A lot happened on our screens in 2024. It was the year Paul Mescal’s shoulders overtook his thighs as the internet’s main focal point. The year when we asked ourselves just how much of Wicked we were willing to watch through other people’s phone screens, and just how stressful we really wanted a half-hour television “comedy” to be (looking at you, The Bear). We flew to Oz, returned to Arrakis and traipsed the mean streets of Gotham City – but these worlds would be nothing without the characters that populate them, or the intrepid actors who bring them to life. Here is our selection of the year’s most noteworthy on-screen inhabitants, and a sample of the quotes that seared them into the collective pop-cultural memory (beware: spoilers ahead…)
Toda Mariko, Shōgun
Who would have guessed that in a sweeping feudal epic, filled with earthquakes and canon battles, ninja assassinations and samurai showdowns, the most thrilling part of Shōgun would be the conversations hinging on Anna Sawai’s highborn translator, Toda Mariko? As one of the only conduits between stranger-in-a-strange-land John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and obstinate warlord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), Mariko becomes the political and emotional lynchpin of the series, torn between familial loyalty and her growing affection for the Englishman – rightly earning Sawai an Emmy for her extraordinarily measured, ultimately heartbreaking performance. Streams on Disney+
Terry Richmond, Rebel Ridge
Director Jeremy Saulnier has a knack for violence (the gritty revenge murders of Blue Ruin; the punk-band-versus-neo-Nazi freakout of Green Room) – so it came as a refreshing surprise to learn that his latest protagonist is something of a professional pacifist. He’s name-checked on the Wikipedia page for a special form of military jiu jitsu that uses non-lethal force – so when Richmond comes up against an army of corrupt small-town cops, he knows how to outwit and outlast them without firing a single bullet. Rebel Ridge is a riveting mix of action and prescient social drama, almost like an inverted Assault on Precinct 13, and Terry Richmond – played by the green-eyed, muscle-bound Aaron Pierre – is its emotional and kinetic centre. Netflix
Emma Morley, One Day
David Nicholls’ bestselling 2009 novel charts a will-they-or-won’t-they relationship between two Edinburgh University graduates, checking in on the same day – July 15, or St Swithin’s Day – over the course of 20 years. The 2011 film adaptation, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, was a noble effort, but 20 years is a lot to cram into 107 minutes. This year’s Netflix adaptation benefited not only from a significantly longer runtime, with almost one full episode allocated to each year, but from the superb performance of Ambika Mod as Emma: a vulnerable but fiercely determined Leeds girl trying to make a name for herself in 1990s/2000s London, breaking out as a writer while navigating her decades-long situationship with Leo Woodall’s Dexter. Netflix
Jackson Lamb, Slow Horses
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Gary Oldman’s no stranger to espionage, having scored an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Cold War-era spook George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). If you took Smiley, removed any hint of nobility, threw in a drinking problem, perpetual flatulence and a mane of greasy hair, you’d be close to imagining Oldman’s slovenly turn in Slow Horses, which began as a sleeper hit in 2022 and has grown into one of the most addictive shows on television. Once a star MI5 agent, now ostensibly the middle manager from hell, Lamb’s shocking crudity belies a fierce loyalty to the group of rag-tag spies under his watch, and an innate understanding of old-school tradecraft. Oldman’s always had a penchant for playing oddballs, but Jackson Lamb may be his best. Apple TV+
Pinky, Memoir of a Snail
Voiced by living treasure Jacki Weaver, Pinky is the elderly guardian and eventual foster mother of Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook) in Adam Elliot’s eight-years-in-the-making follow-up to Mary and Max. Brought to life by Elliot’s stunningly tactile claymation – with wiry hair, grandma glasses, and a cigar fixed between her lips – Pinky has lived a rich and varied life. She lost a finger in Barcelona, worked as an exotic dancer in a schnitzel bar and, apparently, once played ping pong with Fidel Castro. Caring for down-on-her-luck Grace during her darkest moments, Pinky imparts all her colourful, hard-won wisdom – including one of the film’s most moving lines about “living forwards”.
