Variety is the key word when it comes to this year’s audience top ten films. 2023 certainly had plenty of it – it was the year where Everything Everywhere All At Once (voted the third best film of 2022) won Best Picture and Barbenheimer happened. The results of this year’s list continues the mixture of big-budget blockbusters and acclaimed indie films from previous years, yet the titles featured provide perhaps the most interesting selection from an audience poll yet. While some might be divisive, each of these films brought something specially for the big screen, clearly with effect to have been given votes to appear on this list. And so, here are the top ten films of 2023 (by UK release date), as voted for by the Just A Little Bit Random (in its various forms) audience.
10. Beau Is Afraid
Undeniably one of the most divisive films of the year, Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid is perhaps the most surprising film in this year’s list. Yet, it wasn’t just the first film to receive a vote in this year’s poll, but also had a generally consistent show of support. Whether it be the darkness of Hereditary, the dread of Midsommar or Beau Is Afraid’s feeling of being a pure panic attack, over three features Aster has clearly formed a following with the strong tones which he creates – the latter something of a departure from his first two films with its stronger vein of dark comedy.
For those able to stay with the madness that was unfolding on screen, especially in the final hour, there was a good deal of impact to be found in the tones and styles caught up in the film’s events. As we see Joaquin Phoenix thrown around and trying to find some form of peace while it seems that everyone and everything wants to attack him and stop him from getting to his mother’s (Patti LuPone) funeral. There’s plenty of creativity within the fantastical stylistic sequences which throw Phoenix’s Beau around over the course of three hours. Even for those who may not have liked the film there’s certainly a number of memorable moments and images throughout. And having been released back in May the memory of it, and the feelings of a strange dream (or nightmare) like state that it manages to put upon the audience from start to finish, has clearly pushed it for a number of people, leading it to be voted as the tenth best film of the year.
9. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
“Once more with feeling” ran the tagline for the final chapter of the Guardians Of The Galaxy as we know them. The MCU is no stranger to the audience top ten and while 2023 may not have been their strongest year the much-loved Guardians managed to continue their success. Backed by another set of excellent needle drops, handpicked by writer-director James Gunn, the humour and emotion were well-balanced in the team’s final and most personal outing.
The key ingredients are all present; the familiar and likable personalities of the characters we’ve come to know over nine years, the colour of the worlds and visuals we visit and, again, the soundtrack. All creating a more immersive and entertaining sci-fi action-adventure instead of a sentimental best-of, wringing out the feeling of goodbye. Back in 2014 when debuting on the big screen the Guardians Of The Galaxy were Marvel Studios’ biggest gamble yet, less than a decade later they’re one of their most beloved fan-favourite properties. The care and bond of the family unit makes this group and the care and bond between them, and the cast and crew, is on clear display from Radiohead to Florence And The Machine – each bringing something distinct and impactful to the sequences which they compliment. This, for many, was a fond farewell to the universe’s misfit heroes. We are Groot.
8. Babylon
Damien Chazelle’s maximalist-and-then-some Babylon certainly leaves a whirling memory long after it’s finished – even if it is the earworm of composer Justin Hurwitz’s Voodoo Mama. The loud and lavish parties are messy and intoxicating. Creating a dizzying feeling pushing the heady Hollywood cocktail that the characters so want to be caught up in. The excess featured in the technical aspects is all captured with a knowledge of the chaos, knowing how to track it so that it feels messy in just the right way.
Not just an ode to cinema, and the late-20s silents-to-talkies scene this is a film that wants to get caught up in its characters hopes and dreams. Finding plenty of humour within the landscape and Hollywood setting, particularly in its movie-making montages, the fast-moving nature of things means that the laughs can push it along even more. Undeniably another divisive film in this list, the maximalism, seemingly aiming to rival Baz Luhrmann, may have been too much for some people, or others may have wanted more from it narratively, there are a good deal of people who continue to love Chazelle’s work; and even after having watched Babylon at the start of the year continue to feel the dizzying effect of it now.
