Genre: Horror
Actor: Azela Putri, Chicco Kurniawan, Flavio Zaviera, Happy Salma, Jajang C. Noer, Nugie, Whani Darmawan
Director: Rudy Soedjarwo
Find the best movies and show to watch from the year 2023. These handpicked recommendations are highly-rated by viewers and critics.
Genre: Horror
Actor: Azela Putri, Chicco Kurniawan, Flavio Zaviera, Happy Salma, Jajang C. Noer, Nugie, Whani Darmawan
Director: Rudy Soedjarwo
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Actor: Asavapatr Ponpiboon, Chartchai Ketnust, Duangjai Hiransri, Gandhi Wasuvitchayagit, Nattawin Wattanagitiphat, Nutthasid Panyangarm, Ornanong Panyawong, Phakphum Romsaithong, Pradit Prasartthong, Sornchai Chatwiriyachai, Teerawat Mulvilai, Thanayut Thakoonauttaya
Director: Bhanbhassa Dhubthien, Chartchai Ketnust, Krisda Witthayakhajorndet
Known for his comedy skits on Facebook, the comedian Kountry Wayne finally gets his own Netflix special to middling results. The character that he plays on the stand-up stage is meant to be highly irreverent, showing a callous disregard to everybody except himself. But while a more seasoned comic (which Wayne could become in good time) might find a way to build these predictable jokes into something truly novel or subversive, Wayne settles for shock value—often relying on exaggerated physical comedy to sell a flatly written punchline. But even this trick he relies on too often, which makes his already impressive stage presence seem cheaper than it should.
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Kountry Wayne
Director: Jeff Tomsic
While investigating a gold heist in Johannesburg, Chili (S'dumo Mtshali) is jaded after an undercover operation fails spectacularly. With one chance left, he must choose between following the law and protecting the wealth of higher-ups or going against it and helping a heist crew dole out the riches to those in need. Wealth redistribution is at the heart of the film, with greed on all sides thwarting any prospects of prosperity for the city. The action-crime-thriller examines economic inequality via the lead cops trying to effect change, all while leaning into a warm visual style that shifts cameras to mirror the tensions. It's a nice touch to the average Robin Hood and "for the people" narrative, but the CGI choices and generic action scenes can get distracting at times.
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Actor: Brenda Ngxoli, Deon Lotz, Presley Chweneyagae, S'Dumo Mtshali
Director: Donovan Marsh
Despite an engaging opening that promises to deepen the world already established in 2018's Bird Box, this new installment slips back into the usual routine before long. That is: cheap thrills and an overall lack of scares, not necessarily because of the fact that the creatures terrorizing this world are invisible, but because the film doesn't take advantage of the fear and paranoia that builds among the human characters. A stronger focus on religious belief (or simply blind fanaticism) should lead to more interesting character dynamics, but there isn't a single person here who's defined by anything beyond a few base traits. So despite the efforts of a game cast (including Babylon's Diego Calva and especially Barbarian's Georgina Campbell), the film just can't overcome how boring it is to watch blindfolded people reacting to nothing.
Genre: Drama, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Actor: Alejandra Howard, Celia Freijeiro, Diego Calva, Georgina Campbell, Gonzalo de Castro, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Lola Dueñas, Manel Llunell, Mario Casas, Michelle Jenner, Milo Taboada, Naila Schuberth, Patrick Criado
Director: Àlex Pastor, David Pastor
While it certainly has a gorgeous world to show off, with lots of colorful art direction and varied landscapes to explore, Unicorn Academy can't help but buckle under its own weight. Its first couple of episodes (starting with a feature-length premiere) want to establish fun relationships between its characters; set up an epic, world-ending conflict; reflect on its protagonist's grief; and sell merchandise all at once. But the show is both too aimless with its writing and too sluggish in its pacing to allow these disparate parts to cohere under a unified tone. It constantly feels like it's having trouble deciding what to be—which isn't helped by the fact that the first episode has two, awkwardly-placed musical numbers, and the second episode features no singing whatsoever.
