MAY 7, 2026
Top Films for A24 Haters
Or at least people who think they are.
We get it.
At this point, A24 has a reputation for producing projects that are usually slow, emotional, probably very strange, hard to understand, and definitely very pretty to look at.
And honestly, that is very fair. In fact, we have a lot of those. And we actually love them.
But that isn’t all A24 has to offer.
So this list is for the people who hear “A24” and immediately think it’s not gonna be for them. And this isn’t because we are trying to argue and be petty by telling you that you “just didn’t get it.” That would be very annoying (and we know we are already on thin ice).
This is just a place to start if you want films that feel a little less like the A24 people make fun of on Reddit threads.
Because if you really take the time, you’ll find that sometimes our films are about war. And sometimes it is about just chaos. Sometimes it is celebrity obsession, a unicorn problem, or even about whatever Tusk is supposed to be.
So if you have an issue with A24 being too A24, start here.
Warfare
If your main complaint about A24 movies is that they are too complicated, Warfare is probably our best counterargument.
It is direct and very much not asking you to decode anything.
Obviously, it’s still going to be intense (we have a brand to maintain). But for once, the film won’t leave you asking what the hallway represents by the end.
Death of a Unicorn
This is one of those movies where the title does most of the explaining, which is helpful because we know our reputation.
It is weird, dark, and very much ridiculous, but that’s kind of the point. Instead of asking you to overthink everything that happens, sometimes the plot may quite literally be about a unicorn who is having a bad day.
And for us, we’re choosing to see that as restraint.
The Spectacular Now
Coming-of-age stories are probably our bread and butter.
But this one wraps itself in teen romance in a way that keeps it from getting grouped in with Eighth Grade or Lady Bird.
It is messy, familiar, and painfully normal.
Which, honestly, might be the least A24 thing about it.
The Bling Ring
If you’re looking for fashion, chaos, dumb teenage decisions, and a 100% true story centered around celebrities?
You got your very surface-level film right here.
Free Fire
This one is for anyone who has ever watched an A24 movie and thought, “Okay, but is anything actually going to happen?”
Yes, a lot. And mostly all at once.
It’s very loud, very messy, and full of people making an already overstimulatingly bad situation even worse.
And somehow, Cillian Murphy is there again, always finding a way to drag us into it.
Civil War
A massive blockbuster-like movie from us?
Who could have ever guessed, but here we are again, subverting expectations with another Alex Garland title on the list.
But if Warfare puts you inside the chaos from a single moment, Civil War steps back to show what happens when that chaos spreads across a whole country.
Tusk
To round out this list, we had to include Tusk, because nothing says “prestige indie studio” like whatever happened with this one.
This is for anyone who thinks A24 takes itself too seriously.
To which we say: please look at Tusk.
No, seriously, go look at it.
Then come back and try to argue that all A24 movies are the same.
Still not convinced?
Fine. We guess you’re entitled to your own opinion.
But the next time you bring up our catalogue as one long collection of the same slow, pretty movies, we hope you remember the guns, the unicorn, the celebrity robbery, and the walrus.
And at least we can agree that the walrus is the furthest thing from pretty.
Disclaimer: This is created for academic purposes only and is not affiliated with A24.