Rotten Tomatoes is known for harshly critiquing some of the greatest films of all time. The critical reception website is frugal regarding praise, but eleven movies released in 2024 met the site’s high standards and earned a 100% fresh rating.
All We Imagine as Light, an Indian film produced by Petit Chaos, was praised by Rotten Tomatoes for immaculate cinematography, which immersed critics in a dream-like state. Joining this film on the list is Girls Will Be Girls, another Indian drama exploring sexuality and womanhood in the subcontinent.
The documentary Daughters, which follows the children of incarcerated fathers as they prepare for a father-daughter dance, is breathtaking and leaves viewers emotional. Critics praised the film for humanizing its subjects and opening the door for broader empathy with those incarcerated. No Other Land, another documentary to score a perfect 100, follows the daily lives of displaced Palestinians, giving another heartbreaking and timely message about global injustices.
Emotional familial films rated high on Rotten Tomatoes in 2024. Nowhere Special follows the journey of a single father preparing his son for his imminent death. The Irish film is a tear-jerker that leaves viewers hopeful despite the bleak subject.
Another documentary receiving a perfect score is Jim Henson: Idea Man, a Ron Howard film that dives into the intuitive process of Muppets creator Jim Henson. The straightforward movie was praised for accurately depicting Henson’s life without turning it into a fairytale or sanitizing his experiences.
Sugarcane may be the most devastating film to receive a perfect score in 2024. Following the discovery of unmarked graves outside a Canadian residential school, this film follows the investigation into the child abuse and cultural genocide carried out on the First People of Williams Lake. Sugarcane was also awarded the US Documentary Directing Award at Sundance.
The perfect films also include I Am: Celine Dion, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Music by John Williams, and LaRoy, Texas.
