The Best Films of 2023

Photo Credit by Jeff Nelson

Originally Posted at GuyAtTheMovies.com

End-of-the-year lists — they’re both fun and exciting to make, and the bane of my existence! How can one choose only ten films? How can one possibly see everything (and I saw 200 2023 releases)? Keeping in mind that taste is always subjective and the art of film criticism is anything but scientific, here are what I believe to be the 10 best films of 2023 after a slew of other films that could continue the list:

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): 

American Fiction, Barbie, Bottoms, Brooklyn 45, The Color Purple, Dream Scenario, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Evil Dead Rise, Infinity Pool, The Killer, Knock at the Cabin, Leave the World Behind, May December, Missing, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer, Our Son, The Outwaters, Rye Lane, The Royal Hotel, Scream VI, Sharper, Sick of Myself, Talk to Me, Thanksgiving, A Thousand and One

10. Fair Play - A precisely crafted, increasingly tense thriller set in the finance world, Chloe Domont’s writing-directing debut kept me riveted throughout. Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich are both spectacular to watch as two stock analysts at a cutthroat Wall Street investment firm; they’re also a couple who has to hide their relationship, and things just erupt from there. Full review

9. Of An Age - Goran Stolveski is a filmmaker I seem to already connect with, and this gay coming-of-age love story is only his second film. It’s romantic yet very bittersweet, often making us feel like we’re the only ones watching Elias Anton’s Kol and Thom Green’s Adam meet and then reconnect eleven years later. “Of An Age” may be another story about first love and what-ifs, but you won’t forget it. Full review

8. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. - Judy Blume’s book came out in 1970, but this screen adaptation feels as deceptively groundbreaking and astute as the source. Abby Ryder Fortson is winning and authentic as the titular 11-year-old who’s waiting for her period, but Kathy Bates, Benny Safdie, and especially Rachel McAdams also bring so much life, humor, and wisdom to their parts as Margaret’s family. This treasure of a movie is a quintessential guide for young and old, and it wouldn’t be hyperbole to call it an “instant classic,” either. Full review

7. Past Lives - “Assured” is always a film critic-y word, but it’s decidedly one word to describe Celine Song’s feature directional debut “Past Lives.” The acclaim was fully earned, as this indie captures the what-ifs in life when two South Korean childhood friends catch up later in life after one of them emigrated to New York City. All three performances—Greta Lee’s Nora, Teo Yoo’s Hae Sung, and John Magaro’s Arthur, Nora’s understanding husband—are just perfect, and there isn’t a false moment or a wasted shot composition that couldn’t be hung up on a wall. It’s so quiet and understated, yet its delicate flow is exquisitely executed with grace and emotional resonance. 

6. Saltburn - Apparently a divisive movie for audiences, “Saltburn” is the wilder, kinkier, even more delectably twisted sibling to “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Emerald Fennell somehow only knows how to make great, biting, stylish films, and Barry Keoghan’s Oliver keeps us guessing as to how much this Oxford scholarship boy is actually capable of when getting invited to his hot new friend’s estate. And Rosamund Pike has never been funnier! There are so many images that have not left my brain since, and the cumulative effect of this cynically pitch-black comedy is a shocking, darkly hilarious trip. Full review

5. You Hurt My Feelings - The only thing that hurts my feelings about my #5 is that writer-director Nicole Holofcener hasn’t made more than seven features in three decades. This funny, smart, painfully honest slice-of-life has all of the sharp insight you want from her films, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus just keeps proving she’s a national treasure who can handle comedy and drama in the same breath. I recognized so many uncomfortable truths here about relationships and the little white lies we tell our partners that feel like momentous acts of betrayal. Another winner from all involved, including production company A24. Full review

4. The Holdovers - Alexander Payne’s latest is like putting on your favorite sweater. It feels retro and cozy, but then again, it has some new stitching that makes it special. Paul Giamatti has played his share of curmudgeons—and he’s always a memorable presence—but his performance as New England prep school professor Paul Hunham might be his most wonderfully complex work in ages. Da’Vine Joy Randolph also puts in beautiful work as kitchen head Mary Lamb, as does revelatory newcomer Dominic Sessa as the student Paul gets stuck with taking care of during Christmas break. This “chosen family” dramedy follows the template of “Dead Poet’s Society” and “The Emperor’s Club,” but it’s in the character details and the sharpness of the writing that nothing ever feels hackneyed or pat. Instead of coming across as script constructs, these characters feel like they have lives before and after the film ends. Impeccably made, crisply photographed, warm and tender but still prickly enough without losing its edge, this formula picture is carried out so well that it stops feeling formulaic.

