As usual: here’s my annual list of the thirty best movies I watched for the first time this year. In no particular order. I also publish it on Letterboxd.

I’ve been doing this for a while now, so here are some convenience links to previous lists: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017.

And now, the list:

  • Ryusuke Hamaguchi: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, 2021
  • Abel Ferrara: Bad Lieutenant, 1992
  • Sofia Coppola: Priscilla, 2023
  • Hal Hartley: The Unbelievable Truth, 1989
  • William Peter Blatty: The Exorcist III, 1990
  • Dustin Guy Defa: Editing, 2021
  • Hal Hartley: No Such Thing, 2001
  • Michael Haneke: Funny Games, 1997
  • George Miller: Three Thousand Years of Longing, 2022
  • Olivier Assayas: Clouds of Sils Maria, 2014
  • Abel Ferrara: The Blackout, 1997
  • Hong Sang-soo: Claire’s Camera, 2017
  • Abel Ferrara: King of New York, 1990
  • Jim Jarmusch: Paterson, 2016
  • Eugene Kotlyarenko: A Wonderful Cloud, 2015
  • Michael Haneke: Caché, 2005
  • Kelly Reichardt: First Cow, 2019
  • Stanley Kubrick: Barry Lyndon, 1975
  • Ridley Scott: The Last Duel, 2021
  • Tsai Ming-liang: The Skywalk Is Gone, 2002
  • Larry Clark: Bully, 2001
  • Kelly Reichardt: Showing Up, 2022
  • Sebastián Silva: Rotting in the Sun, 2023
  • Michael Mann: Thief, 1981
  • George Sluizer: The Vanishing, 1988
  • Tom Noonan: What Happened Was…, 1994
  • Janicza Bravo: House Comes with a Bird, 2022 🎥
  • George Armitage: Miami Blues, 1990
  • Robert Altman: 3 Women, 1977
  • John Patton Ford: Emily the Criminal, 2022