The best films of 2023

From Barbie to The Holdovers and so much more, here are the 37 best films of 2023 according to the critics at InBetweenDrafts.

Where to even begin with 2023, a monumental film year packed with disruption after disruption. For one thing, the WGA and SGA strikes marked major shifts in how actors and writers are fairly compensated and protected by burgeoning A.I. technologies. The strikes also created notable gaps in the film release calendar, pushing back some of the most anticipated films of the year to 2024 (looking at you, Dune).

But the box office persisted and then some. There was Barbenheimer, first of all, probably the most mainstream “movie event” since No Way Home. It’s no surprise those two releases — along with The Super Mario Bros. Movie — went on to become the highest-grossing films of 2023. You’ll notice, by the way, that none of these three movie were part of existing franchises, yet Barbie is now the biggest comedy film of all time and The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the biggest video game film and most successful Illumination film. Let’s not leave out Oppenheimer, also winning the crown for biggest World War II film, which…huh…awkward achievement, there.

Clearly, audiences came out in search of something new this year.

Not the four-quadrant, all things to all people movie space that Disney previously dominated with Marvel, animation, and played out Star Wars movies. Audiences wanted niche blockbusters catering specifically to their demographic, while rejecting the safer, blander fare, which includes almost everything Disney put out this year by comparison. Worth noting by the way that only one Disney product is on our list of 37 films.

As for awards season, we’ve experienced a spoil of riches from some of our most celebrated directors. Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Christopher Nolan, Kelly Reichardt, Ari Aster, Wes Anderson, Yorgos Lanthimos, I could seriously keep going. 2023 had no shortage of unique, attention-grabbing films from unique, attention-grabbing auteurs. And we’re still trying to catch up on films that are sliding in last minute this month, which should explain some notable absences on our final list, particularly Wonka, The Iron Claw, Ferrari, and The Color Purple, just to name a few.

Nevertheless, we’re capping off our first full year of publication here at InBetweenDrafts, and for the film section, we got to enjoy an especially strong year at the movies. So without further posturing, here are the best films of 2023, starting with our honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions – #27 through #37

Honorable Mentions – #16 through #26

#15 – Barbie

After Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz and production company LuckyChap Entertainment cast Margot Robbie as the titular character, Robbie recruited independent film director Greta Gerwig, who then enlisted her writing collaborator, fellow director Noah Baumbach. Few could imagine that indie darling Gerwig would beat out staple summer blockbuster director Christopher Nolan in the summer of 2023, and their faceoff would create Barbenheimer, a marketing rivalry which produced the fourth ever largest American box office, thus disrupting Disney’s stranglehold on the popcorn movie.

With less than a couple of weeks remaining, Barbie also managed to become the top grossing domestic and worldwide box office movie of 2023. Robbie, Gerwig, and Baumbach defied the usual brand movie formula for well-established films such as Air, Blackberry, Ferrari, Ford v. Ferrari, House of Gucci, and Tetris, simply by embracing the brand’s aesthetic and world-building, fictionalizing real-life, making a coming-of-age musical — as well as a dramedy — for adults and children, and repackaging basic college level philosophical themes to a fatigued, post-pandemic audience. Many of whom repeatedly returned to the theater in stunning cosplay to empathize with Stereotypical Barbie’s existential dread. [Sarah G. Vincent] 

#14 – May December

At first, it feels wrong to be so entertained by Todd Haynes’ May December, but once you realize that feeling is intentional, it makes the film all the more powerful. Framed as melodramatic, May December highlights people’s obsession with the sensational, no matter how severe the scandals may be.

In May December’s case, the scandal is a 20-plus year relationship between Gracie (Julianne Moore) with her husband, Joe (Charles Melton), which started when Gracie was 36 and Joe was only 12. Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) seeks to research Gracie’s life for a part in a movie and discovers the true dynamic between this tabloid couple. 

