With 2023 having come to a close, let us dive into and discuss the films from the second half of the year that will be cherished for years to come. Many of these are streaming, and a few are still in theaters.
Check out the Niner Times’ story on “The best films of the first half of 2023.”
‘The Royal Hotel’ (directed by Kitty Green)
Two American friends, Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick), run out of funds while backpacking through Australia. They take a temporary live-in bartending job in a remote town in the middle of the outback. They meet the locals and realize they have much more than money to worry about.
“The Royal Hotel” is a sweaty, angry, messy film that acts composed, so you go along with the plot. This film is this year’s most taught thriller and never requires traditional thriller stakes. Feminine dread permeates the film as we watch Hanna and Liv deal with recognizable members of this small town. Never knowing how far the film (or its antagonists) will go, it is nerve-wracking and perfectly pitched. Performers Garner, Henwick and Hugo Weaving pull you in and keep you at attention. Moments of silence and small glances communicate to those willing to listen. It is an uneasy tale of chauvinist traits and unexpected sympathizers.
‘The Delinquents’ (directed by Rodrigo Moreno)
After an employee robs a bank for enough money never to have to work again, he turns himself in and hands it over to a coworker to hold onto until he is released from prison. We then see the 3.5 years of self-discovery and a view of freedom from a new perspective.
“The Delinquents” is the calmest and most confident film I have seen this year. As college students, it is a time of being terrified by being a person of no account in a capitalist workforce, churning out nothingness until you are withered and tired. This film has all of these ideas while observing nature and love at the optimistic forefront. Indecisiveness, wandering through relationships and charting a new path work together as the perfect oxymoron. Beautifully edited and shot with curiosity, the countryside of Argentina is shown as the new safe haven.
‘May December’ (directed by Todd Haynes)
This film centers around the actor Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), who comes to a small town to observe a famous tabloid relationship for inspiration for her next film role. The relationship is between Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe Yoo (Charles Melton), who were 36 and 13, respectively, when they first slept together and had children. Twenty years after the relationship started, Joe starts learning more about what he is the victim of.
Narrative and self-description play against each other in this emotionally complex and harrowing melodrama. Coming from a veteran director like Todd Haynes, he can destroy our understanding of each character and build it back up in minutes. It includes three of the year’s best performances with a layered and beautifully written script to match. Surprisingly comedic, it maintains the detailed and grotesque subject matter with passion. Though it may be very loosely based on the Mary Kay Letourneau case, it is a singular and conflicted story.
‘Passages’ (directed by Ira Sachs)
Tomas (Franz Rogowski) and Martin (Ben Whishaw) find numerous problems in their relationship when Tomas starts having an affair with a young woman named Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos).
Here, we see heartbreak and repetition while witnessing a lead character’s downward spiral. With all the stellar performances I saw during this film, Rogowski keeps shining in my mind. The performances are sprawling and self-destructive throughout, making you empathize even with their hurtful actions. Director Ira Sachs is examining the relationship with a modern view; he is interested in frustration–often sexual but always wholly experienced.
‘Poor Things’ (directed by Yorgos Lanthimos)
After being resurrected with the brain of a baby, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) discovers a new world through the desire and disgust of the men around her.
For everything I said in my review of “Poor Things,” one of the great oddities of film as a medium is that it can say more than words can allow. There is a screenplay, but with the exciting filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, you get the sense that each moment with the character is spent authentically and sporadically. The character could do nothing else at that moment; there was no other choice than what they had decided. It’s something that I can only say for a few films each year, and for “Poor Things,” pulling this off is the most difficult achievement in his career.
Check out Niner Times’ review of “Poor Things.”
‘Priscilla’ (directed by Sofia Coppola)
When Elvis Presley’s manager tells 14-year-old Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) that she would be of interest to Elvis (Jacob Elordi), he invites her to a party to meet ‘The King.’ This starts a long, tumultuous relationship and shows a new side of The King of Rock and Roll.
Based on the “Elvis and Me” memoir by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon, the darkly romantic and softly spoken story is magical. How can you explain when you are in love? Who is the person underneath the famous charismatic exterior? Priscilla is absorbed into the world of Elvis, and the audience is right next to her the entire time. If the film “Priscilla” were a car (most likely a pink Cadillac), it would be driving on an icy, unkempt road, unsure where the characters would take it. You are rattled by the uncertainty with the perceptive view of Priscilla Presley.
Check out Niner Times’ review of “Priscilla.”
‘Maestro’ (directed by Bradley Cooper)
After securing early accomplishments in his career, composer Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) meets actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), and their relationship is affected dramatically by his music.
While watching the film, an older woman beside me leaned over to her husband and shouted, “What is this about?” Though I strongly dislike them talking during the movie, for a ‘biopic’ to induce that reaction is surprising. But it’s not without merit, and Cooper’s dense and confident film deserves this reaction. It is scattered and goes through only a few significant moments in Bernstein’s life. But it holds together and begs to be consumed multiple times. A big swing like this feels much more impactful in a year with many boring biopic stories. Bradley Cooper’s dramatic six-year preparation for one scene did not go unrewarded, as he is astounding. Though it’s hard to match the preparation he went through, Carey Mulligan eclipses him in terms of raw presence. She is untouchable.
‘Oppenheimer’ (directed by Christopher Nolan)
“The Father of the Atom Bomb” Robert Oppenheimer’s (Cillian Murphy) career is shown as we watch the struggle between him and the Atomic Energy Commission’s Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.).
My most rewatched film of the year; it is hard not to get immediately sucked into this beautifully edited and shot simulation of naivete. What stands out to me on every viewing is the technicality of the structure. Efficient and set up quickly, every moment ends precisely when it should. There is an apparent mastery of editing; we always know why we are listening to a character and where we will go next because of each cut. It is Nolan’s best film since “The Prestige” (2006).
Check out Niner Times’ review of “Oppenheimer.”
‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ (directed by Christopher McQuarrie)
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) returns to take on a new all-powerful enemy, and it will threaten the lives of the crew members he holds close.
Tom Cruise will continue to be the greatest (and possibly last) larger-than-life American movie star of our time. Thankfully, he has plenty more fight in him. The spacey cuts and Dutch angles make this the most mysterious Mission film since the 1996 original. While we try to “reckon” with the prevalence of AI, we can count on writer Christopher McQuarrie and leading man Tom Cruise to make the most blunt, effective destruction of the tech. It was a financial disappointment for the studio, but hopefully, there is enough excitement to release a massively successful conclusion in its second part coming in 2025.
Check out Niner Times’ review of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.”
‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (directed by Justine Triet)
After Sandra’s husband Samuel (Samuel Theis) turns up dead in his home in the French Alps, police start to investigate, with Sandra (Sandra Hüller) being the main suspect.
Thinking back on this wonderful nail-biting courtroom drama and screenplay display piece, I think back to a line so representative that they had to use it for the trailer (and realistically, it could have been on the poster). Sandra, talking to her lawyer Vincent (Swann Arlaud) at the beginning of the film, interrupts him and says, “Stop. I did not kill him.” Her lawyer responds, “That’s not the point.” The ambiguity of the culprit is constant, but the relationship between Sandra and her husband is challenging and multifaceted. Told from the courtroom, we experience the intimate moments while never knowing if we have seen enough to judge.