Top 10 Most Diverse Films of 2024
Graded on Gender, Race, LGBTQ, Disability, and more
Written by Li Lai
Other Top 10 Most Diverse Films: 2024 / 2023 / 2022 / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017
2024 has just about wrapped, so we’re taking this time to celebrate the most inclusive films that came out this year. For folks new to our publication, a quick rundown: We score movies based on metrics for gender parity and racial diversity, taking into account the representation of LGBTQ people, adults over 60, disabilities, religions, and body diversity. (See our full methodology here.)
Our top picks are by no means exhaustive, and if we had all the bandwidth in the world, this list would look a bit different. We didn’t review some great films like Exhibiting Forgiveness, Nickel Boys, Perfect Days, and Queer, but they champion fresh voices, and we applaud them all the same.
Now, without further ado, here are Mediaversity’s Top 10 Most Diverse Films of the year!
10. Anora
Sean Baker, known for tackling themes of socioeconomic inequality in his past films The Florida Project and Tangerine, continues to explore class friction in this year’s Anora. Unlike many media portrayals of sex workers, Baker’s empathetic portrait easily avoids exploitation.
Mediaversity Grade: B+
Anora is currently available for purchase on streaming platforms.
9. Janet Planet
In the feature film debut by Pulitzer-winning playwright Annie Baker, Janet Planet centers around a young girl’s changing relationship with her mother. The female-led movie adds other small moments of inclusion, quietly presenting a rural slice of life from the 1990s that acknowledges diversity rather than glossing over it.
Mediaversity Grade: B+
Janet Planet is currently streaming on Max and rentable on other platforms.
8. Thelma
After more than 70 years of acting on stage and in movies, 93-year-old June Squibb finally got her first leading role in Josh Margolin’s Thelma, which powerfully leverages age and disability for strength and humor. It’s also the final appearance for venerated actor Richard Roundtree, who passed away in 2023.
Mediaversity Grade: B+
Thelma is currently streaming on Hulu and rentable on other platforms.
7. I’ll Be Right There
I’ll Be Right There beams a spotlight on a population that gets little to no onscreen attention—queer women in their 60s. Made imminently watchable by Edie Falco’s neurotic portrayal of a very flawed (but very loving) woman, director Brendan Walsh’s dramedy is full of wry humor and pathos.
Mediaversity Grade: B+
I’ll Be Right There is currently streaming on Apple TV+ and rentable on other platforms.
6. Love Lies Bleeding
Although it centers around a lesbian couple, Love Lies Bleeding transcends simplistic labels of identity and sexuality. Instead, Rose Glass makes these queer characters painfully relatable—all of us trying to be on the right path and making mistakes along the way.
Mediaversity Grade: A-
Love Lies Bleeding is currently streaming on Max and rentable on other platforms.
5. Dìdi
While cinema is no stranger to tales of adolescence, Dìdi brings something new to the table thanks to director Sean Wang’s semi-autobiographical lens that focuses on a Taiwanese American family.
Mediaversity Grade: A-
Dìdi is currently streaming on Peacock and rentable on other platforms.
4. Wicked
Jon M. Chu (In the Heights, Crazy Rich Asians) stamps out another inclusive blockbuster with Wicked, a female-led musical that stars British Nigerian actor Cynthia Erivo and Italian American singer Ariana Grande. While the film doesn’t overtly tackle LGBTQ storylines, ample queer representation in the cast includes Erivo, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Jonathan Bailey, and others.
Mediaversity Grade: A-
Wicked is currently in theaters.
3. Queens (Reinas)
Set in 1990s Peru, Queens (Reinas) takes viewers into a period of unrest and soaring inflation. Ostensibly about a deadbeat dad trying to get to know his daughters, it’s actually the relationships between women in their matriarchal family that provide the most satisfying conclusions.
Mediaversity Grade: A-
Queens (Reinas) is currently streaming on Apple TV+.
2. My Old Ass
My Old Ass gives a fresh spin on coming-of-age movies in more ways than one, not least because its premise involves a mushroom trip that causes its lead to meet and converse with a 39-year-old version of herself. But its most refreshing element is seeing a comfortably out lesbian question her own sexuality. Director Megan Park shows that gender and attraction aren’t fixed points—a message that adds nuance to the usual LGBTQ stories in media.
Mediaversity Grade: A-
My Old Ass is currently streaming on Prime Video.
1. The Last of the Sea Women
The Last of the Sea Women follows an indomitable community of haenyeo, female divers who have been sustainably harvesting seafood from the ocean around South Korea for hundreds of years. With its focus on resilient (and hyper-athletic) Korean women, most of them well into their 70s, 80s, and even 90s, few movies can match the documentary’s inclusiveness.
Mediaversity Grade: A
The Last of the Sea Women is streaming on Apple TV+.
Mediaversity Reviews grades TV & films on gender, race, LGBTQ, disability, and more. Follow us on Bluesky, Twitter, and Facebook to join the conversation!
