The 10 Best Movies in Theaters Right Now (2024)

August 2024 is bringing some of this year's biggest movies, and these, along with some of July's most popular releases, are now playing in theaters. 2023 was a big year for cinema after a couple of tough years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with massive, record-breaking box-office successes and critically acclaimed stories – and, luckily, this good streak continues this year. 2024 also has various highly-anticipated movies coming up, of which some can be currently enjoyed in theaters.

July brought a variety of movies for a summer full of options for all ages and tastes, such as Despicable Me 4, Ti West's Maxxxine, the horror movies Longlegs and Oddity, the disaster movie Twisters, and the debut of Deadpool in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Deadpool & Wolverine. August is also bringing exciting movies from different genres, and joining M. Night Shyamalan's Trap now are an action movie based on a video game series, a drama movie based on a novel, and a sci-fi horror thriller.

10 Borderlands

Borderlands was released on August 9, 2024

Borderlands

3.5

PG-13

Director

Eli Roth

Release Date

August 9, 2024

Cast

Cate Blanchett , Kevin Hart , Jack Black , Ariana Greenblatt , Florian Munteanu , Jamie Lee Curtis , Edgar Ramirez , Gina Gershon

Runtime

102 Minutes

Borderlands is a sci-fi action comedy movie directed by Eli Roth. Based on the video game series of the same name developed by Gearbox Software, Borderlands follows Lilith, an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past who reluctantly returns to her home planet. Lilith is on a mission to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., and for that, she teams up with a former elite mercenary, a feral teenage demolitionist, her musclebound protector, a scientist, and a robot. Together, they fight monsters and bandits to find and protect the missing girl.

You can read Screen Rant’s Borderlands review here.

9 It Ends With Us

It Ends With Us was released on August 9, 2024

It Ends With Us

2.5

Director

Justin Baldoni

Release Date

August 9, 2024

Cast

Blake Lively , Justin Baldoni , Brandon Sklenar , Jenny Slate , Hasan Minhaj

Runtime

130 Minutes

It Ends With Us is a romantic drama movie directed by Justin Baldoni and based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover. It’s the story of Lily, who moves to Boston to chase her dreams and meets charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. Lily and Ryle fall in love, but she soon discovers sides of him that remind her of her parents’ unhealthy relationship. To further complicate it, Lily comes across her first love, Atlas, and so she must rely on her inner strength to make a tough decision.

You can read Screen Rant’s It Ends With Us review here.

8 Cuckoo

Cuckoo was released on August 9, 2024

Cuckoo (2024)

3.5

R

Director

Tilman Singer

Release Date

August 9, 2024

Cast

Hunter Schafer , Dan Stevens , Jessica Henwick , Marton Csokas , Astrid Bergès-Frisbey , Greta Fernández , Kalin Morrow , Mila Lieu

Runtime

102 Minutes

Cuckoo is a sci-fi horror thriller written and directed by Tilman Singer. Cuckoo follows 17-year-old Gretchen, who is forced to move with her father and his new family to a resort in the German Alps. Once there, Gretchen realizes there’s something sinister in their new home, more so after her father’s boss, Mr. König, takes a strange interest in Gretchen’s mute half-sister. Gretchen is then haunted by strange noises and violent visions and makes a horrifying discovery that involves her and her family.

You can read Screen Rant’s Cuckoo review here.

7 Trap

Trap was released on August 2, 2024

Trap is a psychological thriller directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and as expected, it has a big twist – but it was revealed in the trailers. Trap follows Cooper, who takes his teenage daughter to the concert of pop star Lady Raven. At the venue, he notices cameras everywhere and police officers at every door and outside. Cooper learns from an employee at the venue that the concert is a trap for a serial killer known as “The Butcher” – and Cooper is said killer. Trap has more twists than Cooper being “The Butcher”, staying true to Shyamalan’s movies.

6 Harold and the Purple Crayon

Harold and the Purple Crayon was released on August 2, 2024

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a live-action/animated fantasy-comedy directed by Carlos Saldanha. It follows Harold, a book character who is now a grown man. Harold has a magical purple crayon that brings to life whatever he draws, and he uses it to draw himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world. Luckily for Harold, the crayon still works in the human world, allowing him to create all sorts of things while learning everything he can about real life.