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy, Kids, Music, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Kamaia Fairburn, Kolton Stewart, Sara Garcia
There's a way to get tragedy right, in a way that keeps the drama engaging even as bad things continue to happen. The Damned Don't Cry gets its approach half-right, with the lead performances by Aïcha Tebbae and Abdellah El Hajjouji remaining sturdy all throughout, and never slipping into easy histrionics. But as the cycle of misfortune continues plaguing their characters, the filmmaking itself doesn't give us anything more to latch onto, with little progression in their arcs and a frustrating lack of insight into the very promising central relationship. There's no mistaking the film's good intentions, but the message arrives in an unfortunately clunky manner.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Abdellah El Hajjouji, Aïcha Tebbae, Antoine Reinartz
Director: Fyzal Boulifa
With the premise, Ololade seems like it would be a mysterious crime thriller, where two friends try to keep the wealth they suddenly obtained. It doesn’t really go that way, however, as the money leads into shenanigans involving multiple girlfriends, making it more a drama about infidelity than a drama about money laundering. The series tries to make fun of it, and there are moments when it’s funny to see them hide their mistresses, but these silly moments feel terrible considering that the show starts with one girlfriend’s death. There’s something here about the ridiculousness of juggling multiple women, but when this leads to a death that’s just brushed away, Ololade just seems thoughtlessly cruel.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Adebowale Adedayo, Femi Adebayo, Frank Donga, Mercy Aigbe, Mide Funmi Martins
Director: Adeniyi Joseph Omobulejo
This B-movie sci-fi-action-thriller from co-writer-director Robert Rodriguez starts out like a hammy pastiche of (the already overdone) Taken, but its interminable succession of galaxy-brain twists reveals other obvious influences — among them Inception, Memento, and Shutter Island. Fine ingredients, but the recipe is all wrong, as a gravelly-voiced, seemingly barely awake Ben Affleck sleepwalks his way through the cringy dialogue. Alongside William Fichtner in shady supervillain mode, Affleck is joined in that endeavor by Alice Braga as the psychic who is (seemingly) helping his Detective Rourke track down his (again, seemingly!) kidnapped daughter, though what Braga mostly does is hold the audience’s hand and explain the plot’s increasingly convoluted sci-fi elements to us. At one point, she tells Rourke that “pain keeps the mind awake” — and, while the excruciating script doesn’t seem to have that effect on Affleck (judging from his lethargic performance), it’s hard not to find yourself a little enlivened by Hypnotic’s sheer absurdity.
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller
Actor: Alice Braga, Ben Affleck, Bobby Hernandez, Bonnie Discepolo, Carrick O'Quinn, Corina Calderon, Dayo Okeniyi, Derek Russo, Gabriel 'G-Rod' Rodriguez, Hala Finley, J. D. Pardo, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeff Fahey, Kelly Frye, Kelly Phelan, Lawrence Varnado, Nikki Dixon, Ryan Ryusaki, Sonia Izzolena, William Fichtner, Zane Holtz
Director: Robert Rodriguez
From Turkish comedian Cem Yilmaz, Do Not Disturb feels like it was meant to be a wholesome slice-of-life comedy-drama where a hotel manager has meaningful interactions with his fellow co-workers and his guests at night. It’s not quite like the Grand Budapest Hotel, though the film shares its fondness of bright, vivid colors and old-style aesthetics. As the film deals with a character hoping for a new start post-pandemic, there is something here about loneliness and coping mechanisms, as Ayzek relies on an Instagram influencer for all his life wisdom. However, the film makes it hard to make it care about its characters, as everyone but the main character seem one dimensional. When the film makes a surprising shift two-thirds of the way through, it feels like it came by too late.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Ahsen Eroğlu, Bülent Şakrak, Can Yılmaz, Celal Kadri Kınoğlu, Cem Yılmaz, Diren Polatoğulları, Mustafa Kirantepe, Nilperi Şahinkaya, Özge Özberk, Seda Akman, Tilbe Saran, Zafer Algöz
Director: Cem Yılmaz