Portman and Moore act their hearts out, but the spotlight is on Melton, who takes on his role with endless gravitas. He takes on the heavy task of playing a 12-year-old in a 36-year-old man’s body who slowly realizes that his “perfect” relationship may not be so perfect after all. [Yasmin Kleinbart]

#13 – The Zone of Interest

After transferring to a different country for a government job, a married couple and their five children live in domestic bliss….on the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most notorious Nazi extermination camp during World War II.

Most movies fictionalize real-life stories, while writer and director Jonathan Glazer reverts from Martin Amis’ historical fiction novel to focus on the family of commandant Rudolf Hoss (Christian Freidel). Glazer proves that it’s possible to highlight the horrors of atrocities without further exploitation or entertaining the idea that Hoss’ family was ignorant of the patriarch’s war crimes by predominantly focusing on wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), the most joyous vulture, who sifts through prisoners’ belongings and threatens the enslaved housekeepers with death when she’s having a bad day.

Glazer elicits sympathy from viewers inured to violence through innovative ways, such as the sound design and showing mass murder generated pollution. These objective markers of horror make the Hoss’ definition of the ideal life seem delusional unless the goal is to have a family of serial killers. It is a ghoulish, chilling portrait of a seemingly normal family who reject any individual, personal discomfort even at the price of their health and humanity. [Sarah G. Vincent] 

#12 – Anatomy of a Fall

Elegant, detailed, calculated, and excellently crafted — these are some of the elements that make an effective procedural crime film and aptly describe Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall. Anchored around a mysterious death in the Alps, the film excels on multiple layers: a brilliant courtroom drama, a fascinating and intriguing glimpse into the complexities of the collapse of a marriage between two artists, and a suspenseful thriller that surprises audiences at every turn.

Additionally, Sandra Hüller and Milo Machado Graner deliver stellar performances that, combined with exceptional pacing, make for a captivating watch. [Pedro Luis Graterol]

#11 – Poor Things

I started my review of this film with a warning not to watch it, and wouldn’t you believe it, that only made people want to watch it. Awesome. Thanks everyone, tried to warn you. Anyway, Poor Things is probably the best film Yorgos Lanthimos has ever made, which obviously means that it’s one of his most inaccessible, and that’s absolutely saying something considering this is the man who made Dogtooth.

Poor Things also boasts Emma Stone’s best performance, another high bar, and maybe even Mark Ruffalo’s. Stone embodies a whirlwind, psychological feminism in Bella Baxter, a child stuck in a woman’s body, whose grotesque actions only amplify and strengthen her cause in a movie that wears the brand “guilty pleasure” on his sleeve. Complete with an impeccable production design and rotating funhouse of wacky characters, Poor Things has to be one of the most memorable moviegoing experiences one might have in 2023, even if they absolutely despise it. [Jon Negroni]

#10 – Killers of the Flower Moon

There’s something uniquely special about witnessing a master filmmaker excel in his element, as Martin Scorsese does with his adaptation of David Grann’s nonfiction investigation into the Reign of Terror suffered by the Osage Nation.

Killers of the Flower Moon is an exceptional exploration of the various facets of evil, ranging from direct, aggressive violence fueled by racism to the complicity of bystanders and the way this violence becomes fossilized into systems of oppression. The film even questions the roles of filmmakers and audiences themselves and their involvement in this story. However, what makes it outstanding is its ability to distill these grand historical elements into a marital drama anchored by brilliant performances from Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio, constantly reminding us that the Osage are more than the sum of their tragedies. [Pedro Luis Graterol]

#9 – The Boy and the Heron

To observe anything by filmmaking giant Hayao Miyazaki is to see snippets and pieces of inspiration from his decades-long career. In the strange, overwhelming The Boy and the Heron, the director reckons with both his past and regrets while processing all that he’s learned, all that he won’t get to see. His most personal film to date, the film soars in its quiet, contemplative story that’s visually epic while maintaining a contemplative heart, a story of language at war with the grandiosity of the artwork.

