YNOT at the Movies

It's time for the annual top-ten list again. Here are the ten best films among the 210 feature-length narrative and documentary films I watched during the calendar year of 2023, no matter when and if a film was released in the US during 2023.

10. Children of the Mist (Vietnam 2021 | in Hmong/Vietnamese | 92 min. | Documentary)

    The documentary tells a devastating story about a thirteen years Hmong girl Di living in Northern Vietnam who tries to stay in school and escape an arranged marriage.

    

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9. A House Made of Splinters (Denmark/Ukraine/Sweden/Germany/Finland 2023 | in Russian | 87 min. | Documentary)

   This is an incredibly touching and observant documentary about children who are removed from their home waiting for court's custody decision in Ukraine.

   

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8. One fine morning (Un beau matin | France/UK/Germany 2022 | 112 min.)

   Léa Seydoux gave a mesmerizing performance playing a woman who juggling between her young daughter and her father who suffers dementia.

   

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7. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (USA 2023 | 156 min. | My review)

   Tom Cruise beats any superhero and delivers breathtaking sequences in this exhilarating action thriller.

   

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6. A New Old Play (椒麻堂会 | Hong Kong/China/France 2023 | in Chinese | 179 min.)

   This stylish film tells an epic story through a theatre troupe's evolving changes that reflect China's recent history.

   

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5. All of Us Strangers (UK/USA 2023 | 105 min. | My review)

   The British writer-director Andrew Haigh masterfully crafts a deeply affecting and heart-wrenching story about a gay man's grief, love, longing, and loneliness in this charming film.

   

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4. Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (ONODA 一万夜を越えて | France/Japan/Germany/Belgium/Italy/Cambodia 2021 | in Japanese | 173 min.)

   The film unfolds an incredible true story of a Japanese soldier stayed fighting in the jungle in the Philippines for another 10,000 days after World War II ended.

   

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3. About Us But Not About Us (Philippines 2022 | in Tagalog/Filipino | 91 min. | My review)

   Even though the film is set entirely at a dining table over the conversation between two individuals, the twists and turns never stop from the beginning to the end, with high drama and raw emotions.

   

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2. Oppenheimer (UK/USA 2023 | 180 min. | My review)

   Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Oppenheimer, the brilliant director Christopher Nolan tells the life story of the father of the atomic bomb.

   

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1. Past Lives (USA/South Korea 2023 | 106 min. | My review)

   This movie beautifully examines the Yi-yun relationships among three kind souls who are poignantly intertwined together by their fate.

   

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