2023 Favorite Movies!

It’s time! I’ve finalized my 2023 movies list. I wanted to see as many 2023 releases as possibly possible before putting a cap on the list, so I kept watching them through the end of last week and then I messed with the order a bit more and called it done. I’m sure I’ll have second, third, eighth thoughts about the list order in the future but at some point you have to just call it done!

There were A LOT of great movies in 2023, and I watched 172 of them, so I decided to make an official top 20 list, and then include 15 extra honorable mentions, which are just my numbers 21-35. I am counting movies that became available for me to see (in Portland, Oregon, USA) in 2023, so that means a lot of movies on this list are labeled as 2022 in Letterboxd/IMDb but that’s because they premiered at festivals or in other countries that year. And some movies that were on a lot of critics’ lists are not eligible for mine because I don’t get to see them until 2024, so they may appear on 2024’s list.

Added in February 2025: I’ve decided there were a couple of movies I’d been counting as 2024 movies that critics all counted as 2023 because of limited releases—I didn’t want them crowding my best-of 2024 list so I’m retroactively adding them to 2023. I’m not updating any graphics or the text of the list below, just noting here:

The Zone of Interest is retroactively added as my #3 film of 2023. Part of me knows it should be in the #1 spot, but I just can’t bring myself to knock 1 & 2 out of their spots because I love them so much. And Monster by Hirokazu Kore-eda is stuck in the #11 spot. It also could go higher, it’s just hard to mess with the list after it’s been set and I didn’t want to bump Barbie out of the top 10.

Notes about where to watch things: I’ll say where they are currently available to stream at the time I’m writing this, but most are also available for digital rental, and where they are streaming might change by the time you’re reading this. I highly recommend JustWatch where you can search any movie (or TV show) and see where it’s available to watch. Some of these are very new and are only for rent (or in theaters) as I’m writing this but may be streaming somewhere in a couple of months.

With all that said, let’s go! Starting with my number 20 and working down to number 1…

20) A Thousand and One. Small indie drama. Good damn movie, excellent acting, and a great subtle look at gentrification and its impacts, etc. Streaming on prime.

19) The Artifice Girl. This one I didn’t love at first, I think because I’d been expecting something completely different, and when it ended I was like, huh, that was something else, okay. Then I listened to some people talk about it, thought about it a bunch, and gave it a rewatch a few months later. Recommend it for sure, but be aware going in that it’s a very small movie (small budget, cast, setting) about big sci-fi ideas, but it’s mostly just talking. It’s so good tho and can’t wait to see what the filmmaker does next! Streaming free on hoopla and tubi.

18) The Royal Hotel. Another one with an internal conflict between my expectations and what it ended up being, but like in a really interesting way. I went in expecting not to like it very much and then kinda loved it. Very tense thriller where not a lot actually happens but you’re constantly on edge because you never know what might happen, and you’re really feeling the anxiety of the main character at all times. Another one I kept thinking about after. For rent.

17) Sick of Myself. Wild movie. Not for everyone. So uncomfortable but I loved it. Streaming on paramount+ / showtime.

16) Lola. I love this movie. It’s not perfect (like, I can’t think too hard about some aspects or I start picking them apart) but low-budget indie sci-fi found footage + fighting nazis + time travel (ish) yesssss please thank you!! And it’s fun and funny and scary and sad, good stuff! (Also, it’s only 79 minutes long and streaming free, so no excuse not to check it out!) Streaming free on tubi.

15) Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Another one I had to sit with awhile; didn’t feel like I LOVED it immediately after watching (I never read the book so I didn’t have a personal connection beyond having been a tween girl) but then I found myself thinking about it, and it grew a bit in my mind, and I think I even ended up changing my star rating from 3.5 to 4 after a few days. Good stuff. Streaming on starz.

14) Fremont. Weird, so so funny at times, interesting, thoughtful, just really great and also that guy from The Bear who everyone loves is in it so check it out! Streaming on mubi.

