biography films 2023

The Best Biographical Movies Of 2023

2023 has proved to be a fascinating year for film lovers, especially those drawn to the mesmerizing allure of biographical films. These cinematic creations not only showcase the quintessential nuances of accomplished personalities but also present the intriguing, lesser-known aspects of their lives. With stories that twine around history, culture, sports, and art, the silver screen has been graced by an array of illustrious biographical dramas that are sure to leave you riveted.

Each 2023 biopic presents an entirely unique and stirring narrative. Air throws light on the revolutionizing partnership between Nike and basketball rookie Michael Jordan, a story that carves a significant part in sports history. Contrasting this sports-centered drama is Sweetwater , which takes us back to a defining moment in basketball history – the signing of the first African American player with the NBA. Meanwhile, "True Spirit" detours from the arena of sports to the challenging seas, where a tenacious Australian teen endeavours to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. This cinematic sampling of 2023’s biographical films demonstrates that whether it's exploring human resilience in face of adversity or narrating the evolution of cultural landscapes, the biopic genre truly is a treasure trove of diverse stories. Don't hesitate to vote up your favorite and be sure to look for the Max, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount+, and Hulu buttons below each title to start streaming them where and when they are available.

Oppenheimer

This gripping narrative explores the crucial role played by J. Robert Oppenheimer in World War II's most destructive project. It delves into his invaluable contribution to the creation of the atomic bomb. The film encapsulates the terrifying power of human intellect and the ethical conflict of harnessing it for weapons of mass destruction.

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• # 58 of 96 on The Very Best Oscar-Winning Movies For Best Picture

This sports biopic is set in 1990s New York and revolves around a conversation between a taxi driver and his passenger, who is a sportswriter. As the drive progresses, the taxi driver unravels his past and discloses that he is Nathaniel "Nat" 'Sweetwater' Clifton, a trailblazer as one of the first African American players in NBA history. The movie provides a peek into the life and struggles of a basketball pioneer challenging and changing the norms in the industry.

• # 208 of 240 on The 200+ Best Movies Based On A True Story
• # 195 of 207 on The Best Sports Movies Ever Made
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Delve into the groundbreaking alliance between the up-and-coming basketball star, Michael Jordan, and Nike's nascent basketball division. This alliance led to the birth of the influential Air Jordan brand, transforming not only the sports realm but also global culture. The film illuminates this historical turning point in sports business and marketing which altered the landscape of American and global sports culture.

• # 210 of 240 on The 200+ Best Movies Based On A True Story
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• # 1 of 12 on The Best Movies With Ben Affleck And Matt Damon

This story unfurls the imagined life of renowned author Emily Brontë, capturing her journey of finding her voice and creating her masterpiece, Wuthering Heights. It illuminates her treasured relationships; the fierce bond with her sisters Charlotte and Anne, her forbidden love with Weightman, and her adoration for her unconventional brother.

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Big George Foreman

George Foreman's transformation from an angry impoverished youth to an Olympic Gold medalist and World Heavyweight Champion demonstrates his unbeatable spirit. A near-death experience redirects him from boxing to spiritual service, but upon witnessing his community's suffering, he steps back into the ring. Defying odds, he reclaims his title, securing his place in history as the oldest and most unlikely World Heavyweight Boxing Champion .

• # 181 of 207 on The Best Sports Movies Ever Made
• # 465 of 468 on The Best Black Movies Ever Made, Ranked
• # 80 of 80 on Great Historical Black Movies Based On True Stories

Flamin' Hot

This film sheds light on the incredible true journey of Richard Montañez, a janitor at Frito Lay, who drew on his Mexican American roots and upbringing to innovate the snack industry. He transforms the iconic Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into an irresistible snack that revolutionizes the food realm. His creation doesn't just disrupt the food sector but also emerges as a worldwide pop culture sensation.

• # 239 of 240 on The 200+ Best Movies Based On A True Story
• # 14 of 15 on The Best 2023 Movies About Modern History
• # 192 of 231 on The 200+ Best Movies Directed By Women

True Spirit

Ambitious young sailor Jessica Watson embarks on a daunting journey aiming to become the youngest individual to circumnavigate the globe solo, nonstop, and without any assistance. Despite facing numerous critics forecasting her failure, Jessica, supported by her parents and her coach Ben Bryant, takes on the formidable task. Her adventure spans 210 days, confronting some of the planet's most perilous ocean regions.

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Set in 1973, the film follows the story of a young gallery assistant embarking on an intriguing journey behind the art scene, assisting the legendary Salvador Dali as he gears up for a consequential exhibition in New York. Immersed in the swirling world of art and eccentricity, the assistant has a front-row seat to the madness and brilliance of the aging genius. This plot melds drama, history, and the wild exploits of one of history's most memorable artists.

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• # 21 of 29 on The Best Historical Films Of 2023

Joseph Bologne, the unrecognized offspring of an enslaved person and French plantation owner, climbs his way to fame amidst the French society as an accomplished violinist-composer and revered fencer. His trajectory involves a regrettable romance and an unfortunate dispute with Marie Antoinette and her cohorts. This narrative is inspired by the astounding real-life events of composer Joseph Bologne, who was also known as Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

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The Iron Claw

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A Million Miles Away

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Gran Turismo

• # 172 of 207 on The Best Sports Movies Ever Made
• # 135 of 143 on The 100+ Best Motivational Sports Movies
• # 10 of 21 on The 21 Most Underrated Movies Of 2023

The film chronicles the life of Hilma af Klint, a significant figure in art history and pioneer of abstract art, whose work was only recognized posthumously. It explores her formative years, the circumstances that made her unique paintings possible and extends to present times when her art resonates with diverse cultures and religions worldwide as she aspired.

