10 Most Overlooked Movies of 2023

Lily Gladstone is receiving all matter of awards and plaudits for her turn as Mollie Burkhart in Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and rightfully so — it’s a quietly devastating performance that embodies the pain, suffering, and resolve of the Osage people. But Gladstone, who is of Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce descent, was in another, very different film celebrating the Native American experience this year: The Unknown Country. Directed by Morrisa Maltz, from a story by Gladstone and Maltz, it follows Tana (Gladstone), a young woman left paralyzed by past trauma who receives a surprise invite to her sister’s wedding and is thus given a chance to reconnect with her estranged Oglala Lakota family. It’s rare that we get to experience Native American joy and love onscreen, but this transportive and transcendent film — set to dream-pop music by the likes of Beach House — does the trick.

There may be no American filmmaker more underappreciated than Kelly Reichardt, whose thoughtful, deeply personal oeuvre — primarily set in Oregon — examines life’s little triumphs. Reichardt helped launch the career of Lily Gladstone in Certain Women, which you should see immediately if you haven’t, and this film marks her fourth collaboration with actress Michelle Williams (after Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff, and Certain Women) that is among the richest director-actor pairings going. Here, Williams plays Lizzy, a sculptor and arts college administrative assistant who’s battling her friends, family, and neighbor/landlord/artistic rival (Hong Chau, perfection) in the lead-up to her art show. A splendid portrait of an oddball community.

In its opening moments, you can see why Barry Jenkins came on as a producer of director Raven Jackson’s stunningly lyrical debut telling the story of Mack, a Black woman in Mississippi, from her early years through adulthood. A tapestry of scenes about love, family, and loss, elevated by lensing that captures nature’s magical beauty, and how we are in concert with it, this is poetry in motion, and announces the arrival of a major filmmaking talent.

Ira Sachs’ messy Parisian ménage à trois is one of my favorite films of the year, and much of its success is owed to Franz Rogowski, whose Tomas, a German filmmaker who is the very definition of id, in reckless pursuit of any attractive avenue that presents itself — in this case, Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a young elementary school teacher, much to the chagrin of his husband, Martin (Ben Whishaw, superb) — is a selfish bitch par excellence, from his devil-may-care body language to his biting barbs. You won’t be able to look away.

The most urgent film of the year is this brutal documentary from Mstyslav Chernov, a longtime war correspondent for the Associated Press, who found himself (along with his colleagues) trapped in the city of Mariupol as Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian city in Feb. 2022, during the early days of the war. As our critic David Fear wrote, “A harrowing testament to the power, the necessity, and the toll of documenting life in a combat zone, 20 Days in Mariupol is like a series of journal entries from a season in hell — a you-are-there portrait of Putin’s act of aggression against Ukraine as seen from the inside.” Log off Twitter, close your laptop, and watch this film.

Any film by German director Christian Petzold is appointment viewing — if you haven’t, go see his “Love in Times of Oppressive Systems” trilogy, but particularly Phoenix, which boasts one of the most powerful endings I’ve ever seen. His latest focuses on four people who find themselves trapped in a family vacation home by the Baltic Sea as forest fires rage around them. What’s happening inside the house, however, is more pressing, as two of the men find love, and Leon (Thomas Schubert), a writer, struggles with feelings of inadequacy. Petzold’s film is not just an arresting drama, but a metaphor for the torturous creative process.

There were a total of 167 titles vying for 15 spots on the Best Documentary Oscar shortlist, so no shortage of options, but I’m still not sure how this intimate documentary about an American treasure didn’t make the cut. Directed by Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle, and Karen O’Connor, the film uses a treasure trove of archival material, much of it newly-discovered — from home videos and diary entries to audio of therapy sessions (with permission, of course) — to paint a dynamic portrait of Joan Baez, the trailblazing singer, songwriter, and left-wing activist.

The third documentary on this list — and documentaries are underappreciated in general, never receiving nominations in categories like Best Picture, Best Cinematography, or Best Editing at the Oscars — is Maite Alberdi’s Chilean study Augusto Góngora and Paulina Urrutia, the former a journalist and TV presenter intent on exposing the horrors of Pinochet’s regime, and the latter an actress and cultural minister. For the past eight years, Paulina has been caring for Augusto as he descends into Alzheimer’s, but the disease hasn’t eroded their deep love for one another. You’re going to need a box of tissues at hand for this one.  

If you’re only familiar with actor Josh O’Connor’s work on The Crown, where he played a young Prince Charles, then you’re missing out on some of his finest work in smaller-scale relationship dramas like God’s Own Country, Aisha, and this gem. And if you haven’t heard of the name “Alice Rohrwacher,” do yourself a favor and get acquainted with the Italian magical-realist filmmaker’s work immediately (Happy as Lazzaro is a good start). Here, O’Connor stars as Arthur, a British archaeologist on a search across Italy for a woman he’s infatuated with who gets swept up in the trade of stolen ancient artifacts. Like all of Rohrwarcher’s work, it takes you on an unexpected and euphoric journey.  

Named after a (typically female) African water spirit, the latest film from Nigerian director C.J. “Fiery” Obasi took five years — and several film festival labs and workshops — to develop, as Obasi, like much of Nollywood, faced an uphill battle in getting taken seriously as a filmmaker and securing funding. The result, thankfully, is this utterly transfixing thriller set in Lyi, a fictional West African village that has spurned modernity, instead paying tribute to Mami Wata, a water spirit, via Mama Efe (Rita Edochie), her earthbound voice. However, Mama Efe soon faces a rebellion from those who’ve become wary of her rule and the traditionalist, matriarchal society she’s fostered. Cinematographer Lílis Soares’ imagery is so hypnotic, its images will be carved into your head for months. It was no surprise when Soares won a Sundance award for her lensing.