by Josh Sewell
As we prepare to wrap up 2023, it’s clear the film world is significantly different than it was back in January. Perhaps the biggest development, which many of us have been predicting for a while, is that the superhero bubble finally burst. The genre that once produced billion-grossing blockbusters like clockwork turned out mostly flops this year. Some of those bombs were warranted (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) and some were collateral damage (The Marvels), but it’s clear moviegoers are experiencing major comic book fatigue.
Sure, there were a couple of hits (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that DC’s current universe is officially dead and we’re only getting one Marvel movie (Deadpool 3) in 2024.
Frankly, I’m excited to see what that means for theaters in the year to come. If 2023’s biggest hits are any indication – congratulations to the cultural event that was “Barbenheimer” – it means we might see fewer continuations of tired franchises (sequels, reboots, etc.) and film as just another revenue stream for mega-corporations. Could we actually get more original stories for grown-ups again? Fingers crossed.
With that obituary for superhero flicks out of the way, this year turned out to be surprisingly strong for film in general. As always, I struggled to narrow down my choices, with a lot of quality films just missing the cut. Here are my picks for the Top 10 films of 2023, along with 10 honorable mentions.
10. Anatomy of a Fall
Is this French movie a procedural thriller? A family drama? A courtroom morality tale? The answer is yes. This critical darling is currently winning a ton of prizes on the awards circuit, but it’s accessible to general moviegoers too, as long as they’re okay with subtitles. That’s because Sandra Hüller – who plays a writer accused of murdering her husband – delivers an Oscar-caliber performance, as does Milo Machado Graner, who plays her visually impaired son. The ambiguous story might not end with everything spelled out for viewers, but the journey is a fascinating one.
9. The Holdovers
In a just world, this dramedy – reuniting director Alexander Payne with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti – would become a holiday classic. The actor plays a cranky history teacher at a posh private school for boys who is forced to supervise the kids who are stuck at the school over holiday break. He eventually bonds with a troubled student played by Dominic Sessa (in a remarkable debut performance) and the two strike up a friendship with the school’s head cook, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph (the current Best Supporting Actress frontrunner). On paper, it sounds like standard awards bait, but it’s a genuinely affecting story.
8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Scorsese continued to prove he’s one of the all-time great filmmakers with this epic crime drama (which he directed and co-wrote, along with Eric Roth, based on David Grann’s outstanding book), chronicling the tragic story of the Osage Nation’s discovery of oil on their land at the turn of the 20th century. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone (a Best Actress frontrunner) deliver astounding performances that serve as the foundation for a film demonstrating the banality of evil throughout America’s history of genocide.
2. Past Lives
Writer-director Celine Song’s debut is practically perfect. This story of childhood friends and semi-lovers Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), who reconnect in their adult years after Nora marries the immensely understanding Arthur (John Magaro), is devastating, yet affirming. The final scene is one of the most complex, heartbreaking moments I’ve seen in quite some time.
1. Oppenheimer
I lost faith in Christopher Nolan after the lackluster Tenet prioritized itself above a global pandemic. However, once people started to tiptoe back into the world, movies were the first place they tried out. As they became the norm, Nolan released one of the most accessible films of his career – a look at the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the architect of the atomic bomb. While it still revolves around the filmmaker’s obsession with time, Cillian Murphy and the astonishing ensemble cast present Nolan’s pessimistic take on humanity’s eventual downfall. It’s weird that such a cynical outlook on the world’s evolution would become a blockbuster hit, but that speaks to Nolan’s incredible filmmaking capabilities.
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
As we prepare to wrap up 2023, it’s clear the film world is significantly different than it was back in January. Perhaps the biggest development, which many of us have been predicting for a while, is that the superhero bubble finally burst. The genre that once produced billion-grossing blockbusters like clockwork turned out mostly flops this year. Some of those bombs were warranted (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) and some were collateral damage (The Marvels), but it’s clear moviegoers are experiencing major comic book fatigue.
Sure, there were a couple of hits (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that DC’s current universe is officially dead and we’re only getting one Marvel movie (Deadpool 3) in 2024.
Frankly, I’m excited to see what that means for theaters in the year to come. If 2023’s biggest hits are any indication – congratulations to the cultural event that was “Barbenheimer” – it means we might see fewer continuations of tired franchises (sequels, reboots, etc.) and film as just another revenue stream for mega-corporations. Could we actually get more original stories for grown-ups again? Fingers crossed.
With that obituary for superhero flicks out of the way, this year turned out to be surprisingly strong for film in general. As always, I struggled to narrow down my choices, with a lot of quality films just missing the cut. Here are my picks for the Top 10 films of 2023, along with 10 honorable mentions.
Is this French movie a procedural thriller? A family drama? A courtroom morality tale? The answer is yes. This critical darling is currently winning a ton of prizes on the awards circuit, but it’s accessible to general moviegoers too, as long as they’re okay with subtitles. That’s because Sandra Hüller – who plays a writer accused of murdering her husband – delivers an Oscar-caliber performance, as does Milo Machado Graner, who plays her visually impaired son. The ambiguous story might not end with everything spelled out for viewers, but the journey is a fascinating one.
In a just world, this dramedy – reuniting director Alexander Payne with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti – would become a holiday classic. The actor plays a cranky history teacher at a posh private school for boys who is forced to supervise the kids who are stuck at the school over holiday break. He eventually bonds with a troubled student played by Dominic Sessa (in a remarkable debut performance) and the two strike up a friendship with the school’s head cook, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph (the current Best Supporting Actress frontrunner). On paper, it sounds like standard awards bait, but it’s a genuinely affecting story.
