After barely surviving a mandatory shutdown in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the executive class running some of the largest film studios in the world decided that they weren’t quite ridiculously rich enough yet and furthermore they hadn’t taken enough liberties – financial, creative and moral – with those employed by them.

And so the actors and writers collectively said no and downed tools for five months in a dispute over pay (including residual payments in the age of streaming), working conditions, and especially the increasing threat of artificial intelligence being used to not only write screenplays based on algorithms but to steal the likenesses of actors (living and dead) and store them in perpetuity without just compensation.

With Hollywood productions quiet for half the year and none of the “talent” allowed to promote those movies that were completed prior to the strikes, we ended up with a more limited and less enthusiastically received slate of major releases. Not even superhero movies or franchise sequels fronted by Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise were guaranteed hits anymore.

Despite all this, 2023 ended up being a pretty good year for cinema, with plenty of examples of not only memorable blockbusters but of distinct filmmakers leaving their mark and under-represented communities providing vibrancy and freshness to a myriad of new stories. Based upon UK release dates, these are my 10 Best Films of 2023.

Follow me @SSPThinksFilm on X (Twitter).

10. You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah Review

2023 has been a great year for films about how Gen-Z processes their major life experiences, and this delightful, hilarious little film starring most of the Sandler clan (including Adam as an adorably schlubby dad) is up there with the very best.

As she approaches her her 13th birthday and the Jewish coming-of-age ritual, Stacy Friedman (Sunny Sandler) is determined to make her Bat Mitzvah the most perfect and memorable of her peer group, including that of BFF Lydia (Samantha Lorraine). But things get a lot more complicated as hormones, teenage crushes and petty but damaging psychological manipulation via social media enter the mix.

Five years ago, Bo Burnham made his memorable feature debut with Eighth Grade and told one of the most connective, visceral stories about becoming a teenager in years. Sammi Cohen’s film has the same aim but demonstrates how seismically culture has changed in just half a decade, all through a Jewish cultural lens. There may have never been a more challenging time to be growing up in an always-online age, and Alison Peck’s insightful script in addition to the across-the-board wonderfully naturalistic performances help to make this an unexpectedly profound crowd-pleaser.

9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 Review

#JusticeforJamesGunn incarnate, the final chapter of the unlikeliest a-hole superhero team’s story shatters expectations and satisfyingly delivers on almost every level.

After years of defending the countless worlds together, the Guardians team has reached a precarious place. Their leader Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) has slumped into a depressed, alcoholic stupor after losing the love of his life Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), and Rocket’s (Bradley Cooper) past as a bio-engineered test subject comes back to haunt him in a very real way. Can the team come together one last time and save the galaxy, and themselves?

Marvel is seen as a pretty risk-averse studio and certainly much of their recent output has been received with a shrug from many viewers, but Guardians Vol 3 shows what happens when one of the best directors they partnered with is left to finish the story he wanted to tell. The action has never been more polished and visually dazzling, the performances from people and animated raccoons alike so honest and full of pain, Gunn’s love of animals so prominent as the team go up against a truly detestable figure who causes pain for the hell of it.

Recommended for you: MCU Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Ranked

Godzilla Minus One / Gojira -1.0 (2023)
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Screenwriter: Takashi Yamazaki
Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Mio Tanaka, Sae Nagatani

As visually polished and park-your-brain-at-the-door fun as the Hollywood Godzilla films are, they aren’t exactly overflowing with big ideas or thematic subtext. That’s what the Japanese Toho movies are for. Now, with their most famous character in a shared custody arrangement with Legendary Pictures that currently allows them to unleash a new Gojira film only in years that don’t include a competing US Monsterverse release, they’ve come out of the gate in 2023 with an absolute barnstormer.

