Ready for some great movies from 2023? BBC picked out films that stood out this year with sharp storytelling, powerful characters, and surprising plots. Here’s a list of movies worth your time — each one offering something memorable and genuinely fresh.
Content
- Polite Society
- Past Lives
- Oppenheimer
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Reality Winner
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- American Fiction
- The Creator
- Origin
- The Holdovers
Polite Society
IMDb: 6.6/10
2023, Action, Comedy, Drama
UK, PG-13
Director: Nida Manzoor
Top Cast: Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Nimra Bucha
This is the story of Ria Khan, of a typical teenager from London who dreams that she will in fact become a stuntwoman — an ambition that is unusual for a young girl. Ria suspects that the groom and also his family are hiding something, however, at the time when her older sister Lena decides that she will get married. Ria teams up alongside her friends to disrupt the wedding. They are determined to give help to her sister and to uncover a sinister conspiracy.
Nida Manzoor, who was previously known for We Are Lady Parts, does make her directorial debut by way of Polite Society. The film has received reviews of positivity. Reviewers singled out its wit and novelty. The movie cleverly blends drama, action, also comedy because it’s easy to see why. The sisters' bond when watching is enjoyable.
Past Lives
IMDb: 7.8/10
2023, Drama, Romance
USA, PG-13
Director: Celine Song
Top Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
Na Young and Hae Sung were close friends who spent their entire childhood together. But over time, life separated them — not just to different places, but to different countries. Years later, they were destined to meet again in New York, where Na Young now lives with her husband.
This film is another directorial debut on our list. Celine Song directed the movie based on her own personal story. Moreover, the film was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
You’ll enjoy this movie if you like stories about missed opportunities and fate, and often find yourself wondering how life might have turned out differently.
Oppenheimer
IMDb: 8.4/10
2023, Biography, Drama, History
USA, R
Director: Christopher Nolan
Top Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr.
This is a biographical drama concerning J. Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist whose great accomplishments did not exclude common human feelings. Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project for the creation of the atomic bomb. He is remembered within history because of this achievement. The film explores what he scientifically accomplished as well as the moral struggles that he faced plus what resulted from his work including the political persecution he endured after the war.
Anatomy of a Fall
IMDb: 7.6/10
2023, Crime, Drama, Thriller
France, Not Rated
Director: Justine Triet
Top Cast: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner
Sandra Voyter is merely just a writer with a husband who fell right down from a balcony in somewhat mysterious circumstances. She will now be a prime suspect regarding his death. As the inquiry continues, complex elements around their union emerge. These aspects include issues with their trust, ambition, also personal secrets.
Five Oscars were earned by the film winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Only the third woman in all of history became someone who would receive this award for Director Justine Triet.
Reality Winner
IMDb: 6.5/10
2021, Documentary
USA, Not Rated
Director: Sonia Kennebeck
Top Cast: Reality Winner, Billie Winner-Davis, Gary Davis
This is indeed a documentary with regard to Reality Winner. She worked for NSA but broke its rules when she leaked a document to the media because she revealed Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. It explores her motivations, alongside the trial she faced. The results from her actions get study.
Reality Winner includes Winner herself, plus a collection of exclusive interviews. These interviews do form a basis for the film, and Director Sonia Kennebeck did have special access.
Killers of the Flower Moon
IMDb: 7.6/10
2023, Crime, Drama, History
USA, R
Director: Martin Scorsese
Top Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone
In the 1920s, Oklahoma did see brutal murders occur at a time shortly after oil was found on the land. The victims came from the Osage Nation. They did live in that area.
This movie follows the FBI’s role in uncovering a conspiracy along with the investigation of these crimes. The story adapts the book David Grann wrote.
Interestingly, Lily Gladstone is the first actress of the Osage Nation to earn an Oscar nomination.
American Fiction
IMDb: 7.5/10
2023, Comedy, Drama
USA, R
Director: Cord Jefferson
Top Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae
Monk Ellison is a writer as well as professor who feels tired of literature’s stereotypical portrayals of African Americans. He writes the satirical novel using a fake name in order to challenge those clichés. Surprisingly, the novel turns into a bestseller.
American Fiction examines ideas about identity, cultural expectations, and hypocrisy inside the entertainment industry. His first film was directed by Cord Jefferson, and it is from Erasure, a Percival Everett novel.
The Creator
IMDb: 6.7/10
2023, Action, Adventure, Drama
USA, PG-13
Director: Gareth Edwards
Top Cast: John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe
The war between humans and artificial intelligence finally happened, bringing catastrophic destruction. Yet, humans survived. Several years later, Joshua, a former soldier, is tasked with destroying a mysterious weapon that could end the conflict. But he soon discovers that this weapon is actually an android child, leaving him facing a profound moral dilemma.
Director Gareth Edwards, known for Godzilla and Rogue One, created this film, which was nominated for Oscars for Best Visual Effects and Sound.
Origin
IMDb: 6.8/10
2023, Biography, Drama
USA, PG-13
Director: Ava DuVernayAunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga
The movie follows writer Isabel Wilkerson while she systematically oppresses different cultures and explores them. She investigates within the caste system that exists in India and also Nazi Germany. Racism in the United States is investigated by her too. Her research involves traveling around the world, and she faces personal along with professional challenges.
Ava DuVernay adapted her book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, as the director for this film. Its deep analysis into social structures has been commended.
The Holdovers
IMDb: 7.2/10
2023, Comedy, Drama
USA, R
Director: Alexander Payne
Top Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
In 1970, a history teacher who was strict at a private school spent Christmas with some students who had not gone home for the holidays. He gradually grows closer to a troubled teenager and a kitchen worker since she grieves the loss of her son. It examines ideas such as loneliness as well as friendship. Also, the film explores the healing theme.