7. How To Have Sex
2023 was a year that saw a variety of acclaimed indie British titles, and How To Have Sex towards the end of the year was perhaps one of the most impactful. Finely getting across its tonal shifts from uncertainty into pure terror and tension this may very well be one of the most discussed films of recent months, both for its themes and simply how great it is. The critical reception was clearly matched by the audience reception with this small indie flick having gained a good deal of discussion and support, and also ranking in seventh on this year’s audience top ten not long after it’s release.
Comparisons have been made to Aftersun (voted sixth best of 2022) and the effect that that film had on audiences, not just its emotional wipeout. There’s certainly another emotionally, and psychologically, complex set of events playing out throughout How To Have Sex, especially captured by Mia McKenna-Bruce’s brilliant central performance. Another film with strong personal and audience-wide responses, and to some extent interpretations. Heightening the themes which are at play over the course of just over 90-minutes and allowing for an overall more engaging and impactful natural drama.
6. The Whale
The final divisive film on this list before getting into the acclaimed box office hits which take up the rest of it, The Whale was the film that saw both the return of Brendan Fraser and him winning an Oscar for his fantastic performance. Darren Aronofsky’s latest was one that certainly had me in the middle of a film festival stumbling out of a cinema into Leicester Square hesitant to go anywhere, unsure of what to do, as I just wanted to sit with the film that I’d just seen.
The Whale is very much a film that’s likely heightened by the personal points that you bring to it, and it has been criticised for being manipulative, and by some for being a cruel piece of work as well. In fact, after its initial set of festival praise a number of people have spoken out strongly against it. However, much like with Babylon, it seems that those who have praised it have very much loved it, finding a good deal of power within the emotionally intense story of connection, regret and relationships that’s on display. It’s a film that provides plenty to sit and ponder about (and weigh down with) long afterwards, and its ideas may well have proved highly memorable for a number of viewers, leading it to its placement here on this list.
5. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
The acclaim and success of Into The Spider-Verse continues with its sequel, which even still stood out in a year filled with both acclaimed and visually diverse animated features. Yet, Across The Spider-Verse demonstrated just why the first film has been so influential so soon. As live-action superhero universes try to delve into multiverse arcs, and in some cases halt and move away from them, with little fanfare from audiences, the Spider-Verse films have shown just how much energy can be caught up in a multiverse story. Especially when thrown head-first into a visually diverse set of universes and locations with the hook of the personal story and development of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore).
It feels like there’s little to be said about the Spider-Verse films that hasn’t been said already. Highly creative in the way they set up their worlds, even more so with this sequel which manages to effectively tell its story without feeling like a repeat. This is far from more of the same, the stakes are raised and that comes through in the action, tension and overall style. Feeling like a step up from Into The Spider-Verse while not going to an extreme or conventional direction. Across The Spider-Verse tells its story and tells it very well, with the technical elements coming together – including Daniel Pemberton’s equally inventive score – to create a true big screen experience with a second part that it seems audiences are equally looking forward to, even if just to return to the Spider-Verse.
4. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
While Spider-Man received plenty of acclaim, it seems that this year your favourite fearless hero was none other than Puss In Boots. A real step up from the first film in 2011, this sequel brought a new visual style and elevated the world and characters as a whole too. As a whole the sequel came as something of a surprise to many, even after much praise from the States where it had been released a couple of months before finally arriving in the UK. The Last Wish found a good deal of support throughout voting, with the top four as a whole being close for much of the process. While at the time of its release Twitter particularly seemed to be talking about the way in which the film dealt with panic attacks there was amongst this discussion a good deal of praise for the overall story at play, and the characters featured throughout.
The Last Wish even stands out as something different from the rest of the Shrek franchise from which Puss In Boots spins off from. The self-aware fairy tale elements actually feel a part of the story and world rather than points which have just been crowbarred in, allowing for things as a whole to feel more fleshed out in an already energetic world with an animation style and colour scheme to match. It was an early example of the personality and style that was to come from animation in 2023, and for audiences appears to have remained a high point with it being voted as the fourth best film of the year.
