A24 is a Film Movement
I guess the first time I saw an A24 movie was when Spring Breakers was released back in 2013. The movie was bizarre… but undeniably different and entertaining.
Nine years later, whenever I see that illustrious A24 logo pop up before a trailer, I don’t even have to stick around to see what the movie is about before deciding that I must see it.
That’s the level of prestige this once small independent production company has achieved in its young life. We’re at the point where A24 is practically synonymous with challenging, artistic, different, and beautiful movies in an era dominated by superhero franchises, reboots, and sequels.
They have reached the point of pretty much becoming a movement within the movie industry and seem to be one of the few players at the big boy table who are actually preserving originality and diversity in a business that always prioritizes money.
So how did this small, arthouse production company become the emblem for modern artistic cinema?
WHERE DID A24 COME FROM
A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges. Originally, the company’s main function was distribution, and during the early years, they distributed such monumental films as Ex Machina, Room, and The Witch.
Right off the bat, it was obvious that A24 was dealing in a certain type of movie whose distinguishing factor seemed to simply be originality.
Then, in 2016, A24 fully financed their first film which officially transitioned them into being an independent movie studio. What was that first film that they released in 2016? Why it was none other than Barry Jenkin’s seminal drama Moonlight.
It’s not a bad entrance to Hollywood when your debut film wins Best Picture.
After Moonlight, it was open season for A24. They began pumping out films across an array of genres, directors, and producers, each different from the last, and each further emboldening their position as Hollywood’s biggest little guy.
This is when we saw films like Ladybird, The Disaster Artist, Hereditary, Eighth Grade, Mid90s, and Uncut Gems. The list goes on. In fact, if you take a look at A24’s filmography, you will be shocked by not only their diversity but also the success of films that just seem like they shouldn’t work.
Now as the company moves into the 2020s their scope and momentum seem only to be growing as their brand becomes more and more of a household name.
THE A24 MOVEMENT
A24’s success is wildly encouraging for cinephiles like myself. Over the years I have grown weary with the continual release and re-release of franchises and sequels. Every time I would sit down in a theater and watch the trailers for upcoming films, I would find myself scratching my head with boredom.
“Oh great, another Batman.”
While these movies are most certainly entertaining, they’re just too easy. They don’t really challenge anyone or anything or even ask questions that need to be asked. They exist to entertain, although an argument could be made that that is the most honorable goal of any endeavor.
Yet film as an art form has suffered for many years. Interesting directors and writers armed with unique stories haven’t been given their chances because studios pour every last cent they have into major blockbusters.
All these elements created the perfect gap in the industry for A24 to fill.
And fill it, they did.
Now, amidst the endless trailers for major budget action films and romantic comedies, we can find tucked away some beautiful pieces stamped with the ever recognizable A24 logo.
These films are almost always polarizing which is a good thing for a piece of art to be. They challenge industry norms, represent the unrepresented, and leave audience members with something to chew on other than just two hours of escapism.
I hesitate to use the word renaissance but, in a sense, what we’re seeing with what A24 is a movement of sorts.
Take impressionism, for instance. Impressionism was an art movement born in 19th century France at the hands of a few artists who decided they no longer wanted to depict religious and mythological scenes with realism.
Instead, these artists moved their canvases outdoors and began to paint snapshots of various landscapes and scenes. They used vibrant colors and unique brush strokes that threw the art world into a frenzy. Their work too was, at the time, incredibly polarizing. Yet now, as they have served as the forefathers of abstract and modern art, we can’t imagine a world in which the impressionists didn’t exist.
While A24 isn’t the one holding the brush, they are buying paints and putting them in the hands of some incredible folks who have been criminally overlooked by the rest of Hollywood. They’re taking scripts directly out of Universal’s dumpster and facilitating absolute classics with them.
CONCLUSION
As I’ve said multiple times, A24 is a beacon of hope for the film industry. Their confidence in the fringe artists of the world is exactly what we all needed to shake the dust from movies and television.
Looking forward, I for one am giddy with excitement to see what this brilliant company releases next. I’m also looking forward to seeing how they inspire other similarly minded production companies to sprout up. Like Monet inspired the likes of Cezanne, so too shall A24 embolden the flame of originality that lies within artists everywhere.
One day, film scholars of the future will look back on this period much like how art historians look back on the advent of impressionism and I am certainly glad I was afforded the opportunity to live through it all.
Thank you, A24.