5 Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine was released on July 26, 2024

4.0

R

Director

Shawn Levy

Release Date

July 26, 2024

Cast

Ryan Reynolds , Hugh Jackman , Emma Corrin , Morena Baccarin , Rob Delaney , Leslie Uggams , Karan Soni , Matthew Macfadyen , Brianna Hildebrand , Shioli Kutsuna , Stefan Kapicic , Lewis Tan , Randal Reeder , Jennifer Garner , Aaron Stanford , Billy Clements , Ollie Palmer , Chris Hemsworth , Rob McElhenney

Runtime

127 Minutes

prequel(s)

Deadpool , Deadpool 2

The long-awaited MCU debut of The Merc with a Mouth is finally here. Directed by Shawn Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine is set six years after the events of Deadpool 2, and sees Wade Wilson living a quiet life after leaving his time as Deadpool behind him. His peace is interrupted by the Time Variance Authority, who pulls him into a new mission as his home universe faces an existential threat. This new mission forces Deadpool to join forces with Wolverine, and together, they will change the history of the MCU.

You can read Screen Rant’s here.

4 Twisters

Twisters was released on July 19, 2024

Twisters

4.0

PG-13

Director

Lee Isaac Chung

Release Date

July 19, 2024

Cast

Daisy Edgar-Jones , Glen Powell , Anthony Ramos , Brandon Perea , Daryl McCormack

Runtime

117 Minutes

prequel(s)

Twister

Twisters is a disaster film directed by Lee Isaac Chung. It follows Kate Cooper, a former stormchaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado. Kate is lured back to the open plains by her friend Javi as the storm season intensifies to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. Kate collides with charming but reckless social media superstar Tyler Owens, but when terrifying, never-before-seen phenomena are unleashed, Kate, Javi, Tyler, and their competing teams find themselves fighting for their lives in the paths of multiple storm systems converging.

You can read Screen Rant’s Twisters review here.

3 Longlegs

Longlegs was released on July 12, 2024

Longlegs

3.5

R

Director

Oz Perkins

Release Date

July 12, 2024

Cast

Maika Monroe , Nicholas Cage , Alicia Witt , Blair Underwood

Runtime

101 Minutes

Longlegs is a horror thriller written and directed by Osgood Perkins. Set in the 1990s, Longlegs follows Lee Harker, a new FBI agent who is assigned to an unsolved case involving a Satanic serial killer known as “Longlegs”. The more Harker investigates and the more occult evidence is uncovered, the more complicated the case gets, and even more so when she realizes a personal link to the killer, prompting her to act fast to prevent another family murder.

You can read Screen Rant’s Longlegs review here.

2 Despicable Me 4

Despicable Me 4 was released on July 3, 2024

Despicable Me 4

3.0

PG

Director

Chris Renaud , Patrick Delage

Release Date

July 3, 2024

Cast

Steve Carell , Kristen Wiig , Miranda Cosgrove , Steve Coogan , Pierre Coffin , Joey King

Runtime

95 Minutes

prequel(s)

Despicable Me (2010) , Despicable Me 2 , Despicable Me 3

The Despicable Me franchise continues its expansion with a fourth movie, reuniting the audience with Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, Agnes… and the minions. Despicable Me 4 introduces the latest member of this one-of-a-kind family: Gru Jr., Gru and Lucy’s baby boy. When criminal Maxime Le Mal escapes from prison and he and his girlfriend, Valentina, seek revenge on Gru, the latter and his family are forced into relocation for their protection. As they get used to their new identities, home, and a “normal life”, Gru and his family are unable to escape conflict and adventure.

You can read Screen Rant’s Despicable Me 4 review here.

1 Inside Out 2

Inside Out 2 was released on June 14, 2024

Inside Out 2

3.5

PG

Director

Kelsey Mann

Release Date

June 14, 2024

Cast

Amy Poehler , Tony Hale , Maya Hawke , Liza Lapira , Lewis Black , Phyllis Smith , Diane Lane

Runtime

96 Minutes

Joy, Sadness, and the rest of Riley’s emotions are back in the long-awaited sequel to Pixar’s 2015 hit Inside Out. Directed by Kelsey Mann in his feature directorial debut, Inside Out 2 follows Riley, now a 13-year-old teenager, and her emotions Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust, as the headquarters of the emotions undergo a sudden demolition to make room for new emotions. The new group is led by Anxiety, and they arrive to change the already established dynamic of Joy and her friends.

You can read Screen Rant’s Inside Out 2 review here.