Here are 25 films that were released in the US in 2023 and received the highest scores on Metacritic (the largest aggregator site that collects reviews for movies, games and series). This is not the usual trend; rather, it is a cross-section that demonstrates the preferences of critics as a whole, rather than individuals.
How we've grouped data:
- releases are placed from top to bottom, from highest to lowest, and in alphabetical order;
- the data is current as of early January 2024. With more reviews, the layout may change;
- only films with at least 12 reviews are taken into account. The exceptions were “32 Sounds” and “Close Your Eyes”, which currently have 9 and 10 reviews accordingly;
- we also recommend that you read the best movies of 2022.
Past Lives — 94 points (dir. Celine Song)
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: Nora and Hae-seong's friendship ended when the girl's family emigrated from South Korea to Canada. Two decades later, they meet in New York to understand the concepts of love and destiny.
De Humani Corporis Fabrica — 92 points (dirs. Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel)
Genre: documentary
What is remarkable: examination of the human body through candid footage of operations and other medical manipulations.
Menus Plaisirs: Les Troisgros — 91 points (dir. Frederick Wiseman)
Genre: documentary
What is remarkable: the busy everyday life of a French restaurant that has “owned” three Michelin stars for half a century.
The Boy and the Heron — 91 points (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
Genre: anime, drama, fantasy
What is remarkable: a lonely boy travels to the spirit world, where the cycle of life and death takes place, to find his mother who died during World War II.
Saint Omer — 91 points (dir. Alice Diop)
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: writer Rama is following the trial of a woman who allegedly killed her 15-month-old daughter by leaving her on the beach at high tide.
32 Sounds — 90 points (dir. Sam Green)
Genre: documentary
What is remarkable: an experiment that combines cinema with all kinds of sounds and melodies that radically transform the visual range.
The Zone of Interest — 89 points (dir. Jonathan Glazer)
Genre: drama, history
What is remarkable: Rudolph Hess works hard to build a happy family life and simultaneously runs a concentration camp near Auschwitz.
Oppenheimer — 89 points (dir. Christopher Nolan)
Genre: biography, drama
What is remarkable: american physicist Robert Oppenheimer is trying to control the scale of the nuclear bomb he created.
Killers of the Flower Moon — 89 points (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Genre: thriller, drama, detective
What is remarkable: after returning from World War I, the former cook is drawn into a fight for the land for which innocent Indians must die.
All of Us Strangers — 88 points (dir. Andrew Haigh)
Genre: fantasy, romance
What is remarkable: a middle-aged screenwriter returns to his father's house to make a new acquaintance and meet his parents who died 30 years ago.
Poor Things — 87 points (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
Genre: science fiction, romance
What is remarkable: Bella Baxter killed herself because of a troubled marriage, but an eccentric scientist brought her body back to life by transplanting the brain of her unborn child into it (read our text).
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt — 87 points (dir. Raven Jackson)
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: measured surveillance of women's share in the Mississippi area, which is based on the fate of several generations of the same family.
Blue Jean — 87 points (dir. Georgia Oakley)
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: a gym teacher successfully hides her non-traditional orientation in England in the late 1980s until one day she meets her student at a club.
Anatomy of a Fall — 86 points (dir. Justine Triet)
Genre: thriller, drama
What is remarkable: a German writer is suspected of the death of her husband, who suddenly fell off a cliff. And the only witness in this case is their blind son.
Close Your Eyes — 86 points (dir. Victor Erice)
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: many years ago, a Spanish actor disappeared while filming a film, and years later, his disappearance takes on a new shape.
May December — 86 points (dir. Todd Haynes)
Genre: drama, romance
What is remarkable: the couple, who shocked the whole country with their relationship twenty years ago, is visited by an actress who is preparing to shoot a film about that scandal (read our text).
Fallen Leaves — 86 points (dir. Aki Kaurismaki)
Genre: drama, comedy
What is remarkable: a single girl without a permanent job and an equally lonely alcoholic start a romantic relationship (read our text).
Showing Up — 86 points (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
Genre: drama, comedy
What is remarkable: instead of quietly preparing for his new exhibition, the sculptor balances between his creative life and all kinds of troubles between his loved ones.
The Delinquents — 86 points (dir. Rodrigo Moreno)
Genre: drama, comedy
What is remarkable: two bank employees come up with the perfect scam — one of them robs his own employer and goes to jail, while the other hides money. But their venture is not going according to plan.
Renaissance — 86 points (dirs. Beyonce, Ed Burke)
Genre: documentary, music
What is remarkable: the story of Beyonce's world tour, which started in Stockholm and ended in Missouri.
La Chimera — 86 points (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)
Genre: fantasy, comedy, adventure
What is remarkable: a British archaeologist travels to Italy in the 1980s, where he gets acquainted with an underground market selling artifacts (read our text).
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — 86 points (dirs. Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin Thompson, Kemp Powers)
Genre: animation, science fiction, adventure
What is remarkable: young Spider-Man from Brooklyn, together with a team of Spiders from other universes, are once again saving their loved ones and reality itself from collapse.
Alcarras — 85 points (dir. Carla Simon)
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: for generations, the Solé family spent their summer vacations in a Catalan village picking peaches peacefully. But the usual vacation is under threat, as local authorities intend to plant the garden with solar panels.
The Beasts — 85 points (dir. Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
Genre: thriller, drama
What is remarkable: a married couple from France moves to a Spanish village for privacy and closeness to nature, but the new neighborhood turns into a bloody conflict.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — 85 points (dir. Wes Anderson)
Genre: drama, comedy
What is remarkable: thanks to a magic book, a man gains the ability to see through objects and guess the future.
See you next year!
