The 23 Best films of 2023

For the first time in a while, keeping my list of favourite films of a given year at a reasonable number was tough. When I can't find room for bold, entertaining works like Poor Things, Godzilla Minus One, and The Killer, you know it's been a good year. And so it's the twenty-three best films of '23. 

23. They Cloned Tyrone

A canny melding of blaxploitation and sci-fi tropes, the wickedly fun They Cloned Tyrone goes down smooth thanks to a trio of terrific performances by John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx. To reveal too much of what it's about would spoil the fun. 

22. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

I thought I might finally be over Wes Anderson after the stultifying The French Dispatch, but thankfully he came back with a vengeance in 2023 with not one but two great efforts (plus sundry short-short films). The feature-length Asteroid City was damn fine, but I personally preferred his forty-minute adaptation of a classic Roald Dahl story. Almost an audiobook reading of the story with visual accompaniment, so faithful to the original short it is, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a synergistic meeting of two great talents (only one of whom is an anti-Semite, I think).

21. May December

A sensational Julianne Moore positively devours the screen in Todd Haynes' (mostly) fictional spin on the Mary Kay Letourneau/Vili Fualaau story. Natalie Portman portrays an actress doing research in order to play Moore's wife/mother/convicted sex offender in a movie based on her "affair" with a teen boy (now an adult played by an excellent Charles Melton). Often intentionally campy, May December walks a wobbly tightrope with remarkable success, though the real Fualaau's revealing that the filmmakers never reached out to him leaves a somewhat sour aftertaste. Nonetheless, an effective piece of candy laced with strychnine. HOT DOGS. 

20. M3GAN

The year's nicest surprise came early with 2023's first wide release, a goddamn delightful piece of knowing nonsense about a robot doll gone mad. A combination of genuine frights and abject silliness the likes of which we've seen rarely since Gremlins.

19. Air

"Product biopics" became an oddly hot subgenre in 2023, but none was better than Ben Affleck's rollicking tale of how Nike signed a young Michael Jordan and changed the game. Matt Damon is rock solid as Sonny Vaccaro, the marketing exec who believed in Jordan almost as much as his mother Deloris (a typically commanding Viola Davis), and is joined by a murderer's row of acting talent—none better than Affleck himself, a supremely underrated comic performer who makes nothing but perfect choices as Nike founder Phil Knight. Maybe one or two fewer on-the-nose "wow, the eighties, right?" needle drops whenever they do the story of how Puma signed Ralph Sampson or whatever, though. 

18. Albert Brooks: Defending My Life

It's been a long time since the once-great Rob Reiner made a film worth a damn, but it turns out that all he needed to do to regain form was get his best friend Albert Brooks to talk about his life and career a little bit. Defending My Life is a pretty straightforward retrospective documentary, but when said retrospective concerns one of the most remarkable comic minds of all time, that's more than enough, especially since the bulk of his classic material remains as hilarious as ever. 

17. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Do I even need to say anything about a new Mission: Impossible movie? One of the great action franchises rarely misses, especially in the capable hands of returning director Christopher McQuarrie. The plot is some nonsense about an evil artificial intelligence or something, but we're here to see Tom Cruise dramatically jump off things and land on other things, and jump off shit he does. Delightful newcomers Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff keep things humming despite the lengthy running time. 

16. The Zone of Interest

Certainly a movie to admire rather than actually enjoy, Jonathan Glazer's film—only his fourth in twenty-three years—is like staring the banality of evil dead in the eye for 105 minutes. A (very) loose adaptation of the late, great Martin Amis's novel, The Zone of Interest depicts the horrors of Auschwitz not via graphic recreation but by showing the bucolic existence of the family of real camp commandant Rudolf Höss just outside the gates of hell itself. As Höss's wife hosts tea parties and shows off her lush garden, the viewer is quietly assaulted by the background sounds of gunshots, arriving trains, and industrially assisted death. A deeply disquieting, necessary watch. But probably only once. 

15. Anatomy of a Fall

A forensic examination of a French murder trial, Palme d'Or winner Anatomy of a Fall is the kind of wide-ranging, impeccably crafted tale that John Grisham fucking WISHES his feeble mind could dream up. Sandra Hüller (also in The Zone of Interest) is a German expat accused of pushing her French husband out a window at their remote house. Seeing all sides of the Gallic judicial system puts one completely off ever committing a crime in France. Shame. 

14. Priscilla

A necessary corrective to the lumbering yet frenetic Elvis, Priscilla is a typically deliberate, lush Sofia Coppola Joint concentrating on the, uh, iffy relationship between the titular teen and the oft-childlike superstar. Cailee Spaeny remarkably and convincingly plays Priscilla from ages fourteen to twenty-eight, opposite a towering Jacob Elordi as Elvis (much taller than the real man, knowingly exacerbating the imbalanced power dynamic between predator and prey). Yes, it's another Coppola film about a pretty person locked in a gilded cage, but goddamn she's good at it. 

