If you’ve been reading But Why Tho? for some time, then you know that our list of top movies of 2023 is rarely a standard affair. Our group looks at every genre, age, range, and international film from across the calendar. With so many amazing films this year, narrowing it down has been hard. Still, our staff chose the top 25 movies of 2023 that pull together animation, the MCU, action innovators, a mighty kaiju, somber dramas, and much more.
In order for a film to make our top movies of 2023 list, it had to have a release either on streaming or in theaters during the calendar year of 2023 (January to December). This means films that were only screened at festivals could not be added, but a theatrical run is not necessary to be included.
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But in a year of amazing movies in 2023, we would be remiss not to mention that for the first time in 80 years, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA held a double strike for over 100 days in order to receive a living wage, protections from AI, and more. Both guilds reached respective agreements, but this year, regardless of its strength of creativity, was also a reminder that it’s not the studios that deserve the credit but the talented people behind and in front of the camera. You can not have top movies in 2023 without the fight of the creatives behind them.
Without further ado, here are the top movies of 2023.
25. They Cloned Tyrone
“They Cloned Tyrone is one of the best films of 2023. It has action, intrigue, and a refreshingly original story, making it a standout film this summer. This thrilling modern-day blaxploitation satire succeeds in weaving multiple thought-provoking themes into its story. Everything from the talented cast of characters, set design, and musical score leaves a lasting impression. They Cloned Tyrone will leave audiences with laughter and deep contemplation by the end.” — LaNeysha Campbell
24. Joy Ride
“Joy Ride is easily going to become an adult comedy classic. Every bit of Joy Ride works, from the score, characters, and takes on living in the diaspora to the mature jokes that blend gutter humor and takes on society. Give Adele Lim, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, and Teresa Hsiao the keys to the Hollywood Comedy Kingdom, and let them start calling the shots, please.” — Kate Sánchez
23. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
“Rocket Raccoon had always been protecting everyone, but in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it was his turn to be protected by his friends. Seeing how love, the motif of this franchise, pushes the Guardians to save his friend is profoundly beautiful, and it all leads to an unforgettable finale where our beloved Rocket has finally learned to embrace himself and the love of everyone around him. Sadness is behind, dog days are over, and, to the rhythm of Florence + the Machine, it’s time to realize that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. It’s time to find happiness and celebrate love and empathy alongside Captain Rocket and a team of galactic heroes that we will never forget.” — Ricardo Gallegos
22. Sisu
“With Finnish chanting echoing in hammer drop moments and a rousing score to accompany it, holistically, SISU’s action is a phenomenon. Not to mention the absolute mayhem and visceral violence of body parts exploding, skin tearing, and so much more, this is a film for the action lover, the grindhouse lover, and it makes good on its promise to be unrelenting even in its even-handed pacing… SISU captures the brutality of action cinema, the pay-off of a slowed Western pacing, and wraps it all in a story we can all get behind – killing Nazis.” — Kate Sánchez
21. Concrete Utopia
“South Korea’s entry into the 2024 Oscars, Concrete Utopia, is an emotional force of a film. Not concerned with the disaster itself or the spectacle of CGI it could employ to focus on the moment of tragedy, the film offers epic landscapes but always keeps an intimate eye on the people in the high rise. Director Um Tae-hwa hones in on the people and highlights the ways in which humanity is deeply flawed and how those flaws shine brightly when there are decided hierarchies, even in a world where you’ve lost everything. And even then, while Um Tae-hwa’s narrative is based on us versus them, he never loses sight of investigating who gets to choose which side of the apartment door you fall on.” — Kate Sánchez
20. Air
“AIR is Affleck’s best work as a director and writer due largely to how he tackles the subject, situates it in a historical moment, and does so with just enough dramatization… With smart choices, hilarious dialogue, and a surprising amount of heart, AIR is more than the simple story it tells. I wasn’t sure if this film would be for me, but it is. Affleck’s choices, from cast and direction to writing, all work perfectly together to bring to life a biopic that captures the importance of a legend as much as a sum of events.” — Kate Sánchez
19. The Boy and the Heron
“The Boy and the Heron is a mature, solemn, and bizarre meditation on loss and legacy, one that deems death to be a transitory act, a new beginning—and in that way, nothing really starts or ends. Instead, filmmaking—and life, for that matter— becomes a cyclical experience, which makes this potential swan song utterly fitting for an enduring artist like Miyazaki.” — Prabhjot Bains
18. Nimona
