1) POOR THINGS – It’s incredibly rare that I have seen a film straddle tone this wildly and this successfully. Poor Things is absurd, insane and ridiculous, but it’s also grounded in emotional truth and humanity and it’s hilarious, and moving and ultimately thrilling in a number of ways. It’s a long film but it flies by and I wish it were even longer. I kind of just wanted to live in the world of this film a little longer and it’s rare I have that kind of experience at the movies these days. This also contains the best work of Emma Stone’s impressive career, but she is hardly the only person doing great work here. The cinematography, production design, musical score and costumes are all absolutely spectacular here and all add to the film’s intoxicating and deeply strange atmosphere. Probably the best film of Yorgos Lanthimos’ career so far.

2) ALL OF US STRANGERS – This one broke me. I have not cried so much in a movie theater in years – probably since Celine Sciamma’s masterful 2021 film Petite Maman. And that’s a film that treads in similar thematic waters as Andrew Haigh’s masterful All of Us Strangers. But this one is about the queer experience and it’s about shame and self loathing and the kind of internal trauma that is so difficult to overcome, even for the most well adjusted person. Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell and Claire Foy are a spectacular quartet, all delivering deeply beautiful, haunting, emotionally devastating performances, and this film is impossible to stop thinking about.

3) BARBIE – An immaculately made feast for the senses that is constantly subverting the audience’s expectations of what they even wanted this movie to be. It’s a product placement film that deconstructs, criticizes and celebrates the world it’s created. It’s a story about humanity and finding one’s place in the world, and what that means. It’s a political satire, it’s a celebration of womanhood and feminism but also is very much about the message that we’re all in this together. This is everything you could possibly want from a Greta Gerwig/Noah Baumbach Barbie.

4) SANCTUARY – The best romantic comedy of its kind since Gone Girl. You could call Sanctuary a thriller or a psychodrama or a sex comedy, but it’s primarily a very biting satire about two awful people one-upping each other, until they land in the rom com heaven or hell (not sure which) of their own making. Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott are better than I’ve ever seen them here, and the writing is icepick sharp, the direction is sleek and the whole thing is deliciously mean in a way that we don’t see enough in American films about relationships.

5) THE HOLDOVERS – A character study of three broken people who are desperate to find human connection. Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and first-time actor (and you would never believe it) Dominic Sessa are giving incredibly strong performances full of depth and nuance and such grace and emotional truth. Such humor and such pathos. All three of these people feel like people and not something a studio head behind a desk thought up. I really cared for all three of these people by the time this was over, and the emotion the movie aims for by the time we’re done is totally earned and anchored in emotional truth. And it’s a great new Christmas movie to add to my yearly seasonal rotation!

6) THE COLOR PURPLE – A musical adaptation of a classic film jam packed with breathless, energetic, jubilant and expertly realized song and dance numbers. It’s full of joy and sorrow, weirdly enough in equal parts. We somehow manage a very difficult tonal balance here, and yet nothing feels unearned. The cast is pitch-perfect here, and I’m glad to see Danielle Brooks get the love she deserves for this film, but Fantasia Barrino proves a formidable screen presence, and I would also like to see her and Taraji P. Henson be stronger parts of the awards conversation this year. Truly everyone here is spectacular, and I’m surprised this film didn’t resonate with audiences as strongly as it should have.

7) YOU HURT MY FEELINGS – It’s so great to have the very specific voice of Nicole Holofcener back, and she’s in top form with this one. You Hurt My Feelings is sharp, it’s hilarious, it’s extremely well-observed, it’s mean but it’s rooted in humanity. Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus is better than ever, and we’ve got a murderer’s row of great supporting players here. I think this should be required viewing for anyone who’s been married longer than, say 10-15 years. You’re bound to have interesting discussions afterwards.

8) SALTBURN– Emerald Fennell is two-for-two in making deeply unsettling social satires that get wild, crazy and leave you kind of in a state of shock. I saw Saltburn in theaters over the Thanksgiving holiday, before it went to Amazon Prime and the internet got a hold of it. Saltburn is incredibly well made, it punches you in the face in the middle of the street, robs you, kicks your writhing body while you cry on the floor in pain. And maybe that’s a good thing? It’s definitely the intent. I am not entirely sure if this is a movie that’s about anything. Is this a satire about class and/or race and/or mental illness and/or sexuality and obsession? Is it just a stylish update on The Talented Mr. Ripley? I don’t think it’s any of those things, really. I think this is a film about bad people doing bad things to each other. And I feel like that’s more than enough.

9) KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – A near-masterpiece that shines a light on a part of history seldom talked about. And this film pretty closely follows the David Grann book used as its basis, and it sticks pretty close to the facts of this story, and it’s all the more powerful for it.Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and especially Lily Gladstone are absolutely fantastic here, but the thing about Flower Moon that really stuck with me is the way Martin Scorsese decides to end this film, and how that illuminates the fact that the people who are given the opportunity to tell these stories can never truly know what they mean, and the nuances of perspective. The ending was a choice I wasn’t sure about when I first saw it, but a choice that I couldn’t stop thinking about. This is a deeply masterful film from one of our best filmmakers.

10) ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET – Kelly Fremon Craig’s follow-up to her fantastic debut The Edge of Seventeen is an adaptation of Judy Blume’s unfilmable iconic 50-something year old novel that somehow feels entirely relevant in 2023. A film about a young girl’s coming of age- and about what happens when she starts to ask big questions. Questions about religion, questions about what kind of person she’ll become, questions about the meaning of life in general. And that’s a lot for a 105-minute long film to wrap its arms around. And Craig, manages to make every bit of this story feel poignant, lived-in, genuine and universal. Rachel McAdams was robbed of an Oscar nomination. Margaret’s experience is extremely specific, and yet Margaret is you, Margaret is me, Margaret is everyone.

11) ANATOMY OF A FALL – It turns out I only hate ambiguity in American films where they’re super lazy about it. Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall is a wonderfully murky French courtroom drama full of gray area, characters who we’re not sure are reliable narrators, and an ending that works as an ending, but leaves you with oh so much to ponder and examine as you drive home from the theater and then for a long time afterward. It’s also something of a miracle for a two and a half hour subtitled courtroom drama to be this gripping and this exciting for the entire runtime. I would be happy to see Sandra Hüller walk away with the Oscar for this.

12) RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE – Approaching this as one of the millions who was swept up in Casey McQuiston’s vibrant world of American politics, British snobbery, and incredibly swoony queer romance during the early days of the pandemic, I’m relieved to say playwright Matthew López’ adaptation of RWRB hits about every note perfectly. Every important bit of laughter, and every bit of emotion and each grand romantic gesture is what you want it to be, and that is almost entirely due to the absorbing, charming work of co-leads Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine, who had a terrific 2023 between this and Bottoms (more on that in a bit).

13) PAST LIVES – Very possibly a perfect film. The relatability of this story and the universality of the person from one’s past who holds this kind of emotional real estate in your mind – is something I think just about anyone could relate to and find incredibly poignant, even though the immigrant story of Past Lives could not be more specific. Greta Lee and Teo Yoo are so great together, and their chemistry is as strong as it needs to be for this kind of love story to pack the punch it needs to, but it never vilifies the third person in this unconventional love triangle. There are no heroes or villains in Celine Song’s debut feature, there are only feelings, and longing, and missed opportunities. And this is a gorgeous film in every imaginable way.

14) BOTTOMS – Director Emma Seligman and star/this time co-writer Rachel Sennott fulfills every promise made by Seligman’s Shiva Baby and one-ups everything. Bottoms is raunchy, but never feels like it’s for the sake of being raunchy. It’s filled with hilarious star-maker performances, just the right amount (never too much) heart, and it commits to the bit in a way I think hard-R comedies often forget how to do. A deeply zany plot where things go up, down and sideways in demented, hilarious, mean and deeply unexpected ways. Bottoms is so funny, I know there’s no way I caught every joke in one viewing. I was laughing so hard I was gasping for air. This has cult classic written all over it.

15) THEATER CAMP – Yes, Theater Camp plays a lot like Drop Dead Gorgeous for theatre kids. However, that makes this a film that was pretty much made for me. It’senergetic, weird as hell, hilarious and high off it’s own bizarro energy, just like every theatre kid you’ve ever met. This script and direction truly has that ‘group of ragtag friends wanting to create something special together’ thing, and even though this film is so improv-heavy, this feels remarkably focused and emotionally engaging throughout.