It possesses one of the most mournful, aching scores from long-time collaborator and composer Joe Hisaishi and moves in fits of energy chased by pure stillness and melancholy. The fantasy never distracts from the story of grief, and the grief never undermines the spectacle. Both a coda, a eulogy, and a rallying cry for artistic expression, The Boy and the Heron is a culmination of everything Miyazaki has built while standing on its own as a singular piece of fiction. [Allyson Johnson]

#8 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) may be currently going downhill, but there’s one thing it did right this year: letting James Gunn do his thing. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wraps up the adventures of Star Lord (Chris Pratt) and his rag-tag team, who’ve grown from common thieves to intergalactic heroes.

While the last two films focused mainly on Star Lord’s origins, this installment focuses on Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and his tragic backstory (and by tragic, I mean TRAGIC). Gunn is able to balance his signature toilet humor with emotional stakes and takes the story to darker places. But at the film’s core is the same message from the last two installments: the importance of found family.

There’s no doubt that the Guardians will be back in some form (they got new members, after all). But seeing everyone dance to Florence and the Machine’s “The Dog Days Are Over” gives us a satisfying closure to this current group. While it may not have been the ending a lot of fans wanted, it’s the ending that made sense, and I give Gunn props for sticking with it. [Yasmin Kleinbart]

#7 – Beau is Afraid

At a time when Hollywood producers are, shall we say, pusillanimous about making anything unwavering or unconventional, props need to be given to Ari Aster for convincing A24 to bankroll Beau is Afraid, a bold, bizarre, and, in more ways than one, ballsy mind-f*** of an odyssey that serves as the writer-director’s most mesmerizing, enthralling, and uncompromising achievement. If I can share the filmmaker’s hutzpah, it may even be his best yet.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix as our titular regressed protagonist with, yes, a deep fear of everything (and understandably so, as seen throughout this expensive, expansive three-hour whirlpool of a film), Beau is Afraid indulges itself in being as bulbously bombastic as possible. It’s as scarily dense as it is screamingly funny. But through Aster’s unfettered drive to tell the story of the world’s biggest scaredy cat trying to overcome his deep-seated mommy issues, the burgeoning storyteller moves far away from his influences and makes a world more completely his own — and more spectacularly singular than most movies are afforded to be in 2023.

As such, Beau is Afraid isn’t merely one of the year’s most egregious, insane, and masturbatory works. It’s also unquestionably, and unflinchingly, one of its greatest. [Will Ashton]

#6 – Asteroid City

In a year where you couldn’t escape viral attempts at the Wes Anderson aesthetic on Tik Tok, Anderson delivers a project chock-full of his career defining style; synthesized down to its latest iteration that challenges all assumptions of what the auteur is capable of at this point in his career.

With arguably his most star-studded — or at least most release-date relevant — cast to date, Anderson doesn’t sit on his laurels with what could be an easy task. Beautifully built sprawling sets, a tight script (even for Anderson), big swings at mixed media, strong performances, and a pervasive message that leaves the audience lingering on the film long after its runtime, all combine to deliver his best work since The Royal Tenenbaums.

Asteroid City delivers laughs, heart, intrigue, and more. It’s a massive statement with choices that won’t work for everyone, even longtime fans of the director, but that doesn’t make it any less the triumph that it is. [Mike Overhulse]

#5 – Godzilla Minus One

It’s rare to get a kaiju film that connects with audiences on a global scale, even in a franchise as historic as Godzilla. Well, Godzilla Minus One certainly pulls this off as Japan’s first return to the franchise in six years with yet another square one reimagining, and a first ever period piece in the series.