Dementus, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Villains get to have more fun. Every actor knows this, but it’s never been truer or more obvious than with Chris Hemsworth’s gleefully anarchic turn as Dementus in George Miller’s prequel to his era-defining Mad Max: Fury Road. An all-ocker, messianic desert cult leader, replete with billowing red cape and My Chemical Romance drummer’s vest, Dementus carries the vast majority of the film’s dialogue opposite Anya Taylor-Joy’s stoic, semi-silent road warrior. His undeniable charisma makes him the perfect stand-in for the bilious, populist strongmen leaders of our current (pre-apocalyptic) age.
Martha, Baby Reindeer
Putting aside all the real-world legal palaver, Jessica Gunning’s portrayal of Richard Gadd’s stalker was one of the year’s most original and thrilling performances. By turns deeply sympathetic and chillingly abusive – with the ability to turn on a dime between each – Martha presents a haunting picture of obsessive fandom gone to seed, and the parasocial/parasitic relationship at the heart of Baby Reindeer made for engrossing, albeit highly uncomfortable, viewing. Netflix
Feyd-Rautha, Dune: Part Two
If Denis Villeneuve still felt the need to set his Dune saga apart from David Lynch’s much-maligned 1986 effort, his reimagining of the villainous Harkonnen nephew certainly sealed the deal. Where Sting played Feyd-Rautha as a greased-up, spiky-haired Super Saiyan for Lynch, Austin Butler’s version is half lizard, half Hannibal Lecter: as merciless as he is hairless, with a likely humiliation fetish to boot. A psycho-killer prince who we first meet in an unforgettable gladiatorial duel on the Harkonnen home world of Giedi Prime, shot in eerie infrared black-and-white, Feyd-Rautha is just the latest in a series of fascinating, chameleonic performances from Butler. Next up: Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of American Psycho.
Sofia Falcone, The Penguin
After star turns in Palm Springs and The Resort, Cristin Milioti is finally getting the global recognition she deserves for her outing as ruthless mafia nepo-baby Sofia Falcone. Jousting with Colin Farrell’s conniving crime boss in HBO’s Batman spin-off, Falcone is an anti-establishment anti-hero for the ages, overturning her father’s dynastic crime empire and upending the food chain in Gotham City’s underworld. Turns out you don’t need to don a mask or 20 kilos of prosthetic make-up to earn a spot in Batman’s rogues’ gallery – all you need is an appropriately traumatising origin story, a fetching mullet, and a tasteful array of emo-adjacent wardrobe options. Binge
Tom Ripley, Ripley
Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley is the ultimate cypher, and a character open to endless reinterpretation. We’ve had Alain Delon’s gentleman brute, Dennis Hopper’s mustachioed art swindler, Matt Damon’s fresh-faced ingénue, and John Malkovich’s seasoned grifter. In this year’s moody black-and-white Ripley series, Andrew Scott (aka Hot Priest from Fleabag) plays the titular drifter as a dyed-in-the-wool sociopath, with a hangdog expression and all-seeing eyes. His Ripley is a dark mirror for our own worst impulses, asking just how far we would go to seize the life we believe we deserve. Netflix
The Offspring, Alien: Romulus
When directer Fede Alvarez’s camera cut to reveal “The Offspring” in the final minutes of Alien: Romulus, a young woman at my screening loudly declared: “NO.” A fitting response to this Alien semi-sequel’s final boss, a monstrous extraterrestrial-human hybrid made all the more chilling for its tactility. This was no uncanny CGI creation, but a 2.3-metre Romanian basketball player named Robert Bobroczkyi dressed in a haunting, full-body prosthetic suit. Watching behind-the-scenes footage of Bobroczkyi in costume, sipping on a juice box between takes, is honestly just as nightmarish as seeing him in the film.
