Top 10 Films of 2023

Happy New Year, everyone! Another year draws to a close, and what a weird and wonderful year it was for the movies.

2023 saw superhero movies die a slow death, Scorsese joined Letterboxd, and the cinemas were saved by the father of the atomic bomb and a Barbie doll. Narrowing down a top 10 from this year’s slate has proven very tricky, which I think is a reflection on how strong the cinematic landscape has felt this year. It has truly had everything, from exciting emerging voices to veterans operating at the top of their game. But hey, someone’s got to do it.

Some housekeeping to start. This list is based on the UK release dates. Some of my favourite films from London Film Festival, like The Zone of Interest and Monster, haven’t received their wide releases yet, and so don’t feature here. This too applies to the holdovers for 2024, like Poor Things, The Taste of Things and, well… The Holdovers.

And as ever, limiting a list to 10 is an arbitrary number. There were so many films that I loved and flirted with including here. Here they are as some honorary mentions:

• Babylon

• Rye Lane

• 20’000 Species of Bees

• Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse

• How to Have Sex

• The Fabelmans

• Joy Ride

• Reality

• The Blue Caftan

• Bottoms
  
  

With all that out of the way, here are my 10 favourite films of 2023.

10) How to Blow Up a Pipeline – dir. by Daniel Goldhaber

A lean, mean, and thrilling film that packs plenty of both style and substance. A dynamic ensemble cast, crunchy sound design, and some of the best editing I’ve seen all year. Its non-linear narrative structure is ambitious, and potentially over-stretches itself at points, but the ‘rough around the edges’ qualities of this are a perfect canvas for the timeliness of its story and message.

9) Skinamarink – dir. by Kyle Edward Ball

Haunting in the truest sense of the word. Kyle Edward Ball’s experimental horror film sort of defies description. The plot, two children waking up in the middle of the night to find that their father is missing and all of the windows and doors in their home have vanished, is somehow the least interesting part of the film. I love the ritual aspect of a film that demands you meet it on it’s level. Draw down the blinds, put your headphones in, and become utterly transfixed by it. The ‘What’s under the bed?’ sequence had me crawling up the walls. A visceral, sensory world caught between dream and nightmare that drills into the most primal, child-like fears of being alone in a dark room and waiting for the shadows to jump out at you. There may be some recency bias creeping in, but nothing else this year RATTLED me like this did.

8) Beau is Afraid – dir. by Ari Aster

Ari Aster goes 3/3 on films that made me feel physically ill. A dizzying, feverish odyssey that shocks on a guttural level. The kind of bespoke, visionary, ‘swing for the fences’ filmmaking that few attempt and even less pull off. This is the kind of weird passion project a director makes as the ‘ugly duckling’ in the middle of their career, but Aster sped up that process. To take the goodwill earned on Hereditary and Midsommar and twist it into something like this takes a boldness that I have no choice but to respect. Imagine every neurotic, invasive, toxic, corrosive thought you’ve ever had all turned out to be true. Completely mad, but singular.

7) May December – dir. by Todd Haynes

A campy and theatrical melodrama that harkens back to the 40’s and 50’s whilst still feeling modern. A dark, thematically rich narrative, that reveals new layers every time you revisit it. Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore are dependably brilliant, but it’s Charles Melton, a Riverdale alumni who’s name won’t sound out of place alongside De Niro, Downey Jr. and Gosling come award season, who completely steals the show. The emotion vulnerability and childlike physicality he captures adds up to one of the best performances of the year.

6) Asteroid City – dir. by Wes Anderson

Ignore what you may have heard from any Variety writer, Asteroid City belongs firmly on a ‘Best of’ list. Wes Anderson at his most stylised, and most poignant. I love the themes of a futile desire to belong to something bigger than ourselves and the parallels between the unknownness of space and grief. To dismiss Anderson’s “schtick” is to neglect to recognise that his visual style has continued to evolve, here melding the aesthetic focus of both 2D and 3D into the same frame. A seamless blend of Anderson’s regulars with newcomers who fit so well you’d assume they’d always been there. The alien’s landing scene is absolute magic.

5) All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – dir. by Laura Poitras

A vital, stirring document of the life of artist Nan Goldin and her continuing fight against the Sackler pharmaceutical dynasty, calling for accountability for their role in perpetuating the opioid crisis. Made up of two strands, Poitras dives into Goldin’s life and work as a photographer and how her relationship to art shaped her as both an activist and as a person. Strikes a bittersweet balance between the notion that everything is systematically corrupt and broken, and the redeeming, healing power that art can have on a person and their community. Much like Goldin’s photography, this film serves a crucial role in documenting and immortalising an undervalued community.

4) Killers of the Flower Moon – dir. by Martin Scorsese

Films like this serve as a reminder just how lucky we are to have gotten 50+ years of a master operating at the top of their game. Killers of the FlowerMoon is an epic in every sense of the word. The scale of it’s production. The expansive and necessary runtime. The calibre of it’s performances. The parallels between De Niro and Di Caprio as manifestations of evil, the former calculated and vitriolic, the latter too benign to even recognise any wrongdoing, draw two all time turns from the pair. Lily Gladstone’s mix of strength and sensitivity is the bedrock to the whole film. The closing scene is one of the most intelligent and honest artistic expressions that I can ever remember seeing. It’s depictions of Native American life have led to much needed discussions around the role of a storyteller and who has the right to tell who’s story. The way this film directly engages and grapples with those discussions will give it a legacy and a significance long beyond the usual life cycle of a film.

3) Past Lives – dir. by Celine Song

A delicate, profound and quietly devastating debut. An astute depiction of how a ‘What If?’ scenario can eat away at your insides forever. There’s an elegance in the simplicity with which Song weaves her story together. A tender score and visual palette that lull you into a false sense of serenity, leaving you totally susceptible for the ending to tear you apart. It’s pretty special throughout, but the last 30 minutes or so, when the three lead characters are together and then apart is absolutely transcendent. A film that lingers with you, perhaps drawing the most emotion after it’s credits have rolled.

2) Anatomy of a Fall – dir. by Justine Triet

Impeccably written, directed and acted. An engrossing procedural and court room drama that had me gripped from the first to last frame. There is a dynamism to the film, a plot that is so meticulously crafted and yet also surprising at every turn. Sandra Hüller is superb in the lead role, yet the film boasts two other unforgettable performances. Milo Machado-Graner is genuinely one of the best child performances I’ve ever seen on screen and Messi (aka Snoop the dog)! I defy you to find better dog-acting in the history of the art form.

1) Oppenheimer – dir. by Christopher Nolan

One half of the the blockbusting ‘Barbenheimer’, Nolan’s latest is a technical juggernaut. The level of craft on display in this film is mind-boggling. Jennifer Lame’s editing, crucial in realising the ‘Fusion’ and ‘Fission’ timelines structure and making the 3 hour runtime fly by. Ludwig Göransson’s perpetual score, that fills nearly every frame of the film with rhythm, intensity and vigour. The pitch-perfect performances from the top to bottom of the cast, and the hair and makeup work required to track the ageing of 71 speaking parts, all able to withstand the scrutiny of the IMAX format. And all of it in service of an enthralling narrative. I’m very much of the impression that, in 20 or 30 years, this film will be regarded in the same way that 2001: A Space Odyssey or Lawrence of Arabia are now. A complete marvel.

Thanks for reading. Let me know your favourites from the year in the comments below. Happy New Year!