One of those best wishes is that we hope you will all see many good films. May our enjoyment of cinema be great this year, as it was last year. And speaking of 2023: it is time for us to share our favorites with you. We had a record turnout this year, with 23 writers chiming in and presenting a list of 75 films (!!).
As always, any ratings and listings like these are dubious at best. It's not a running contest and judging art is mostly subjective. I mean, nobody has seen all films this year, and some of us saw several titles in earlier years, while others of us are still waiting to see them arrive in their corner of the world, sometime in 2024. Hell, one title in the "runners-up" list had its world première in 2021 but didn't make it into some reviewers' countries until 2023!
Therefore, don't get upset or annoyed if your favorite film is rated too low, or is even missing... or if the one film you hated most actually made it into the list. No matter: lists are fun, lists are nice, and every title on here had several backers behind it (so they must have had something going for them).
So take this list with a grain of salt, read this, enjoy it, and may it entice you to check some titles out which could be deserving your attention...
Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or on the thumbnails to skip straight to a page.
Let's start with the Runners Up.
And I chose this picture because it will show up on the main page and everyone will be like "Oh, it's Oppenheimer that won..." and it's not. Or then they will think "Oh wait, no, Asteroid City won!" and yes, right screenshot, but no, it's not at the top of the list.
In fact, it's not even at the top of the Runners Up:
11: Talk to Me
12: Oppenheimer
13: Blackberry
14: John Wick: Chapter 4
15: Past Lives
16: Inu-Oh
17: Asteroid City (See picture above...)
18: When Evil Lurks
19: Bottoms
20: No One Will Save You
OK, let's check out the Top 10!
10: Music
Angela Schanelec's take on the Oedipus story is a bizarre yet beautiful film which leaves people thoroughly moved.
You can read Dustin Chang's review here.
In it, he says: "As demanding as the film is, the experience on the verge of meditation is that much rewarding, especially when viewers let themselves be absorbed in Schanelec's simple yet hypnotic image-weaving. (...) Schanelec's latest work is the celebration of the transcendental nature of music and cinema. Once again, Schanelec proved to be the master of minimalist cinema."
9: Fallen Leaves
Aki Kaurismaki's newest film is a romantic comedy, kind of...
Wait, what? A rom-com in our top 10?!!
You can read Ankit Jhunjhunwala's review here, and he explains it.
In the review, he states: All actors are directed to be entirely poker-faced for the duration of the film, dispassionate, detached, and nearly robotic. And yet, you might catch yourself with a lump in your throat at the end of it all, willing with all your might for these two people to somehow end up together, for at least one ray of hope in this unfeeling universe.
8: The Zone of Interest
Jonathan Glazer makes films that stay with you. Under the Skin, to name an example, got under your skin, so to speak. His newest, about a family happily living at Auschwitz while constantly ignoring what's happening literally feet away from them, has similar lasting powers: our Kurt Halfyard had this to say:
An almost unremarkable domestic drama powerfully demonstrates the stark banality of evil, by what it does not show, or barely shows. Jonathan Glazer’s Zone of Interest is one of the most singular movie going experiences of the year. It does much of the work in the sound design, and in the headspace of the viewers. If there is an heir to the mantle of Kubrickian filmmaking, Glazer is it, as his films explore empathy (or a lack thereof) in a detached, observational manner. Also, the man works deliberately, making only masterpieces: This is one of them.
On top of that, you can read Ankit Jhunjhunwala's review here.
In it, he says: "It is with fascination we watch the domestic life of the Höss family play out on screen with not a care in the world. Children play and teenagers fall in love, there are birthday parties and visits from friends and family. The monsters among us don’t have horns or scales, Glazer tells us."
7: Showing Up
Kelly Reichardt's newest nearly took the top spot in our half-year overview back in July, and we wondered if it was going to end up higher when more people had seen it. Alas, this was as high as it got in the full-year list.
You can read Dustin Chang's review here.
And he explains why this one got in at all: "Showing Up is emblematic of the small pleasures we get from our creations that success doesn’t measure in fame and fortune. It’s self-satisfaction of showing up every day to your studio (or basement, or shed, or garage) and creating. (...) Funny and light yet packed with so much daily life wisdom, with great, natural performances by everyone involved, Showing Up continues to showcase Reichardt as a unique voice in the American film scene. "
6: May December
Todd Haynes' newest pitches Julianne Moore against Natalie Portman for a nice acting duel in which the winner turns out to be us, the audiences.
You can read Zach Gayne's review here.
In it he gives some high praise: "With an incredible script from first-time screenwriter Samy Burch, deliciously knowing direction with densely intricate Ingmar Bergman-esque framing and performances of the highest caliber, Todd Haynes has not only indeed built a character-driven masterwork, but one of the finest of his fascinating career."
5: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
An animated clusterfrag with a multiverse, three directors, a sequel, only half the story in two-and-ahalf hours and enough eclectic art to make your eyes (hell, your BRAIN) water? Why oh why is this film so awesome?!! It was actually leading our half-year overview!
You can read Mel Valentin's review here.
