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For a few years now it feels like the pervasive attitude towards cinema has been pessimistic -certainly among the people who genuinely care: the professionals, critics, fans and experts. In U.S. Hollywood filmmaking at least, some of the trends we’re seeing emerge, specifically surrounding the business and labour side of things, has been grim and discouraging. Talks recently were revealed between Warner Bros. and Paramount regarding a potential acquisition of the latter studio by the former. Whole movies are still being shelved or removed forever from digital platforms. Companies like A24 are toying with franchise ambitions. A.I. is now a credible threat to the careers of artists. And in addition to these are the still prevalent issues revolving around creative output, distribution for non-franchise fare, the death of any capital interest in mid-budget movies or movies at all for adults, and a hundred other things that have been plaguing the industry in what can sometimes seem like the dimmest point in its history.
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But in 2023 such grievances seemed to finally break through in some capacity beyond the spaces of film twitter and the like, as audiences more broadly have reacted negatively to several of the old vanguards and studio tricks alike. On the business end, we saw the mass mobilization of public opinion in favour of artists during the historic double strike of the writers and actors guilds -that no P.R. campaign from the studios could quell. We’ve seen them react more erratically to the unpopularity of various high power decisions -clearly surprised by such strong sentiments against things like the gutting of TCM. And as for the actual movies themselves, boy was this a shocker of a year for the reigning system. Only two of eight wide-release superhero movies this year managed to be bona fide hits -as it happens they were the two best as well. Marvel, and Disney’s grip more generally on the popular entertainment realm, began to weaken as none of their other projects managed to make much of a splash either -many of them doing well, but not to the accustomed exorbitant level. And while Super Mario Bros. being one of the biggest hits of the year came as no surprise, the Barbenheimer phenomenon absolutely did. Even though Barbie is technically a culturally known intellectual property, it was just as much a unique artistic vision as its unlikely counterpart Oppenheimer -and both movies were mega-hits clearly in part because of that.
And among so much bad news, that really was cause to rejoice. As have been several other little box office victories through the year: Killers of the Flower Moon -one of Martin Scorsese’s highest-grossing movies in initial release, The Boy and the Heron -the first number one at the box office for an anime movie and validation of Hayao Miyazaki’s international reputation, and Godzilla Minus One -this year’s representative of the exceptionally keen blockbuster instincts that exist outside of the U.S. For as bleak as the movie scene can seem, there are signs it is finally evolving to a healthy place.
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Of course there were a ton of great movies this year, but the fact they came from both the expected regions and regions of box office success or notoriety means something. And there were enough that even in extending my Best of the Year list I feel I’ve left a lot of really good ones out. Further still, there are a handful I have great anticipation for that I haven’t been able to see yet: The Zone of Interest, All of Us Strangers, Perfect Days, Origin, The Beast, and Hit Man, any or all of which could upend this list drastically.
Out of 104 movies at the time of writing that I saw in 2023, there were of course more than 23 worthy of regard. So here are some honourable mentions before I present the list proper:
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Dream Scenario (written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli), Priscilla (written and directed by Sofia Coppola), Wonka (written by Simon Farnaby and Paul King, directed by Paul King), The New Boy (written and directed by Warwick Thornton), The Royal Hotel (written by Kitty Green and Oscar Redding, directed by Kitty Green), BlackBerry (written by Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, directed by Matt Johnson), Creed III (written by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin, directed by Michael B. Jordan), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit, directed by Jeff Rowe), A Thousand and One (written and directed by A.V. Rockwell), The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and associated shorts (written and directed by Wes Anderson), Talk to Me (written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, directed by Danny and Michael Philippou), and Polite Society (written and directed by Nina Manzoor).
Now, Part One of the Best Movies of 2023!
23. Barbie -written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, directed by Greta Gerwig
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Polite Society was the last cut I made and it was a tough one. And while Barbie may feel like a populist choice, it is I think slightly more interesting. What could have been such a basic corporate product, shallowly shilling its brand wound up in the hands of Greta Gerwig a creatively funny, accessible examination of feminism, patriarchy, and gender roles more broadly. A wry take on brand synergy unlike anything since The Lego Movie, it may go a bit easy on certain topics and targets (such as intersectionality and the execs at Mattel), but it cuts no corners where it pertains to its criticism of gendered boxes -for the Kens as well as the Barbies. Margot Robbie is of course fantastic, and Ryan Gosling completely steals the show in a wildly funny performance of dopey machismo (though I also think Rhea Perlman deserves more credit than she gets). The production work is astounding, as Gerwig’s team creates a world believably made of plastic, and its influences, from classic American musicals to Jacques Tati, proscribes a really unique flavour for such a big Hollywood product. A sharp and inventive movie that probes unexpected depths (and has a great soundtrack of original songs to boot), Barbie is one of the most satisfying box office juggernauts in recent years.
