1. Past Lives dir. Celine Song
If you’re frustrated with the number one spot going to a movie you might not have heard of then watch Past Lives and become frustrated with anybody trying to convince you that there was a better movie that came out in 2023. After taking the Sundance film festival by storm then coming out in June to rapturous critical reception, but middling box office performance, Past Lives will go on to become the defining movie of 2023. Based on Celine Song’s life, Past Lives depicts three periods in the life of the fictionalized version of herself. The three events being honest reckonings with connected points in time that upset everything she thought she knew about love, time and her entire life. Don’t go expecting anything sweeping. Though dripping with romance and beauty, Past Lives is anything but theatrical, its simplicity and honesty might shock you. The courage, the perceptivity and the frankness at which it approaches the nuances of human interaction are unparalleled. Past Lives is a one of a kind experience that will get you to fold in on yourself and reflect on every conversation you’ve ever had, longing to have more.
2. Killers of the Flower Moon dir. Martin Scorsese
You can’t talk about movies for very long without Martin Scorsese eventually coming up. Praise for him is so ubiquitous and his artistic gifts so obvious that it would be a waste of words to speak to his strengths as a filmmaker. At eighty-one years old, our understanding of Scorsese as an artist is being usurped with each successive film as he continually challenges your notions set up across Martin Scorsese’s filmography as well as the history of filmmaking. Though three and a half hours, Killers of the Flower Moon is electrifying, terrifying and frustrating from start to finish. Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by David Grann, the film tracks the Osage reign of terror, a series of killings of Osage people in Oklahoma in the twenties in a plot to swipe their oil money. The film is brimming with both the fury and fervor needed to push through three and half hours worth of murder and betrayal, but also the empathy and humanity needed to give a proper voice to the victims.
3. The Holdovers dir. Alexander Payne
As the temperature drops below 60 degrees on a consistent basis and every other house is now strung with lights, we enter a time that in popular culture and in the hearts of minds of many is a warmer, cozier, time of year spent with family. Simply put, it’s Christmas time. What The Holdovers does so well is bring that warmth and familiarity to those alienated from a traditional Christmas. The Holdovers depicts Christmas break at a desolate prep school in New England and the three lost souls stuck there while everybody is off having an idyllic Christmas. The broken lives of a troublemaking student, a bitter teacher, and the school’s grief-stricken cook all collide for an incredible comic effect and sentiment. Ultimately culminating in a feeling of warmth and genuine emotional discovery for not only the characters in the movie, but for you as a viewer. If it sounds cheesy, that’s because it is, but that doesn’t negate its humanity, its effectiveness as a comedy or its ability to bring tears to your eyes.
4. Priscilla dir. Sofia Coppola
Twenty-four years later Sofia Coppola seems as if she’s adding to the narrative of her first film with Priscilla, a film that seems as indebted to that movie as it does to the life it’s based on. The feelings of being trapped, the loneliness, and adoration for a charming older boy all mirror each other. But this time around, Copolla forgoes the dream-like quality and shifting perspective of her debut, opting instead for a bracing close-up look at the terror of celebrity. With a surefooted hand, Coppola warns viewers of the danger that comes with being near celebrity and the agency that is at stake when too caught in their wake. Priscilla is far more than just a recounting of a real-life marriage, it’s a reflection of a phenomenon present throughout history and even in the discussion of the movie. There is a certain type of celebrity that across history has enchanted the hearts and minds of high school freshmen that possess so much influence that the possibilities border the sinister. Throughout time that celebrity has taken many shapes, from Elvis to Paul McCartney to Leo DiCaprio to now Jacob Elordi. Priscilla captures the allure, the power and the fear that a celebrity like that can inspire in not just its title character, but to a whole generation.
5. Barbie dir. Greta Gerwig
If there’s one thing that Greta Gerwig excels in, it’s warmth. Her past two movies, the modern coming-of-age classics Lady Bird and Little Women, capture the unique and universal struggles of the late stages of youth with a familiarity and sensitivity that make you feel at home in her worlds. Then she was hired to direct Barbie, the biggest challenge yet for Gerwig. Against all odds, the enormous humor and genuine beating heart at the center of Barbie shine through whatever cynicism and reservations one could have at the corporatism of the movie. This can be indebted to Gerwig’s sensitive direction, treating Barbie with just as much personhood as Lady Bird or one of the March sisters, and also the script that she co-wrote with her husband, Noah Baumbach. Most of all, the incredible stars, from Margot Robbie to Ryan Gosling, stand out as well. Robbie brings more pathos than you thought possible while playing a plastic doll and Gosling, though an incredibly gifted dramatic actor who excels at playing cocky men, is always one step behind everyone else.
