Spencer Henderson’s Top 10 Best Movies of 2023

2023 was a turbulent year for the film industry. A significant portion of the year saw the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild go on strike due to what can frankly be summed up as corporate greed on the part of the major studios. Each strike left people out of work for over one hundred days and meant that productions were either halted or delayed if they were set to begin production in the duration of time that the strikes took place.

I find it remarkable that in the year of Barbenheimer when moviegoing saw a much-needed boost, studio heads didn’t agree to the completely reasonable demands that equated to a tiny fraction of their massive profits and use that momentum of people being excited about going to the cinema to their advantage. I think we are going to feel the effects of this strike in 2024 and beyond.

In terms of films released, 2023 was a great year for cinema. I alluded to Barbenheimer in the previous paragraph, but this felt like the first year post-COVID lockdown when people were excited to go to the movies with more than one major success. It felt like a massive summer at the movies due to those two films alone, but as always, there were great films big and small released throughout 2023, and this article is my personal favorites of the year, including a few categories to make up my honorable mentions.

I, of course, did not see every film released in 2023, and there is one film I couldn’t find any way to see before making this list and that is Wim Wenders‘ Perfect Days. I have a feeling and have been told by people who know me that I am going to probably love that film, and I will try to write about it when I finally get to see it.

As I have in my three previous “Best of” lists at MovieBabble, I will begin by listing my honorable mentions:

Most Surprising Film – There were certainly a few films that surprised me this year; however, I think this category easily belongs to Godzilla Minus One. This film wasn’t even on my radar until very close to its release and it wound up being one of the best blockbuster films I saw all year. I think a large amount of credit belongs to the script, which gives us some truly effective characters to be invested in, and powerful thematic material to explore. A flaw I often find in this franchise is the fact that I don’t have any investment in the people on the ground in the midst of all of the destruction. In Godzilla Minus One, the fate of the characters was what I most cared about. The classic 1954 Godzilla film remains an indelible film about the horrors and fallout of the nuclear weapons dropped on Japan. Godzilla Minus One joins Shin Godzilla (2016) as the modern films of the franchise able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the unforgettable original film.

You Just Didn’t Understand It, Man – Every year, I feel like there is a film that I am on the wavelength of that is just criminally under-appreciated. This category was created because I loved a horror film called The Lodge, but many of my peers were incredibly polarized by it. This year, I am going to award this category to another deeply polarizing horror film that has stuck with me since I saw it last January, and that is Kyle Edward Ball’s Skinamarink. This film reminded me of the times when I was a child, awake in bed, staring into the dark corner of my room, convincing myself I could see a face in the darkness. It feels like a nightmare; it leaves logic at the door and offers raw, primal fear to endure even when you can’t realize what it is you are scared of.

Most Criminally Underseen – There were multiple contenders for this spot this year, and one film on my actual top 10 list I feel like barely anyone saw (at least of people I know). However, narrowing this down came down to a film that has remained towards the top of my list from one of my favorite filmmakers working today, whose work I think often is criminally underrated. That film is Kelly Reichardt‘s Showing Up. I loved this film, and though it is small in budget and scale, it managed to be about so many, very human things. This is a funny, sad, and complex little film about art and jealousy, and the often fine line between those two things. Both Michelle Williams and Hong Chau give great performances. It’s great to see Hong Chau, an actress whom I have often found to be wonderful even in films I felt incredibly negative about (The Whale), in a film deserving of her talents. If any of this intrigues you, I truly cannot recommend this wonderful film enough.

Film(s) I’m Most Butthurt Didn’t Make The List – Multiple films share this spot this year. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a truly timeless and wholesome coming-of-age film that I found completely universal and can comfortably recommend to any person regardless of age. It feels like a new classic in that genre.

Of An Age proves Goran Stolevski is a true talent as a filmmaker in a beautiful and emotionally stirring brief encounter romance film about two gay men in different stages of acceptance of their identity.

All of Us Strangers provides a thought-provoking experience about grief and loneliness with a shattering lead performance by Andrew Scott. It has a few scenes that have remained in my mind since I saw it.

May December is a deeply effective character study about two deeply narcissistic and manipulative women anchored by a truly heartbreaking performance from Charles Melton that should have earned him an Oscar nomination.

Finally, Beau Is Afraid is a descent into the hellish reality of having anxiety and provides some of the most entertaining and hilarious sequences of the entire year. It’s a polarizing film, but I truly love it.

