Favourite Films of 2023

These are the films I’ve most enjoyed, have lingered in my mind and are likely to be ones I revisit in the years to come. With the aim of making my list accessible, relevant and non-exclusive I’ve only listed films that received a full theatrical or online release in Australia in 2023. Films that only screened at festivals or other special events (especially films with confirmed 2024 Australian release dates) are not included.

Top ten films

My favourite films released in Australia in 2023:

**1. *Aftersun* (Charlotte Wells, 2022)**
Released February

**2. *Killers of the Flower Moon* (Martin Scorsese, 2023)**
Released October

**3. *Women Talking* (Sarah Polley, 2022)**
Released February

**4. *Till* (Chinonye Chukwu, 2022)**
Released March

**5. *Living* (Oliver Hermanus, 2022)**
Released March

**6. *The Killer* (David Fincher, 2023)**
Released October

**7. *The Old Oak* (Ken Loach, 2023)**
Released November

**8. *Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One* (Christopher McQuarrie, 2023)**
Released July

**9. *Of an Age* (Goran Stolevski, 2022)**
Released March

**10. *Past Lives* (Celine Song, 2023)**
Released August

Honourable mentions

Twenty more films I loved this year, listed alphabetically:

*Asteroid City* (Wes Anderson, 2023)
Released August

*Barbie* (Greta Gerwig, 2023)
Released July

*Beurokeo* (*Broker*, Koreeda Hirokazu, 2022)
Released March

*Biosphere* (Mel Eslyn, 2022)
Released September

*Close* (Lukas Dhont, 2022)
Released February

*Gojira mainasu wan* (*Godzilla Minus One*, Takashi Yamazaki, 2023)
Released December

*Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3* (James Gunn, 2023)
Released May

*How to Blow Up a Pipeline* (Daniel Goldhaber, 2022)
Released August 2023

*John Wick: Chapter 4* (Chad Stahelski, 2023)
Released March

*Kimitachi wa dô ikiru ka* (*The Boy and the Heron*, Hayao Miyazaki, 2023)
Released December

*Le bleu du caftan* (*The Blue Caftan*, Maryam Touzani, 2022)
Released May

*Maestro* (Bradley Cooper, 2023)
Released December

*Master Gardener* (Paul Schrader, 2022)
Released December

*Revoir Paris* (*Paris Memories*, Alice Winocour, 2022)
Released November

*Shayda* (Noora Niasari, 2023)
Released October

*Skinamarink* (Kyle Edward Ball, 2022)
Released February

*Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K Thompson, 2023)
Released June

*Tár* (Todd Field, 2022)
Released January

*The New Boy* (Warwick Thornton, 2023)
Released July

Special mentions

I also enjoyed a number of films this year that only played at festivals and to the best of my knowledge don’t currently have a 2024 release date. These are five highlights:

*As bestas* (*The Beasts*, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2022)

*Les pires* (*The Worst Ones*, Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret, 2022)

*Miracol* (*Miracle*, Bogdan George Apetri, 2021)

This list was compiled for the upcoming Senses of Cinema 2023 World Poll

Thomas Caldwell, 2023