Barbie is streaming on Crave, and available to rent digitally.
22. American Fiction -written and directed by Cord Jefferson
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We're years deep now into the conversation around representational art and authenticity, and Cord Jefferson's American Fiction is the ripe movie to interrogate modern America's relationship to black identity and its cultural reach. The story of how a resentful black author writes a fake 'black book' out of spite only to have it become a sensation takes a lot of deserved shots at the publishing industry and the shallow range of a mainstream white readership, but it also challenges this man himself on his own presumptions and racial blinders towards the value that can be inherent to such simplified stories. It is a nuanced and highly thoughtful examination of black art and artistry; and at the same time a compelling and heartfelt family drama, that exists both opposite and in relation to the professional storyline -in its way exemplifying the very versatility in black literature its protagonist strives for. Jeffrey Wright delivers a thorough and outstanding lead performance of a kind he has long deserved, carrying the movie through its intellectual and meta satire and its grounded human moments alike. Intuitively funny and refreshingly contemplative in its diligent approach, American Fiction is a movie well worth laughing with and mulling over.
American Fiction is currently playing in theatres.
21. The Holdovers -written by David Hemingson, directed by Alexander Payne
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Watching this movie again at home over the holidays with my parents, let me just say it improves on a second viewing. The conventions of The Holdovers, for what they are, are very satisfying. Though sentimental, it is never saccharine -and is the rare holiday movie to acknowledge a certain misery that comes with that time of year. And yet it extracts warmth nonetheless. Alexander Payne's 1970s aesthetics work wonders to immerse you in that quaint New England setting, the music and small details adding an air of legitimacy. And though Payne didn't write this film himself, the dialogue has the same comic sharpness as Sideways -if not so rough around the edges. Speaking of which, Paul Giamatti is delightful in a role tailor-made for him, though Dominic Sessa is a tremendous foil with serious dramatic chops of his own, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph walks away with any scene she is in. A film about loneliness, there's a special delight to moments of the trio making their own Cherries Jubilee in a parking lot or sitting together watching the New Years countdown on TV. It is a consummate feel-good movie, without any of the qualifiers that come with that term.
The Holdovers is currently playing in some theatres, and available to rent digitally.
20. Rye Lane -written by Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller
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Of the several noble attempts this year to revive the romantic-comedy, the best was of course one of the least seen -offloaded onto Disney+ with little hype around it. But Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane did more to bring the genre into the modern age and to spaces it has been historically excluded from than any other movie this year. Set over a single day in South London as two young strangers played by Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson chat, commiserate, and re-litigate the circumstances of recent break-ups, it is a fun and fiendish, original and stylish take on the ‘meet-cute’ that plays exceptionally to both Allen-Miller’s exquisitely slick sense of rhythm and the endearing sweetness and charisma of the two leads, who compliment each other as well as romantic characters ever could. Taking place almost exclusively in predominantly black corners of Peckham and Brixton, it is a subtle celebration too of black British culture -so often unseen in media impressions of the city -as it creates a tapestry behind its story of so many other stories taking place. An exhilarating, mesmerizing, and brilliantly funny movie at that, Rye Lane is the breath of freshness the rom-com has long deserved.
Rye Lane is streaming on Disney+.
19. The Adults -written and directed by Dustin Guy Defa
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Few movies I have seen better understand the intricate, specific nature of sibling relationships than Dustin Guy Defa’s unassuming The Adults -a movie about three grown children. Depicting a reunion between a brother and two sisters, each undergoing their own issues of psychological, emotional or financial instability in the years after their mother’s death, it is a movie that deals intimately in the nuances of sibling dynamics -their bubble of in-jokes, characters, shorthand and songs that united them in youth and now function as both a shield from their lives’ realities and an outlet for repairing their broken bond, and in at least one respect a directionless life more emphatically. A greatly authentic and touching movie that speaks to the gravity of familial rifts, the anxiety of loneliness, and the discipline in letting go of childhood, it features astoundingly measured performances from Michael Cera, Hannah Gross, and Sophia Lillis -the latter the delicate heart of this dysfunctional little family and instigator of its endearing reformation. A greater surprise of a bittersweet indie drama did not cross my path this year, and the pure sentimental warmth of its final scenes, impressions, and charming atmosphere are still imprinted on me.
The Adults is streaming on Amazon Prime, and available to rent digitally.
