The Top 10 Films of 2023
I was making Top 10 lists long before I had my own website. In the early 2000s my friends and I would email them back and forth to each other, excited to see how our lists compared or differed, always hoping to discover movies we might not have heard of or simply overlooked. It was the most fun!
Over the years, writing for both Awards Wiz (my Oscars website) and this one, the pressure to deliver on time, by the end of the year, oftentimes made the process more daunting than enjoyable. But I did it nonetheless for my readers!
In 2023, I made my own movie, my dream project “Wrath Mercy,” and with that, writing about films became less of a priority.
In the past couple of weeks, though, something shifted for me as I began to see what Critics were awarding, what other people were sharing about, and perhaps more importantly what was being left out, dismissed or even shunned. Movies like, “Monster,” “Origin” and “Saltburn.”
I woke up this morning ready to tell you my favorite films of the year, not because I felt I had to, but because of the movies themselves. I want you to see them. And if you have already seen them, I would like for you to have an open mind to what I have to say. These are my observations of an art form that I not only respect but am a part of and love with all of my heart.
All of Us Strangers
Andrew Scott gives the performance of the year in the best film of the year. Andrew Haigh has written and directed a film that confidently defies anything we have seen before in regard to grief and healing in queer cinema. Andrew Scott plays Adam, an isolated screenwriter who revisits his past and his complicated relationship with his parents while also falling into a relationship with an equally if differently isolated neighbor (Harry) played by Paul Mescal.
Jamie Bell and Claire Foy expertly accompany Scott and Mescal as Adam’s parents in this exploration of what wasn’t - making the impossible not only plausible but true, thanks to Haigh’s remarkable screenplay and the acting of the four leads. Foy and Scott in particular take conversations to depths rarely seen because these are conversations that simply don’t happen. Can’t happen!
Near the end of the film, we start to understand that even in this fantasy, this dream, things are not as they seem. The weight of this realization becomes as daunting for the audience as it is for Scott’s character. And yet in the end, when all is revealed, it is the most beautiful goodbye and beginning for Adam. A beginning brimming with hope.
“All of Us Strangers” is a film that encourages to be seen again, one that grows in the mind - particularly as we, the audience, continue to live with our unanswered, unspoken ghosts of the past.
2. Oppenheimer
“…a chain reaction that might destroy the entire world.”
There are many things that make “Oppenheimer” the great film that it is. The craft is the most obvious, and yet, somehow, even with it’s explosions and vast landscapes, Nolan and Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema manage to keep things simple. The visual breaks in reality, as Oppenheimer (played so well by Cillian Murphy) grapples with what he has birthed, are sparse, accompanied by Richard King’s superb sound design- doled out exactly as needed while the editing by Jennifer Lame and Score by Ludwig Göransson drive the action.
What makes this Nolan’s best film is not simply the craft of it all, but the Shakespearean life blood of the story. Robert Downey Jr, gives the performance of his career (supported himself by the wonderful Alden Ehrenreich) as Lewis Strauss, a man determined to derail Oppenheimer in the public eye because of a misunderstanding rooted in jealousy.
The film’s story and Murphy are supported greatly by both Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh, who make the absolute most of smaller roles, true supporting players that both deserve recognition.
The “Trinity” scene at Los Alamos is beyond riveting - one of the great movie scenes of all time. And the ending of the film - the final visuals are certainly terrifying, but it’s that quote - the chain reaction - that leaves us troubled.
3. The Zone of Interest
A Nazi commandant tries to build a dream life for his family near the Auschwitz concentration camp.
I was tempted to group “The Zone of Interest” and “Oppenheimer” together as the Los Angeles Times did, but I don’t want to take away from either film’s brilliance. Where Nolan’s film is massive, Jonathan Glazer’s movie is pin point in its focus.
Glazer utilizes intense and succinct Sound Design by Johnnie Burn to break up the simplicity - the monotony of everyday life. What makes it all so uncomfortable is that this life belongs to Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz and his family. Cinematographer Lukasz Zal shows us visual images that within any other setting might be considered beautiful, yet here, they are harrowing.
The final minutes of the film cannot fully be talked about here, but Glazer incites chills by giving Christian Friedel’s Höss a glimpse into the fruits of his vision. No other film this year, no “Saw” film or any Blumhouse production is more horrific than “The Zone of Interest” is in that moment.
4. Origin
“Origin,” the incredible film by Ava DuVernay is a visual exploration of Isabel Wilkerson’s, “Caste: The Origins of our Discontents.” In the film, Wilkerson, played spectacularly by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, unravels long held perceptions while revealing a through line connecting what happened to the Jews in the Holocaust, the trauma inflicted upon Black Americans and the Indian Dalits. “Origin” is also a love story, a tale of creation and the depths a writer must go to shed light on a truth that people aren’t necessarily ready to receive.
When compiling my Top 10, I make a concerted effort not to bring other people’s opinions into my praise of a movie. It’s not easy. And yet, with “Origin,” some of the reductive responses toward the film are an extension of the questions DuVernay’s film provoke. In the early minutes of the film, already dialed in to what she was showing and saying, knowing who had awarded the film with accolades and who hadn’t, I thought - “Oh yes, I know what this is about,” almost at the exact moment Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s Isabel questions the automation of racism as a response to Trayvon Martin’s murder. That stopped me in my tracks.
