I probably say this every year but 2023 was an all-timer year for movie-going. From wholly original blockbusters to stunningly intimate indie hits, there was truly something for ever film fan. I could just as easily do a top 20 list – after all, how can I not talk about May December, Priscilla, OR Across the Spider-Verse?! But I’ve decided to spare you all the extra entries and distill this down to my favourite ten films of the year. Hope you enjoy and, if you haven’t seen them, check out some of these incredible works!
10. Barbie (dir. Greta Gerwig)
A cultural phenomenon that has been talked about to death (so why not add a few more words?). More than just femininity in pink, Gerwig’s Barbie uses its Mattel-backed budget and not so subtle toy (and car?) advertising capabilities to interrogate the silly building blocks we use to form our identities to avoid confronting the truth about the human condition. It’s a concept that shouldn’t work on any level – a huge ad and PR-spin with heart; a toy who teaches us all how to be human and “think about dying” without letting our heels touch the ground for too long. But miraculously, Gerwig does it again.
9. Passages (dir. Ira Sachs)
Passages blew me away with its stunning simplicity. It’s a bit like the chaotic evil version of the Past Lives “love triangle” if they were all trying to undermine one another continually. And, yet, there’s something so delectable about watching it all happen, specifically the use of crop tops as a power move. Fashion and sex in general seem to take on gladiatorial qualities, replacing the expression and intimacy that typically accompany such things. But then there are also moments of genuine love, remorse, and humanity. It’s strange how such a terrible portrait of romantic love can still feel so real and compelling in a way I can’t stop thinking about.
8. John Wick: Chapter 4 (dir. Chad Stahelski)
Among the awards season contenders and overlooked indies is this action juggernaut (at least in my list)! The John Wick series has consistently been some of the most exciting action filmmaking of the last decade and somehow Stahelski found a way to level up this concluding chapter in every possible way. The cinematography stuns, the stunts are some of the grittiest in the history of the action genre, and John… well he’s still a man of few words. Perhaps it’s fitting just to leave this at an emphatic “yeah”.
7. Past Lives (dir. Celine Song)
A quiet and gorgeously rendered debut. Celine Song is a filmmaker to watch, beginning first as an award-winning poet before embarking on the creation of this semi-autobiographical love story. Although, calling it a “romance” may be quite a stretch. Greta Lee’s down-to-earth Nora isn’t necessarily in love with the childhood crush (Teo Yoo) she reunites with after several years. Still, in a stunningly gracious turn, Nora’s husband (John Magaro) encourages her to begin to make peace with the possibility of what could’ve happened if she had never immigrated. Together, the three dive into an unexpected and beautifully poetic ode to love and loss that may just leave you in tears in its final moments.
6. Poor Things (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
After its knockout premiere at Venice, Poor Things quickly became one of my most anticipated films of the year – and it didn’t disappoint. It’s hard to recommend for a variety of reasons but if you’re willing to bear witness to the utter mess of obtaining personhood for two and a half hours you might just find some unexpected grace in the midst of it. It may even just be worth it for Emma Stone’s legendary performance alone, nevermind the gorgeous and surreal production design from Shona Heath and James Price.
5. The Boy and the Heron (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
The Boy and the Heron is Miyazaki’s most complex film to date, finally finding a way to match his fantastical outer sprawl to his protagonist’s inner world. In a year when Across the Spider-Verse seemed to revolutionize the possibilities of the art of animation, Heron one-ups the action flick by doubling down on the storytelling capabilities that truly capture the hearts of film fans. The titular “Boy” – Mahito – often stands rather unfazed as the world around him literally tears apart at the seams, but there’s a sense that his journey (as well as that of his family) are refracted parts of Miyazaki’s own psyche, propelled by his own imagination as he brutally wrestles with what to make in the face of unexpected grief and the terror of mortality.
4. Oppenheimer (dir. Christopher Nolan)
The second half of the Barbenheimer cinematic phenomenon that invigorated the hope of filmgoers and theatre owners alike is still making waves as it continues to sweep awards season. Although it doesn’t top my list, it’s hard to deny the power of Nolan’s in-your-face filmmaking, especially when confronting the weight of what we’ll justify in order to maintain our perceived sense of freedom. Is science alone responsible for some of our greatest feats and most devastating creations? It’s hard to say, although I suspect Nolan believes it’s not the theory alone but those involved in its discovery who bear the weight of our own self-destruction. And yet, the hypocrisy of our larger systems seems equally as nefarious in the much-overlooked third act of the film.
3. Asteroid City (dir. Wes Anderson)
For me, Asteroid City demonstrates the real difficulty TikTokers found in trying to emulate Wes’ style. Sure, his aesthetic sensibilities are unmistakable but it’s often his writing that makes the whole thing work. His wonderfully fantastic and, here specifically, meta-storytelling work to probe deeper, darker truths that his pastel wonderlands would never originally suggest. In much the same way as the next film, Anderson seems to be trying to figure out what the purpose of his art really is in the grand scheme of human existence, providing one of the most life-affirming finales of the year. Sometimes, when we don’t understand how the pieces fit together, all we have to do is just keep telling the story.
2. The Holdovers (dir. Alexander Payne)
A warm sweater of a film. Payne and his undeniably loveable cast embody the cinematic equivalent of a bear hug. For its nostalgic aesthetic (that appears in both the sound and picture), there’s a beautiful, modern heartbeat within the gorgeously crafted screenplay. Payne has such sympathy for his characters and seems to argue we ought to have the same for one another as well. It’s not just an old-fashioned, John Hughes notion after all!
1. The Zone of Interest (dir. Jonathan Glazer)
A legendary feat in the modern filmmaking canon. Jonathan Glazer has created an unshakeable rebuke to our culture of comfort and our notions of “the good life”. By situating us alongside the Commandant of Auschwitz and his family as they seek an idyllic life while bordering the camp wall, he asks us to consider “how could something so twisted be entwined with the mundane?” Screams and gunshots echo throughout the film while the family sit down for meals, going about their days as if nothing is happening. Pretty soon they lose all effect, even for the audience. It’s why in the film’s opening moments (and a few others for good measure), Glazer takes the visual away, leaving us to focus only on the sound and consider what other horrors we may be drowning out in our own lives. A challenging and vital film that unfortunately seems as if it may also be timeless.
Thanks for reading!