“With fantastic voice acting and relatable human moments, our heroes fight back against a narrative that casts them as villains and does so without platitude or posturing. Instead, Nimona creates an emotive narrative that asks its audience to care by showing vulnerability and beauty and asking us to think about how we treat people based on what we hear about them. Nimona is a story for all ages that leaves its audience with more empathy and understanding than how it found it.” — Kate Sánchez
17. The Killer
“Though some may argue the experience, as a whole, doesn’t amount to much, The Killer has no aspirations of being a grand dramatic experience. Catharsis is of little value in Fincher’s character study. Instead, it’s a damning reflection of modernity, a world where metrics take precedence over empathy… The Killer is an incredibly nuanced and introspective feature that would be among the cream of any other film catalog. Even when he’s not at his best, Fincher proves himself to be one of the most exciting, observant, and oddly human filmmakers working today.” – Prabhjot Bains
16. Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret
“Ultimately, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a triumphant success in adapting Blume’s work and will bring it to yet another generation who, in no uncertain terms, can be told that it’s okay to be different. It’s okay to have a different relationship with gender than those around you. It’s okay to bloom late. It’s okay to just be you, regardless of the pressures around you. And this message is highlighted not by sunshine and rainbows but by showing the uncertain storm that everyone faces when growing up. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is about making it okay for us to accept the messiness of life, because we will find ourselves through it.” — Kate Sánchez
15. May December
“Unlike any other film, May December is a fantastic exploration of two consistently oblivious women, very certain that they have a grasp on the world, even when they very clearly are disruptive in every way. Insecurity is the name of the game here, buried under every choice and break, accentuated as the women start to push back on one another. May December is a force of a film because of the acting throughout it, with Charles Melton delivering one of the most riveting and emotional performances of the year.” — Kate Sánchez
14. Beau Is Afraid
“I will be thinking about Beau is Afraid and all of its tiny details and perfectly timed sarcasm for a long time. I was captivated for nearly every minute of its extended runtime, thanks in great part to the award-worthy performance by Pheonix and the incredible work of everyone around him. By the final scene, risen beyond perfection by Richard Kind, I was left at once speechless and thrilled. I was so excited to feel like I saw myself in the anxiety of it all, to have been moved by some of the movie’s highs and swept away by its final upsetting shot. It’s a completely absurd movie with an incredible organizing principle that guides every twist and every oddity toward an utterly relatable allegory about anxiety and how (Jewish) mothers can pass that down.” — Jason Flatt
13. Passages
“In Passages, Sachs, along with his formidable cast, delivers a story of searing want and destructive egos. Shot with an often cold and brittle glow, the story understands that any stability found within the three is momentary at best. There is no peace to be had when there’s someone like Rogowski’s Tomas in the midst, and the film captures that insatiable need with a fluid direction that painstakingly watches as relationships crumble, reassemble, and blow over again. Alluring, wound taut, and shot with a gaze that understands the compelling nature of the characters, Passages is one of the best films of the year.” — Allyson Johnson
12. Suzume
“Suzume no Tojimari may be one of the oddest films that Shinkai has made. “Teen falls in love with a chair” isn’t necessarily a normal synopsis. But in truth, it carries the heart and strength of his previous films. It is about remembering in order to move forward and taking the step to close the doors to our grief in order to move forward, lest ignoring their presence wreaks havoc on our bodies. Not subtle in the slightest, but better for it, Suzume shines as brightly as anything in the Shinkai filmography.” — Kate Sánchez
11. The Holdovers
“The Holdovers, while evoking the past, is constantly looking forward. In a late moment, Hunham tells Tully that “history is not simply a study of the past but an explanation of the present,” and it’s a sentiment the film compassionately proves, lending great sympathy to its characters who, above all, realize they can’t truly escape their histories but can move forward, nonetheless.” — Prabhjot Bains
10. Monster
“The cast possesses rare integrity and calmness, as Ando, Nagayama, and the boys never overaccentuate the tragedy of their situations, bringing forward earnest, lived-in performances that are truly relatable. It doesn’t take long to invest in these characters. However, the story they’re in can sometimes be a little far-fetched, emphasizing its mystery at the cost of its sharp commentary. Nonetheless, Monster is a rare film that teems with humanity, using its narrative structure to uncover something prescient and devastating about modern morals.” — Prabhjot Bains
9. Poor Things
“Poor Things, despite its absurdist, sensual, raunchy, and irreverent take on sex, is deeply sincere. Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest isn’t about physical intimacy so much as it is about building who you are through experience, both physical and emotional. Each experience, the dark and cruel or the bright and joyful, all of it contributes to who we are, and only by embracing it all, even the traumatic, can we claim agency in a world that would deny it to us.” — Kate Sánchez