The greatest of cinema takes film to new places and “Origin” has done that. It’s so much more than a blending of documentary and narrative styles. Ellis Taylor’s (who deserves an Oscar nomination for this stunning portrayal) Wilkerson says she wants to be inside the story, and DuVernay takes us there.
5. Killers of the Flower Moon
Like Nolan, Scorsese has made his absolute best film in years. When we are introduced to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Ernest, not as a protagonist, but as the story’s villain, it’s jarring and brilliant. Scorsese and DiCaprio have given this character a life, but the point in which we meet him, he has already arrived at a place where he is more than willing to contribute to the atrocities that are being inflicting upon the Osage people. It’s not typical for the lead in a film to begin near the end of their arc, and it is very difficult to watch for three hours. And it should be. Scorsese is a master when he takes these types of risks, and this one truly paid off.
It’s also difficult to watch Mollie (Lily Gladstone) fall prey to Ernest - watching her lose everyone around her. Gladstone’s performance is so remarkable because the deconstruction of her manipulation is slow and deliberate and doesn’t fully release until the film’s climax. Gladstone is the heart of the film and worthy of any award she may receive!
6. Monster
Written by Yûji Sakamoto and directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu, “Monster” is a tale of perception. It’s central story is that of Minato and his mother, Saori as they navigate life after Minato’s father has passed. Minato has begun acting strangely and the blame seems to be logically placed on his teacher, Hori. As the film moves through Saori and Hori’s points of view we see how “facts” can be easily misconstrued.
After we realize more of the truth, the film becomes something else altogether in the last point of view, led by great performances by young actors Soya Kurokawa and Hinata Hiiragi. A must see, this film is one of the most beautiful LGBTQ films I have seen in some time.
7. American Fiction
“American Fiction” is one of two films on this list that defy the labels of comedy or drama. It’s no surprise the film won the Top Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Actor Jeffrey Wright, anchors this film along with Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown and the incomparable Leslie Uggams.
Wright plays Monk, a novelist and professor frustrated not only with his professional life, but his lack of a personal one. In an attempt to make a point, he writes a pandering book filled with black sterotypes. Despite his best efforts, Monk inadvertently becomes a part of the narrative he is trying to dismantle. It’s a hilarious take on the literary world, Hollywood, race, family and morals.
8. Saltburn
Might be best to skip this one if you have yet to see the film. It’s full of spoilers.
The first time I watched “Saltburn,” I was completely taken in watching Barry Keoghan’s Oliver, a university student from a damaged home, fawn over golden boy Felix (Jacob Elordi). I watched many of the scenes that have made the film a viral sensation with excitement. I love the queer and kinky depths Emerald Fennel takes us in the early sections of the movie. For some she is pushing boundaries, for me she is fearlessly exploring sexuality, desire and obsession.
That being said, something starts to feel amiss with the narrative we are being told as Oliver starts to play other members of Felix’s family like instruments. What’s actually going on here, I wondered.
Once the truth is revealed, we discover that Oliver is no longer an underdog wishing for more, he is a sociopath. The film is indeed shocking - but for me the shock has nothing to do with nudity or bathtubs, but in making the lead someone we cared about for all the wrong reasons.
9. May December
Prior to seeing “May December” I had heard grumblings here and there about whether or not it was a comedy, camp, inappropriate, brilliant - so many things. Here’s my take. Bad things happen in the world, and filmmakers like Todd Haynes and screenwriter Samy Burch aren’t afraid to comment on the insanity of those bad things, appropriate or not.
In the film, Julianne Moore plays Gracie, a woman who is married to Joe (Charles Melton), who she had an affair with when she was an adult and he was a teenager. Natalie Portman plays Elizabeth, an actress who will be portraying Gracie in a movie version of the shocking events. To prepare for the role, Elizabeth visits the family, the scenes of the crime and meets others connected to the case. The movie is intense and wild to say the least. Is it a comedy? A drama? It’s a Todd Haynes film. We know what that means. Only Haynes and this cast could have delivered so perfectly on this subject, and boy, do they deliver!
10. The Holdovers
Written by David Hemingson and directed by Alexander Payne, “The Holdovers” is a delightful comedy that takes place at a Boarding School in December 1970, starring Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, a crotchety, caricure-esque history teacher tasked with being the lone chaperone to the school’s displaced students over the holidays alongside Mary, the school’s grieving cook played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph.
The majority of the remaining students end up on a ski trip thanks to one of the rich parents, but Angus Tully, a somewhat troubled teen played by Dominic Sessa, unable to reach his Mother for permission, is left behind with Paul and Mary. From here, Payne explores our three remaining characters through their interactions with each other, all alone in their own way, but brought together through this unconventional holiday of circumstance. “The Holdovers” is an instant Christmas classic along the lines of “Wonder Boys” before it. The acting is superb, particularly that of Da’Vine Joy Randolph who turns in one of the best performances of the year.
Honorable Mentions:
in alphabetical order
Asteroid City
Barbie
The Color Purple
Every Body
The Iron Claw
The Killer
Maestro
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Promised Land
Red, White and Royal Blue
Spider-Man: Across the SpiderVerse