The year 2023 has been very fruitful for the film industry. Although the strikes by screenwriters and actors have hindered the industry quite a bit, that hasn’t stopped us from having gems of all kinds of genres, from craziness like Godzilla: Minus One to unexpected blockbusters like Barbie and Oppenheimer.
But it is very difficult to catalog the best that is done every year worldwide, so from Indie Wire they have asked some of the most important directors in the industry to say what their favorite movies of the year have been. The list includes names like Paul Schrader, Lulu Wang, Daniel Schenihert, Andrew Haigh, Ira Sachs or Sean Baker. Below, we leave you with their rankings, which also include some series.
Allison Anders, director of Mi vida loca and Four Rooms
- Barbie
- Past Lives
- You Hurt My Feelings
- The Pigeon Tunnel
- I Am A Noise
- The Crown
- Reservation Dogs
- Origin
- Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed
- Drive Away Dolls
- Anatomy of a Fall
- The Zone of Interest
- Perfect Days
- D.O.A.
Sean Baker, director of The Florida Project and Red Rocket
- Vera
- Joy Ride
- Miami Wati
- Rimini
- The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle
Maggie Betts, director of Novitiate and The Burial
- Anatomy of a fall
Justin Chon, director of Pachinko
- Anatomy of a fall
Jamie Dack, Director of Palm Trees and Power Lines
- Passages
- How To with John Wilson
- Dream Scenario
- Telemarketers
- Poor Creatures
- Beef
- Stop Making Sense
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Swarm
- Paul T. Goldman
- The Zone of Interest
Joe Dante, director of Gremlins and The Howling
- Poor Creatures
- Oppenheimer
- Barbie
- The Count
- The Last Voyage of the Demeter
- Dream Scenario
- Godzilla Minus One
- M3gan
- Sisu
- Mission: Impossible – Deadly Sentence. Part 1
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- The Moon Assassins
- Those Who Stay
Josephine Decker, director of Shirley and The Sky is Everywhere
- Todos nosotros extraños
- La versión persa
Chloe Domont, director of Fair Play and Uncertain terms
- Poor creatures
- Anatomy of a fall
- Dream Scenario
- Passages
- Maestro
Sara Dosa, director of Fire of Love and Audrie & Daisy
- The Chimera
- Milisuthando
- Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
- You Were My First Boyfriend
- How to Carry Water
- Four Daughters
- Irani Bag
- All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
- To Kill a Tiger
- 32 Sounds
- King Cool
Carlos López Estrada, director of Raya and the Last Dragon and Summertime
- The Boy and the Heron
- Spider-Man: Crossing the Multiverse
- Suzume
- Elemental
- Ninja Turtles: Mutant Chaos
- Leo
- The First Slam Dunk
- Wish
- Asteroid City
Robert Eggers, director of The Lighthouse and The Witch
- The Beasts
- Beau is afraid
- Warth Mama
- Godland
- The Moon Assassins
- May December
- Poor Creatures
- R.M.N.
- The Interest Zone
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Asteroid City
- Those Who Stay
- Infinite Pool
- The Iron Claw
- Saltburn
- Talk to me
- When Evil Lurks
Paul Feig, director of Ghostbusters and A Simple Favor
- The Equalizer 3
- Sisu
- Talk to Me
- Police Society
- Blackberry
- M3gan
John Patton Ford, director of Emily the scammer
- Palm Trees and Power Lines
- All That Breathes
- Crows Are White
- How To With John Wilson
- Jury Duty
- Beau is Afraid
Kitty Green, director of Servant and The Royal Hotel
- Showing Up
- Poor Creatures
- Anatomy of a Fall
- May December
- Earth Mama
- Reality
- Four Daughters
- In The Rearview
- Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
Reinaldo Marcus Green, director of One Love and The Williams Method
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Spider-Man: Crossing the Multiverse
- Oppenheimer
- Past Lives
- Napoleon
- Air
- Beckham
- A Thousand And One
- The Zone of Interest
- The Moon’s Assassins
Ciro Guerra, director of Embrace of the Serpent and Waiting for the Barbarians
- Eureka
- Close Your Eyes
- Godland
- Fallen Leaves
- The Human Surge 3
- Harvest Moon
- The Killer
- The Burdened
- Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
- Beau is Afraid
- The Boy and the Heron
- Aurora’s Sunrise
- Four Souls of Coyote
