Metacritic's Top 25 Movies of 2023
by rubyfruit76 | created - 3 months ago | updated - 3 months ago | PublicFrom super powers to atomic power, animated films about death coming to an end to real live surgical units, last year's best reviewed movies cover a lot of ground. Common themes emerge, however. Among Metacritic's best 25 movies of 2023, which was your favorite?
Discuss and debate here.
Vote for Metacritic's best films of previous years: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017.
Note: Because the order changes and there are so many ties, movies are listed in alphabetical order, not in order of metascore. To see the list in the most current order, go here to Metacritic's list.
(Metacritic gives movies an aggregate score, from zero to one hundred, based on the weighted average of respected critics' reviews. A score of at least 61 is favorable and a score of at least 81 represents universal acclaim.)
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1. 32 Sounds (2022)
95 min | Documentary
Explores the elemental phenomenon of sound and its power to bend time, cross borders, and profoundly shape our perception of the world around us.
Director: Sam Green | Stars: Edgar Choueriri, Joanna Fang, Sam Green, Annea Lockwood
Votes: 138
Metascore: 90 Not yet available to stream
2. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (2023)
PG | 92 min | Drama
A decades-spanning exploration of a woman's life in Mississippi and an ode to the generations of people, places, and ineffable moments that shape us.
Director: Raven Jackson | Stars: Kaylee Nicole Johnson, Chris Chalk, Jayah Henry, Sheila Atim
Votes: 988
Metascore: 87 Rent it from Amazon, Apple, and all major VOD providers
3. All of Us Strangers (2023)
R | 105 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A screenwriter drawn back to his childhood home enters into a fledgling relationship with his downstairs neighbor while discovering a mysterious new way to heal from losing his parents 30 years ago.
Director: Andrew Haigh | Stars: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Carter John Grout, Jamie Bell
Votes: 45,104
Metascore: 90 Now playing in theaters; Not yet available to stream
4. Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
R | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A woman is suspected of murder after her husband's death; their half-blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness.
Director: Justine Triet | Stars: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner, Antoine Reinartz
Votes: 121,415
Metascore: 86 Rent it from Amazon , Apple, and all major VOD providers
5. Blue Jean (2022)
97 min | Drama, History
In 1988, a closeted teacher is pushed to the brink when a new student threatens to expose her sexuality.
Director: Georgia Oakley | Stars: Rosy McEwen, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday, Lydia Page
Votes: 4,773
Metascore: 88 Stream it on Hulu and all major VOD providers
6. The Boy and the Heron (2023)
PG-13 | 124 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
In the wake of his mother's death and his father's remarriage, a headstrong boy named Mahito ventures into a dreamlike world shared by both the living and the dead.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Kô Shibasaki, Aimyon
Votes: 51,061
Metascore: 91 Now playing in theaters; Not yet available to stream
7. The Delinquents (2023)
Unrated | 189 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Bank employee Morán schemes to steal enough money to never work again, then confess and serve prison time while his colleague hides the cash. Soon under investigative pressure, accomplice Román meets a woman who transforms him forever.
Director: Rodrigo Moreno | Stars: Daniel Elías, Esteban Bigliardi, Margarita Molfino, Germán De Silva
Votes: 2,850
Metascore: 86 Stream it at MUBI or rent from Apple
8. The Disappearance of Shere Hite (2023)
R | 118 min | Documentary
Shere Hite's bestselling book The Hite Report liberated female orgasm by revealing the most private experiences of thousands of anonymous surveys. Her findings rocked the American establishment and conversations about gender and sexuality.
Director: Nicole Newnham | Stars: Dakota Johnson, Shere Hite, Michael Conrad, Mike Douglas
Votes: 417
Metascore: 83 Now playing in theaters in select cities; not yet available to stream.
9. Ear for Eye (2021)
88 min | Drama
Follows British and American Black characters of different generations navigating their way through today's society, offering a critical perspective on the state of the nation.
Director: Debbie Tucker Green | Stars: Hayden Mclean, Sharlene Whyte, David Gyasi, Carmen Munroe
Votes: 175
Metascore: 88 Stream it at Criterion Channel
10. The Fabric of the Human Body (2022)
115 min | Documentary
Focuses on five hospitals in northern Paris neighborhoods. It reveals that human flesh is an extraordinary landscape that exists only through the gaze and attention of others.
Directors: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel
Votes: 661
Metascore: 92 Stream it at MUBI or rent from Apple and all major VOD providers
11. Fallen Leaves (2023)
Unrated | 81 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a karaoke bar. However, their path to happiness is beset by obstacles - from lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.
