Movies have had an impressive start in 2023. From a combination of theatrical releases and streaming exclusives, the first four months of the year have certainly had plenty to offer audiences. Major studio tentpole projects, films from the festival circuit making their way into theaters, and high-profile streaming titles have shown a diverse lineup of films in terms of story, budgets, and genres. While the early part of a year is typically looked down upon as a dumping ground, 2023 has disproved that one long-held belief.
With the summer movie season about to begin, it means that attention will be drawn to big blockbusters and possibly some surprise hits. Before the summer movie season starts, take a look at the 20 best movies released in 2023 so far. These films opened between the first week of January to the final week of April in either theater or streaming.
20 Cocaine Bear
Another “inspired by true events” film, Cocaine Bear delivers exactly what the title promises. It is a creature feature with an all-star cast. Director Elizabeth Banks’ background in comedy fits the tone and style, that is over the top and violent but all at the expense of making the audience laugh in horror. While it has a B-movie premise and embraces the schlock element, it also delivers the best version of that concept.
19 The Super Mario Bros. Movie
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the biggest film of 2023 so far, and it will be difficult for any movie to top it. The film is a brightly colored simple adventure story, very much in keeping with the spirit of the video games. The A-list voice cast all fit their roles perfectly and bring new dimensions to these icons. While The Super Mario Bros. Movie certainly could benefit from a stronger script, the film delivers on giving the audience a fun time at the movies.
18 M3GAN
Producer Jason Blum kicked off 2023 with a bang in the form of the horror film M3GAN. Even before its release, this movie about a killer doll had gained a massive boost in popularity thanks to memes and viral TikToks. January is typically seen as a slow month for films where studios release some of their weakest films, but M3GAN delivered a quality horror film that also knew to embrace the camp. With a sequel recently confirmed at CinemaCon, M3GAN is a horror property that has a bright future.
17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a classic superhero sequel, expanding the scope of the story and bringing the small-scale adventure in the first film into a massive fantasy epic. Shazam! Fury of the Gods builds off what worked in the previous film, but the addition of mythical creatures like dragons and unicorns and dealing with ancient deities perfectly captures what made the original Golden Age comics so beloved.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods may have been victim to audiences waiting for the DCU reboot, but the movie is also a superhero story distilled to its most iconic elements. This is the type of story that feels directly pulled from a comic book storyline and a reminder of why these stories resonate with young audiences.
16 Missing
Missing is a standalone sequel to the surprise 2018 hit Searching and also through clever easter eggs connected to 2020’s Run. Missing follows a young girl trying to find her missing mother, and uses the same screenlife filmmaking techniques of Searching. Storm Reid anchors the film, and with supporting roles from Nia Long, Amy Landecker, Ken Leung, and Tim Griffin this is a technothriller worth checking out.
15 Somewhere in Queens
Somewhere in Queens marks the directorial debut of comedian Ray Romano who also stars alongside Laure Metcalf. The movie focuses on a working-class Italian-American family with Romano and Metlcalf playing parents to a son who has a shot at a basketball scholarship. The film is a touching family drama and showcases Romano’s strength as a dramatic actor and reveals his talents as a director. Somewhere in Queens premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 but was released in theaters in 2023.
14 Evil Dead Rise
Evil Dead Rise is the latest entry in the Evil Dead franchise, one that can be seen as either a reboot, a sequel, or part of a larger franchise. What was originally intended for a streaming release, Evil Dead Rise was given a theatrical release and delivers what audiences want from this franchise. It is gory, gross, over the top, and the right mix between scary and absurd.
13 Chevalier
The great biopic Chevalier follows the rise of French-Caribbean violinist and composer Chevalier de Saint-Georges as he faces romance, racism, and the beginnings of the French Revolution. Kevin Harrison Jr. stars in the lead role, with great supporting turns by Samara Weaving and Lucy Boynton. Chevalier is a powerful story about a man whose story was almost lost to history, and now, thankfully, his story will live on forever.
12 Scream VI
Scream VI shows that the Scream franchise, 27 years later, still is going strong. Scream VI plays great as both a direct sequel to 2022’s Scream and also a part of a major franchise that honors and callbacks every entry in the franchise. While Neve Campbell’s presence is certainly missed, the film makes her absence a chance to grow and expand the new character introduced in the previous entry now known as the “Core Four.” Scream 6 features plenty of fun twists and some of the best-set pieces in the series.
11 Creed 3
Creed 3 is not only the third entry in the Creed franchise but the ninth in the wider Rocky series. Similar to Scream VI, Creed 3 uses the absence of the long-time franchise veteran (in this case Sylvester Stallone) to its advantage to flesh out the new characters the franchise has introduced to make them the true stars.
Creed 3 is the first time it is fully Adonis Creed’s storyline without Rocky. Michael B. Jordan steps into the director’s chair and proves himself, not only as one of the best actors working today but a director to watch out for, as he gives the boxing scenes a new sense of flair like the franchise has never seen.
