The Best Films of 2023

Honorable mentions: Maestro (Bradley Cooper), Ferrari (Michael Mann), Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein), The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)

5. Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese

4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn

3. May December, Todd Haynes

2. Anatomie d'une chute [Anatomy of a Fall], Justine Triet

1. Mrs. Davis, Owen Harris, Alethea Jones, & Frederick E.O. Toye

Along with religious concepts integrated like we've never seen and otherwise evocative by default through Betty Gilpin's frame-perfect presence, "Mrs. Davis" boasts some of the smartest and most original writing in years. The miniseries plays upon our trained viewing sensibilities, utilizing meta commentary to actually advance its plot and our grip upon it while character arcs interlock across perfectly predictable and affectingly unexpected episodes exploring the quest for validation in the increasingly emergent future of society.

Effortlessly grabbing with its intimate divulgence of plausibilities, "Anatomy of a Fall" trades the sensationalism of classic Hollywood courtrooms for measured exposition via physical and psychological forensics. Each pause and twitch is critical as we try to establish method and motive alongside subjects credible, professional, and sympathetic, imperfect, imprudent, and burdened. As we play (a quieter version of) "Ace Attorney" with hidden inconsistencies amidst evidence and testimony, Triet lulls us into caring for the characters through their sheer humanity in the grey area between interpreted guilt and innocence.

A mission for truth destined to remain veiled in exploitation, the window "May December" elects through which to unfurl its questions of arrest is unlike any other as well as being Natalie Portman's new career zenith. Haynes' in this case is a meticulous imperfection of overexposure and background din, one only purely desirable for a single viewing but one that cannot be forgotten.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3", while not the most infectious in its sub-franchise due in part to its saccharine cruelty, is the purest product of love and unfiltered creativity Gunn & co. could leave us with. It is remarkable to look back and see where lines had been drawing this way all along, and how the cartoon raccoon really did become the main character in the end. Cinema's original Guardians will always sit a shelf above even the greatest crossover achievements in Marvel's canon thanks to the heart imbued by those who cared enough to navigate monsters across a barely realistic finish line.

In the headlong dash of modern living, abnormally lengthy running times can create steep barriers to entry. Crafted with a mind familiar with our relationship to early cinema from more than a century ago, the tributary "Killers of the Flower Moon" protracts its presence with a number of paddles down distributaries dubious in their respective values to the main current. Though unlike with the similarly late-career epic "The Irishman", here Scorsese's classic pace makes the detailed journey through forgotten history impossible to deny. As with many of the director's most masculine films the supporting wife is still the heart of the matter, but in practical opposition to the troublingly glamorous "Goodfellas" we see her problem partner manipulated into an uglier depiction of organized crime before they lose everything. The unromantic reality is just that the viewer commitment required cannot be ignored even in otherwise positive reflection, but whether we're dwelling in Ernest Burkhart's conflicted headspace or indeed veering off to a side character that could easily have been streamlined out, Marty's general mastery pulls through beautifully. Even had it not, let's agree he gets to keep the scene cutely acknowledging this is not the first time Robert De Niro has played a noted crime boss who crossed J. Edgar Hoover.

Complete 2023 rankings on Letterboxd (subject to change).