The Ghoul, Fallout
Continuing the comparatively new trend of video game adaptations that don’t completely suck, Amazon’s Fallout series boasted pitch-perfect comedy, staggering production values, and a delightful trio of scrappy survivors at its core. Scenery-chewer par excellence Walton Goggins pulls double duty as washed-up actor Cooper Howard in a flashback storyline, and as his alter-ego The Ghoul, a wise-cracking mutant bounty hunter roaming the wastelands of Los Angeles 200 years after a devastating nuclear war. As the pre- and post-apocalyptic timelines converge, we realise The Ghoul’s still the man he was two centuries ago – and like any worthy character brought back from the dead, he has unfinished business.
Monstro Elisasue, The Substanceas The Ghoul;
French provocateur Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance plays a little like Showgirls meets The Fly. Her mind-bogglingly gross body-horror opus culminates in a truly gut-churning bloodbath, brought about by the unholy fusing of Elisabeth (Demi Moore) and Sue (Margaret Qualley) into one singing, stumbling, bleeding, gushing organism known as “Monstro Elisasue”. I genuinely believe this to be the date movie of the year.
Longlegs, Longlegs
After spending much of the 2010s in the direct-to-DVD wilderness, the Nic-Cage-aissance continued unabated this year. In Longlegs, Osgood Perkins’ stylish indie horror smash, he plays the satanic serial killer at the centre of a decades-long occult mystery. His long-awaited appearance halfway through the film is genuinely jarring, and sends the story in a new and unexpected direction. Dressed in white denim and prone to fits of high-pitched glam-rock balladry, Cage’s grotesque villain is one of the year’s most memorable baddies (and lays claim to the most shocking death scene as well).
Elphaba Thropp, Wicked
Responses to Wicked have ranged from “film of the decade” to “backlit monstrosity”, but one thing everyone seems to agree on is the stunning performance of Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp, the misunderstood wunderkind destined to become the Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba is a classic outsider, thrust into a world of sorcery and politics like a green-skinned Harry Potter, setting off on a journey from misfit student to magical pariah. In a fantastical, exaggerated world like Oz, Elphaba’s struggle couldn’t be more relatable as she’s forced to choose between the acceptance she craves and the things she believes in. Wicked is one of our foundational “villain origin story” texts, and Erivo’s fledgling witch makes a compelling argument for their continued existence.
Patrick Zweig, Challengers
An unpredictable agent of chaos in a world built along straight lines, Josh O’Connor’s pro-tennis burnout Patrick was the standout in a trio of compelling central performances in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. Ex-best friend to Art (Mike Faist) and ex-boyfriend to Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick re-enters the lives of the famous, now-married couple at a critical personal and professional juncture, the proverbial cat among the pigeons. We’ve all known a Patrick – someone who gets by entirely on scuzzy charm and the forgiveness of others – and there’s not a dull moment in O’Connor’s performance, whether he’s hoisting his racket or munching suggestively on a churro.
The Garveys, Bad Sisters
It was always going to be difficult to recapture the magic of the first season of Bad Sisters, especially once the abusive John Paul (more rightly known as The Prick) was dispatched for good. But this year’s second season did offer the chance to spend more time with Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi and Becka Garvey, forever toeing the line between sisterly love and vigilante justice. She’s no John Paul (so memorably played by Claes Bang), but Fiona Shaw’s devious Angelica Muldoon proves a worthy foil for the sisters this time around as they bicker, break down, and band together, desperate to keep the lid on their past misdeeds. Apple TV+
Macrinus, Gladiator II
In the midst of Gladiator II’s otherwise disenchanting warmed-up legacy-quel leftovers, Denzel Washington’s Macrinus was a much-needed shot in the arm of old-school blockbuster magic, halfway between his roles in Training Day and The Tragedy of Macbeth. A swaggering, scheming, political animal, Macrinus wants to use Paul Mescal’s wayward gladiator to kickstart the fall of Rome, so that something new and better can grow back in its place. Washington is clearly having the time of his life in the role, summing it up best himself during the film’s press tour: “I’m putting this dress on, these rings … and I’m going crazy.”
