The best movies beyond the multiplex: The hidden gems of 2024
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Many of last year’s most intriguing human-centered movies may have escaped your attention: Some had limited marketing budgets, some played in only a few theaters, and one was made by a cancelled Oscar winner whose name is now spoken only in whispers.
A multiplex isn’t a natural fit for most of the smaller films anyway, so waiting until the theatrical window has closed is sometimes smart. By that time, however, the reviews and the initial promotional push may be forgotten.
In a January that, typically, promises to present theaters with a buffet of the underwhelming, these are some of the overlooked gems of 2024 that deserve your attention, with many available for home viewing. “Asleep in My Palm" (Prime Video): A debut by writer-director Henry Nelson, this wintertime character study stars his father, the veteran character actor Tim Blake Nelson, as an ingeniously resourceful homeless man living rough with his daughter (Chloë Kerwin) in small-town Ohio.
Though the father is a thief, he turns out to be an excellent teacher of practical skills, and the film turns into a thoughtful consideration of the nature of fatherhood. “Back to Black" (Prime Video): A critical and commercial failure, this biopic about the brief life of retro soul singer Amy Winehouse nevertheless features a knockout performance by Marisa Abela as the working-class girl turned tortured icon of the early 2000s.
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