The 13 Best Films of 2023 Ranked

Why 13 you may be asking? Well, because there were 13 movies worth ranking this year. What's the point of ranking garbage? There was plenty of garbage! But that's why it's in the garbage. Let it sit there for the rest of eternity. Here are the 13 best films from 2023:

13. Society of the Snow

If you don’t subscribe to Netflix, you probably have never even heard of this film. I think if I had seen this film in theaters, I probably would have enjoyed it much more, but I believe it still gets the job done at home.

Directed by J.A. Bayona, Society of the Snow stars Enzo Vogrincic, Agustin Pardella, and Matias Recalt. It tells the true survival story of an Argentinian Rugby team that had their plane crash in the Andes mountains. While the film begins to slightly drag on in the middle of the film, it did a successful job of portraying the horrors they faced.

12. Creed III

Creed continued its successful run of with this rendition, and that’s largely thanks to the performance of Jonathan Majors, who absolutely carries this movie. I understand I am probably not supposed to say that anymore, because he is a bad person and all that, but he was in this film, so I cannot ignore it. Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut was undoubtedly a successful one, as he did a great job highlighting the relationship between Creed and Majors’ Damian Anderson. 

Starring Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors, Creed III is probably my least favorite Creed film, but is still good enough to deserve recognition.

11. The Iron Claw


In what is probably the most tragic story in the history of sports, the Iron Claw tells the story of the Von Erich family on the big screen for the first time.

Directed by Sean Durkin, The Iron Claw stars Zac Efron, Lily James, Holt McCallany, and Jeremy Allen White. If you don’t know anything about the story of the Von Erich’s, you will definitely be walking out the theater with a pit in your stomach. Some strange decision making about what to include from the actual story in the film did negatively impact it in the end, but it still turned out to be one of the better films of 2023.

10. John Wick: Chapter 4

Just like the Creed franchise, John Wick has had a fantastic nine-year run, and it continued with John Wick: Chapter 4.

Starring  Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishbourne, George Georgiou, Ian McShane, and Donnie Yen, and directed by Chad Stahelski, John Wick: Chapter 4 definitely makes the case for being the best John Wick film of them all.

After the first film, the plot has always been the missing element from the John Wick movies, and even with a decent attempt at one this film, you are going to enjoy this film solely because it is entertaining to watch Keanu Reeves fight hundreds of people at once and endure pain equivalent of falling off a skyscraper.

9. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

No one is more critical of Disney and what they have done to iconic franchises than me, but the Dial of Destiny absolutely did the job for me.

Starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Mads Mikkelsen, and directed by James Mangold, the Dial of Destiny is not going to be anyone’s favorite Indiana Jones film, but it is great just to see Harrison Ford play his character in 2023. And it is a drastic improvement from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I honestly believe Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character is the only thing that brings this film down from being a top 3 Indiana Jones movie of all time. Her character, along with the terrible decision to end the film, are what keeps this film out of the top five for me.

8. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

While not receiving the same amount of critical praise as its predecessor, this is one of the better films of the long running Mission: Impossible franchise.

Starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, and Rebecca Ferguson, as well as being written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is just a great time at the theater, and I think more of that would be nice.

7. Asteroid City

Wes Anderson is certainly not going to appease everyone with his style of filmmaking, and many critics were not afraid to express their distaste for this film upon release.

I may have been on the outside looking in for this film, but I thoroughly enjoyed Asteroid City all the way through. I could have done without the Bryan Cranston scenes in this film, as I thought it interrupted the pace, but it wasn’t enough to ruin this one for me.

6. The Holdovers

Alexander Payne, who directed this film, was quick to express his displeasure with the final edit of this film, along with the reception of critics. Many people felt that this was an enjoyable, comfy, and warmhearted film to watch during the holiday season, and nothing disgusts Alexander Payne more than hearing something like that.

Starring Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers is a very well-acted, well-written, and created one of the best characters of 2023. I for one would have been very interested to see what Payne wanted this film to look like and compare it to the final product, because it may have been enough to get it in the top five of 2023.

Nominated for five academy awards, I would expect this film to at least get on the board at the Oscars this year.

5. Killers of the Flower Moon

Did you ever think we would see Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio on the same screen in 2023? Not only that, but we got it in the form of a Martin Scorsese film. 

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon tells an extremely under-discussed part of history very effectively. The phenomenal acting alone puts this film in the top five of the year, and it could easily have been top 3. It is the third most nominated film this year.

Killers will most certainly not be anybody’s favorite Martin Scorsese film, but it is definitely another victory for the greatest director of all time.

4. Poor Things

From the opening shot, along with the first hint of the score, I knew we were going into a winner with Poor Things. Georgios Lanthimos has a style that certainly is not for everybody, but he does not care about the people that do not like his films. He is making these films for himself, and it shows.

Starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things is simply a master-class in filmmaking. If it weren’t for Christopher Nolan, I think best director would have gone to Lanthimos and the country of Greece for the first time in its history.

With the second most nominations of any film in 2023, Poor Things should at least get a few wins on the board this year at the Oscars.

3. Godzilla Minus One

What American studios have gotten wrong about big name franchises like Godzilla is exactly what Takashi Yamazaki got right with Godzilla Minus One.

Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, and Sakura Ando, Godzilla Minus One is one of the most emotional films this year. The character drama in a Godzilla film is not meant to be at the forefront of the audience’s concern, but that is exactly the case in this movie.

It only received one Oscar nomination, but easily could have had a Best Picture or Best Director.

2. American Fiction

In probably what was the shock of the year, American Fiction received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best score.

Starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, and Sterling K. Brown, and Directed by Cord Jefferson, American Fiction easily brought out the most laughs of any film in 2023. Monk Ellison was easily the best written character of 2023, bringing a certain authenticity that has been missing from theaters.

If you were surprised to see this film receive so many nominations, you are wrong. If you haven’t seen this film yet, I highly recommend you find a way to see it.

1. Oppenheimer



If you were to construct a list of the best 20 movies of the 21st century, there is a good chance you would see Christopher Nolan’s name come up five times or more. He is undoubtedly the greatest director of this generation, and proved it yet again with Oppenheimer.

Starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, and countless stars, Oppenheimer is not only the greatest Biographical film of all time, but one of the greatest films of all time. It proves to film fans that all-time classics can still be made if you have the right people making them. There are not many Christopher Nolan’s out there, but he is proving to the world that it is still possible.

There should be no debate. Oppenheimer was the best film of 2023, and should win every Academy Award.