3. All of Us Strangers - Go into Andrew Haigh’s latest knowing as little as possible and you won’t be prepared for its aching tenderness. Andrew Scott plays Harry, a closed-off screenwriter living in a London high-rise where it seems like nobody else lives there. One night, he gets a knock on the door by Adam (Paul Mescal), a guy on a lower floor. Their awkward encounter sparks something in Harry to go visit his childhood suburban home, where his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy) still seem to reside and look the same as if suspended in time. Based on a 1987 novel “Strangers” by Taichi Yamada, the film captures a specific but universal feeling of wanting to say or share something with parents after they’re already gone. Scott is especially heartbreaking, and he and Mescal have a sexy but also tender chemistry. The use of needle drops by Pet Shop Boys and Frankie Goes to Hollywood are also inspired. Even as the narrative takes on a tricky, more surreal bent, it’s almost always understated and relatable with pangs of truth and a mood of dreaminess and melancholy. Beautifully written and stunningly acted, this is one of the most deeply felt films about loneliness and finding closure. 

2. Poor Things - I was already in the bag for anything made by Yorgos Lanthimos — everything he’s made since “Dogtooth” is strange, daring, and fascinating. Based upon a novel by Alasdair Gray, “Poor Things” is, of course, quite bizarre, but it’s also horny, offbeat, loopy, and visually extravagant. In a way, it’s an absurd mash-up of “Frankenstein” and “My Fair Lady” that will reward the most adventurous viewer. Emma Stone, back with director Lanthimos and writer Tony McNamara after “The Favorite,” is extraordinary here, fearlessly going for it and being extremely funny in both big and small ways as Bella Baxter, a living, breathing experiment reanimated by scientist Dr. Godwin “God” Baxter (Willem Dafoe) in London. She looks like an adult, but her mind is that of a child, and the film is a discovery of so much more as Bella evolves as a woman living in a polite society. She ends up going on an adventure to Paris with a buffoonish cad, played by Mark Ruffalo, who commits without ever trying to sweeten him, and that’s part of what makes him so funny. What Stone is doing really shouldn’t be underestimated; there’s an evolution to Bella, from infancy to adulthood, that always makes sense and feels finely tuned, depending on the given situation in which she finds herself. Visually, this is Lanthimos’ most majestic-looking and transporting piece of work, with a fish-eye lens and a lot of steampunk inspiration, and Jerkin Fendrix’s first score is evocative of Mica Levi’s work in “Under the Skin” but suits its own twinkly rhythms. Unexpectedly sweet and profound, “Poor Things” gives Bella the ending (and the liberation) she deserves, and not just from “furious jumping.” 

1. Beau Is Afraid - Ari Aster is clearly incapable of making films that aren’t bold or challenging or feel like blank checks written by A24. This deliriously surreal, absurdly funny Freudian odyssey is 179 minutes, and enthralling for every minute as it keeps reinventing itself. Joaquin Phoenix is superb as the titular Beau, who is afraid of everything, and you can’t really blame him after this sprawling journey with the genetics of Homer and Charlie Kaufman shows us a penis monster, the most inspired use of Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby,” and gives Patti LuPone, Zoe Lister-Jones, Parker Posey, Amy Ryan, and Nathan Lane juicy, juicy parts to play. This is certainly the kind of film that’s destined to be divisive and won’t leave any viewer feeling indifferent. Aster will have to foot my therapy bill, but this is the kind of moviemaking swing I wish I could see more of every year. Full review