Most Cinematic Experience of 2023 – This year, I’m going to give this title to a video game and say the most cinematic experience I had this year was Remedy’s mind-bending horror odyssey Alan Wake II. The storytelling of this game is truly one of a kind, and the way it mixes gameplay with entire live-action filmed sequences is genius. There is a level in this game that is easily my favorite sequence of any piece of media this year. I am in awe of the ambition of this game. As someone who has waited thirteen years for this sequel, it is deeply exciting that it exceeded my expectations in every imaginable way.

Before I continue, I would like to add two disclaimers:

1. I did not see every film released in 2023. This list is based on an incomplete sampling, and so while I call it my “Best of” list, I prefer to use the title, “Spencer Henderson’s Favorite Films of 2023.”
2. Remember that film is subjective. It would be incredibly boring if every writer at MovieBabble presented the same list. If there are films that you haven’t seen or heard of on my list, I have done my job as a film critic because it allows you the opportunity to potentially have the experience I had with new titles. Additionally, I would love to see your list! Feel free to share it in the comment section below! I love it when people interact with my work. Tell me about what you saw this year that got you excited about movies.

Now, let’s move on to my Top 10 Films of 2023:

#10: Fallen Leaves 

I love films about economic classes, and this happens to be an excellent examination of the working class while simultaneously being a charming and moving romantic comedy. In a breezy 80-minute runtime, I felt I had a three-dimensional portrait of these characters, their struggles, and their desires. Director Aki Kaurismäki adds a very specific look and style to this film. This world feels vivid and warm despite the many hardships the characters face. The film has a deep sense of melancholy that touched me and I loved being with these people. The romantic comedy is a genre that I think works much better for me when the comedy isn’t incredibly heightened and borderline fantastical, but honest and true to life. Fallen Leaves satisfied that desire, and I feel that on rewatches, it will only rise in my estimation.

#9: R.M.N.

Nationalism is something that has been on my mind on a fairly consistent basis as an American. There aren’t many films about how toxic, dehumanizing, and dangerous a force it is, but Cristian Mungiu’s explosive film provides an unflinching portrayal of the horrors and hypocritical nature of nationalism and its inevitable erosion into something much more explosive and violent. R.M.N. feels very much a product of modern times where nationalism is celebrated by major political figures. There are so many layers to this film and it is truly gripping in a way few films can be. A static shot of a town hall later in the film is one of the most riveting scenes I saw this year, and the enigmatic ending has left me thinking about it since I saw it.

#8: The Zone of Interest

I have been anxiously awaiting Jonathan Glazer‘s follow-up to his utterly BRILLIANT Under The Skin, a film I consider to be one of the best science fiction films ever crafted. His follow-up comes a whole ten years later and it proved to be another truly horrifying and disturbing experience. I find it wild that the non-human alien who harvests the organs of unsuspecting men in Under The Skin comes to earn more empathy than the human characters in The Zone of Interest. This is a film about the banality of evil, and the complicity of normal people when evil quite literally surrounds them. It’s impossible for me to watch this film without considering real-world events occurring at the moment: people living comfortably and safely while, right over the wall, a genocide is actively taking place.

#7: Anatomy of a Fall

I love films that are morally complex and challenging, and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall has moral complexity in spades. Sandra Hüller gives an incredible and nuanced lead performance that, in the hands of a lesser actress, could collapse the entire film. Triet is a director and screenwriter who treats her viewers as intelligent and engaged participants, and I loved the way that this film consistently pulls the rug out from under you and challenges your notions. Anatomy of a Fall is ultimately about the performances we put on to others to conceal the uglier sides of ourselves, and how a multitude of systems (judicial, media, etc.) strip all nuance from a situation or relationship to aid the narrative that benefits them. As a viewer, you feel conflicted in your complicity, but that is entirely the point.

#6: Poor Things

Poor Things is Barbie for the sickos. I am a big fan of Yorgos Lanthimos. I love the worlds he creates, and I always have so much fun navigating them with his unforgettable characters. With Poor Things, he has crafted what very well might be my favorite of his films thanks to an unbelievably committed and fearless lead performance by Emma Stone. It’s rare to watch something that feels this original, and that has so much on its mind. Poor Things is many things: an absurdist comedy, an allegory on religion, a takedown of the patriarchy, and a deeply feminist critique of a society hell-bent on stripping women of their bodily autonomy. By the end of this film, I felt that I had gone on a journey with the main character and had learned things alongside her about what it means to be alive and human in this absurd world we live in. It’s not very often that a film inspires that type of thought and moves you in that way, but Poor Things is as one of a kind as you can hope for a film to be.