In the final months of World War II, Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a kamikaze pilot deserter, witnesses the massacre of an engineering crew by an ancient dinosaur-like monster. As he returns to life in a bombed-out Tokyo recovering from the US Pacific Campaign, he gains a new family in Noriko (Minami Hamabe) and an adopted little girl. Soon the creature reappears, now mutated to a colossal size by radiation from nuclear weapons testing, and begins a new path of destruction across a country still in turmoil. 

Refreshingly for a kaiju monster movie, the human element is at the forefront of the filmmakers’ minds and, as evidenced by movies ranging from Jaws to Independence Day, it pays dividends to spend so much time on character development early on so you actually care when their world starts going to hell. The film highlights an unconventional family unit made up of unmarried domestic partners and an unrelated child rescued from the streets, which seems a little anachronistic at first (and Koichi’s domestic setup does give his colleagues pause the first time they visit him at home) but there must have been so many similar relationships formed out of necessity in the immediate aftermath of a costly war. This group of protagonists including military personnel, scientists and civilians of various stripes is perhaps the most compelling in any Godzilla movie. Hugely gratifyingly, everyone – but especially the guilt-ridden Koichi and his insecure partner Noriko, who both need to decide to truly live their new lives – has their own story to tell and their demons to face. 

In addition to often leaving the human element buried under rubble, the Hollywood Godzilla movies also don’t always manage to convey the sense of scale behind all the CG gleam and the dazzle of environmental effects. That’s never a problem here when we’re placed on a level with nuanced and grounded characters going through a waking nightmare and seeing the monster’s impact in their immediate vicinity.

Godzilla is no longer portrayed by a guy stomping around in a rubber suit, but even with modern VFX everything has weight and feels pleasingly tactile, a slow but inevitable doom on the horizon. The VFX teams are clearly proud of their work as aside from a brief prologue straight out of Jurassic Park, the Godzilla action takes place in broad daylight and is never obscured by a choppy edit. Even when he’s not on screen, his ominous presence is felt; an existential threat evoking recent atrocities that requires a nation trying to rebuild to once again make an immense sacrifice. Perhaps even more than the visuals, what gives these set pieces such impact is the punchy sound design that rattles you to your core.

It’s incredible how well the film’s modest budget (under $15million) has been utilised here, director Takashi Yamazaki also supervising the visual effects as he did with the last big screen Toho monster blockbuster Shin Godzilla (2016). There is very little sign of obvious fix-it-in-post work and the real in-camera elements, the subtle VFX used to extend and enhance, and the more explicitly fantastical, blend together beautifully.

Over the decades, directors behind Godzilla movies have alternated between casting the big scaly guy as an unknowable, nigh-on indestructible force (see Godzilla ‘54, and Godzilla 2000) or as a reluctant defender of people and the planet from far worse threats (Invasion of the Astro-Monster, King of the Monsters) and something in-between. Here, Godzilla is terrifying again; pointedly bringing with him the power not only to smash buildings and tear apart warships but the threat of further nuclear devastation, his distinctive dorsal spines now extending row-by-row to indicate a countdown to him unleashing his atomic breath.

The powder is kept dry on Akira Ifukube’s instantly recognisable original theme music until we see a sequence that directly lifts perhaps the most iconic image from the original 1954 movie. Naoki Sato’s new score melds really well with the classic music that is sampled and adds to the gut-vibrating richness of the soundscape as a whole.

Militarism and the tragic waste of war is rightly framed as abhorrent, and Japan’s uncomfortable place caught between the US and the Soviet Union’s post-WWII battle for territory is an interesting point highlighted in the script, but the film stops short of deeply interrogating the feelings of the late 1940s Japanese citizens about the right-wing nationalist ideology and the code of honour that demanded death before surrender that their country so recently operated under. This, along with an (if not predictable then) unsurprising final act are still minor quibbles when everything else is so well executed. 

