If you’re like me, you’ve been watching A24 films for a while without realizing it. Maybe you saw “Spring Breakers” in 2013 and felt heavily scarred but also intrigued as to why Selena Gomez ever agreed to do that movie. Maybe you saw “Moonlight” hit it out of the park at the Oscars in 2016 (albeit with some small mix-ups). Maybe you saw the trailers for “Swiss Army Man” in 2016 and wondered why Daniel Radcliffe wanted to play a corpse. What do all of these movies have in common? They were all produced by A24.

So, here’s the big question: What does having an A24 stamp on a movie mean?

A24 is an independent entertainment company. They provide film distribution, film production and television production—pretty basic company stuff. So, what’s the hype? Who’s behind this mysterious logo? Here’s who: Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, John Hodges and James Schultz. Katz, Fenkel and Hodges all got together in 2012 and decided to make their late night yammerings a reality. Katz came from a film finance group, while Fenkel and Hodges both left positions at other independent film companies. They put down their base in New York City (surprisingly not Los Angeles), and they started doing things differently.

They picked up unique movies, engaged in non-traditional advertising and seemed to only choose projects that attracted them as artists. In 2013, “Spring Breakers,” “The Bling Ring” and “The Spectacular Now” were all produced and are arguably the most recognizable of the A24 produced films that year. The first two should sound familiar—maybe not in the best way—while you may have skimmed past the third on Netflix. Then came one of my favorites, “Amy” (2015), and “Ex Machina” (2015), alongside many, many others that I love…and, of course, everyone else loved, too (or at least most people).

For those of you still thinking, “Katy? What are you TALKING about right now?” I’m just going to plug a couple of their movies that I personally connected with or heard great things about. And that’s why A24 has been so successful. They give you movies that are challenging, unique and leave you with something to chew on. You can see them locally if they’re not picked up by larger theatres. Hi-Pointe Theatre in St. Louis (3 minute drive from campus) has $5 tickets on Wednesdays, $7 tickets for students and shows smaller films that companies like A24 might produce.

‘Amy’ (2015)
This was A24’s first documentary and it was absolutely brilliant. If you ever want to know more about Amy Winehouse/become even more obsessed with her music, watch this film.

‘The Lobster’ (2016)
This movie made me so uncomfortable in the best way. Its premise is a convoluted story involving a dystopian world, people-to-animal transformations and what can only be described as speed dating to survive.

‘The Witch’ (2016)
This piece is one of A24’s most successful and profitable films. I distinctly remember telling my entire high school soccer team the full plot of the movie after seeing it and giving them all nightmares. I’ll never look at a goat the same way again.

‘It Comes At Night’ (2017)
I honestly went into this movie assuming it was another gruesome zombie movie, but then I walked out questioning humanity in general and whether we deserved to survive a post-apocalyptic world.

‘A Ghost Story’ (2017)
Honestly. Mixed reviews. I have never met someone who has agreed with my interpretation of this movie, but I really liked what it made me think about afterward; so, definitely worth the watch. Oh, and it’s just a full movie of watching a guy walk around in a bedsheet with two holes in it for eyes that can’t speak.

‘Lady Bird’ (2017)
Everyone’s seen it; everyone’s heard of it. You really want to hug your mom afterwards.

‘Eighth Grade’ (2018)
This just came out! Bo Burnham, stand-up comic, wrote and directed the screenplay. If you want to know more about this piece, check out our article here!