#5: Killers of the Flower Moon

Any year a new film by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese is released is a great year for film. I have followed and loved his work since I was a teenager and this was my most anticipated film of 2023. Scorsese is, in my opinion, maybe the filmmaker who most understands America and can create soul-stirring indictments of it. This is a deeply tragic story that happened just 100 years ago. By no means ancient history, and the fact that teaching this story is considered a controversial act to some speaks for itself. Anchored by a crushing performance by Lily Gladstone that should earn her an Academy Award, I found this film to be devastating, exhausting, and infuriating in equal measure, but that is entirely the point. It joins the ranks of films like There Will Be Blood as great films about America, specifically capitalism, and the rot that resides just barely under its surface.

#4: The Holdovers

Alexander Payne‘s The Holdovers is a film in which you can track everything that will happen with these characters from a mile away, and it still managed to be one of the most moving and warm experiences I had all year. Paul Giamatti is an actor whom I have loved for a long time, and it’s wonderful to see him get a leading role that feels perfectly tuned to his strengths as an actor. He completely disappears into the role of Paul Hunham; while he often spouts heightened and excessively wordy insults at the boys he is meant to look after over Christmas, he never feels like anything less than a real human being with passions, desires, struggles, and a deep sense of loneliness and regret. Additionally, the characters who surround him are equally endearing and sweet. (Da’Vine Joy Randolph is deserving of acclaim for her performance.) The Holdovers takes place in the dead of winter, but I felt an infectious warmth throughout. As it ended, I felt sad to leave these characters behind. In my opinion, this joins the pantheon of great Christmas films.

#3: Oppenheimer

I always admire the ambition of a Christopher Nolan film; however, I often find myself on the more lukewarm side of the spectrum. It seems that when Nolan crafts a historical epic, that is when he is at his most effective for me. I think this is his best film, and I am in awe of how riveting he made people sitting in rooms talking about communism, and how essential it felt to see this on the biggest screen possible.

Before viewing this film in IMAX, I wondered if a film so dialogue-driven would need that type of experience. The opening scene had me eating crow as my seat rattled with the immaculate sound design and goosebumps covered my arms as the opening quote about Prometheus stealing fire from the Gods emerged from fire. By the final shot of Cillian Murphy‘s haunted face, I concluded that IMAX was the only way to view this film and I would never doubt Christopher Nolan’s natural understanding of the format again. This is a deeply important film about a complex historical figure and each performance in this incredible ensemble — fronted by a career-best Cillian Murphy performance — feels totally flawless aided by the utterly fantastic screenplay and the best editing of the year. I find it shocking in the best possible way that an R-rated, somber adult drama about the fact that we very likely have brought about our own demise went on to gross a billion dollars at the box office. Perhaps the fact that so many people connected with this means there is hope for us yet.

#2: Past Lives

I think one of the most universal and human questions is that of, “What could have been?” I know I have found myself thinking of it at certain points in my life, and this human question rests at the center of Celine Song’s achingly gorgeous Past Lives. The film follows two childhood sweethearts from South Korea who are separated when one immigrates to Canada only to then reconnect decades later. My favorite romance films are about the brief encounter: the fleeting glimpse at a life that could have coalesced for you but wasn’t in the cards. With Past Lives, Celine Song has crafted an unforgettable film that joins the ranks of films like In The Mood For Love as an all-timer film in this sub-genre.

Greta Lee is excellent in the leading role, but it is Teo Yoo who takes this film into the stratosphere. He gives the best performance I have seen all year, one filled with such regret and, ultimately, acceptance that I found soul-stirring. The final five minutes of this film features a cut that I will never forget and the final line from Teo Yoo is one of those moments that has been so beautifully set up from the script that you don’t even realize how shattered you are until the tears are streaming down your face. I adore this film, and if this paragraph has convinced just one person to watch it, then I consider that a success.

#1: Monster

Hirokazu Kore-eda is my favorite living filmmaker. He has a way of crafting humanist dramas in such a masterful way that I always find so moving and life-affirming. Even films of his that people consider “lesser”, like Broker, are films that I find so moving and beautiful. I can’t choose a favorite of his films, but Monster is certainly a great entry into his filmography. I’m not going to say much about the film’s narrative, because one of the most rewarding elements about this film is the way the story unfolds to you.

But, I will say that this is essentially Kore-eda’s Rashomon. The film is structured as a mystery, and I found myself on the edge of my seat for much of the runtime. Most impressive is the structure isn’t gimmicky and it plays directly into the themes of the film. Monster is about the danger of assumption and the often warped nature of human perception, but it is ultimately a film about the beauty of human connection. It features the final film score by legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto which, in the film’s final scene, had me fighting back sobs. Kore-eda’s films always leave me hoping to be a better person than I was before I sat down to watch them. I think that is the highest compliment I can give a film, and Monster earns it.

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