Bill Hader, director of Barry
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Beau is Afraid
- The Boy and the Heron
- The Count
- Evil Dead: The Awakening
- Fallen Leaves
- The Moon’s Assassins
- Showing Up
- Talk to Me
- The Zone of Interest
Andrew Haigh, director of All of Us Strangers and Weekend
- About Dry Grasses
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Godland
- Fingernails
- Passages
- Past Lives
- Rotting in the Sun
- The Beasts
- The Killer
- The Zone of Interest
Chad Hartigan, director of Room 104
- Oppenheimer
Don Hertzfeldt, director of It’s Such a Beautiful Day and World of Tomorrow
- The area of interest
- Anatomy of a fall
- Oppenheimer
- No one will save you
- May December
- Beau is afraid
- Beyond Utopia
- Maestro
- All of Us Strangers
- Past lives
Nicole Holofcener, director of You Hurt My Feelings
- Teachers Lounge
- Memory
- The Phone Call
- The Disappearance of Shere Hite
- Beyond Utopia
- The Eternal Memory
- Every Body
- Rye Lane
- Great Photo Lovely Life
- Close
Matt Johnson, BlackBerry director
- Dream scenario
- Poor creatures
- The Iron Claw
- The Curse
- Those who stay
- Oppenheimer
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor among thieves
- The Sweet East
Zoe Lister-Jones, director of Slip and The Craft: Legacy
- You Resemble Me
- War Pony
- Anatomy of a Fall
- The Zone of Interest
- Passages
- All of Us Strangers
- Beau is Afraid
- Past Lives
- Rotting in the Sun
- Poor Creatures
Karyn Kusama, director of Yellowjackets and Jennifer’s Body
- The area of interest
- El Conde
- All of Us Strangers
- Perfect Days
- The Taste of Things
- Dream Scenario
- Blaga’s Lessons
- I, Captain
- Bottoms
- Showing Up
David Lowery, director of A Ghost Story and Green Knight
- Saint Omer
- One Fine Morning
- Our Father, The Devil
- Godland
- Sabotage
- Sanctuary
- De Humani Corporis Fabrica
- The Count
- Birth/Rebirth
- Showing Up
- Bottoms
Raine Allen-Miller, director of Rye Lane and Jerk
- Oppenheimer
- Scrapper
- The Ones Who Stay
- Earth Mama
- Sabotage
- Bottoms
Rachel Morrison, director of The Mandalorian
- All of Us Strangers
- Those Who Stay
- Anatomy of a Fall
- A Thousand and One
- Origin
- How to Have Sex
- Barbie
- American Fiction
- All Roads Taste of Salt
- Passages
- The Boy and the Heron
- Perfect Days
- The Zone of Interest
William Oldroyd, director of Lady Macbeth and Eileen
- Passages
- All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
- Rotting in the Sun
- Pacifiction
- Pearl
- Vicious Bear
- Just for Us
- Jetlag
- Human Mask
- Anatomy of a Fall
- The Chimera
- All of Us Strangers
- A Thousand and One
- The Iron Claw
- Poor Creatures
Laurel Parmet, director of The Starling Girl
- Bottoms
- May December
- The Eight Mountains
- Blue-eyed Samurai
- A Thousand and One
- Maestro
- The Great British Bake Off
James Ponsoldt, director of The Circle
- Poor Creatures
- Godzilla Minus One
- Passages
- Anatomy of a Fall
- The Plot Against Harry
- Oppenheimer
- War Pony
- The Zone of Interest
- Earth Mama
- Asteroid City
- Beau is Afraid
- A Thousand and One
- American Symphony
- Skinamarink
- The Persian Version
Jeff Rowe, director of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Madness
- Poor creatures
- The Curse
- May December
- The Bear
- Beau is scared
Daniel Scheinert, director of Everything at Once Everywhere
- Theater Camp
- Sanctuary
- Earth mama
- Sabotage
- Past lives
Paul Schrader, director of American Gigolo and The Card Counter
- The Gardener Teacher
- Oppenheimer
- Barbie
- American Fiction
- Teacher
- Autumn Leaves
- Leave the World Behind
- Last Summer
Jingyi Shao, director of Chang machaca
- Close
- Fair Play
- Spider-Man: Crossing the Multiverse
- Poor Creatures
- They Cloned Tyrone
Juel Taylor, director of Creed II
- Beef
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Bottoms
- Succession
- Lost in the Stars
- The Boy and the Heron
- Suzume
- Attack on Titan
Lulu Wang, director of Posthumous and The Farewell
- Return to Seoul
- Anatomy of a Fall
Adam Wingard, director of Godzilla vs. Kong
- Oppenheimer
- Napoleon
- Beau is afraid
- The Zone of Interest
- The Killer
- Godzilla Minus One
- Black Friday
- The Exorcist: Believer
- Super Mario Bros. The Movie
