A24 Draft | Archive

In this special episode of Filmspotting, hosts Adam and Josh revisit their 2022 A24 Draft to celebrate the distributor's 10th anniversary, turning their personal top 10 A24 films into a competitive movie draft. After a playful tiebreaker with Quizmaster Thomas Todd—won by Josh with a correct guess of 85 minutes for Tom Hardy’s *Lock*—the two begin their draft with alternating picks. Josh starts strong with *Lady Bird*, while Adam counters with *Ex Machina*, setting the tone for a high-stakes, emotionally charged competition. As the draft unfolds, both hosts reveal their strategies: Adam leans into personal favorites, film festival programming, and crowd appeal, while Josh balances nostalgia, critical acclaim, and strategic sabotage. Key picks include *Moonlight*, *First Reformed*, *Under the Skin*, *The Florida Project*, *Everything Everywhere All at Once*, *The Green Knight*, *Uncut Gems*, *Marcel the Shell*, *While We're Young*, and *The Lobster*. The episode culminates in a heartfelt reflection on A24’s decade-long legacy, with both hosts expressing admiration for the studio’s bold, diverse, and artistically ambitious catalog. The draft ends with Adam triumphantly claiming his final pick—*Lock*—as a personal statement, cementing his list as a deeply idiosyncratic yet cohesive celebration of A24’s impact. The episode is rich with film analysis, personal anecdotes, and meta-commentary on the nature of film criticism and fandom. Both hosts acknowledge the emotional weight of their choices, especially Adam’s loss of *Lady Bird* to Josh, which he calls a 'haunting' moment. They also discuss the evolving nature of their tastes, the importance of diversity in film selection, and the role of personal connection in cinematic appreciation. The episode closes with a tease for future drafts, suggesting they may revisit this format every five years to track how their tastes—and A24’s output—evolve. The tone is warm, humorous, and deeply affectionate toward the films and the process of curating them, making it a love letter to both A24 and the art of film curation.