With the end of 2024 rapidly approaching and the school year kicking off, it’s important to take a step back and reflect on the many movies released this year—from horror movies like “Trap” to animated children’s movies such as “Kung Fu Panda 4.” According to Box Office Mojo, some of the highest-grossing movies of the year include “Inside Out 2,” the Pixar animated sequel to “Inside Out;” “Mean Girls,” a remake of the popular classic; and “A Quiet Place: Day One,” a horror and science fiction film about aliens.

Students find themselves divided on their favorite movies of 2024 so far. Many expressed a liking for the most popular horror movies, while others thought the action and comedy movies were better. Freshman Roxy Burnham expressed that her favorite movie was the horror film “Longlegs,” saying, “I just really like the thrill of it and I thought it was a good horror movie.” “Longlegs” follows an FBI agent attempting to solve a mystery. Other students shared Burnham’s opinion of liking horror movies, with junior Rory Morrison stating her favorite movie was “Trap,” a film that involves a man and his daughter who find themselves stuck in a serial killer investigation. “It was just a scary movie, and I like scary movies, it was just really interesting,” Morrison explained.

Despite the popularity of horror movies, other students found themselves enjoying action movies the best. “Twisters” appeared as a favorite movie of many different students, including senior Dylan Tibbs. “I liked it because we actually lived through the tornado that went through Portage and it felt pretty realistic, and it was cool to see everything and know that I went through one of those as well.” While Dylan enjoyed the plot, relatability, and realistic aspect, junior Lexi Kamrath liked the movie for a completely different reason. “[I liked it] because of Glen Powell,” she said, smiling. Twisters follow two groups of storm chasers, one chasing for scientific research purposes and the other for YouTube content. Throughout the movie, the rivalry between the two groups deteriorates and fuses into a group that focuses on storm chases for scientific research while getting YouTube content at the same time.

Amid the popular horror and action movies, a few students expressed their love for the animated movies released this year. Freshman Sacred Williamson revealed her favorite movie of 2024 to be “Inside Out 2.” “I like how they incorporated new emotions, and how she grew up and everything. And the anxiety character was very relatable.” “Inside Out 2” is an adaptation of the emotions that live within the human brain, it is a Disney Pixar animation with the feels of all the emotions you can feel. Throughout the movie we see new emotions being added to the teenagers’ brain.

If one thing can be said about the most popular movies of 2024, it’s that there is no clear best one or favorite. Weigh in on the poll below to help settle the debate!