13) Killers of the Flower Moon. I don’t think I need to say anything about this one, it’s great. Glad I was able to see it in the theater. Streaming on apple tv+.

12) The Quiet Girl. Went into this not knowing much except it was nominated for an Oscar last year and it popped up on Kanopy so I threw it on one night. I was knocked out by it! I’m gonna actually quote a Letterboxd review here that I read after watching because it made me love the movie even more than I already did: “…first watch since I saw a significant review call it boring. Each to their very own, of course, but there is so much taking place in glances and snippets and half-sentences and closeups of wallpaper and a stolen cup of milk and a single biscuit and a busybody and a broom and a card game and a weeping mattress and why haven’t they brought the hay in yet, that I simply cannot ever be bored by this gentle and perfect piece.” –review by Gemma G. So when I finished it, I thought it was a 2022 release since it was in last year’s Oscars, and I even snuck it onto my favorites list for that year, then I was so happy to later realize it didn’t come out in the US till ’23 so I could put it on this list! Streaming on hulu, and on kanopy for me (might vary by library).

11) Anatomy of a Fall. Another one I’m so glad I got to see in the theater. I highly recommend the filmspotting podcast discussion of this one if you’ve seen it; that made me appreciate the movie more that I already did. So good. Best kid actor AND best dog actor. For rent.

10) Theater Camp. This one, I liked it but didn’t LOVE it the first time—I don’t think I even had it on my in-progress favorites list early in the year, or maybe I did but it was low down in the honorable mentions zone. Then I rewatched it on New Years Eve, and I guess I was in just the perfect mood for it because it was SO FUNNY, I was laughing so much, alone in my living room. I guess it needed a second watch for me, it just clicked, I absolutely loved it. So I squeezed it into my top 10! I moved numbers 10-13 around a bunch, but in the end, I thought… this list is my favorites (not “best”) and Theater Camp was the most enjoyable for me to watch, so it gets the spot! Streaming on hulu.

9) Barbie. Again with the enjoyable factor. Just so fun. Watched this a second time too, and there are so many jokes packed into it, I still couldn’t even catch all the hidden visual jokes in the background. Love it. Streaming on max.

8) Poor Things. I was happy to get to place this side-by-side with Barbie on my list because they are so similar! Was also happy to have gotten to see this in the theater, excellent big-screen movie, visually spectacular. Not for everyone (the older couple sitting down the row from us walked out about 20 minutes in!) but so much going on, so interesting and creepy and fun and weird. (And for the record, I’m not a big Yorgos Lanthimos fan; this is his first one I’d say I loved.) Still in theaters.

7) How to Blow Up a Pipeline. Fucking fantastic. If the title makes you bristle, treat it as a heist movie. Streaming on hulu, and on kanopy for me (might vary by library).

6) Bottoms. Funniest movie of the year. So funny. SO so so so so funny. Streaming on mgm+.

5) Blue Jean. This one hit me SO HARD. It’s not like breaking new ground or anything (indie drama about a lesbian teacher), but it’s just so well done at what it is. I LOVED the last 15 or so minutes (maybe even just 10 minutes, I think you’d know what I’m talking about if you’ve seen it) so so so much, really stuck with me. And it’s EXTREMELY timely to right now in the US (and the UK too) even though it takes place in Newcastle in 1988. Streaming on hulu.

4) Asteroid City. Bought it on blu ray, rewatched once already, plan to rewatch more times. It’s so dense and complex and also fun and silly. Top tier Wes Anderson for me; we’ll see where it settles once it’s not new (and there are several I need to rewatch) but this could potentially be my favorite. Streaming on prime.

3) May December. So much has been said about this movie, I don’t feel like I need to say anything beyond, it’s excellent. And Charles Melton deserves all the awards and success. (I loved this video essay if you want more!) Streaming on netflix.

