My top films of 2023

For the first time, in 2023, I kept a list of the films I watched. I discovered that most of what I want from movies is to be silly and fun and usually short – I watched maybe three disposable films for every one film I thought might be really good. And you know what, I’m ok with that. I also thought I’d watch maybe 20-25 films in a year – and somehow I watched 117. Most weren’t from 2023, of course.

But among the silliness were some films I thought were brilliant, so I thought I’d put together my top ten. I know a lot less about movies than I do about books, so I don’t feel on the steadiest ground – but, as with my books list, it’s more about how much I enjoyed them than how objectively good I thought they were. So all manner of awards winners and contenders didn’t make the list.

Anyway, enough caveats – here’s the list:

10. Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (2015)

Heavily influenced by Richard Linklater’s superlative Before series, the natural chemistry between real-life couple Bryan Greenberg and Jamie Chung make this funny, moving and compelling. I wish it were longer, and I almost never say that about films (or books).

9. Round and Round (2023)

Ok, I watched this Hallmark Hanukkah timeloop movie as a joke – but it turned it out to be one of the best romcoms I’ve seen in years. Bryan Greenberg makes his second and final appearance on the list, and is paired with Leighton Meester. The writing is so tight, the leads have great chemistry, and it deserves a much wider audience than it’s likely to get.

8. Aftersun (2022)

A gently profound film about a young father taking his 11-year-old daughter on holiday. Director Charlotte Wells and stars Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio have been deservedly feted.

7. Rye Lane (2023)

Like Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong, a lot of this film is about two strangers meeting and walking and talking – but with the added bonus of being slightly wacky (fish-eye lens comes out to play) and very, very British. But I think my favourite thing about it was how the central couple’s ex-partners were both fully developed, very funny characters rather than one-note targets.

6. Befikre (2016)

I loved this energetic Hindi romcom set in Paris. We go back & forth between Shyra and Dharam getting together – and splitting up a year later, and what comes next. Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor are so watchable, and the songs are a clever blend of Indian & French styles. I’ve been listening to Je T’aime and Ude Dil Befikre a lot ever since – rather than a trailer, here’s Je T’aime (also the most inventive musical section of the movie).

5. Of An Age (2022)

It’s another strangers-getting-to-know-each-other movie, this time an Australian film about a young man getting to know his friend’s brother on a car journey – and what happens afterwards. Beautifully written and directed by Goran Stolevski, and with a particularly soulful and restrained performance from Thom Green.

4. Freshman Year (2020)

Amazingly, this lovely, naturalistic film about an emotional first year at uni was made for only $15,000. Cooper Raiff wrote, directed, produced, and starred – usually an ominous sign, but he is obviously one to watch. (Released as Sh!thouse in US.)

3. Ustad Hotel (2012)

I watched a lot of films with the wonderful Dulquer Salmaan in them this year – Malayalam movie Ustad Hotel was one of his early films and often mentioned as among his best, and I can see why. Faizal leaves home after a dispute and works as a chef with his grandad (Thilakan, extraordinary in one of his final roles). The movie has a beautiful tone and message, and shows what a star Salmaan would become.

2. Grey Gardens (1975)

I’ve long meant to watch this documentary about an eccentric elderly mother and daughter living in chaotic poverty in a mansion. Completely without guile or artifice, this is an extraordinary portrait of resentment, dependency, regret, and love. I don’t know if you’d be able to find people this unguarded and genuine on camera anymore – or at least not people like Big Edie and Little Edie.

1. O Kadhal Kanmani (2015)

The first film I watched in 2023 was also my favourite – a Tamil film in which Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen are a couple who decide to ‘live-in’ rather than marry (a common story in contemporary Indian cinema). As they try to be modern, they also grow to know and care for an elderly, old-fashioned couple nearby dealing with the woman’s dementia. It’s a beautiful, sweet, charming film – the sort of thoughtful, open-hearted romcom that has been disappearing from Western cinema in recent years but still very much made in India, thankfully.