Metacritic's Top 25 Movies of 2023
From 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.)
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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25 titles
- DirectorSam GreenStarsEdgar ChoueririJoanna FangSam GreenExplores the elemental phenomenon of sound and its power to bend time, cross borders, and profoundly shape our perception of the world around us.Metascore: 90
Not yet available to stream - DirectorRaven JacksonStarsKaylee Nicole JohnsonChris ChalkJayah HenryA decades-spanning exploration of a woman's life in Mississippi.Metascore: 87
Rent it from Amazon, Apple, and all major VOD providers - DirectorAndrew HaighStarsAndrew ScottPaul MescalCarter John GroutA 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.Metascore: 90
Now playing in theaters; Not yet available to stream - DirectorJustine TrietStarsSandra HüllerSwann ArlaudMilo Machado-GranerA woman is suspected of murder after her husband's death; their half-blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness.Metascore: 86
Rent it from Amazon , Apple, and all major VOD providers - DirectorGeorgia OakleyStarsRosy McEwenKerrie HayesLucy HallidayIn 1988, a closeted teacher is pushed to the brink when a new student threatens to expose her sexuality.Metascore: 88
Stream it on Hulu and all major VOD providers - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsSoma SantokiMasaki SudaKô ShibasakiIn 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.Metascore: 91
Now playing in theaters; Not yet available to stream - DirectorRodrigo MorenoStarsDaniel ElíasEsteban BigliardiMargarita MolfinoBank 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.Metascore: 86
Stream it at MUBI or rent from Apple - DirectorNicole NewnhamStarsDakota JohnsonShere HiteMichael ConradShere 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.Metascore: 83
Now playing in theaters in select cities; not yet available to stream. - DirectorDebbie Tucker GreenStarsHayden McleanSharlene WhyteDavid GyasiFollows 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.Metascore: 88
Stream it at Criterion Channel - DirectorLucien Castaing-TaylorVerena ParavelFocuses 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.Metascore: 92
Stream it at MUBI or rent from Apple and all major VOD providers - DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsAlma PöystiJussi VatanenJanne HyytiäinenIn 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.Metascore: 86
Stream it at MUBI - DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioRobert De NiroLily GladstoneWhen 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.Metascore: 89
Stream on Apple TV+; rent it from Amazon and all major VOD providers - DirectorC.J. 'Fiery' ObasiStarsEvelyne Ily JuhenUzoamaka AniunohEmeka AmakezeWhen 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.Metascore: 87
Not yet available to stream. - DirectorFrederick WisemanStarsMarie-Pierre TroigrosCésar TroisgrosLéo TroisgrosA 93-year-old director embeds inside a French restaurant that's held three Michelin stars for more than 50 years.Metascore: 91
Now playing in theaters in select cities; Not yet available to stream - DirectorChristopher NolanStarsCillian MurphyEmily BluntMatt DamonThe story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.Metascore: 89
Rent it from Amazon , Apple, and all major VOD providers - DirectorPaul B. PreciadoStarsArthurEmma AvenaAmir BayllyAcademic 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.Metascore: 86
Now playing in theaters in select cities; not yet available to stream. - DirectorClaire SimonStarsClaire SimonFollows doctors and patients at a gynecology ward in France.Metascore: 95
Not yet available to stream
Metacritic's Best Documentary of 2023.
Metacritic's Overall Movie of the Year for 2023. - DirectorEllie FoumbiStarsBabetida SadjoSouleymane Sy SavaneJennifer TchiakpeAn 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.Metascore: 87
Rent it from Amazon , Apple, Cineverse, and all major VOD providers - DirectorCeline SongStarsGreta LeeTeo YooJohn MagaroNora 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.Metascore: 94
Rent it from Amazon, Apple, and all major VOD providers
Metacritic's Best Narrative Film of 2023. - DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsEmma StoneMark RuffaloWillem DafoeAn account of the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.Metascore=87
Now playing in theaters nationwide - get showtimes and tickets. Not yet available to stream. - DirectorAlice DiopStarsKayije KagameGuslagie MalandaValérie DrévilleFollows 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.Metascore: 91
Stream it at Hulu or rent from all major VOD providers - DirectorJoaquim Dos SantosKemp PowersJustin K. ThompsonStarsShameik MooreHailee SteinfeldBrian Tyree HenryMiles 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.Metascore: 86
Stream it at Netflix or rent from Amazon , Apple, and all major VOD providers - DirectorLaura CitarellaStarsLaura ParedesEzequiel PierriRafael SpregelburdWith 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.Metascore: 94
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(Critics saw Part 1 and Part 2 as one combined movie so they have the same Metascore) - DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKwon Hae-hyoLee Hye-yeongSong Seon-miByungsoo, 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 of the property, which includes a restaurant and cooking studio on the first two floors, her office in the basement, a residence on the third floor, and an artist's studio at the top. The three of them chat and drink amicably until a business call pulls Byungsoo away. When he returns, it's the same place, but a different time, and the building owner invites him up to the second floor.Metascore: 87
Rent it from Apple - DirectorJonathan GlazerStarsChristian FriedelSandra HüllerJohann KarthausAuschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the camp.Metascore: 90
Now playing in theaters; Not yet available to stream