16) EVIL DEAD RISE – A lean, mean amusement ride of terror that features everything missing from 2013’s Evil Dead. This is a horror flick with hideously gruesome terror, but with a campy edge and a sense of humor about itself, with some real drama about a family in peril and the horrors of motherhood. From a horror fan point of view, there are some instantly iconic visuals involving someone eating glass and someone using a cheese grater as a weapon, that are instantly imprinted on my brain and I can’t unsee any of it, try as I might! Evil Dead Rise injects thrilling life into an old franchise. This was a hoot and a half and I had such a great time.

17) AMERICAN FICTION– Cord Jefferson’s feature directorial debut is full of biting satire, sharp observations about how we talk about race in modern American life, and how contrived all of it can be. The trailer made this look like a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode about a somewhat more serious subject, and I am pleased to see this is a fully fleshed out narrative and with emotional depth and not just a one joke movie. It’s funny, incisive and feels very movie-of-the-moment, despite the source material of a 20+ year old novel. It also contains the best work of Jeffrey Wright’s career, and finally gives this longtime character actor the credit he deserves.

18) NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU – Another high-concept genre film from Brian Duffield (after his spectacular, underseen 2020 film Spontaneous), that takes familiar trappings and executes everything in unexpected and fascinating ways. This time it’s the home invasion thriller and the alien abduction movie. It’s also a one-woman show starring the spectacular Kaitlyn Dever, who can do no wrong at this point. She commands the screen with such finesse and such force, i would say this ventures into award worthy territory. Aside from one line of audible dialogue near the end, it’s also an entirely silent film that makes the most of the moody and atmospheric score and paranoia inducing sound design.

19) MAY DECEMBER – A Todd Haynes-directed melodrama starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman had very little chance of not working for me. These are two of the best actresses working in Hollywood today and as expected, they eat this shit up and are always giving you something different from what you’d expect. The complexities of these characters and the ugly parts of them are where this story thrives. Equal credit goes to the terrific Charles Melton, an actor I’ve always liked. He more than holds his own against this film’s two heavyweights. The avenues he finds into this character are deeply fascinating and ultimately quite devastating, and I can’t believe he was overlooked for an Oscar nomination.

20) POLITE SOCIETY – This one was a total delight. The feature directorial debut from Nida Manzoor is super weird, super nerdy, absolutely hilarious, full of visually dazzling and superbly choreographed action scenes and populated by interesting characters that you’re never sure are reliable narrators or not. It’s zippy, delightful and thrilling. I had such a good time with this movie and it’s deeply depressing that almost nobody saw it.

Special mention – TAYLOR SWIFT|THE ERAS TOUR, WAITRESS: THE MUSICAL, RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCE

There is an ongoing argument about whether or not to put concert films, or live captures of Broadway musicals on end-of-year film lists. One year, I put the Broadway pro-shot of Come From Away as my favorite film of the year, and I got some flack for that. In the latter half of 2023, the ongoing WGA/SAG strikes led theatrical distribution to work outside of the usual system. Having seen once-in-a-lifetime mega-icon Taylor Swift’s career victory lap Eras Tour live back in June, I was eager to go see a filmed version of it in a movie theater come October. And I had seen Sara Bareilles in her musical adaptation of Adrienne Shelley’s Waitress on Broadway back in 2017, and was thrilled to see a professionally filmed version of that in a movie theater. And I never had the opportunity to see Beyonce’s Renaissance tour, because she canceled her date in Pittsburgh. All three of these were spectacular, joyful, extraordinarily cinematic experiences and even though none of these are exactly “movies”, in the classic sense, they all deserve a spot on this list, because they’re among the best times I had in a movie theater in 2023. Overall, I think 2023 was a great year for film. There are many films I loved this year that didn’t make this list at all. Every time I hear people say ‘this was a terrible year for movies!’ I have to wonder if they’re looking closely enough. Because if you go outside of your cinematic comfort zone, you’re bound to be rewarded.