As most cinephiles prepare to welcome 2024 with a plethora of highly anticipated films coming their way soon, John Waters — a renowned auteur in the movie industry — has provided his Top 10 list of must-watch features of 2023.
Best known for his work in the controversial 1982 black comedy Pink Flamingos and the 1988 comedy Hairspray, Waters has established himself as a filmmaker who is not afraid to explore the transgressive side of cinema. His directorial credits include Multiple Maniacs, Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Polyester, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Pecker, and Cecil B. Demented.
Most of his films received critical acclaim (though some garnered divisive opinions) and have cemented Water’s name as one of the greatest filmmakers in the film industry. So while 2023 has been a fruitful year for cinema, the director (via Vulture) shared the ten provocative and widely intriguing movies of 2023 — as is typical Waters fashion.
You can check out the director’s Top 10 movies of 2023 below. You can also read Barack Obama’s favorite 2023 movies here.
10. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
“An overworked and underpaid production assistant shoots a workplace safety video commissioned by a multinational company, but a scandal erupts when one interviewee reveals the company’s liability in an accident,” the logline reads.
9. Oppenheimer
“During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world’s first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history,” the synopsis reads.
8. Strange Way of Life
“A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake,” reads the synopsis. “Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their old friendship.”
7. Fallen Leaves
“Ansa, a single woman, lives and works in a supermarket in Helsinki. One night she meets Holappa, an equally lonely and alcohol-dependent worker. Despite adversity and misunderstandings, they try to build a relationship,” the synopsis for Fallen Leaves reads.
6. Sparta
“Ewald moved to Rumania years ago. Now in his 40s, he seeks a fresh start. Leaving his girlfriend, he moves to the hinterland. With young boys from the area, he transforms a decaying school into a fortress,” reads the synopsis. “The children enjoy a new, carefree existence. But the distrust of the villagers is soon awoken. And Ewald is forced to confront a truth he has long suppressed. SPARTA is the brother film to RIMINI, and the conclusion of Ulrich Seidl’s diptych about the inescapability of the past and the pain of finding yourself.”
5. Last Summer
“Anne, a brilliant lawyer, lives in perfect harmony with her husband Pierre and their six and eight-year-old daughters, in a house on the heights of Paris. One day, Theo, 17, Pierre’s son from a previous marriage, moves in with them. Anne is troubled by Theo and gradually engages in a passionate relationship with him, putting her career and family life in danger,” the synopsis reads.
4. Full Time
“Anchored by Calamy’s powerful performance, Full Time is an impossible race against time and a kinetic thriller assembled from the everyday obstacles faced by working parents everywhere.” the logline for Full Time reads.
3. Master Gardener
“Dark secrets emerge as the life of meticulous horticulturalist, Narvel Roth (Edgerton), starts to unwind when his wealthy employer (Weaver) orders him to take on her troubled niece,” the logline reads.
2. A Prince
A Prince “follows Pierre-Joseph, a student of horticulture, whose intercourse with his mentors and botany teacher leads to an original fusion of science, sex, and meditation.”
1. Beau Is Afraid
“A reserved man who makes regular visits to a therapist to manage his anxiety finds himself challenged when he embarks on a tumultuous and emotional odyssey to get home to his mother,” the logline reads.
