwhelming experience and an improvement from the (already good) first film on every level. Frank Herbert’s Dune novels have long been considered unadaptable, but Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation was breathtaking, the performances layered, the cinematography dreamy, but grounded, and the music tonally perfect.
Nominees
Challengers
Civil War
Best Screenplay
Winner
Challengers
Writer Justin Kuritzkes masterfully cuts back and forth between half a dozen different points in time as we follow the careers of three tennis players, culminating in a brilliant finale. It’s one of the most structurally inventive and impressive films I’ve seen in a very long time, and the screenplay is a big part of the reason why.
Nominees
Best Actor
Winner
Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
Ralph Fiennes delivers my favorite performance of the year as Cardinal Lawrence in CONCLAVE. His conflicted character is faithful, yet doubting. Earnest, yet hypocritical. Naive, yet untrusting. Impartial, yet revealing his biases. Fiennes plays this all in a subtle, compelling, and empathetic way that immediately endears him to the audience.
Nominees
Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)
Keith Kupferer (Ghostlight)
Daniel Craig (Queer)
Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)
Josh Hartnett (Trap)
Best Actress
Winner
Kirsten Dunst (Civil War)
CIVIL WAR is one of the year’s most haunting and impactful films, and that impact is largely due to Kirsten Dunst’s nuanced and layered leading performance. Playing a war photographer, we journey with her across a war-torn America and see her grizzled facade get slowly peeled back. It’s touching, it’s heartbreaking, and her performance has stuck with me the entire year.
Nominees
Mikey Madison (Anora)
Jodie Comer (The Bikeriders)
Zendaya (Challengers)
Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
Best Supporting Actor
Winner
Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)
Gladiator II’s true standout is Denzel Washington, whose magnetic presence commands the screen at every moment. With subtle facial expressions that transform entire scenes and line deliveries that defy expectation (the way he says “politics” will forever be seared into my brain), Washington captivates at every turn.
Nominees
Tom Hardy (The Bikeriders)
Mike Faist (Challengers)
Josh O’Connor (Challengers)
Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing)
Best Supporting Actress
Winner
Ariana Grande (Wicked)
While I found some of the technical elements in WICKED to be lacking, the film’s performances are truly pitch perfect (pun intended). Cynthia Erivo (nominated for best actress) brings an incredible mix of strength and vulnerability to Elphaba, but Ariana Grande stands toe to toe with her as Glinda. Her performance is a joyous blend of humor and compassion, and as one would expect, her songs are showstoppers.
Nominees
Zendaya (Dune: Part Two)
Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)
Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson)
Best Original Score
Winner
I feel immense respect and admiration (and maybe even a little jealousy) for Jeymes Samuel, who serves as writer, director *and* composer for his films. His score for THE BOOK OF CLARENCE is a beautiful throwback to Old Hollywood epics, filled with emotion, grandeur, and drama, a stark contrast to the hip hop songs that he sprinkles throughout the soundtrack. It’s unique, moving, and makes for a beautiful listen, both in and outside of the film.
Nominees
What were your favorite films and filmmakers of the year? Any changes or additions you’d like to see for the blog in 2025? Leave me a comment or email me with any feedback!