10 Rye Lane
David Johnson and Vivian Oparah star in Rye Lane, the directorial debut of director Raine Allen Miller. The movie is a romantic comedy that follows two strangers who after each having both been through recent breakups decide to spend the day getting to know each other. The film premiered at Sundance and was later released on Hulu, and shows that the romantic comedy genre is still going strong as long as it is driven by voices with unique angles to tell these stories. Rye Lane is delightful, heartful, and funny.
9 John Wick: Chapter 4
John Wick: Chapter 4 is the fourth and possibly final entry in the main John Wick franchise. Running nearly three hours long, John Wick: Chapter 4 is very much the Avengers: Endgame of this franchise as it features the most elaborate fight sequences in the entire series while bringing various storylines to a close.
John Wick: Chapter 4 features some of the most exciting and innovative action sequences in the entire franchise. Keanu Reeves shines as John Wick, and the film ends on an interesting note of where the series could go beyond him.
8 Showing Up
A24’s Showing Up marks the fourth collaboration between director Kelly Reichardt and star Michelle Williams after Wendy & Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff, and Certain Women. Williams plays Lizzy, an artist who is about to have a career-changing exhibition. The film is a character study and one whose dry wit and subdued color palette match the work of the artist on display. Showing Up is sweet, moving, and certainly one of the best films of the year that many audience members may not have heard of.
7 Suzume
Suzume premiered in Japan in November 2022 but has had a major rollout in the rest of the world through 2023. Suzume focuses on 17-year-old high school students Suzume Iwato and Souta Munakata, who team up to prevent a series of disasters across Japan. Suzume is from director Makoto Shinkai, whose previous two previous films, Your Name and Weathering With You, were box office smash hits and received rave reviews. Suzume certainly carries on that spirit and is another beloved film.
6 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is the type of big-budget high fantasy adventure that Hollywood doesn’t make that much anymore. It perfectly balances a fantastical fantasy world, humorous moments of adventure that feel straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean or The Mummy, with a fantastic cast of characters brought to life by great actors.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is able to perfectly bring the spirit of the board game to life while also being a fun standalone fantasy adventure for newcomers and a high mark in blockbuster IP adaptations.
5 A Thousand and One
A Thousand and One won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The feature film debut of A.V. Rockwell and a standout performance by Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One tells the story of a single mom who kidnaps her six-year-old son out of the foster care system and tries to raise him.
The story explores generational development as it follows her son from six to 17, and is a moving piece about a parent’s devotion to their child and the hope that they can do better for them. A Thousand and One has sadly gone unnoticed at the box office, but it is a movie worth checking out.
4 Peter Pan & Wendy
Peter Pan & Wendy is an ideal remake of a Disney animated classic. While it sticks to the basic structure of the original, it also knows when to deviate and what to embellish. It doesn’t look to recreate exact moments frame by frame but the feeling those moments inspire in an audience. Peter Pan & Wendy is a subtle, quiet, and thoughtful kids’ adventure movie. It perfectly captures Walt Disney’s ethos of making a movie that can appeal to a child and the child inside every adult.
3 How to Blow Up a Pipeline
How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a tense environmentalist thriller that follows eight individuals from different backgrounds who decide to blow up an oil pipeline. While all motivated by different factors, what unites these people is a desire to see real social and political change.
Directed by Daniel Goldhaber, who also wrote the script with Jordan Sloj and Ariela Barer (Barer is also a producer and star), the movie is thrilling, effectively paced (using a flashback structure that raises the tension on the mission), and cast perfectly by extremely authentic actors. How to Blow Up a Pipeline has been generating strong word of mouth since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022 and playing in theaters across the world starting in April 2023.
2 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is without a doubt one of the best movies of 2023. Kelly Fremon Craig follows up her incredible directorial debut, The Edge of Seventeen, with an adaptation of the popular 1970 novel by Judy Bloom. Bloom famously rejected a film adaptation of her classic novel for years, and it is clear why now was the time for the movie to be made. Not only is Craig the perfect director to adapt this story, but star Abby Ryder Fortson feels born to play this role, and it is impossible to imagine anyone else in this part.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is filled with incredible performances from Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Benny Safdie, but Fortson carries the whole movie and the secret to the film’s success. While it is early in the year, it is hard to argue against Fortson being one of the best performances of the year and worthy of an Oscar nomination.
1 Air
On paper, how interesting can Air be? A movie about signing Michael Jordan’s iconic sneaker line should not make for an interesting film, but director Ben Affleck and a group of talented actors make it the best movie of 2023. Even when the audience knows how the story ends, Air has the audience gripping the edge of their seats at every setback wondering how they will pull off the impossible.
Reuniting Affleck and Damon on-screen together and behind the scenes is movie magic, and it shows what made them stars in the first place. They have had great careers apart, but together they are a force to be reckoned with. Air is funny, inspiring, and entertaining. It is a crowd-pleaser in every sense of the word.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