3. Wonka
You’ve never had chocolate like this as Wonka, only released a week or two into December, lands itself this high up in the audience top ten (in what was, as mentioned, a very close top four). Paul King (and co-writer Simon Farnaby) bring ideas and sensibilities from their rightfully acclaimed Paddington films and put them into an origin film of sorts for Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) with great success. Add in a soundtrack full of earworms from Neil Hannon, just one of the reasons why the film is so memorable, and there’s a lot of joy to be found during and after this particular film.
Memorable from the moment it finishes, some viewers, myself included, have left singing the songs after and as the credits roll. Wonka’s what many people seem to describe as the film they/ we need right now (echoing sentiments towards the aforementioned Paddington films) with its ideas of joy and kindness, and of course celebrating pursuing dreams in the various forms they come in. Capturing the idea of pure imagination as it does so, and successfully managing to use that song as well. A good effort is put in by all to create the uplift, and the emotion that comes with it – King makes it clear that he’s a master at balancing the two while also allowing them to co-exist in a moment.
The emotional moments of Wonka shouldn’t be understated, they’re just as effective and memorable. It’s the push of them, and the co-existence with the humour which makes the film what it is. A combination which works so well it finds itself as number three on this list.
2. Barbie
The biggest film of the year was more than Kenough for audiences as it both topped the box office and made for one of the most acclaimed films of the year. The impact that Barbie had on cinemas, audiences and the meaning of ‘Ken’ created waves and all with its satirical lens taking it far beyond what many might have expected from a Barbie movie (even one with a 12 rating).
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach created something completely unique, which some studios appear to have taken the wrong message from, that resonated with audiences and brought many repeat viewings – with word spreading over the weeks keeping the film a box office success for a good couple of months. It perhaps reflects in the fact that months later people were still praising and quoting the film, alongside its original songs (namely the iconic I’m Just Ken – the fact that Gerwig got away with this in a studio film is amazing in itself).
From the opening introduction to Barbie where Helen Mirren’s narrator assures us that thanks to Barbie “all problems of feminism and equal rights have been solved” the film won viewers over and continued to make them laugh throughout. All whilst telling an effective existential story dealing with themes of patriarchy, feminism, body positivity, corporate greed and more. This is one of the boldest and most ambitious blockbusters perhaps ever made, and all $145 million were very well spent as audiences returned that multiple times over with one of the most crowd-pleasing films of the year.
1. Oppenheimer
With Barbie being the biggest film of the year, it created the headline-making Barbenheimer weekend alongside the third biggest film at 2023’s box office (The Super Mario Bros Movie didn’t receive any votes as the only other film to make a billion dollars last year). Oppenheimer’s success, alongside that of Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, proved that there’s a demand for adult dramas. Capturing spectacles in both its much-discussed bomb test sequence and simple scenes of people talking science, the weeks in which it was in cinemas you knew exactly who was walking out of that and who was leaving Barbie.
Oppenheimer’s dramatic impact, and elements of suspense, may well have lingered longer – perhaps why some chose to watch it second in the Barbenheimer double bill – with the style of effect that they have. For much of the time voting was open Oppenheimer was close with the rest of the top four, however in the final day or two it took a good lead and showed the lasting effect that it had for many people. Its acclaim, like Barbie’s, continues – albeit with a rather different style of discussion – especially in regards to its performances, particularly Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr’s, both of whom are, at time of writing, leading their respective Oscar races.
There’s much more to the film than the bomb test sequence, with all the suspense and fear that it builds up, and that also shows in the response to the film as a whole. A three hour adult drama has achieved this must acclaim and success. Yes, it has big names actors and Christopher Nolan’s name slapped across it. Yet, it was still something of a difficult sell. The fact that it’s has the response that it has speaks to its strength. Including being voted as the Just A Little Bit Random audience’s best film of 2023.
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