Godzilla Minus One has a very strong claim to being the best kaiju movie in 70 years. It gives an iconic Japanese monster his power back by combining grounded characterisation, some incisive thematic exploration, and technical excellence. The American Godzilla movies are fun and all, but this is proof not only that you can use dumb spectacle to articulate something really smart but that Japan’s greatest metaphor in pop culture is still awe-inspiring and more relevant than ever. The major Hollywood studios need to take note of this film’s worldwide success and maybe start greenlighting more modest genre efforts with real personality and something to say. 

Score: 22/24

Recommended for you: Showa Era Godzilla Movies Ranked

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Screenwriter: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Tatsuya Gashûin, Akihiro Miwa

Environmentalism, war and peace, pride and corruption, coming of age and redemption – it can only be a fairytale from acclaimed Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

Sophie Hatter (Chieko Baishô) leads an unremarkable and tedious life – a hatter by trade (as well as by name), she spends day after day turning out fashionable headwear to keep her late father’s business limping on. Her life changes when she is unwittingly swept up in the affairs of the mysterious wizard Howl (Takuya Kimura) and thus attracts attention from the sinister Witch of the Waste (Akihiro Miwa) who is determined to gain Howl’s power for her own. The Witch pays Sophie a visit at her shop and puts a curse on her – Sophie ages drastically in moments and is unable to tell anyone what has been done to her. So, scared and confused, she flees her home town and ventures forth into the wilderness, finding her way into Howl’s castle – in reality a bizarre walking pile of assorted architecture, landscape features and junk made sentient by a fire demon named Calcifer (Tatsuya Gashûin). It is there that Sophie employs herself as the wizard’s housekeeper.

Howl himself returns home frequently, but regularly disappears again without explanation, leaving Sophie and Howl’s apprentice Markl (Ryûnosuke Kamiki) to their own devices. Howl is, in fact, observing a horrifying war that has suddenly broken out, and though he wields incredible magic power, he is reluctant to join without something concrete to fight for. The fire demon Calcifer has his own plans, too, as he offers to help Sophie escape her curse if she, in turn, will find a way to free him from Howl’s service.

The great thing about Howl’s Moving Castle is that we are given the time to appreciate the beauty of every single frame of animation – Miyazaki is in no hurry to tell this story, much to our benefit. The animation moves from stunningly rendered dreamy landscapes to the uncanny and weirdly captivating movements of the castle itself, and many an apocalyptic battlefield panorama.

Sophie is an extremely likeable protagonist. It’s nigh-on impossible not to empathise with her magical entrapment, and Chieko Baishô’s ability to convincingly portray the character in both her young and old forms is a true testament to her versatility as a voice actress. Over time she overcomes her demons and finds newfound confidence in herself – she matures internally as well as externally, and in essence her curse finally sets her free.

Howl is far less engaging (at least at first) – he appears arrogant, selfish and cowardly, and even his boyish charm can’t endear him to you. But once his backstory is fleshed out, you can’t help but to feel pity for him, as he’s just a lost soul. The villains, quite typically for a Miyazaki film, aren’t really very evil, rather they have lost their way and are in need of redemption. The real battle, for all the characters, is within themselves.

Miyazaki’s regular collaborator, Joe Hisaishi, scores the film, and the soundtrack is simple yet effective – he can bring a tear to your eye with a couple of well placed notes without fail. The score sounds a lot like a lullaby, and whilst it may have the power to send young children to sleep, it stirs entirely other emotions in adults – it causes you to reminisce, to remember happier times when the world was so much simpler.

Howl’s Moving Castle is three quarters of a perfect movie. The last half hour or so admittedly disappoints ever so slightly and loses some of the overall magic. The story, while never completely watertight, is entertaining for most of the film, but drifts into nonsensical in the last act, and the final revelations about Howl’s past are a little underwhelming, though ultimately necessary to complete his character.