8. How To Blow Up A Pipeline
“A modern heist political thriller that refrains from didactic tendencies, How to Blow Up a Pipeline is gorgeous to look at, with an unsettling score that seeks to plummet the film into the depth of unease as we wait for repercussions or fatalities. Instead, what we get is a radicalized, politically geared film whose message is clear and unflinching despite characters who fumble with their goals and intentions along the way. It’s an invigorating, teeth-grinding endurance test of a film that manages to both plead its message while never succumbing to preachiness. It’s a stressful viewing, but anything less so would be disingenuous. More films should try and bottle this blend of venomous rage.” — Allyson Johnson
7. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1
“The Tom Cruise train keeps on chugging, quite literally—and breathtakingly so— in Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One. The seventh installment in a series hellbent on one-upping itself does just that and more, catapulting IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his ragtag crew of operatives to new dizzying heights—reveling in a level of snowballing tension that would have even the great Alfred Hitchcock trembling. From an ever-confounding airport con in Abu Dhabi to a seemingly never-ending, car-swapping chase in Rome to a death-defying train sequence in the Austrian Alps, Director Christopher McQuarrie refuses to give his audience a moment’s breath, snatching it away with the next eye-popping set piece. It’s pure cinema that wonderfully exploits every facet of the medium, marrying both sonic and visual depth to cement new standards on which action cinema will be judged. We might not know how Cruise and Company will top this adventure, but here’s to having our minds blown when they inevitably do.” — Prabhjot Bains
6. Barbie
“Barbie is a masterwork. It’s as thoughtful as it is funny with a few snags here and there, but on the whole, it feels like a triumph in IP movie-making.” — Jason Flatt
5. Killers of the Flower Moon
“In order to showcase the lengths that these white men went to steal and the depth of their violence, the film uses the entirety of the three-hour and thirty-minute run time. No corner is cut, and every injustice is laid bare for the audience to see. It is rare to see reverence given to Native women and even rarer to have their abuse called out so distinctly. With the last words of the film, “There was no mention of the murders,” Scorsese and Roth issue a condemnation of the history books.” — Kate Sánchez
4. Past Lives
“It’s impossible to heap enough praise upon Past Lives. It’s equally impossible to talk about it in too much more detail without detracting from viewers’ abilities to find their own way through the quiet storm that is Past Lives. The movie is so calm and quiet but screams with emotional depth and complexity. None of it would be possible without the perfect cast and scripting to go with each of them. Thankfully, for as challenging as the questions it asks about love and fate become, the answers are always simple in the end, even if devastating.” — Jason Flatt
3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a perfect film, and it reaches that pinnacle by pushing so far out of the box that limits no longer exist. A thoughtful and powerful statement about the importance of animation as a medium for telling stories, Across the Spider-Verse understands the weight that Spider-Man carries as a character through movies and TV shows, comics and novels, and every iteration to come. This film makes the one before it better, and it ends with an impact that will fill the theater when the next film comes out.” — Kate Sánchez
2. John Wick 4
“With John Wick 4, Chad Stahelski has once again defined the action genre for Hollywood and beyond. John Wick 4 isn’t just the best of the franchise but the best that American action cinema has put forward. It’s one of the best new additions to the genre in recent memory. Action is an art, and this film showcases the storytelling and grandeur an action-first script can bring to cinema, and I hope this train never stops.” — Kate Sánchez
1. Godzilla Minus One
“Godzilla Minus One is a reminder to audiences why we fell in love with this kaiju, but also the universe in which it resides. It’s not enough to have flashy monsters just smashing each other to bits. Without the proper balance, the lessons these creatures carry on their scaly backsides can’t be properly conveyed to audiences. In Godzilla Minus One, we are reminded to take courage, to find our motivation to live, and to ultimately persevere against even the most impossible of obstacles.
As it stands, Godzilla Minus One will win the hearts of fans everywhere. Not just for Godzilla, but for the human characters within that reminds us why it is important to infuse soul into a kaiju or monster film. If able, viewers should aim to see the film in theaters to capture the full breadth of the sound design, score, and visuals to create that wholly immersive experience.” — Sarah Musnicky
With so many movies, there are a few honorable mentions like Blue Giant and Oppenheimer narrowly missing spots on the top movies of the 2023 list. Did your favorite of the year make the list? Which would you add to the top movies of 2023? Let us know on social media: @butwhythopc.
