20. The Creator (Best Visual Effects, Best Sound)

Even if The Creator were pitched as a kind of playground for special effects wizardry, it would still be a great deal of fun. Yes, the story is fairly generic, and never really picks a side on the AI debate, but it feels like a tangible world worth investing in. Also just as crucial is the performance from newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie, a human-robot hybrid that serves as the key to the war on cyborgs. Brimming with stunning visuals and exciting action, The Creator is a film I’ll likely return to repeatedly, in spite of its unimaginative plot.

19. The Barber of Little Rock (Best Documentary Short)

The best of the Oscar-nominated documentary shorts by a mile, The Barber of Little Rock shows an underrepresented community and one group’s effort to lift it up. We all have the capacity to make the world better than we found it, but the film shows that we can do so simply by showing compassion for those in need. Whether by giving money to those in poverty or dreaming of starting a business, or by teaching men and women to cut hair, the film shows that even the small act of listening to one another is an act of love.

18. Four Daughters (Best Documentary Feature)

What could have been a straightforward story of womanhood in the Middle East becomes something much more interesting and profound in Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters. The film looks at one family in Tunisia: a mother, her two daughters, and the two daughters who are no longer with them (for reasons which I won’t spoil). By using actresses to fill in for the remaining two, Ben Hania uses the dynamic not only to introduce the story, but to show how generational trauma infects itself in subtle and subconscious ways. This is one of the smartest, most inventive films of the year.

17. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 (Best Visual Effects)

In a year when superhero cinema – and Marvel films in particular – was put on life support, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 was the best of the bunch. By centering on Rocket’s backstory, the film explored the group’s family dynamic in a fresh and fun way. Gunn has firmly announced himself as the best comic book adapter by taking his signature blend of humor, action, and storytelling, and making it accessible. Maybe if more filmmakers were able to follow Gunn’s lead, we’d feel more optimistic about the state of superhero films.

16. Anatomy of a Fall (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Editing)

Perhaps if I had seen Anatomy of a Fall earlier, before its festival hype had grown louder and louder, I would view it more highly. Regardless, Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner elevates the courtroom drama / murder mystery to make a smart statement about a marriage in turmoil. Sandra Hüller gives a powerhouse performance that contains new, hidden layers upon every rewatch, and the young Milo Machado-Graner nearly upstages her with a performance beyond his years. All of this, and a smart, twisty screenplay make Anatomy of a Fall an enigmatic, engaging watch.

15. Past Lives (Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay)

Perhaps the most confident directorial debut in years, Past Lives announced writer and director Celine Song as a major upcoming talent. By channeling her own experiences, Song made the specific feel universal by exploring national identity, lost love, and so much more. For me, the film may not have been the “once in a generation” film that so many had built it up to be, but it’s a daringly original film full of lovely elements that’s worth returning to.

14. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Best Visual Effects, Best Sound)

Turns out the seventh time is the charm for the Mission: Impossible franchise to finally receive some Oscar recognition. Dead Reckoning may have been a bit of a letdown compared to its previous entry, Fallout, but the film fully deserves its flowers for the ways it imagines newly unique action sequences in the long-running series. The Oscar-nominated visual effects and sound worked well in tandem with its outlandish stunts and set pieces to deliver another story of Tom Cruise saving the world from automation – which worked out pretty well for him last year, too.

13. Godzilla Minus One (Best Visual Effects)

Perhaps the biggest and best cinematic surprise of 2023 came from Japan in the form of Godzilla Minus One. Despite the recent onslaught of Godzilla/Monster-verse properties, none has managed to tell a fully complete human story with palpable emotions until now. The film essentially functions as a meditation on PTSD and survivor’s guilt with genuine characters and a tangible grasp on time and place. That it also managed to utilize Godzilla in terrifying set pieces is a feat that we should hope to see more often.

12. The Holdovers (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay)

Alexander Payne’s latest, and possibly best, film may not break the storytelling mold, but it’s one worth returning to again and again because of its genuine heart. David Hemingson’s screenplay follows a fairly straightforward template for holiday films but injects a real blend of tragedy and comedy into its characters. A diverse blend of characters, including Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and newcomer Dominic Sessa, all give standout performances worthy of recognition. Whether The Holdovers is indeed a “cozy” film or not, it’s impossible not to feel something.

11. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Best Live-Action Short)

If Wes Anderson’s first Oscar win happens to be for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, it’ll be no less deserving than if one of his features were to win. Anderson returns to another Roald Dahl adaptation, and announces himself perhaps as the best person to adapt Dahl’s worldview. The short utilizes all of Anderson’s visual trademarks while feeling like a new entry in his already vaulted filmography. It’s a shame that Asteroid City, Anderson’s other 2023 release, was shut out from the Oscars, but you won’t hear me complain about Anderson finally receiving some awards recognition.

10. 20 Days in Mariupol (Best Documentary Feature)

Easily the hardest film I’ve ever had to sit through, 20 Days in Mariupol is an uncompromising vision specifically because of it. Much like The White Helmets or For Sama, the film takes an on-the-ground look at the early days of the war in Ukraine, and all its horrific imagery. But Mstyslav Chernov smartly doesn’t sand down the edges of the film, using it to bluntly show the atrocities committed by Russia, and how his own footage is used against him to be the enemy’s propaganda. Whether I ever return to 20 Days in Mariupol or not, it’s a film that will sit with me for a long time, and that’s exactly the point.