13. Eileen

Another literary adaptation, William Oldroyd's big-screen version of Ottessa Moshfegh's novel is a grimy grunge-noir about Thomasin McKenzie's lonely juvie staffer who becomes enamoured with the facility's new psychologist, an impossibly glamourous (for 1960s Massachusetts, anyway) Anne Hathaway, who effortlessly proves again to be one of our best actors. A discomfiting melodrama that makes you want to scrub yourself afterwards. I mean that as a compliment. 

12. Ferrari

Michael Mann is unquestionably my favourite director, and while I might've preferred his first film in nearly a decade to involve many more stoic cops or criminals in silvery suits staring manfully at a twinkling skyline or striding purposefully across a runway, I'll take what I can get, especially when the result is as compelling as this. While obviously a real figure, Adam Driver's Enzo Ferrari is almost an archetypal Mann protagonist—steely, cold, brilliant, indifferent to the emotional needs of others if it gets in the way of his getting what he wants. Shailene Woodley is wobbly as Ferrari's mistress (and father of his second child), but Penelope Cruz burns up the screen as Enzo's business partner and wife Laura. Technically impeccable, of course, and thankfully thrilling enough to overlook the fact that a character unironically says "Wrong son died!"

11. Past Lives

Able to sit proudly beside Richard Linklater's masterpiece Before Sunset as an exquisite portrait of opportunities lost and roads not travelled, Celine Song's stunning debut is a delicate semi-romance about childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung's reuniting in the present. The kind of touching, low-key indie film that inspires the cutting of trailers featuring quotes like "An exquisite portrait of opportunities lost and roads not travelled! - Variety" and "Able to sit proudly beside Richard Linklater's masterpiece Before Sunset! - The Tallahassee Democrat". 

10. The Holdovers

The knock that Alexander Payne "hates" his characters has always felt a bit off base anyway, but it's unlikely any critic lobbed that epithet at this warm, funny comedy of misfits in and around a Massachusetts boarding school in the seventies. Young Dominic Sessa is perfect as a sullen student, and the immortal Paul Giamatti absolutely Giamattis it the fuck up as his grumpy teacher, but it's the wonderful Da'Vine Joy Randolph (who's quietly been doing nothing but killing it the past few years) who provides The Holdovers with its beating heart. A big hug of a movie, with nary a hint of Payne's trademark acidity to be found. 

9. Barbie

When I first learned that Greta Gerwig was up next in a long line of attempts to bring a live-action Barbie to the screen, my first thought was that there must be SOMETHING that compelled such an extraordinary talent to bother with such a seemingly vacant property. Nonetheless, I became a bit cynical when all and sundry proclaimed it a masterpiece and said anyone who dislikes it hates joy, meaning I took way too long to see it. Well, whaddya know—everyone was right. Barbie IS something of a pop masterpiece, a pure delight from beginning to end that smuggles in all sorts of surprisingly complex thoughts on feminism and this perfect doll's place within it. Ryan Gosling almost runs away with the film as a staggeringly funny Ken, but Margot Robbie is the necessary glue to pull this off, and she's every bit as likeable, wide-eyed, and capable as the film requires. Yup, it really is that good. 

8. American Fiction

The premise outlined in the trailer is a killer—snooty professor/novelist Thelonious "Monk" Ellison gets so enraged by the mostly white public's embrace of "street" novels with titles like We's Lives in da Ghetto that he spitefully bangs out a vicious parody of the type that he calls My Pafology (later retitled Fuck), only to see it become immensely popular. But that's just one aspect of this complex, incredibly sharp satire by first-time director Cord Jefferson (based on the book Erasure by Percival Everett). Big laughs abound (especially courtesy of a scene-stealing Sterling K. Brown), but it's the quieter moments that cut like a knife. 

7. Oppenheimer

Yes, yes, Barbenheimer. I went with Oppenheimer first, and I don't regret it. This extraordinary biopic takes nothing less than arguably the most important invention of the twentieth century and makes it sing courtesy of whipcrack editing (it's one of the shortest three-hour movies you'll see) and Christopher Nolan's intense familiarity with obsession. Cillian Murphy is a dead cert for the Most Haunted Eyes Oscar I just made up (but he'll probably lose to the Flash entering the Speed Force anyway). 

6. John Wick 4

Earlier I did not refer to Mission: Impossible as THE greatest action franchise because, well, motherfucking John Wick exists. The glorious end of the Keanu Reeves-led corner of what will supposedly become a wider cinematic universe, the absolutely goddamn gorgeous John Wick 4 is the most ruthlessly stripped-down 170-minute film I've ever seen. Reeves glides gazelle-like through another round of increasingly inventive action set pieces, Donnie Yen lends credibility and his eternal coolness, and the climax is the best darn homage to Walter Hill's The Warriors ever. See you in the next life, or whenever they decide to resurrect the character, John. I love you. 

