Hello there! I’m well aware that the last blog post that I wrote was my *2022* review of the year but now, on New Year’s Eve 2023, I’m coming put of hibernation to post my annual list of what I believe were the very best features that 2023 cinema had to offer.

2023 was surely most notable for the juggernaut that was Barbenheimer (two films that, perhaps surprisingly to all of you, will NOT be making appearances in this list!) but elsewhere, the cinematic year gave us a genuinely great crop of films that were so good, that I had a little trouble narrowing it all down, my top 20 being subject to an eleventh hour rejiggering. But narrow it all down I did so finally, I can now present my final list of best 2023 films but other great films from this year do still exist and by next year, I will surely have changed my mind!

Honourable Mentions: Creed III, Extraction 2, A Man Called Otto, The Fabelmans and Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.

All have 2023 UK release dates.

20. Joy Ride

Kicking things off on a fun note, this sex positive comedy from the Crazy Rich Asians team may hit some very familiar narrative beats towards the end but still, it’s a funny and entertaining ride and it has plenty of colourful characters for us to support.

19. The Royal Hotel

From the director of The Assistant, Kitty Green, this thriller is all about two young women that run afoul of several dangerous Australian locals whilst backpacking through the country and it does so well because it’s all an impressively tense and unpredictable affair with a compelling story; it packs a punch (more so than The Assistant, which I found to have been too subtle) and both Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick do very good work as the two very different types of young women.

18. Evil Dead Rise

Taking its place as one of the few horror films on my list, this latest Evil Dead feature has a small group of solid characters for us to get invested in and most of all, the feature has a simple story and is wonderfully bloody and violent and it all culminates in a good ol’ grisly gorefest: a win!

17. How to Have Sex

The only film that I ventured out into the capital to see this year, I was initially unsure of whether I actually wanted to see a film about hard partying Brits “having it large” at a popular tourist destination but while the film does indeed start out this way, we gradually begin to see what it’s actually about: a vulnerable and insecure young woman who puts up a “front” for her friends and who ends up being the victim of sexual assault by one of the holidaying “lads”. There’s great characterisation at the centre of the feature, the character of Tara played so genuinely by Mia McKenna-Bruce, and it does well in showing what creeps some men can be, though thankfully not in an obnoxious or preachy manner.

16. Saw X

Having only previously seen five out of the (then) nine films in the popular horror franchise, only enjoying two of them and all, the inclusion of Saw X in this list is actually a bit of a surprise but I really felt as though it was a surprising breath of fresh air as the film seems to go “back to basics” and it benefits from several inventive “traps”, a particularly nasty villain, and a very meaty role for Tobin Bell, who here does mighty fine work as John Kramer, appearing here, surprisingly, as a kind of anti-hero.

15. BlackBerry

In all honesty, I was planning to skip this one altogether because a film all about the invention of the very first smartphone (a Blackberry no less, a device that I knew little about) sounded distinctly unappealing to me but in the end, I ended up enjoying every minute of it because it told a very interesting and enlightening story in an entertaining manner and it’s a film that benefits greatly from its central performances from Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton.

14. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Perhaps surprisingly, this was the first M:I film that I’d seen on the big screen and whilst I believe that Rogue Nation remains the best of the franchise so far and that this entry displays signs of the series slowing down, it’s still surely superior to the majority of action/adventure films out there today and as such, it’s all sleek and adrenaline fueled and it has both an intriguing central antagonist (one who isn’t even human!) and an expectedly committed performance from box office draw Tom Cruise.

13. Missing

As it was with Searching, this film again makes use of “screen POV” rather brilliantly and inventively, and although the feature often moves at breakneck speed, it remains constantly engaging and tense and it’s so easy (and fulfilling) to just get absorbed in teen sleuth June’s dark investigation.

12. The Whale

The film that rewarded the popular and likeable Mummy actor Brendan Fraser with the statuette for Best Actor, Aronofsky’s theatrical piece features a very small group of finely tuned and interesting performances (not least from Fraser, who here does most impressive work) and the film manages to contain one or two sweet moments that focus on our soft spoken lead but mostly, it’s a haunting, tragic, and often uncomfortable tale about a soul who goes through the physical and emotional ringer.

11. Air

Despite having little to no interest in, nor great knowledge of, basketball or famous footwear, director Ben Affleck has here made those two subjects accessible and interesting to me as Air is a very enjoyable and enlightening film about Nike’s quest to outdo rivals Adidas and Converse and to sign up-and-coming superstar Michael Jordan, and it is particularly strengthened by its cool soundtrack, very able cast, and tight script that I’m glad to say made me smile quite a bit. This year’s Le Mans 66 for sure.

But despite all that I witnessed, I remain a committed Converse man!