Everything in this film is incredibly imaginatively visualised and, refreshingly, the weirder elements aren’t over-explained. Howl can just turn into a giant bird to fight… because. The wizard becomes steadily more bestial and leaks dark gloop when he’s depressed because both are good visuals for a tortured inner soul manifesting on the outside. Miyazaki simply asks that you embrace the madness – just go with it. If you’re prepared to do that, then Howl’s Moving Castle will be a captivating, surreal and truly special viewing experience.

23/24

Arrietty (2010)
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Screenwriters: Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa
Starring: Mirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shinobu Otake, Tomokazu Miura, Kirin Kiki, Keiko Takeshita

Studio Ghibli’s Arrietty (The Secret World of Arrietty in the USA) is a joy to behold. Simultaneously an affectionate and faithful adaptation of Mary Norton’s classic children’s novel “The Borrowers”, and a highly original journey in visual terms, the film captivates you from its first frame to its last.

Worlds collide when sickly teenager Shō (Ryunosuke Kamiki) moves with his aunt into a country house secretly inhabited by a family of inches-tall Borrowers. The lives of the little people taking what will not be missed by the “Human Beans” to survive changes forever when their youngest, Arrietty (Mirai Shida) is accidentally discovered by Shō on her first borrowing expedition.

Studio Ghibli is much more than just Hayao Miyazaki films. The titan studio of Japanese animation has showcased the craft of many talented animators over the years, and here it is Hiromasa Yonebayashi – also behind the studio’s swan song When Marnie Was There – in the director’s chair, with Miyazaki on co-writing duties. Much like the previous Ghibli feature Ponyo, Arrietty is sweet, tender and without any perceivable agenda beyond the environmentalist subtext the studio has become famous for. Again like Ponyo, it’s a film about growing up, finding your place in a huge and scary world and truly appreciating the importance and support of family and friends in any time of great change. 

This is visually sumptuous even by Studio Ghibli’s stratospheric standards. Yonebayashi has an eye for presenting small details of his world in a big way, and every individual element is drawn and animated beautifully by his team. It’s all-too easy to get swept up in the colossal domestic and garden environments, all presented from a “Borrower’s-eye-view”. Everything feels epic and imposing, a world filled with impossible obstacles – a kitchen sideboard is a mountain, a jam jar is a prison cell. A fun game you can play with others while watching is; who can spot the most bizarre object the Borrowers are using in their day-to-day lives? At one point Borrower patriarch Pod (Tomokazu Miura) uses double-sided tape as climbing equipment; his wife Homily (Shinobu Otake) has clearly constructed their kitchen range from upturned flower pots and Arrietty has a pin as a sword at her waist and a crocodile clip tying her hair back. 

The voice cast are spot-on, particularly Mirai Shida’s inquisitive and adventurous teen Borrower Arrietty and Kirin Kiki’s scheming caretaker Haru, who makes a sinister but humorous antagonist as she obsesses over capturing and removing the little home invaders. Arrietty feels like a classic Ghibli heroine like Kiki or Chihiro – strong-willed and independent but with a self-confidence that is easily knocked.

Much like in My Neighbour Totoro, for all the film’s fantasy trappings there is also an acknowledgment of the realities of the world, a common theme to explore in the magical-realist worlds of Studio Ghibli. There is a good chance that Shō could die following his imminent heart surgery, so he only has a short time to gain the trust of the Borrowers and to make sure they are safe from humans who would do them harm.

The film’s simple but effective score by Cecile Corbel rounds things off nicely, and adds a little extra magic and emotional connectivity to proceedings. The film feels a touch over-long but I think that’s more to do with how every small aspect of this story’s world feels big, insurmountable for the pint-sized protagonists. The world is bigger to them so their story feels longer.

Arrietty is a great animation for all ages. In a really quite horrifying modern world, it makes a nice change to watch something that is so innocent, that would satisfy a 5 year-old or an 85 year-old in equal measure. So next time you’re tidying your house or clearing up your garden maybe leave a few things around for the unseen little people to use.

[Hang on a minute, have I just paraphrased the theme tune to “The Wombles”?]

22/24