Favourite Films of 2023

2023 was a standout year for films. There were so many I loved. Films like The Holdovers, John Wick 4, Skinamarink, A Thousand and One, Chevalier, Knock at the Cabin, American Fiction, and Rustin are all films that in a regular year would have been in my top ten favourite films. But there is only so much room in a list of 10 films plus the very favourite. They include 3 films directed by woman, and 5 films from directors of colour. There are two animated films, 4 queer narratives, and 2 films I myself consider messy and wonderfully imperfect. Here are the ones I loved the most in 2023... 

The Boy and the Heron

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki

After a 10 year break Miyazaki returns to cinemas triumphantly with a true tour de force rumination on coming of age while both embracing the
past while moving into the future. It has all the magic, beauty, and strangeness of his best films. The Boy and Heron is surprising and moving and absolutely gorgeous, everything we expect and adore from this legendary film maker, yet it never feels like he is simply retreading familiar ground. It is both the recognizable work of a familiar artist and something completely new. 

Brother

Dir. Clement Virgo

Clement Virgo's electrifying film Brother hits harder than I thought it might, by never quite going where you think it’s going to go. He employs a powerful framing sequence, jumps us back and forth in his timeline, but throughout narrates such a lovely and complicated story of two brothers, their connection, and their disconnection, as well as their interrelation with others, their community, and their family.

Carmen

Dir. Benjamin Millepied

Millepied is a dancer and choreographer and his first directoral movie is a narrative told through dance. Unlike a musical or traditional drama, Carmen is shot focused on movement, bodies, dance to tell a story that isn’t literal or logical but emotional and visceral. Visually stunning with a rich and layered score, Carmen is an experiment in how to make film differently that is somewhat raw and unsure, but even more engaging for its rough edges. This one hits me emotionally and Rossy de Palma’s presence elevates the beauty of the piece. 

How to Blow up a Pipeline

Dir. Daniel Goldhaber

This bold and unashamed film is shot like a heist movie and is as edge of your seat exciting as the best of that genre, while also having the courage to say something uncomfortable and unpopular. This is the sort of film that makes you feel both entertained and uneasy. It both inspires hope and reminds us just how close to disaster we are. No other film this year speaks to our future as urgently. 

Nimona

Dir. Nick Bruno, Troy Quane

Beautifully animated with a powerful story about “the enemy within”, Nimona subverts expectations of what mainstream animation can be. It was too bold for Disney so Annapurna had to make it and did so without holding back. Part science fiction, part fantasy, part legend, and a whole lot queer and trans, its message could not be more relevant to our world than right now. 

Of An Age

Dir. Goran Stolevski

I love when I can find a film to champion. Writer/director Goran Stolevski's second feature is tailor made for my sensibilities. From his intimate, almost claustrophobic, camera work, to the gorgeous selective colour palette in his cinematography, to the melancholy romance of the central plot, to the ambiguity in its emotional centre, Of An Age is exactly the kind of film that plays to what I love about cinema. Yet it is also the sort of beautiful and tender film that almost anyone can fall for and enjoy.

Past Lives

Dir. Celine Song

Past Lives starts out unassuming, building its story and characters bit by bit without a lot of fanfare or
frills. But by its third act it reaches a crescendo which wrecks you and delivers an emotional punch that will leave you stunned. It is one of the most mature love stories to be filmed recently, tackling the idea of relationships, love, and connection with nuance and complexity unlike most "romantic" movies. In doing so it hits harder than one is used to with very little to no drama or flamboyance. Writer/director Song has crafted something purely lovely and heart-wrenching.

Rotting in the Sun

Dir. Sebastián Silva

Silva’s almost surreal dark comedy is filled with real sex and real haunting melancholy. It is tragic and lonely in a way I wasn’t prepared for and funny in a way that is extremely uncomfortable. It haunts me with its desperate call for love and each time I watch it I am moved more. Catalina Saavedra gives one of my favourite performances of the year.

Rye Lane

Dir. Raine Allen-Miller

This film puts a big silly grin on my face and a pitter patter in my heart. This is rom-com done so well it transcends the genre and becomes something greater. Jonsson and Oparah have the most adorable and compelling chemistry and this film captures that moment of finding connection with whimsey and honesty and you won’t be able to help yourself but smile while watching it. Movies about falling in love are the most common in the medium so when one does it so well it feels like we’ve never seen it before. 

Saltburn 

Dir. Emerald Fennell

The more I watch Saltburn the more its “messiness” becomes its strength. It’s about queer resistance, it’s about class warfare, it’s about upending our expectations of “good” and “bad”, and it’s recklessly incredible. Saltburn’s boldness and audacity make it the most fascinating film of the year. Elite male directors make far more questionable choices than Fennell’s unapologetic direction and get praise for it. She has delivered something everyone is talking about and it’s endlessly watchable with and end scene that is the best thing filmed all year. 

And my favourite of 2023:

All of Us Strangers

Dir: Andrew Haigh

This is one of few films in my life that as soon as I saw it I knew I was watching a film that would stay with me forever. This haunting tale of loss and reclamation is very intense in its queer, male, genX specificity while also being accessible in it relatability and revolutionary in its execution. A gorgeous, tragic, and hopefully inspired film of great beauty and depth featuring the most remarkable performanes of the year. My favourite film of 2023. 

Honourable Mention:

Origin

Dir. Ava DuVernay

This incredible adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson's book was released too late for my list but is stunning in how it presents both a biopic of this woman and her bold thesis. Visionary and important, Origin is one of the best films of 2023.