Best Feature Length & Short Films of 2023

Best Films of 2023 Letterboxd.

Although some of my favorite films were out before 2023, their accessibility wasn’t available at the time. Several, I saw in New York City (Saint Omer and Cette Maison), London (Return To Seoul and Pretty Red Dress), or even on a flight (The Unknown Country which Lily Gladstone received a much deserved Gotham Award for). Often, I believe there are sad reasons for that— mainly money, distribution, and lack of genuine support. Still, I was happy to see eight of my twenty chosen on the big screen and the rest on streaming platforms. Women and people of color filmmakers truly crafted heart moving gems, most lingering in my mind long after the credits rolled. That’s such a profound responsibility— making a cinematic art intended to emotionally rattle or stir the individual. 

Year after year, we witness their intense labor behind the scenes (last summer’s writers and actors strike revealed a shockingly appalling perspective on just how bad it was), then shifting release dates whether in a theater or not, and lists/awards/honors that continues celebrating the same over-celebrated individuals. Yet, the most important thing to a creator is having their work SEEN— the hardest task in Hollywood, which cruelly enough continues to either delete films/series off streaming service, limit distribution, or keep works forever vaulted. 

Thus, with these twenty— an intriguing mix of 2023 narrative, short film, and documentary releases— you see an engaging collective expressing effective honesty, jarring intimacy, and beautiful storytelling. 

Best Films of 2023

1.) “Saint Omer” directed by Alice Diop and written by Diop, Marie N’diaye, and Amrita David

2.) “A Thousand And One” directed and written by A. V. Rockwell

3.) “Earth Mama” directed and written by Savanah Leaf

4.) “Cette Maison” directed and written by Miriam Charles 

5.) “Rye Lane” directed by Raine Allen-Miller and written by Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia 

6.) “Our Father, The Devil” directed and written by Ellie Foumbi 

7.) “Aloners” directed, written, and edited by Hong Sung-eun

8.) “Past Lives” directed and written by Celine Song 

9.)  “Return To Seoul” directed and written by Davy Chou

10.) “The Boy and the Heron” directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki

11.)  “Conversations With Ruth de Souza” directed by Juliana Vicente

12.) “Space Race” directed by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Lisa Cortés and written by Mark Monroe

13.) “Gaps” directed and written by Jenn Shaw

14.) “The Blue Caftan” directed by Maryam Touzani and written by Touzani and Nabil Ayouch

15.) “Pretty Red Dress” directed and written by Dionne Edwards

16.) “Polite Society” directed and written by Nida Manzoor

17.) “Hawa” directed by Maïmouna Doucouré and written by Doucouré, Alain-Michel Blanc, Zangro, and David Elkaim

18.) “Mirasol” directed and written by Annalise Lockhart

19.) “ Sèt Lam” directed and written by Vincent Fontano

20.) “The Unknown Country” directed and written by Morissa Maltz