18. Mission: Impossible -Dead Reckoning Part One -written by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen, directed by Christopher McQuarrie
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I came to the Mission: Impossible series only last year, but quite readily the long-standing affection for it amongst other movie fans rubbed off. And I’m glad it did in time for Dead Reckoning, one of its strongest instalments -that sees Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt go up against an ultra-powerful godlike A.I. (a not-so-subtle metaphor for one of the modern entertainment industry’s greatest existential threats -as Cruise is wont to defend against). Featuring some of the series’ most exciting action sequences, intense character drama, and thrilling set-pieces, it is an old-school Hollywood blockbuster in the best sense of the term, and showing little of its age -as in addition to the regular likeable crew (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and a magnetic as ever Rebecca Ferguson), dynamic new performances from Esai Morales, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, and especially Hayley Atwell inject some welcome fresh blood into the high-stakes adventure and enrich a world already teeming with fun potential. It is the most critical episode of the series in its cautionary tale, one of the more fascinating Mission: Impossible films to dissect, but it’s greatest strength is simply the success of its mission -a thrilling, inventive, and expertly-crafted action movie.
Mission: Impossible -Dead Reckoning Part One is available to rent digitally.
17. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. -written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig
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It is the normality and frankness of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. that makes it so exceptional a movie. The long-awaited adaptation of the Judy Blume classic, directed by the coming-of-age dramedy’s greatest new voice, Kelly Fremon Craig, breaks barriers simply for being unafraid to discuss in a healthy, sometimes funny context the details of girlhood puberty -from bodily development to sexual feelings to theological introspection. Beautifully sincere and honest in its understanding of those most awkward years of childhood, it subtly ridicules the very idea of its subjects being taboo. But even for its pretensions of ordinariness, it is still an impeccably crafted movie that relates its story in thoughtful, compelling ways. Featuring terrific performances from Abby Ryder Fortson and Rachel McAdams, it is a keenly felt family drama in addition to all else, with just as much emotional authenticity wrapped up in the lives of the Simon clan as in the James L. Brooks movies Fremon Craig was inspired by (Brooks himself is the primary producer of the film). Like the book before it, there’s a value to it that can’t be understated and which for its dated time period, will only grow more apparent as the years go by.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is available to rent digitally.
16. Anatomy of a Fall -written by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, directed by Justine Triet
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One of the best legal dramas in years, potently depicting the shrewd discriminations of the justice system as well as the draining process of undergoing a case itself, Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy of a Fall is an extremely gripping and intelligent movie. As it depicts the fallout of a death, initially ruled a suicide, that becomes a murder case targeting the victim’s wife due to circumstantial evidence, it’s elaborate dedication to authenticity in both legal process and theatre allows it a captivating immediacy unlike any other. The nuance to how the arguments play out, the media sensation that surrounds the scandal around a figure of some public reputation, and the arduous toll it takes on the clearly innocent party in all of this. Sandra Hüller delivers the most unshakable performance of the year as the frustrated and steadfast woman enduring dozens of baseless attacks on her character. Milo Machado-Graner is fantastic also as her son, dealing with the trauma of the aspersions cast here on both his parents. For as much as Triet values realism, it is her breaks from it through flashback or imagination that yes, reveal a subjective lens, but one coated in the truth of what abusive systems and abusive relationships, really are. A singularly powerful film.
Anatomy of a Fall is available to rent digitally.
15. Godzilla Minus One -written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki
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Godzilla but Jaws was such an inspired idea! The latest entry in the longest lasting cinematic franchise on the eve of its 70th anniversary, is one that utterly redefines and re-contextualizes the power that this series can have. Godzilla has represented many things over the years, but here the monster as a symbol of trauma and guilt feels incredibly bold and refreshing. It and its rampages of catastrophic destruction feel harrowing for the first time in years as it is drawn in relation to value on human life and a highly endearing cast of human characters, many of them wounded by the war, and who have a lot to lose. That scrappy gang of mine-sweepers, mere archetypes given life by really stupendous actors, are such a treat. As is the home-life and personal drama of protagonist Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), struggling to adjust to the post-war landscape. Made on a reduced budget for a film like this, yet by far the best-looking entry in the Japanese franchise, Godzilla Minus One is a triumph of the less-is-more mentality, and a better constructed spectacle blockbuster than most of the attempts coming out of Hollywood -certainly it puts every American Godzilla movie to shame.
Godzilla Minus One is currently playing in some theatres.