Even fans who can’t get enough of the menacing giant lizard will be enthralled by this drama set in post-war Japan, clamoring for more of its characters before being kept back into some of the best naval battles in any creature feature. Takashi Yamazaki finds a way to make a monster movie that speaks to his nation’s history, the grief of the modern world, and simultaneously celebrates the legacy of cinema’s arguably most iconic monster. [Evan Griffin]

#4 – Oppenheimer

There were quite a few movies that have either gotten close or overshot the three-hour mark this year. Some directors thrive on hefty runtimes because they don’t waste a single second of their mass minutes, seeing it as a chance to further expand the picture they’re trying to paint for an audience. Leave it to Christopher Nolan to use his three-hour movie to evoke the intricacies of physics, the seedy workings of American politics, a horrible case of determined career assassination, and the guilt of world-ending consequences on the same gorgeous canvas.

Not a single strand of film is wasted in Oppenheimer as Nolan turns the story of the atomic bomb and its haunted creator into a sweeping historical epic that goes from being cold and clinical one minute and then more tense than any other thriller the next. It’s the biggest machine Nolan has ever operated and every gear works without fail: Ludwig Göransson hits a career-peak with a score that’s as beautiful as it is commanding, the cinematography from Hoyte Van Hoytema finds striking visuals in the horizons of New Mexico and the floors of government hearings (the latter being in black and white), and the sizable ensemble cast doesn’t miss a beat. It’s nice to know that whether you’re Cillian Murphy or Josh Peck, you can make it big in a Nolan picture. [Jon Winkler]

#3 – The Holdovers

You owe it to yourself to cap off your movie year with a new Christmas classic. That’s right, I said it, judge me all you want. Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is a bittersweet holiday cocktail with one part Dead Poets Society and equal parts It’s a Wonderful Life and honestly anything from Hal Ashby. It’s also the definition of a good sit.

The film stars Paul Giamatti as a cantankerous history teacher at a stuffy religious boarding school who has to watch over a bunch of snot-nosed students over Christmas break. He’s joined by the cafeteria lady (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who’s recently experienced a painful loss, and a smart aleck (Dominic Sessa) who wants to escape his New England prison any moment he can.

There are movies you watch and there are movies you can feel. Not just emotionally but down its texture and even taste and smell. The Holdovers is grumpy, yet soulful. Mild-mannered but emotionally hostile. It’s everything it is and everything it isn’t. Oh, sorry, that doesn’t make sense? It will once you watch it. [Jon Negroni]

#2 – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse picks up the “anyone can wear the mask” concept from its predecessor by turning more inward and puts the very concept of canon on trial, asking both the Spider-people and the audience to consider the limitations of storytelling “rules.” Peter Parker’s bad luck is an officially observable phenomeon in the source material and is often the reason for painfully resetting his status quo; which makes it the perfect conflict for Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) to face. Is Miles truly a Spider-Man if he doesn’t suffer tremendously? And here we thought there were no more compelling Spider-stories to tell…

Combined with somehow even more ambitious animation and memorable Spiders, Across the Spider-Verse is a thoughtful and thrilling ride, making it all the more impactful when the film hits its nerve-wracking cliffhanger. [Travis Hymas]

#1 – Past Lives

Celine Song’s gorgeous, deeply felt debut questions the many “what ifs” of a person’s existence. Told in snapshots throughout the life of Nora (Greta Lee), her childhood sweetheart Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), and the her husband Arthur (John Magaro), the film’s tender heart lays bare for all viewers to witness as these characters move throughout the profundity of being alive. Captured with soft palettes and an evocative framework that visualizes both distance and intimacy, Past Lives wields an ability to showcase the emotions beneath the surface, capturing the notion of love as a reflection of youth.

Mentioned throughout the film is “in-yun,” a Korean concept that suggests even the smallest of exchanges can indicate a moment shared between two souls in previous lives. The film is such a feat of storytelling through the tremendous performances, careful writing, and direction because it takes these souls who, despite their ordinary existence, are transformative to one another.

We are who we know, and Song’s grace in the film is found through that empathetic understanding that, as humans, our relationships linger, no matter how brief. The souls we entangle ourselves with might even follow us longer than decades lived and, if lucky, into our next life. [Allyson Johnson]

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Featured image illustration and Honorable Mentions graphics by Jon Negroni.