From a comic book blockbuster about Spider-Man to the authorial triumphs of Scorsese and Nolan – here are the top 10 films of 2023 in our opinion.
What will we remember 2023 for in the world of cinema? Of course, 'Barbenheimer', the Hollywood strikes, animated masterpieces, and new works by great maestros: from Roman Polanski's cynical comedy to the swan song of the late William Friedkin.
The 'After Credits' team watched over 100 films released in theaters or online in 2023 and voted to select the top 10. Can you guess who topped the list?!
10th place – 'The Whale'
The best performance of this Oscar season – probably the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about . Brendan Fraser managed to put the full breadth of his soul into this role, giving audiences and critics not only magnificent acting but also filling this small film with life.
On February 21, the digital release of Darren Aronofsky's new film 'The Whale' starring Brendan Fraser took place. We talk about the cinematic comeback of the 'Mummy' star in an unusual
Open materialUnfortunately, released earlier this year, it has become more relevant than ever, and questions about the power of love and humanity seem even more unresolved. The drama about the dying recluse Charlie and the people surrounding him in his last days gives a powerful charge of kindness, capable of guiding one to find that very needed ray of hope. However, to find it, under the direction of director Darren Aronofsky, you'll have to go through a heartbreaking stream of sorrow that can move anyone.
9th place – 'You Hurt My Feelings'
The best Woody Allen of the year, even considering that this year also released a new film. Smart, subtle cinema about the problems of good people who, to make the world a little better, have forgotten how to tell each other the truth, and to somehow live with it, have learned to lie to themselves as well.
The new film by American classic Woody Allen, 'Coup de Chance', is being released. For the first time in his career, he switched to French and speaks it quite briskly and unexpectedly
Open materialThis is a therapeutic film without being pushy, smart without pretension, and relevant without being loud, about what probably concerns everyone. How to get through everyday life? How to praise a loved one's creativity if it's not so close to you? How to come to terms with age? How to argue about personal relationships when the world around is rolling into an obvious abyss?
Nicole Holofcener, the melancholic favorite of New Yorker readers (in our reality, something between the Garden Ring and the Culture TV channel), has made perhaps one of the most soul-nourishing films of the year for the widest audience of her career. You don't even need to live within the Third Ring Road to understand that life is complicated, but you have to live. In the end, as with Woody Allen, love and chance help everyone, and since Holofcener is not yet 87 and she believes in people, for her it's still more about love. And that can only be welcomed.
8th place – 'I Will Always Remember Your Faces'
2023 can safely be declared the year of conversational and therapeutic cinema. In Jeanne Herry's drama about criminals and people who have experienced violence, the perfect formula is derived – both sides speak directly and openly about their feelings and emotions, live through them, in order to move on.
On October 19, Jeanne Herry's drama 'I Will Always Remember Your Faces' appeared on online platforms, about criminals and people who have experienced various forms of violence. Herry shared the director's chair with another
Open materialEach of the characters in the story (or rather stories – everyone here has a unique context) is afraid to acknowledge their own experiences as something normal rather than shameful. But it is precisely in the circle of similarly confused and traumatized people, each of whom still has the right to happiness, that they manage to take the first steps towards that very happiness.
Perhaps the film is a bit idealized, and in reality such an experiment with restorative justice would hardly go so smoothly, but that's what cinema is for – to give even such an ambitious idea the strength, power, and magic inherent in art.
7th place – 'The Boy and the Heron'
As they say, daddy's comeback. Unsurprisingly, Hayao Miyazaki's new work ended up in our top, because we've already written that the genius can't make anything but masterpieces, and that's pure truth. Visually – just a real orgasm, and in terms of meaning, probably the most intricate project of the master. However, the anime remains interesting, colorful, and very touching.
The new work by the brilliant animator Hayao Miyazaki, 'The Boy and the Heron', has been released in official Russian distribution. The 82-year-old master said back in 2013 that he was ending his career, and this
Open materialIn essence, everything here is wonderful: Miyazaki's traditional drawing, painfully moving themes (for both the viewer and the creator), a fairy-tale atmosphere, and the wonders of magical realism in full glory. In general, not including 'The Boy and the Heron' in the top 10 films of 2023 would be a real crime. Thank God, our editorial team didn't commit it. Honestly, it's even scary to imagine what will await Studio Ghibli when the master of Japanese animation is gone and he can no longer fool the whole world by saying he's retiring.
6th place – 'Saltburn'
The most extravagant and insane film on this list managed to make a splash on foreign TikTok among ordinary viewers, while critics gave it a cooler reception than 'Promising Young Woman', the previous film by director Emerald Fennell.
The story of Oliver (Barry Keoghan), an outsider who infiltrates aristocratic circles through close friendship with the charming Felix (Jacob Elordi), turns into a real nightmare for all of them.
Another satire on the rich, now English, is more reminiscent of 'Parasite' than last year's 'Triangle of Sadness'. The familiar formula is enhanced by incredible visuals, a 2000s soundtrack, and a complex love story. It's hard to see, it's painful and monstrous in its expression, but it is this plot that provides the key to (mis)understanding the characters and makes this film special.
