There were so many incredible releases in 2023, that I struggled to put together a definitive ordered ranking of my favorites — but I tried my best. Most of my year was spent in a theater, whether it was through my AMC membership (which I highly recommend to everyone) or facing my plane fears to (very luckily) attend a few film festivals. In the process of trying to watch anything and everything, I cried, I grew attached to new characters that I seriously related to, and I even had the news of the Taylor Swift/Joe Alwyn broken to me while refilling my Diet Coke. 

If I could, these films would all be number one in my heart. Here is my top ten list of my favorites from 2023 — and I am very proud of this final order. 

10. Blackberry (Dir. matt Johnson)

If you had told me a year ago that I’d actually enjoy a film about the origins of Blackberry as a company, let alone enough to put it in my Top 10, I probably would have been very confused. Out of all the recent business-recap movies (Air, Tetris, Flamin Hot, etc.), this one is carried like a full-out drama, propelled purely by the rage that is present in Glenn Howerton’s Jim Basillie. 

9. Eileen (Dir. William Oldroyd)

Anne Hathaway. Blonde wig. And a twist that legitimately creeped me out. Enough said. (Also, if you haven’t read the book yet, don’t. Let it be a surprise.) 

8. Oppenheimer (Dir. Christopher Nolan)

I probably shouldn’t be allowed to rank my favorite movies from the year based on how hot the cast is, but Oppenheimer definitely won some points for putting Cillian Murphy alongside a bunch of other actors meant to target me personally. It’s a lot more enjoyable when you get to look at Rodrick from Diary Of A Wimpy Kid or that one guy from Spider-Man while watching  Murphy grapple with building the atomic bomb. 

7. Maestro (Dir. Bradley Cooper)

Maestro combined some of my favorite things: stunning shots and Snoopy. 

6. Barbie (Dir. Greta Gerwig)

Barbie gets a spot on my list because I am the direct audience for it. It’s no surprise I went several times, and I think more people should just vibe out with zero thoughts during the “I’m Just Ken” sequence — which is the highlight of the movie. It just did something to my brain. My only real complaint, as someone who has watched (and recommended others do the same) Stath Lets Flats an unhealthy amount, is that Jamie Demetriou deserved to be in Will Ferrell’s role. Let the man get his credit for being a genius. 

5. Killers of the Flower Moon (Dir. Martin Scorsese)

God bless Lily Gladstone. God bless Martin Scorsese. Anything else I say won’t do justice to this one. 

4. The Holdovers (dir. Alexander Payne)

Maybe it’s the fact that I watched it again, alone on Thanksgiving day, but The Holdovers pulls you into the comforting world every single time. Serving as Dominic Sessa’s debut film, the choice to put him as the lead makes it feel incredibly down-to-earth, which allows it to hurt even more when his struggles bubble to the surface. The dynamic between his and Paul Giamatti’s characters is what drives the film, almost like the latter is watching a younger version of himself, experiencing the exact same type of pain. The 70s-style set design also works so well. By the end, you both want to cry and give both of the main characters a hug. 

3. Past Lives (Dir. Celine Song)

Keeping with the theme of crying in a movie theater, Past Lives is making my top three because it absolutely broke me. (I’ve also watched the “Cardigan” TikTok edit of it too many times.) The fact that this is Greta Lee’s first try as a director is shocking, just because of the amount of skill she brings to the table — and is going to be genuinely interesting to see what she does next. If I had to pick a favorite genre, it would be the Rom-Dep (for utterly depressing), and this film exceeds being the best at that. 

2. Poor Things (Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

This one was a wild ride. When I first watched it, I was instantly impressed by how it pulls you into this mythical world, purely by all the effort that went into the production design. It would also be nothing without Emma Stone just completely going for it in terms of her performance of Bella Baxter. We get to watch the character gaining freedom that allows her to grow and learn, and in tune, change. And not all of the men around her enjoy that level of independence. Since this movie, I’ve gone back and watched some of Yorgos’ other works, but they just have not grabbed me in the same way that Poor Things did. 

1. Priscilla (Dir. Sofia Coppola)

For a while, Poor Things had been in my top spot for the year. But Priscilla has stuck with me more in the long term, which is why I ultimately swapped the two. Sofia Coppola provides a true-to-text adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s memoir, with the details providing a darker view of who Elvis really was. Viewers meet Priscilla as a teenager on an army base, where she spends her time at soda shops in her school clothes. After the two meet and their relationship progresses, she is slowly molded into his image. Her hair is dyed darker, and her outfits get more “mature” as they start matching in public. Yet, at the core of the film, it is about finding a sense of self when the only thing you’ve known is a relationship — let alone one started as a middle schooler with an older, iconic figure.