Remaking his own 2021 Tamil film, director Samuthirakani presents BRO, a Telugu adaptation that doesn’t compare to its original. The premise itself had proven potential, but instead of understanding Mark’s struggle as a breadwinner who took care of his family after the death of their father, the film offers spectacle in response. The larger-than-life, supernatural scenes could have worked, had the film dedicated them for character development (and a bit more time on the VFX). With the backing of the global giant Netflix, and the critical acclaim towards the original film, it’s a wonder how a film like BRO could end up this way.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Actor: Ketika Sharma, Pawan Kalyan, Priya Prakash Varrier, Sai Dharam Tej, Subbaraju
Director: Samuthirakani
Built entirely around the star power of its lead performers, A Very Good Girl does, indeed, provide ample opportunities for both Kathryn Bernardo and Dolly de Leon to chew the scenery with wild abandon. But even their most campily delivered one-liners are only entertaining in the moment, as the film twists itself into increasingly complicated (and still oddly sanitized) knots to keep its thrills going. It ends with an incredibly muddled view of the kinds of violence perpetrated by the wealthy and the less fortunate, as if the studio funding the movie prevented it from becoming the bolder, edgier story it seems to want to be.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Actor: Althea Ruedas, Ana Abad-Santos, Angel Aquino, Chie Filomeno, Dolly de Leon, Donna Cariaga, Gabby Padilla, Gillian Vicencio, Iwa Moto, Jake Ejercito, Joji Vitug, Kaori Oinuma, Kathryn Bernardo
Director: Petersen Vargas
Science fiction imagines new worlds we’ve never seen before, but the world of Synduality: Noir doesn’t feel that way. Noir feels like it presents a familiar world, except with an added touch of AI assistants called Maguses. The fighting piloted mecha robots are reminiscent of Gundam and Pacific Rim. At times, the action looks like automated 3D animation made to cut costs. However, even if the world-building was stronger, Synduality: Noir doesn’t feel like a show that wants to tell a story. There aren’t enough moments that we get to spend with the main characters Kanata and his Magus Noir to justify creating a whole series around it. We don’t even need to get into the icky slave-like dynamic between the (mostly) male Drifters and their (mostly) female Maguses.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Aoi Koga, Ayaka Ohashi, Fuminori Komatsu, Mao Ichimichi, Nagisa Aoyama, Taito Ban, Takeo Otsuka, Yusuke Kobayashi
Mixing in the romantic drama of Black Mirror’s Be Right Back, and the existentialist thrill of the Blade Runner franchise, Simulant replicates certain scenes, but doesn’t have the emotional foundation that would help make us care about their journey. It’s not really clear what the film is rooting for. Most of the movie seems like it’s meant to side with freedom for all AIs, with Casey’s AI-revolution plot, and Evan’s motivation seems to do anything to be with his wife. However, with the film’s plot twist, it makes the earlier contemplative moments feel less poorly executed, and more like a joke at the expense of its viewers.
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller
Actor: Alicia Sanz, Jordana Brewster, Robbie Amell, Sam Worthington, Simu Liu
Director: April Mullen
This is a textbook example of a film with all the right ingredients and the right attitude, but ultimately no game plan for what to do with its material. The first half of Love in Taipei does a good job of setting an inviting tone: a confident cast, attractive locations and production design, and dynamic direction that helps make this expensive summer school program feel more like an adventure. But once the pieces are in place and certain romantic connections are established, the film almost instantly loses its charisma and any sense of a plot. Conflict is introduced then painted over within the span of minutes, and the characters undergoing completely unearned growth without doing much of anything. Even the film's backdrop of the differences between children of the diaspora and those who remain rooted in traditional Taiwanese culture is reduced to hollow window dressing.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Ashley Liao, Chelsea Zhang, Cindy Cheung, Nico Hiraga, Ross Butler
Director: Arvin Chen