It’s been a mad, whirlwind 2023, and we can’t believe it’s almost over. Despite the tensions in our industry, the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, those linger aftereffects, and the way that box office seemed to wobble all year long with highs and lows—#Barbenheimer being a big high, seemingly sure bets like ‘Mission Impossible’ and “The Marvels’ and all DC superhero films flopping or underperforming—it’s kind of been chaotic year for the film and TV industry.
READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024
As we try and navigate that —and feel the consequence of all that madness, frankly— at least it was a super strong year for movies themselves. The Sundance Film Festival proved to be as stronger than ever despite changing leadership; the Cannes Film Festival was as vital as ever, and Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals continued to prove they could deliver the goods in and out every season.
When those films weren’t gifting us amazing previews of what was to come (much of them just hitting theaters rather recently, including a treasure trove of films coming out this December), the studio system was still delivering in the summer, see “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” two incredible films on our list (and most film sites’ lists) that proved to be the rare films that were beloved by audiences and critics (both are still atop the box office 2023).
While the box office seems to be dwindling somewhat (only two films released this year that made over $1 billion), we can at least be thankful that the quality in cinema remains as strong as ever
Follow along with all our Best Of 2023 coverage here.
21. “Eileen”William Oldroyd follows up his 2016 “Lady Macbeth” film, which introduced the world to Florence Pugh, with an odd, unnerving psychological thriller. The film centers on a young woman, Eileen (a terrific Thomasin McKenzie), who lives a drab, unfulfilling life working at a corrections facility for teenage boys by day and taking care of her drunken, emotionally abusive dad by night, a former sheriff forced to retired (Shea Whigham), and daydreaming of killing him or herself frequently. Things suddenly change when an enigmatic new psychologist, Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), joins the prison. Full of allure, life, and charisma, Eileen is instantly mesmerized by this enchantress, and much to her surprise, Rebecca only takes an interest in her of all the people at the prison. Their relationship evolves, is teased with a kiss, and then escalates dangerously. Shot by Academy Award winner Ari Wegner (“The Power of The Dog“) and scored with creepy dissonance by Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire, “Eileen” and its ambiguous ending may not be for everyone, but all these evocative cinematic elements, plus the performances of these incredible actors do create a haunting portrait of a young woman desperate to escape her life. [our review]– Rodrigo Perez
20. “The Killer”A modern-day take on Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samourai,” an existential meditation on the discipline it takes to be an exacting assassin, David Fincher’s much more cynical lean-and-mean riff on a similar idea, the hyper dedication it takes to be an elite killer is meticulously exacting, but also Sahara Desert dry funny and sardonic. For one, it’s about an assassin (a gloriously committed and precise Michael Fassbender) who lives in his head, espousing the virtues of his reliably scrupulous craft and the painstaking devotion it takes to do it well, and the first thing he does is f*ck up the job, LOL! Fincher’s sly, wicked, and devious subterranean sense of humor vibrates through every duteously crafted frame, recontextualizing the Smiths as the hysterically clever soundtrack to a killer’s sense of routine, repetition, and calm (also, holy shit, the witheringly funny internal monologue by screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker: “Ah, the Sunshine State. Where else can you find so many like-minded individuals outside a penitentiary?”). While Fincher alludes to the struggles of the gig economy and global job insecurity and is obsessed with the rigors of process, “The Killer” is really about the illusion of stability and how one second of miscalculation, one fateful flaw can forever unravel a man who believed he was one of the untouchable few. [our review] – RP
19. “Priscilla”Like an active conversating dance, Baz Luhrmann dazzles with the maximalist “Elvis,” and filmmaker Sofia Coppola replies with a counter-intuitive exchange that surprises you like a jiu-jitsu move using your power against you. As her title suggests, her compelling and understated drama featuring an incredibly captivating performance by Cailee Spaeny, who is now no longer indie cinema’s best-kept secret, shifts POV from The King to the overlooked queen, teenager Priscilla Beaulieu, aka Priscilla Presley, and the way Elvis whisked her off her feet, radically altering her life forever. Tender and yet candid, Coppola’s gaze, always sympathetic to the dream-like fantasies, alienations, and loneliness of teenage girls, once again refashions her recurring fixation on the young Priscilla, a woman stunned by the fast and furious deliriousness of love and fame, but also trapped within its toxic confines and the backfiring ricochets of its unsparing violations into private life. At the center of his hectic whirlwind of desire, rejection, and identity, Spaeny and Coppola create a luminous vibe filled with rich female intricacies told through the discreet eyes of a young girl never given the space to have her moment. [our review] – RP
18. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”While “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” really raised the game of animation with groundbreaking techniques and visuals (winning the Best Animated Oscar in the process), somehow, the sequel, ‘Across The Spider-Verse,’ led by producers and writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, next-leveled the genre once again. Directed this time by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, while still written and overseen by Lord and Miller, ‘Across The Spider-Verse’ also upped the number of characters and supporting players and still never felt overstuffed even despite the maximalist nature of the movie. This edition finds Miles Morales encountering a group of Spider-People entrusted with protecting the multiverse but finds that he himself is the anomaly that could cause great destruction. Thrilling and visually dazzling but also deeply emotional, ‘Across The Spider-Verse’ never loses sight of the core Spider-Man tenet: the character innately born with the burden of tragedy, and yet, Miles Morales seems hellbent on re-writing what appears to be manifest destiny. [our review] – RP
17. “The Taste of Things”Trần Anh Hùng wanted to make a movie about the art of food, and boy, did he. Inspired by Marcel Roof’s “La Vie et la passion de Dodin-Bouffant, gourmet (The Passionate Epicure),” this French-language wonder centers on the long-festering love affair between Dodin (Benoît Magimel), a restaurant owner and gourmet, and his chef, Eugénie (Juliette Binoche). Magimel and Binoche were married from 1998 to 2003, so either their romantic and emotional chemistry captured on film is inherent, or they are simply superb actors (or maybe both). What makes “Taste” so delicious, however, is how Hung and cinematographer Jonathan Ricquebourg capture the creations in Dodin and Eugénie’s kitchen. There are no tricks to make the food appear more delectable than it is. It’s cinematic realism at its best, and the dishes are so inviting you can almost smell their captivating aroma when they appear on screen. [our review] – Gregory Ellwood
16.  “Showing Up”Filmmaker Kelly Reichardt consistently crafts deceptively simple films, and “Showing Up” is essentially just about a woman (a terrific Michelle Williams) struggling to put the finishing touches on her sculptures in an upcoming gallery show. Like her doll-like figurines,  abstractly beautiful but also curiously peculiar, the contemplative “Showing Up” is delicate and miniaturist in nature, a really pin-pointing exact portrait of artists, the struggles they endure to survive, and the quirky communities and circles they run in (a wonderfully nuanced Hong Chau being one of the standouts). With a tactile, homemade quality, to the outside layman viewer, maybe nothing happens in “Showing Up.” But the film is so sensitively attuned to the intricacies of people, fragmented families, artistic communities, and the neurosis that comes with putting yourself out there to create with vulnerability. If you dial into its exquisite wavelength, not to mention its gauzy, playful sense of humor, you’ll discover a vibrant film utterly sublime in its profound reading of creative people and what it takes to lead a creative life. [Our review]- RP