Director: Aki Kaurismäki | Stars: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Janne Hyytiäinen, Nuppu Koivu
Votes: 22,765
Metascore: 86 Stream it at MUBI
12. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
R | 206 min | Crime, Drama, History
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one - until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons
Votes: 239,392
Metascore: 89 Stream on Apple TV+; rent it from Amazon and all major VOD providers
13. Mami Wata (2023)
107 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
When the harmony in a village is threatened by outside elements, two sisters must fight to save their people and restore the glory of a mermaid goddess to the land.
Director: C.J. 'Fiery' Obasi | Stars: Evelyne Ily Juhen, Uzoamaka Aniunoh, Emeka Amakeze, Rita Edochie
Votes: 379
Metascore: 87 Not yet available to stream.
14. Menus-Plaisirs - Les Troisgros (2023)
240 min | Documentary
A 93-year-old director embeds inside a French restaurant that's held three Michelin stars for more than 50 years.
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Votes: 388
Metascore: 91 Now playing in theaters in select cities; Not yet available to stream
15. Oppenheimer (I) (2023)
R | 180 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr.
Votes: 729,231 | Gross: $326.11M
Metascore: 89 Rent it from Amazon , Apple, and all major VOD providers
16. Orlando, My Political Biography (2023)
Unrated | 98 min | Documentary
Academic virtuoso turned filmmaker Paul B. Preciado's Berlin Film Festival award-winning doc tells his and others' stories of transition through unique reenactments and visual interpretations of Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography.
Director: Paul B. Preciado | Stars: Arthur, Emma Avena, Amir Baylly, Jenny Bel'Air
Votes: 416
Metascore: 86 Now playing in theaters in select cities; not yet available to stream.
17. Our Body (2023)
168 min | Documentary
Follows doctors and patients at a gynecology ward in France.
Director: Claire Simon | Star: Claire Simon
Votes: 212
Metascore: 95 Not yet available to stream Metacritic's Best Documentary of 2023. Metacritic's Overall Movie of the Year for 2023.
18. Our Father, the Devil (2021)
107 min | Thriller
An African refugee's quiet existence in a sleepy mountain town in the south of France is upended by the arrival of a charismatic Catholic priest whom she recognizes as the warlord who slaughtered her family.
Director: Ellie Foumbi | Stars: Babetida Sadjo, Souleymane Sy Savane, Jennifer Tchiakpe, Franck Saurel
Votes: 376
Metascore: 87 Rent it from Amazon , Apple, Cineverse, and all major VOD providers
19. Past Lives (2023)
PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, Romance
Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.
Director: Celine Song | Stars: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Moon Seung-ah
Votes: 115,128
Metascore: 94 Rent it from Amazon, Apple, and all major VOD providers Metacritic's Best Narrative Film of 2023.
20. Poor Things (2023)
R | 141 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An account of the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef
Votes: 251,881
Metascore=87 Now playing in theaters nationwide - get showtimes and tickets. Not yet available to stream.
21. Saint Omer (2022)
PG-13 | 122 min | Drama
Follows Rama, a novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the Saint-Omer Criminal Court to use her story to write a modern-day adaptation of the ancient myth of Medea, but things don't go as expected.
Director: Alice Diop | Stars: Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit
Votes: 5,062
Metascore: 91 Stream it at Hulu or rent from all major VOD providers
22. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
PG | 140 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Miles Morales catapults across the multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.
Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson | Stars: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez
Votes: 370,022 | Gross: $381.31M
Metascore: 86 Stream it at Netflix or rent from Amazon , Apple, and all major VOD providers
23. Trenque Lauquen (2022)
262 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
With the strange disappearance of Laura, two colleagues, her older boyfriend, Rafael, and Ezequiel, learn of their recent discoveries, which may help them locate her. However, the story is bigger and stranger than they could imagine.
Director: Laura Citarella | Stars: Laura Paredes, Ezequiel Pierri, Rafael Spregelburd, Cecilia Rainero
Votes: 744
Metascore: 94 Rent it from Apple (Critics saw Part 1 and Part 2 as one combined movie so they have the same Metascore)
24. Walk Up (2022)
97 min | Drama
Byungsoo, a film director, goes with his daughter Jeongsu, an aspiring interior designer, to a building owned by an old friend already established in the design field. She gives them a tour... See full summary »
Director: Hong Sang-soo | Stars: Kwon Hae-hyo, Lee Hye-yeong, Song Seon-mi, Yun-hee Cho
Votes: 574
Metascore: 87 Rent it from Apple
25. The Zone of Interest (2023)
PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, History, War
Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the camp.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus, Luis Noah Witte
Votes: 83,555
Metascore: 90 Now playing in theaters; Not yet available to stream
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