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When we typically muse on who should be considered the "author" of a film, I don't think we ever come to the conclusion of "the studio." Sure, there are some pockets of vision within the history of movie studios — the Warner Bros. gangster picture, the Universal horror movie, the Paramount "maverick 1970s film" — but by and large, they provide the means to the end, the money and distribution deal for directors to make their mark on culture.
A24, however, is anything but typical. Founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges, and named after an Italian motorway Katz was driving down, the independent movie studio has become one of the 21st century's most notable film tastemakers. It's a brand unto itself, a marker of a certain "type" of movie that indicates quality and intrigue. And even if some purists poo-poo their Instagram-friendly marketing apparatus, you can't deny their output of exceptional movies (even if their bad Rotten Tomatoes scores sometimes say otherwise).
To pay homage to this once-in-a-generation studio, here are the 15 best A24 movies, ranked — and know that there were at least 24 others that could've made the list.
The Daniels, Kwan and Scheinert, made their feature directorial debut with 2016's "Swiss Army Man," codifying their brand of absurdism, sincerity, and genre-hopping with startling and bold efficiency.
Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on an island with only one man for company: A corpse, played fearlessly by Daniel Radcliffe (who had just one question before signing on)