And get ready for some superlatives from him, all deserved in my opinion: " (...) Miles, in his naturally rebellious, teenaged enthusiasm, just as naturally wants to be not just the hero of his own particular story, but the teller too. Ultimately, that elevates Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse from standard superhero fare about power fantasies and wish-fulfilment and into a heartfelt story about free will, predestination, and becoming the author of your own life-story."
4: Killers of the Flower Moon
This last six months saw several titles released directed by people we consider to be the new masters of cinema. But truth be told, only one of them hit the home run, giving us one of his career bests: Martin Scorsese, who tells the story of the near-forgotten Osage genocide as the crime it is.
You can read Shelagh Rowan-Legg's review here.
And she says: "Make no mistake, though, this is a Scorsese film - again, he knows that to tell this story as it needs to be told, he can and does utilize his style with the voices of those who have been forgotten. We can see the kind of criminals we are used to from his films, those whose evil runs so deep they see it as a positive; those whose weakness in the face of that evil can overrun even their deepest love. It becomes not just a post-western, but also a gangster film of sorts, and a love story that goes beyond the romantic into the political."
3: Godzilla Minus One
Not gonna lie: the scene in the screenshot above was the most excitement I got in a cinema this year. I was watching it white-knuckled, fully invested with every single person on board of that little boat. This film sure was a nice surprise!
You can read J. Hurtado's review here.
And he says the following: "Though the film is a reboot set before the original film action, it wisely adheres to much of the established Big G lore, offering plenty of easter eggs for hardcore fans. That being said, it isn’t beholden to the intricacies of the mythology, making this not only a great Godzilla film, but a flat out stellar action film that is the perfect place for new fans to start. Whether you prefer the more seriously toned entries in the series, or the goofier action-forward films, Godzilla Minus One has something for everyone, and it does it all incredibly well.
With a gripping human story to tell, monster action that ranks up with the best that’s ever been done, incredible VFX, a heart pounding sound mix, and a host of wonderful performances, Godzilla Minus One is without a doubt the greatest Big G film in decades, perhaps second only to Honda Ishiro’s 1954 original."
2: Barbie
Barbie beats Godzilla? Sounds like an idea for a movie!
While both halves of the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon made it into our top 20, one was a significantly bigger surprise than the other. Feel free to not be a fan of Greta Gerwig but you cannot deny she worked magic here, and if we're talking about hitting home runs, she hit Barbie right through the scoreboard.
You can read Shelagh Rowan-Legg's review here.
As Shelagh says: "Indeed, Barbie is not everything perhaps, but it is so many things. Smart, funny, cute, sweet, clever, and above all, the most fun you’ll likely have at the cinema all summer. Gerwig also shows that you can show off this cornerstone of capitalist meta commentary in technicolour, musical fun, while also exploring themes of girls' confidence, smashing the patriarchy, and finding one's real identity."
1: Poor Things
And on number one it's... (drumroll) Barbie 2: Barbie Harder!
Seriously though, our top two consists of two extremely well-made takes on the Pinocchio story, and Yorgos Lanthimos tells his with a very strong Frankensteinian slant in it. Fantastic and unique, it got the top spot in our list and not by a small margin either: it scored a LOT higher than all others.
And you can read James Marsh' review here.
James says the following: "What rises from this cauldron of influences is an unwieldy beast to be sure, sewn together from the dismembered limbs of Swift, Voltaire, and Austen, and yet Poor Things emerges as both hideous creation and beautiful monster, ghastly and glorious in equal measure, as it lurches forward to grab you, uninvited, in your hairy business."
And that concludes our Top 10. What will 2024 bring? Who knows, but finding out will be fun!
I'll leave you with all 75 films which were mentioned by the 23 contributors of this article. The whole list!
All titles, in alphabetical order:
#Manhole
Afire
All of Us Strangers
Anatomy of a Fall
Asteroid City
Babylon
Barbie
The Beast
Beau Is Afraid
Birth/Rebirth
Blackberry
Bottoms
The Boy and the Heron (See picture above...)
La Chimera
Coma
Conann
Daaaaaali!
Dalva
Deep Sea
The Delinquents
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Dumb Money
Fallen Leaves
The Five Devils
Godzilla Minus One
The Holdovers
Human Surge 3
Humanist Vampire Seeing Consenting Suicidal Person
Hundreds of Beavers
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Inu-Oh
The Iron Claw
Jigarthanda Double X
John Wick: Chapter 4
Joram
Kill
Killers of the Flower Moon
Killing Romance
A Little Love Package
Living Bad/Bad Living
Mad Fate
Mademoiselle Kenopsia
Master Gardener
May December
Monster
Music
Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam
No Dogs or Italians Allowed
No One Will Save You
Oppenheimer
Pacifiction
Past Lives
Perfect Days
The Pigeon Tunnel
Poor things
The Pot-au-feu/ The Taste of Things
Priscilla
Remembering Every Night
Robot Dreams
The Royal Hotel
Saltburn
Samsara
Showing Up
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Susume
Talk to Me
The Teachers' Lounge
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Trenque Lauquen
The Tuba Thieves
The UFOs of Soesterberg
Under the Naked Sky
When Evil Lurks
Will-o'-the-Wisp
The Zone of Interest