5th place – 'Rye Lane'
Two teenagers meet in a public toilet – that's how the youth rom-com by debutant Raine Allen-Miller 'Rye Lane' begins. And the nicest thing about this film is that until the very end, it's impossible to guess how and where it will end. But in the company of the shy Dom (David Jonsson) and the wild girl Yas (Vivian Oparah), this journey through the streets of South London will definitely not be boring. Miller seems to deliberately structure the film so that the viewer doesn't suspect what awaits the characters around the corner, but simply enjoys how these two communicate, laugh, get into awkward situations, and enthusiastically discuss the life happening around them.
The director doesn't hide her attachment to traditional romantic comedies with the obligatory discussion of exes and awkwardness when interacting with relatives. And if one wanted, one could criticize her for that, but for the form in which she wraps this unpretentious story, everything can be forgiven. On screen, only bright colors, scenes shot according to the precepts of Michel Gondry and Wes Anderson, gags in the style of Monty Python and 'Friends', wide-angle lenses, a steady rhythm, lightness, and laughter.
In the end, no one knows when love will unexpectedly strike, Miller sums up. Perhaps right around the corner of the store you pass every day. Or perhaps in a public toilet. Who knows.
4th place – 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'
Watching it, you get not only fantastic aesthetic pleasure but also delve deeper into the universes of other Spiders, touching on the main mystery of 'why does Uncle Ben keep dying?' and 'how is everything arranged?'
The global box office is once again caught in a sticky spider web, which means Miles Morales has returned to the big screen to once again conquer the multiverse and the hearts of viewers, aiming for
Open materialA good sequel reveals more secondary characters, namely Gwen Stacy. In addition, the animation itself has been improved: each alternative reality has its own unique visual style. This makes the film not just another adaptation of everyone's favorite Spider-Man, but takes it to new territory with different antagonists, problems, and questions at the level of the universe's structure.
The ending makes you want more and eagerly await the continuation. Will we see another animated film among the nominees for best since 'Toy Story'?
3rd place – 'Oppenheimer'
When Christopher Nolan hits the mark, you have to see it. No, really, if you haven't seen yet, you should definitely run and fix that.
The authors of 'After Credits' discuss the pros and cons of Nolan's deliberately adopted neutrality towards the story of Robert Oppenheimer.
Open materialWicked tongues will say that part of the film's success is due to the 'Barbenheimer' phenomenon. Perhaps partly, and only in terms of marketing. Because the film itself is one of the examples of cinematic art. A magnificent cast led by the inimitable Cillian Murphy, brilliant cinematography, frame composition at the level of 'God', a wonderful soundtrack. Special mention goes to the work on sound effects – thanks to it, the viewer's immersion in the film happens almost at the subconscious level.
This is a story about one person and an entire society, about one life and an entire era, about one atomic nucleus and one huge explosion. A story about how insignificant a person is in the face of the universe, but how strongly this insignificant unit can change the course of history. A well-deserved third place in the list of the top 10 films of 2023.
2nd place – 'The Holdovers'
Holidays are not only a time of miracles but sometimes also a time when loneliness can be felt especially strongly. And Alexander Payne's film embodies both of these ideas, telling a simultaneously very sad but heartwarming story about three people who are far from close to each other, who feel abandoned not only at Christmas but also in life.
On the internet, you can (and should) find Alexander Payne's new film, the New Year's comedy 'The Holdovers' – a deep and surprisingly warm movie, for which one of the smartest directors in A
Open materialIn this dramedy, you can find many references to beloved 80s film classics about teenagers and adults suffering from restlessness and being lost in the world. Also, as in those films, 'The Holdovers' has room for reflections on social masks and sincerity, politics and society, as well as the incredible Paul Giamatti and the promising Dominic Sessa.
And at the end of the film, a bittersweet aftertaste awaits you: as if you were wrapped in a warm blanket from adversity, although the problems themselves haven't gone away. Nevertheless, the lesson is learned: sometimes unforeseen coincidences become soul-saving, and sincerity and openness can change the attitude to life of both the most cynically callous and the most arrogantly insolent. Even if not forever, but allowing to brighten each other's temporary loneliness.
1st place – 'Killers of the Flower Moon'
Martin Scorsese has made one of his best films of the 21st century. For the first time in a year given to three-hour films (from 'Oppenheimer' to 'The Irishman'), watching it gives the feeling that the film could have been even longer. Scorsese retells a great American novel, films a love story, adapts a police chronicle, combines 'There Will Be Blood' and 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller', makes great cinema about pathetic people – such three and a half hours are worth a separate filmography.
At his venerable age, Scorsese, having filmed the criminal chronicle of an entire century, has become not more cynical, like Roman Polanski, but wiser. Telling the story of the formation of modern America (and the world in a certain sense), the classic suggests remembering not the criminals but the victims. Yes, as always with the director, we have a panorama of human sins – greed, cruelty, indifference to the fate of others, but first and foremost – an amazingly sincere appeal to justice.
On December 5, the digital release of Martin Scorsese's film 'Killers of the Flower Moon' took place. The 'Apple' streaming service gave the director a lot of money and did not limit him in runtime, and we
Open materialSad, doomed, filmed, it seems, primarily for the sake of the obituary read at the end, this film is not another epic about 'great' people and 'great' history, but a monumental dash between the dates on the mass grave of those whom history has thrown to the sidelines. Mixing fiction with documentary at some point, and the eternal with the historical, Scorsese calls first of all to remember these people, and this is perhaps the most worthy statement of the past cinematic year.
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