10. Suzume

Following on from the critically acclaimed Your Name as well as Weathering With You, director Makoto Shinkai here gives us another wonderful adventure that makes sure to include plenty of heartfelt humour and most noticeably, the animation is particularly remarkable and sophisticated, especially in the epic action sequences. The best film about a talking three-legged chair that you’ll ever see – guaranteed!

9. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Much like The Edge of Seventeen (though this one’s more like The Edge of Twelve!), this was a funny and enjoyable coming-of-age tale – a realistic and down-to-earth insight into the life and struggles of a young woman – that benefits from an excellent central performance as well as a cast of strong supporting actors; Kelly Fremon Craig excels in both the writing and directing departments and the young and so so likeable Abby Ryder Fortson delivers a mightily impressive child performance.

8. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

I had heard certain people proclaiming this feature to be some kind of mini masterpiece but although I don’t believe this to be the case, The Last Wish is nonetheless a cut above some of the animated features that you see around today – particularly surprising considering that it’s a film from the “Shrek-verse” – and the reason that it works so well is that the colourful animation is absolutely stellar, blending different animation styles so well and managing to excite and amaze in the adventurous sequences, and also because the characters are given far more depth than is usual for a film like this and here, we see our rambunctious main character having to come to terms with his own mortality.

7. Godzilla Minus One

Appearing as something of a direct remake of the influential 1954 original (a worthy one, mind you), this feature feels like a quintessential Godzilla movie and in addition to all of the genuinely nail biting, dramatic, and very good looking monster spectacle, this film pulls off the enviable task of actually counterbalancing all of this with genuinely deep and effective characterisation and human drama as we see our main character grapple with PTSD and we follow him on his journey as he strives to escape the ghosts of his past and to eventually live his life again. It may be a Godzilla feature but at the end of the day, it’s a film about humankind and the film manages to be most effective when we see our band of everyday people banding together in the face of overwhelming odds.

6. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Despite never having previously heard of artist/activist Nan Goldin, nor the Sackler family or of the OxyContin overdose epidemic, I was enlightened by Laura Poitras’ documentary and it paints such a vivid picture of Lower New York and of the colourful bunch of intriguing outcasts that made up Goldin’s adolescence and running parallel to all of her “backstory”, the modern day fight against the untouchable Sacklers makes for very interesting, informative and emotionally stirring viewing.

5. Babylon

While La La Land was something of a love letter to golden age of Hollywood, Babylon strives to delve into the seedy underbelly of tinseltown and although Damien Chazelle occasionally tries a little too hard to shock and provoke, the film ultimately succeeds thanks to its own unique voice and while the sequences that involve certain “dens of debauchery” do indeed give the film plenty of grit, the film is especially effective as a tragic, melancholic tale; we see the colourful, larger-than-life characters enjoying their heyday but we eventually come to realise that the golden days won’t last and that these figures will soon disappear from memory.

4. The First Slam Dunk

Another one of those “wouldn’t have given it the time of day, had it not been hyped up on social media” films, this anime feature tells of an misfit underdog basketball team who participate in one big game against their mighty rivals and it works so well due to the animation and sound design being absolutely stellar but also, it also deserves praise for its characterisation as we see, in narratives that run parallel to the main event, flashback sequences that gradually let us get to know each member of the team so that by the end, we’re really supporting the team!

3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

While I’m still of the opinion that its immediate predecessor was a more finely tuned film, this latest Spidey feature is still an undeniably great film that takes what came before and doubles down on everything; we see a much bigger showcase of animation, far more characters, and a central villain who, though he legitimately appears as a joke on first glance, eventually presents a very real threat to our characters and whose presence promises universe shattering developments within the next film.

The film does move at 100mph so subtitles and a pause button would help but overall, the filmmakers manage to keep everything “contained”, not going overboard with all the dimension-hopping nor showing off too much with the animation, and Across the Spider-Verse is ultimately a mighty and multifaceted animated feature that will surely still be remembered for years to come.

2. Killers of the Flower Moon

A film that juuuuust missed out on the top spot (it was a tricky choice and this film could easily have taken the gold), maestro Scorsese’s latest film reunites DiCaprio and De Niro in this, an unrelentingly bleak and crushing retelling of how several men went to monstrous lengths in an effort to possess great wealth through the murder and mistreatment of the Osage.

In addition to Scorsese’s expectedly excellent direction, as well as the remarkably tense score from the late Robbie Robertson and the entirety of the mighty cast, the central trio of performances elevate the film a great deal; we have Leonardo Dicaprio who plays an initially unassuming and perhaps naive sort but who later changes into a decrepit husk as he’s altered by greed, there’s Robert De Niro who presents us with a truly patient and calculating mastermind villain who’s always in control, always with a constant quiet menace in his eyes, and lastly there’s the very impressive Lily Gladstone who can express so much with her patient and constantly suspicious glances, always letting us see how she sees through all the lies and false behaviour.

