Typically I do not like A24 movies because I find them to usually be too high effort in the creative part of the movies. It's too obvious to me when the director wants the audience to be titelated by the "creative/artsy elements" in the movie to the point where it drops the veil away that instead of experiencing something real instead I am just watching a movie.
One thing I see repeated in A24 movies I can't stand is how they make people in the movie levitate. Seriously it does not add anything but instead is a fart of an excuse to make the movie artsy.
That being said some of the A24 movies are actually good like "The Whale" and I am pretty sure it was just because of Brendan Fraiser's excellent acting in spite of his decade long hiatus from acting.
The movie "Conclave" is another movie that I enjoyed and believe was well made even though it is an A24 movie. The A24 people typically focus way too much on trying to be artsy that they don't focus on the most important elements to a good movie or story like character development. Conclave had this and more. (Spoiler) Albeit the jump from the ditsy asperger blonde character to sherlock holmes eske level investigator was a bit clunky but I still appreciated the development especially the fact she went from being a side character, hysterical and easily manipulated to brave and intelligent
The Conclave kept me guessing and what was going to happen next and I loved the arguments and perspectives of all of the characters on religion. There were some typical arguments made but also some that I have never heard before. Specifically I enjoyed learning what the antagonist believed was the "one true religion" and as the movie went on you eventually got to see what he believed and a reflection of why he believed what he did.
The antagonist was insufferable t in many ways and the actor almost did not seem to fit the part just right but I think I liked that. It gave his character an edge.
The acting was great, the story interesting, and the characters deep.
Last updated Sep. 10 2025