Welcome to the 2024 SiftPop.com Sifties!
This year, the SiftPop writers came together to nominate five ensembles for Best Film Ensemble. An acting ensemble is often an important ingredient to a successful film, and we wanted to recognize that with this award!
Perhaps the smallest ensemble cast of the bunch, Challengers is effectively a three-hander, starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor as the three leads. Zendaya, leveraging her superstar status, acts as the glue that holds the film together, and the film would not work without an actress whose presence exudes such instantly iconic energy. As much as her work on the film as both an actress and producer is essential to the success of the unconventional love triangle at the film’s center, Faist and O’Connor’s performances take Challengers to the next level. Despite containing a smaller ensemble of actors than the other nominees, it is the reliance of Challengers on the group dynamic of its three leads that makes it such a worthy entry to this list. This is not a single-actor showcase, and each actor’s brilliance only adds to that of their co-stars.
The most unique casting decision of 2024 is also one of the best, as the ensemble for Sing Sing put on one of the best collective performances of the cinematic year. Apart from a couple of exceptions, the film tells the story of the drama troupe in the titular prison using a cast filled largely with former inmates from the very troupe. It also uses their actual audition tapes in the movie. With Colman Domingo and stage veteran Sean San Jose providing a foundation, the members of the troupe help fill out the cast. If you didn’t know they weren’t professional actors heading into your viewing, you wouldn’t be able to tell, as they’re performances that feel on par with their professional colleagues. Often, saying someone is just “playing themselves” is used as a pejorative. However, here, it’s largely why the film works as a whole, as the cast is able to tap into real-life experience and produce something that’s undeniably powerful.
When you look at a movie’s poster to see Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini, it’s already an exciting prospect. They’re four of the best and most reliable names in the business, and they have been for a long time. They have the meatiest parts in Conclave, with Fiennes’ central character’s internal struggles being the catalyst for a lot of the thematic work. Tucci, Lithgow, and Rossellini each get their chance to shine as well, either with a monologue, or in Rossellini’s case, a highly memorable single moment. When you add on Lucian Msmati, Carlos Diehz, and Sergio Castellitto, three names who may not be as well known in the States, but who are no less qualified and talented, you have a truly excellent ensemble cast, with each of the actors showing off their bonafides in big ways.
Behind-the-scenes movies about making movies, shows, or music, despite having a predetermined outcome, can still be highly watchable, and that’s often because the movie features a group of incredibly talented actors. Saturday Night is one such example, and is one of the best ensemble casts of 2024. It would be so easy for these young actors to simply watch old tape and do their best impression of the well-known SNL cast members, and yet they don’t. They all get a moment to shine and embody the talents of yesteryear in one way or another. Everyone knows what Gilda Radner, Jim Henson, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Billy Crystal, and Jane Curtin look and sound like. But Ella Hunt, Nicholas Braun, Dylan O’Brien, Corey Michael Smith, Nicholas Podany, and Kim Matula, as well as a dozen others, bring their roles to life, making Saturday Night one of the funniest and most entertaining movies of the year.
Apart from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, there aren’t many sci-fi or fantasy franchises which are heightened by their immensely talented casts as much as Dune is. Led by Timothée Chalamet’s astounding turn as Paul Atreides, the cast makes you either emotionally buy into the deeply technical science fiction world, or fear them like you would a real world leader. Zendaya makes the biggest leap between movies, acting as Part Two’s beating heart, and it’s heartbreaking to watch Javier Bardem’s Stilgar slowly devolve from staunch leader to rambling fanatic. Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Rampling, Florence Pugh, and Léa Seydoux are calmly threatening members of the Bene Gesserit, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Stellan Skarsgård, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, and of course Austin Butler are menacing (and in Butler’s case, highly entertaining) as the out-and-out baddies of the world, and Josh Brolin is great as the political fanatic, the other side of the coin to Stilgar. Together, they ground a world with spice, sandworms, and space travel.
Make sure to check out the previous 2024 Sifties winners, and don’t forget to check back on Monday for the winner of Best Audio Experience!