An intriguing and enlightening story that’s filled with a palpable atmosphere of tension and impending doom, but which film beat this gem to the top spot?

1. John Wick: Chapter Four

The final (?) chapter of the popular action franchise really does close things off with a bang as we see the most unkillable assassin take on the High Table and again try to avoid the denizens of armed goons that are thrown his way.

In this fourth chapter, we’re treated to plenty of very good-looking, sleek, and inventive action sequences, most noticeably an early Osaka-set sequence and a finale that makes use of a memorable one-take overhead shootout as well as one particularly troublesome set of steps!

The constantly likeable Keanu Reeves again gets to prove that he’s an absolute beast when it comes to fighting, shooting, driving, and general tumbling but here, he perhaps meets his match in Donnie Yen’s Caine (yet another blind Yen warrior character who is one with the Force!) who impresses so greatly with his amazing fighting skills and who is also given some decent characterisation.

There’s surely so much to gush about with this action feature but I should just sum up by saying: welcome to the top of the list and to my Victors’ Village, Mr. Wick!

Bonus Round: Best First Time Watches of 2023

In addition to all of the brand new releases of the year, I also made sure to watch plenty of earlier releases as well and here are ten of my favourites!

10. Mr. Nobody (2009)

Though it didn’t always make sense, this cerebral film was often fascinating and it features one of Jared Leto’s more interesting performances.

9. Blade II (2002)

Under the skilled stewardship of Guillermo Del Toro, Blade II manages to be a superior sequel thanks to its solid plot, slick action and fight sequences, special effects that actually hold up, and strong characters. Modern day comic book movies should take note.

8. Lifeforce (1985)

A very entertaining, grisly, and erotically charged sci-fi horror that benefits from a a very interesting and smart plot as well as the harrowing Cronenberg-esque special effects that always keep the eyes glued to the screen, the score that’s played so wonderfully by the London Symphony Orchestra, and the notoriously tantalising performance from femme fatale Mathilda May.

7. Triangle of Sadness (2022)

The kind of film that Federico Fellini would surely have made back in the day, this one’s about a group of privileged people – influencers and the like – as well as “the help”, who find their worlds turned upside down when they’re all stranded on an island. It’s a scathing look at how power can corrupt and it has a rock solid script and a game cast.

6. Shiva Baby (2020)

Many people seemed to love director Emma Seligman’s 2023 release Bottoms but I definitely preferred this one: a theatrical piece about a young woman who faces several uncomfortable situations whilst at a Shiva; it’s an enjoyable watch as well as a solid showcase for lead actor Rachel Sennott.

5. Detachment (2011)

This film – Dead Poets Society on the wrong side of the tracks – was an intriguing, engrossing, and powerful downbeat drama that’s brought to life by Tony Kaye’s very effective direction as well as one of the most impressive Adrien Brody performances that I’ve ever seen.

4. Aftersun (2022)

Although it took a little time for me to understand what the film was truly about, Charlotte Wells’ intimate film ultimately proved to be something special as we got to see through the eyes of a young girl as she experienced her last holiday with her haunted and troubled father. It’s a truly absorbing film that provides a lot of food for thought and it’s also bolstered by the performances of Normal People‘s Paul Mescal as well as the impressive newcomer Frankie Corio.

3. Flee (2021)

A very topical and relevant feature, this animated documentary tells the tale of what one particular refugee had to go through and as such, the feature really doesn’t hold back as it proves to be an emotional and unrelenting gut punch of a piece, a powerful film that will surely stick with you after it has finished.

2. A Bronx Tale (1993)

A really great film that may very well deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Goodfellas, Robert De Niro’s crime film is certainly reminiscent of the 1990 classic (as well as the “Bart the Murderer” episode of The Simpsons) and that’s probably why I liked it so much: I do enjoy those coming-of-age crime films about Italian-American youths of modest means who get caught up in the life of crime, perhaps finding love in the process.

1. The Man From Earth (2007)

Confidently taking its place as the very best non-2023 film that I saw this year, Richard Schenkman’s film has a simple premise: a group of colleagues gather in a cabin and one of them reveals that they’re 14,000 years old, his listeners asking questions about his life. It’s such an original and excellently written piece, at one point even providing an intelligent explanation on the truth behind certain religions, and it’s just so easy to get swept up in the lead character’s epic tale, really letting us feel as though we were in the room with him and the film thankfully avoids the trap of utilising flashbacks, instead relying on the audience’s willingness to simply sit and listen to our main character speak for the duration.

* * * * *

Aaaaand that just about does it for another year of films! I’m glad that I actually managed to write just ONE blog plot this year and maaaaaybe I’ll rediscover the confidence and the motivation to do more next year but if not, I’ll surely keep on writing these end-of-year reviews because I sure would hate to neglect them!

Thank you to all who manged to get through this entire post and I hope that you all have a great year.

Many Thanks,

Plain, Simple Tom