VERDICT: From personal journeys of discovery to man’s inhumanity to man, the stories shared in the films of 2023 speak to our moment in history and will continue to do so for generations to come.
2023 was the year that the US theatrical exhibition started its post-COVID bounceback with the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon — only to have the short-sighted folks at the AMPTP undo all their progress by forcing two of the largest show-business guilds to the picket line. But even as movie theaters tried their best to get back on their feet, cinema itself continued to delight and surprise.
The test is always one’s ability to answer the question, “Is there anything worth seeing?” And in 2023, there was always an answer to that question.
Runners up (#11-20): Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros, Anatomy of a Fall, The Delinquents, American Fiction, The Boy and the Heron, Past Lives, The Color Purple, Showing Up, Priscilla, The Holdovers
Films to watch for in 2024: Robot Dreams, The Taste of Things, Big Boys
My top ten for 2023:
10. May December: Todd Haynes peels back layers of exploitation, abuse, and manipulation in this dark comedy about an actress (Natalie Portman) researching a role by spending time with a scandalous couple (Julianne Moore and Charles Melton).
9. R.M.N.: Cristian Mungiu’s tragicomic examination of EU economics, refugees, and Christmas delivers both blistering social commentary and an unsparing portrait of community groupthink.
8. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.: Judy Blume’s landmark YA classic makes it to the screen five decades later, still packed with laughs and poignance and bitter truths and the enduring embarrassments of adolescence.
7. The Zone of Interest: In the same way that some films forever change the context in which you hear a certain song, Jonathan Glazer’s gutting WWII drama will, from now on, always come to mind whenever I hear a reference to Hannah Arendt and “the banality of evil.”
6. Bottoms: The rare kind of movie that makes you feel like you’re watching the rules of film comedy being rewritten right before your eyes. Audacious, hilarious, and destined to be embraced by generations of cultists.
5. Godzilla Minus One: Takashi Yamazaki takes the kaiju legend back to its roots as a terrifying metaphor for the atomic age and its ongoing repercussions among the people of Japan. Moving and searing, this version makes Godzilla genuinely terrifying all over again.
4. Killers of the Flower Moon: A haunting examination of entitlement and colonization, Martin Scorsese’s exquisitely produced and powerfully acted look at American history hits hard – and then acknowledges the shortcomings of attempting to turn this level of tragedy into narrative entertainment.
3. Barbie: All future intellectual-property–based entertainment should take a page from Greta Gerwig’s fun and colorful – but also provocative and challenging – look at a doll and what it has to say about humanity.
2. L’immensità: Emanuele Crialese’s autobiographical tale of growing up as a trans boy in early-70s Italy features a powerhouse performance from Penélope Cruz (right up there with her work in Ferrari) and musical flights of fancy alongside a powerful coming-of-age tale.
1. Poor Things: Emma Stone’s Bella goes on a journey of discovery not unlike Barbie’s, becoming a self-possessed woman in an era that disdained the very idea, in this grotesque, madcap, audacious, and inspiring fantasy-comedy from director Yorgos Lanthimos and screenwriter Tony McNamara (adapting Alasdair Gray’s novel).