5. Origin

As flawed, emotional, and vast as life itself (but not Life Itself), the master Ava DuVernay's first feature in five years adapts Pulitzer winner Isabel Wilkerson's nonfiction bestseller Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents as both docudrama and a biography of the creative process, resulting in one of the most audacious, ambitious films of 2023. A luminous, powerful Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (shoutouts to Sistah Girl from Undercover Brother) gives one of the year's best performances as Wilkerson, beset by a level of grief and tragedy that would seem over the top were it not true, but resolute in putting together her thesis viewing worldwide discrimination through the lens of caste, rather than purely through race. Sometimes stumbles in its disarming earnestness, resulting in parts that would provoke eye rolling had they come from any other filmmaker, but Origin positively bursts with feeling and ideas due to DuVernay's control over the complicated material and incredible work from Ellis-Taylor, Niecy Nash, and a never-better Jon Bernthal. 

4. Monica

Often when we get to the dreaded Awards Season, the narrative of whatever work the actor did becomes as important as the performance itself. Did you know Bradley Cooper spent literal YEARS practicing conducting that one Leonard Bernstein piece accurately for Maestro (by the way, ask me to do my "Bradley Cooper playing Leonard Bernstein" impression for you sometime)? Did you know Robert DeNiro PUT ON WEIGHT for Raging Bull? Did you know that Jared Leto spent decades playing at being a talentless asshole in preparation to play a talentless asshole in Talentless Asshole: The Jared Leto Story - Portrait of a Fucking Dickhead? Sadly, such nonsense, and the money required to mount a campaign, has meant that Trace Lysette's amazing work in Andrea Pallaoro's low-budget drama of a trans woman reuniting with her family, particularly her hate-filled mother (Patricia Clarkson, flawless as usual), has been almost entirely overlooked by awards bodies. Apparently someone waiting their entire goddamn life to play a role, bringing every moment of their very existence to bear, is an insufficiently compelling narrative. Well, fuck 'em all, because Lysette's deeply felt performance—my pick for best of the year—will live forever anyway. It is rare for me to observe a character that feels like they existed before the movie began and will continue to live after the credits, but Monica is such a creation—flawed, messy, sexy, smart, and human, and Lysette brings her to extraordinary, vivid life. 

3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

While I was generally impressed by the earlier Into the Spider-Verse, I found the constant hum of "greatest comic book movie ever" a bit hyperbolic. Not so at all with the utterly spectacular Across the Spider-Verse, for my money a genuine contender for that title. Apart from an oddly timed cliffhanger ending, the continuing adventures of Miles Morales improve on Into in every conceivable way—more emotionally complex (gone are the simplistic, if effective, "be yourself" bromides of the first movie), more eye-popping, funnier, more thrilling. Every frame is packed with excitement and beauty. A feast for the senses. 

2. Bottoms

Quite simply the funniest fucking thing I've seen in a decade, Emma Seligman's gloriously queer, unhinged Bottoms is violent, absurd, and can sit alongside, or even above, acid-tinged teen classics like Heathers and Mean Girls (so look for Bottoms: The Musical to dominate the Tonys at some distant point). Rising star Ayo Edibiri and co-writer Rachel Sennott (who delightfully shares some "chain-smoking Jewish auntie" DNA with Natasha Lyonne) are a pair of self-described "ugly, untalented lesbians" who spin a tale of a murderous summer spent in juvie ("Once, a girl tried to kill me with rat poison so I took her outside and punched her till she died") and start a fight club at their high school for clout and possible virginity loss. Scene after scene takes bonkers comedic chances, and the hit rate nears a hundred percent. Even ex-football star Marshawn Lynch adds surprisingly honed comic chops as one of the few adults in the film. Yeah, Hazel, let's do some terrorism. 

1. Killers of the Flower Moon

It's a special time in every white film dork's life when he can proclaim that a film by the dean of American cinema, Martin Scorsese, is the best of the year. And the king's (yes, he is both dean and king) adaptation and reframing of David Grann's tome on the severely underreported murder/genocide plot against wealthy Osage people in 1920s Oklahoma is certainly that. Earning every second of its 206-minute length, Killers of the Flower Moon is a deeply American epic, a saga of the racism and greed that the very country was founded upon. Leonardo DiCaprio does perhaps career-best work as dopy WWI veteran Ernest Burkhart, dragooned by uncle William King Hale (a suitably smiling but malevolent Robert DeNiro) into a scheme to drain oil-rich Osage of their money—principally the stunning Lily Gladstone's too-trusting Mollie. Here is the US in all its glory—full of natural beauty and resources and wondrous culture, ready to be strip-mined and annihilated for the white man's profit. Was Scorsese the right person to drag this harrowing story of an oppressed people further into the light? He's not sure himself, but hopes he's done his best, as outlined in the movie's bold epilogue. The eighty-one-year-old legend somehow continues to learn and grow as a filmmaker and a person, and we are lucky enough to bear witness.