Chad Kennerk Looks Back at the Year of 2023
Film historians will inevitably look back on 2023 as a year of risk-taking, with filmmakers turning to personal projects backed by major studios. On paper and in hindsight, a movie about the world’s most iconic doll sounds obvious, but it took real balls—or a lack thereof in Ken’s case—for Mattel and Warner Bros. to get behind a deconstructed look at the toy in Greta Gerwig’s existential Barbie. Universal arguably took an even bigger risk, putting their full force behind a three hour movie about the birth of the atomic bomb. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer proved perfect counter-programming to Gerwig’s Barbie, as moviegoers championed the double act into the summer box office unicorn Barbenheimer. Martin Scorsese brought his American Western crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon to the screen after seven years of development. Emerald Fennell debuted her second directorial effort, the darkly imaginative and highly divisive Saltburn. Filmmakers such as Aki Kaurismäki and Hayao Miyazaki returned to the big screen after long absences, bringing intimate and distinctive works to audiences around the globe.
The year will also be remembered for the united front of writers and actors who forged important battles in Hollywood’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which made lasting changes to benefit working actors and writers for years to come. In financial terms, the 2023 global box office is estimated at $33.9 billion, which is up over 30% from 2022 and just 15% behind the average of pre-pandemic years 2017-2019. The main struggle when it comes to cinemas, continues to be a lack of content. Studios backtracked on streaming this year, after continued revenue losses. Films originally slated for a digital release made their way to theatres, further assisting the overall box office recovery. Streaming has always seen a monthly shuffling of content, but 2022’s Warner Bros. Discovery merger triggered major content cuts to Max in order to save costs, which led other streamers, such as Paramount+ and to a lesser extent Disney+, to follow suit during 2023. That sudden loss of content has been guiding some movie lovers to refocus on physical media collections which don’t rely on the whim of streamers.
The focus on the theatrical experience in this streaming age also feels greater than ever, bolstered by the event nature of the Barbenheimer phenomenon. Beyond Barbie and Oppenheimer, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One stands out as the year’s best thrill ride. If another Indiana Jones film was destined to be made, you’d be hard pressed to find a better result than Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which gave the tomb raider a fitting ride into the sunset. The haunting tones of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the hyperactive doodling of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem also resonated, along with the surprisingly emotional story within the video game themed biopic Gran Turismo. Among the best performances of the year, Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper tugged the heartstrings in their dynamic turns as Felicia Montealegre and Leonard Bernstein in Maestro. Emily Blunt crashed Oppenheimer’s boys club, delivering the best performance among the all-star cast. Lily Gladstone was flawless and grounded in her star-making Killers of the Flower Moon portrayal. Florence Pugh inhabited a tailor-made role in writer/director Zach Braff’s poignant A Good Person.
As is often the case, there were a number of award-contender releases that straddled the new year, with a US release in 2023 and a UK release awaited in 2024. As Film Review’s The Year in Cinema follows the UK release calendar, The Iron Claw, All of Us Strangers, Poor Things, and The Holdovers will have to be, well, held over and vie for a spot on next year’s list. All four titles would certainly appear here otherwise. Of those that didn’t appear on my list last year, I have highlighted Tár and The Whale, two titles that managed to hold sway since seeing them back in 2022. They now find a place in my top ten, having both seen early 2023 releases in the UK. By no means a comprehensive list, the following is a snapshot of films that I’ve personally enjoyed, though they may not be the titles that will pick up the most trophies come award season. Among my list of 2023 honourable mentions and recommendations are The Killer, Jules, Tetris, Air, Somewhere in Queens, The Hill, Past Lives, Sweetwater, Rustin, Fallen Leaves, and Nyad.
Chad Kennerk’s Favourites:
