Films in 2023

Here are my favorite movies, documentaries and mini-series that I watched in 2023.

Eanna Hardwicke as lunatic narcissist Ben Field in The Sixth Commandment

OUTCRY: American criminal justice dissected through an objectively humanist lens: A truly incredible document showcasing corruption at every single level of the modern legal system - all within a single case. Apparently this came out a few years ago but only hit my radar in September. Regardless, (besides the final season of Succession), this was my favorite piece of content I watched all year: fascinating, shocking, disheartening and powerful. One of the best ‘true crime’ documentary series you will see.

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: This is a phenomenal four part BBC miniseries about an extraordinarily twisted series of recent crimes in the UK. Clean, tight, gripping - as good as it gets. (For anyone interested in psychedelics that watches this: in real life, the drug Ben was giving them was 2CB). Mental.

THE OLD OAK: Syrian refugees find their way in an economically depressed North England town in master Ken Loach's final film, built on another righteous script from Paul Laverty. A beautiful testament to the power of community. Pure soul. “Solidarity not charity”.

TALK TO ME: A bad trip to the other side of underneath. A legitimately creepy Australian twist on supernatural teen horror featuring a great cast of young actors. In my mind this doubles as an anti drug movie.

LOVE HAS WON THE CULT OF MOTHER GOD: Peacecreeps, broken souls and lost hippies adapt and distort New Age language in order to find meaning and money in this brilliant three part deep dive into drug and alcohol fueled madness. I think her downfall has everything to do with the guilt she was likely harboring for leaving her kids. This is the best short form cult documentary since Heaven's Gate.

Amy Carlson is Mother God in Love Has Won.

PALM TREES AND POWER LINES: This drawn out, slow burn study of grooming makes for quietly intense, occasionally difficult viewing - and ends on a refreshingly downcast note. A very strong debut from Jamie Dack.

R.M.N.: Cristian Mungiu is one of the finest filmmakers alive, a new movie from him is always something to celebrate. In this bleak new realist drama on the social condition, as xenophobia spreads like wildfire, he explores fear and othering in a small town in Romania. The final scene was wild - I did not see that coming.

SICK OF MYSELF: A woman gives herself a skin disease in order to compete for attention with her grifter artist boyfriend. Intelligently observed, brilliantly acted and the funniest movie I have seen in a long time.

THE ROYAL HOTEL: Two women tend bar in the outback as they navigate the gaze of dysfunctional males in this tense and menacing gem from emerging talent Kitty Green. Features a phenomenal cast of familiar Australian character actors from classics like Snowtown and Animal Kingdom.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: A group of immoral men engage in a dastardly plan to steal money from the Osage. Loved the final shot and that bold Marty cameo at the end.

NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU: The best alien invasion movie in years. Focused, well executed, no bullshit storytelling made by someone who understands the language of cinema. Looks amazing too. Fun movie.

"Strength, solidarity, resistance": a still from The Old Oak.

Also worthy of note was Jonathan Glazer’s low-key study of complacency and complicity in the face of industrialized death THE ZONE OF INTEREST, the brutal Danish horror SPEAK NO EVIL, the extremely sad Hulu documentary NEVER LET HIM GO, the tough-watch Swedish series about crippling misogyny and abuse RIDING IN DARKNESS, the UK crime procedurals THE LONG SHADOW and THE HUNT FOR RAOUL MOTE, and the home-spun HBO doc TELEMARKETERS. I also recommend the documentary about families escaping North Korea BEYOND UTOPIA, French legal drama ANATOMY OF A FALL, study of neighbor disputes in the hills of Galica THE BEASTS, and the dystopian trip zone study of identity and decadence INFINITY POOL.

Greg Kelley, the subject of Outcry.