2) Rye Lane. Perfect rom com. Perfect movie. The art design, the clothes, the actors, the energy, the humor, the sweetness, everything. Perfect. Everyone who misses good rom coms should watch it. Everyone who thinks they don’t like rom coms should watch it. Everyone should watch it. Streaming on hulu.

1) Past Lives. I know for some this has an even more personal connection, but for me, this deeply personally relatable movie was about the human experience of only being able to have one life, and grieving the other lives you don’t get to have. Not because of regrets and not because you wish your life was different, but simply because we only get one life. And that realization is worthy of mourning when it surfaces. For rent; supposed to be on paramount+ / showtime on february 2.

And then, my honorable mentions list (or numbers 21-35)—I still REALLY loved all these, especially the ones in the top half, and wish they all could’ve fit in my top 20 but that’s not how numbers work:
Showing Up — streaming on paramount+ / showtime, hoopla, and on kanopy for me (might vary by library).
Reality — streaming on max.
Revoir Paris — streaming on prime, and on hoopla for me (might vary by library).
Priscilla — not streaming yet, but it’s supposed to be on max eventually.
Return to Seoul — streaming on prime.
Monica — streaming on amc+.
Lakota Nation vs. United States (I was terrible about watching documentaries in 2023, but I watched this one and it was excellent!) — streaming on amc+.
Suzume — streaming on crunchyroll.
Polite Society — streaming on prime.
The Eight Mountains — streaming on criterion.
Mutt — streaming on netflix.
Riceboy Sleeps — for rent.
Totally Killer — streaming on prime.
Influencer — streaming on amc+ and shudder.
Infinity Pool — streaming on hulu, and on kanopy for me (might vary by library).

To be honest, my honorable mentions were initially 13, ending with Totally Killer, but I wanted a nice clean grid so I forced 2 extras onto the end; I chose 2 horror movies that I liked because I was sad I had almost no horror on my entire list even though I love horror. Just not a good year for horror. Plenty that were fine or okay, just none that I really loved. Totally Killer was the only one I’d say I loved but that’s because of the fun time travel and 80s elements and stuff, not the actual horror of it. (It’s a wacky slasher that’s like “Murder Back to the Future” in the way that Happy Death Day is “Murder Groundhog Day” and Freaky is “Murder Freaky Friday”—so check it out if you like that kind of thing, which I do!) And honestly, I liked M3gan better than those last 2 I added, but I figured everyone knows that already so I wanted to choose ones people might not know or have seen. Influencer is really fun; Infinity Pool is definitely not for everyone but worth watching if you like horror!

That’s my list of all 172 movies I watched that were released in 2023, because I’m a spreadsheet nerd! I got that spreadsheet by downloading my data from Letterboxd and editing to be all the 2023 releases. In order to more easily keep track this year, throughout the year instead of just at the end, I plan to make a 2024 ranked list and add all the 2024 releases to the list as I watch them. So, 2023’s list was my 35 favorites; my 2024 list (no link yet because I haven’t watched any 2024 releases yet) will be ALL the 2024 releases I watched.

And speaking of Letterboxd, here are my 2023 stats (everything I watched in 2023, so different from 2023 releases): 472 movies watched in 2023, including rewatches.

And those themes and nanogenres are fun! I think horror movies must have more overlapping nanogenres and themes, because I watched more drama than horror and yet almost all of those are horror, hah! I’m not constantly watching horror movies, I swear, letterboxd out here making its users look creepy af.

That’s it for 2023, glad I got this up while it’s still January at least! Maybe at the end of 2024 I’ll be able to do better about seeing everything I want to see in December and I’ll be able to finalize my list closer to the end of the year… it’s so hard though because so many possibly-good movies are released in theaters in December! And I’m usually only able to go to the theater once per weekend, so I can only see so many. Sigh. Anyway, let me know if you watch any of my favorites and what you think! Happy movie watching!