This phenomenal sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse miraculously accomplishes the feat of being a better movie than its outstanding predecessor. What’s more, it ends on a cliffhanger promising a finale that could launch this eventual trilogy into the “best series of all time” conversation. The astonishing animation, which pays homage to its comic book origins while also breaking new ground in the world of filmmaking, elevates the narrative above its more traditional predecessors while also proving that voiceover acting can be just as affecting as live-action. The scenes in which Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) reconnects with her father (Shea Whigham) are some of the year’s most poignant.
7. American Fiction
Jeffrey Wright is one of his generation’s greatest actors, as evidenced from his performances over the last couple of decades. But his work in this satire, the outstanding debut from writer-director Cord Jefferson, might be his best. He plays Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a college professor who is tired of minority artists cashing in on “trauma porn” to further their careers. When he writes a stereotypical novel to vent his frustration, only to see his work garner mainstream success, he must decide if he will honor his principles or become a rich hypocrite. The whole cast, including Sterling K. Brown, Leslie Uggams, Erika Alexander and Tracee Ellis Ross, make this a hilarious, yet heartfelt look at the creative experience from a Black perspective.
6. Poor Things
This feminist spin on the Frankenstein mythos is one of the funniest, most poignant films of the year thanks to director Yorgos Lanthimos’ unique sense of humor and the best work of Emma Stone’s career. She plays Bella Baxter, the monstrous creation of a scientist (Willem Dafoe) intent on examining humanity. With the assistance of unintentional mentor Duncan Wetterburn (Mark Ruffalo, playing against type to masterful effect), Bella evolves into a person devoted to making the world a better place for women.
5. Godzilla Minus One
I would have never predicted that a Japanese monster flick would be one of 2023’s best films, but writer-director Takashi Yamazaki’s take on the Godzilla mythos hit me hard. The story of a kamikaze pilot (Ryunosuke Kamiki) who takes on the monstrous lizard had me wiping away tears by the end, which speaks to Yamazaki’s filmmaking prowess. I recommend seeing this on the big screen before the opportunity passes you by.
4. Barbie
Honestly, there’s not much I can say about the year’s most successful film that would bring new insight to the powerful story. Greta Gerwig, along with her partner and fellow screenwriter Noah Baumbach, crafted one of the smartest, most visually innovative, and hilarious movies of 2023. It helps that Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling bring old-school Barbie and Ken into the 21st century with heartwarming aplomb.
Jeffrey Wright is one of his generation’s greatest actors, as evidenced from his performances over the last couple of decades. But his work in this satire, the outstanding debut from writer-director Cord Jefferson, might be his best. He plays Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a college professor who is tired of minority artists cashing in on “trauma porn” to further their careers. When he writes a stereotypical novel to vent his frustration, only to see his work garner mainstream success, he must decide if he will honor his principles or become a rich hypocrite. The whole cast, including Sterling K. Brown, Leslie Uggams, Erika Alexander and Tracee Ellis Ross, make this a hilarious, yet heartfelt look at the creative experience from a Black perspective.
This feminist spin on the Frankenstein mythos is one of the funniest, most poignant films of the year thanks to director Yorgos Lanthimos’ unique sense of humor and the best work of Emma Stone’s career. She plays Bella Baxter, the monstrous creation of a scientist (Willem Dafoe) intent on examining humanity. With the assistance of unintentional mentor Duncan Wetterburn (Mark Ruffalo, playing against type to masterful effect), Bella evolves into a person devoted to making the world a better place for women.
I would have never predicted that a Japanese monster flick would be one of 2023’s best films, but writer-director Takashi Yamazaki’s take on the Godzilla mythos hit me hard. The story of a kamikaze pilot (Ryunosuke Kamiki) who takes on the monstrous lizard had me wiping away tears by the end, which speaks to Yamazaki’s filmmaking prowess. I recommend seeing this on the big screen before the opportunity passes you by.
Honestly, there’s not much I can say about the year’s most successful film that would bring new insight to the powerful story. Greta Gerwig, along with her partner and fellow screenwriter Noah Baumbach, crafted one of the smartest, most visually innovative, and hilarious movies of 2023. It helps that Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling bring old-school Barbie and Ken into the 21st century with heartwarming aplomb.
Martin Scorsese continued to prove he’s one of the all-time great filmmakers with this epic crime drama (which he directed and co-wrote, along with Eric Roth, based on David Grann’s outstanding book), chronicling the tragic story of the Osage Nation’s discovery of oil on their land at the turn of the 20th century. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone (a Best Actress frontrunner) deliver astounding performances that serve as the foundation for a film demonstrating the banality of evil throughout America’s history of genocide.
Writer-director Celine Song’s debut is practically perfect. This story of childhood friends and semi-lovers Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), who reconnect in their adult years after Nora marries the immensely understanding Arthur (John Magaro), is devastating, yet affirming. The final scene is one of the most complex, heartbreaking moments I’ve seen in quite some time.
I lost faith in Christopher Nolan after the lackluster Tenet prioritized itself above a global pandemic. However, once people started to tiptoe back into the world, movies were the first place they tried out. As they became the norm, Nolan released one of the most accessible films of his career – a look at the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the architect of the atomic bomb. While it still revolves around the filmmaker’s obsession with time, Cillian Murphy and the astonishing ensemble cast present Nolan’s pessimistic take on humanity’s eventual downfall. It’s weird that such a cynical outlook on the world’s evolution would become a blockbuster hit, but that speaks to Nolan’s incredible filmmaking capabilities.
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
Air
All of Us Strangers
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Asteroid City
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
May December
Rye Lane
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Wonka
Reach out to Josh Sewell on Twitter @IAmJoshSewell
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