14. Beau is Afraid -written and directed by Ari Aster
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I’m sure Ari Aster would take it as a great compliment the notion that Beau is Afraid was the strangest movie of the year. Certainly it was one of the most ambitious experiments by a relatively major filmmaker this year: a dense nightmare of a movie drenched in surreal metaphor and psychoanalysis ostensibly about a highly anxious and idiosyncratic middle-aged man attempting to visit his mother. On this odyssey though, every horror the titular Beau could experience comes to life and torments him. It is a very abrasive movie that challenges its audiences endurance for how much misfortune Beau can suffer, but in and around all that it is an incredibly fascinating movie, both on its compelling, highly Freudian themes, and its sharply shifting aesthetics, deranged in some sequences, hauntingly poetic in others. For as intense as it can be it is also quite funny -in a warped sort of way perhaps- and especially the more the characters become symbols or avatars. This doesn’t mean they aren’t tremendous fun though -Aster’s cast made up of the likes of Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Richard Kind, Parker Posey, and a scene-stealing Patti LuPone as Beau’s imposing mother. Joaquin Phoenix of course carries it all though, one of his most eccentric performances in a brazen and audaciously eccentric movie.
Beau is Afraid is available to rent digitally.
13. The Boy and the Heron -written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki
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I have to admit I wasn’t initially keen on the idea of Miyazaki coming back after a ten year absence -especially given The Wind Rises both artistically and thematically seemed to put a perfect cap on his career. Yet while I don’t think The Boy and the Heron is as good, now that I have seen it (twice) I don’t want to live in a world where Miyazaki isn’t still out there making movies. A triumphant comeback that both captures the whimsy of his prior fantasy masterpieces and demonstrates an unprecedented maturity for him in tone and theme, it draws on personal experiences and feelings to produce one of the ripest coming-of-age narratives he’s ever told. The story of a boy at a critical juncture in adolescence, processing grief and change while he traverses an underworld guided by an enigmatic heron to rescue his stepmother, it is also as visually phenomenal as anything the great maestro has ever made -a living testament to the power of traditional animation in its vibrant energy and exquisite detail. Abounding in imagination, thrilling character, stirring music, terrific voice acting, and a tantalizing richness behind it’s core value, how do you live, it is a perfect comeback for this titan of the animation form.
The Boy and the Heron is currently playing in theatres.
12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 -written and directed by James Gunn
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Yes it may be sacrilege to put a Marvel movie ahead of a Miyazaki movie, but in fairness it is the best Marvel movie in the sixteen years of that company’s cultural dominance. Weird yet fitting that it should come in what may otherwise be Marvel’s worst year. But the swansong to James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy absolutely exemplified the kind of heights a silly yet sincere comic book movie ought to aspire towards. It tells the dual narratives of the Guardians going on a last adventure together to save Rocket Raccoon whilst also exploring his own fraught and traumatic backstory -to which degree the movie pulls no emotional punches, going to necessary uncomfortable places no MCU movie before would ever dare to. Coloured by creativity in its world-building, a fun and energized sense of humour, and a collection of really sharp and potent musical choices -a staple of this series, it is an astonishingly investing movie, and more artful than it gets credit for. Most impressively, it is a conclusive ending, with its characters and their arcs brought to a mature and satisfying close unlike just about anything in the modern blockbuster landscape. Marvel will probably not produce much good for the foreseeable future, but at least Gunn and the Guardians were allowed to go out on the strongest possible terms.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is streaming on Disney+, and available to rent digitally.
11. John Wick: Chapter 4 -written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, directed by Chad Stahelski
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Nothing in American action cinema can quite equal John Wick in energy, originality, and style, and this last instalment shockingly found new heights to take the series to. As Keanu Reeves’ stoic assassin takes on the governing body of the elite international organization that has dominated the elaborate and strangely compelling world of this series, Stahelski (quietly one of the most interesting visual filmmakers in Hollywood) drives the action into Osaka resorts and Berlin nightclubs, utilizing well a broad array of unique characters and versatile fight choreography to colour these sequences and give them depth. Paired with the slick and unrelentingly inventive action is a lot of great humour -a couple ridiculous slapstick bits that aren’t afraid to have fun with the endearing silliness at the core of the movie’s plotting. It is a curiously stirring narrative too though, about the drive for escape and the futility of vengeance, bringing to a satisfying close John Wick’s journey of destruction and revenge. If he can be upstaged it is Donnie Yen who does it, in perhaps the most singularly cool performance of 2023, as the sharp-witted blind assassin Caine. A propulsive movie that wastes none of its time, it is an action pinnacle, casting a long shadow over the future of that genre.
John Wick Chapter 4 is available to rent digitally.
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