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Author Isabel Wilkerson writes her seminal book "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" while coping with personal tragedy.

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Biographical Movies Coming Soon to Netflix in 2023 & Beyond

All the biopics set to arrive in 2023 or are in development at Netflix for 2024 and beyond.

Pictures: Netflix / Getty Images

Biopics are all the rage this summer, with Oppenheimer topping the box office and they’ve historically done quite well on Netflix too. Netflix has a bunch of biopics on the way in 2023 and plenty more in development. Here’s a preview of Netflix’s upcoming slate of biopic movies.

We’ve been previewing Netflix’s slate all throughout 2023 and will continue to do so throughout the rest of the year. If you’re into your biopics, you may also be interested to see some of Netflix’s upcoming book adaptations .

Believe it or not, only one biopic has been released on Netflix so far in 2023, with that being True Spirit . The family movie is based on 16-year-old Jessica Watson, who dreamt of becoming the youngest person to sail worldwide.

Biopics Confirmed for Release on Netflix in 2023

Chakda ‘xpress.

Director : Prosit Roy Cast : Anushka Sharma, Renuka Shahane, Anshul Chauhan, Kaushik Sen, Mahesh Thakur

Picture: Netflix

The Indian production is inspired by the true story of one of the fastest female pacers in the history of world cricket, Jhulan Goswami. It charts her career as she moves up the ladder, despite the countless hindrances, to fulfill her only dream: to play cricket.

Director:  Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi Cast:  Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans, Ethan Jones Romero, Luke Cosgrove, Jeena Yi, Eric T. Miller

First look at Nyad on Netflix

This new biopic is based on the marathon swimmer Diana Nyad who became the first person at the age of 60 to do what’s dubbed the Everest of Swims.

At the time of publishing, the movie was rumored to be released on Netflix on November 3rd, following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Keep an eye on our Fall 2023 movie preview list for the latest .

Society of the Snow

Director:  J.A. Bayona Cast:  Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Esteban Kukuriczka, Tomas Wolf

Retelling the true events of a rugby team that was left stranded after their passenger flight crashed in the heart of the Andes, this Spanish movie is one of Netflix’s hopefuls for the upcoming awards season.

The movie is confirmed for a 2023 release following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Director: Bradley Cooper Cast: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Maya Hawke, Matt Bomer, Sarah Silverman, John Hamilton, Scott Ellis, Gideon Glick, Sam Nivola, Alexa Swinton, Miriam Shor

Pictures: Netflix

One of the biggest hopes Netflix has at the Oscars in 2024 is Maestro starring and directed by Bradley Cooper.

The biopic, set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival, sets out to tell us the life story of Leonard Bernstein, an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian.

Director: George C. Wolfe Cast: Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Audra McDonald, Aml Ameen, Gus Halper, Johnny Ramey, CCH Pounder, Michael Potts, Carra Patterson, Adrienne Warren, Bill Irwin

Rustin. (L to R) Aml Ameen as Martin Luther King and Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin in Rustin. Cr. David Lee/Netflix © 2022

Another big movie Netflix hopes to scoop awards is Rustin , a highly-anticipated new movie from Higher Ground Productions recounting the gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin who organized the 1963 March on Washington.

The movie is confirmed to hit Netflix on November 17th, following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Director: Philip Martin Cast: Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell, Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes

Cast for Netflix’s Scoop

More a biographical film than a biopic, this upcoming British-produced movie based on a screenplay by Peter Moffat looks at Prince Andrew and his interactions with the BBC that led to the stunning Newsnight interview that’s lived on in infamy.

Netflix Biopics Coming in 2024 or Beyond

Ghost in the machine / sheer crazy nerve.

Pictures: Getty Images

First announced in August 2020 (with no significant updates since), this biopic would tell the story of Tanya Smith, who rose to become one of the single biggest threats to the US banking system in the late 20th century.

It’s based on the memoir that was renamed to Sheer Crazy Nerve and looked to be released in bookshops this summer (although we couldn’t quite find evidence of that happening).

Issa Rae and David Heyman are producing.

Director : John Ridley Cast:  Regina King, Lucas Hedges, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Missick, Amirah Vann, W. Earl Brown, with André Holland and Terrence Howard

Photo by Don Hogan Charles/New York Times Co./Getty Images

Shirley Chisholm is the central figure that’s the focus of this new biopic starring Regina King, who also serves as a producer on the project.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“Shirley is the intimate portrayal of trailblazing political icon Shirley Chisholm, the first Black Congresswoman and the first Black woman to run for President of the U.S, and the cost of accomplishment for Shirley herself. This film will tell the story of Chisholm’s boundary-breaking and historic presidential campaign, based on exclusive and extensive conversations with family, friends and those who knew her best.”

Shout It Out Loud

Director: Joachim Rønning

Picture: Photo by Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Music biopics have exploded in recent years, with the biggest of the bunch being Rocketman about Elton John and Bohemian Rhapsody documenting Queen. Netflix’s biggest swing in the genre has been their 2019 movie The Dirt , looking into the history of Motley Crue.

This biopic (expected to release in 2024) will focus on Gene and Paul, the two kids from Queens who formed KISS and a life-long friendship after enlisting guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss.

Picture: Moonlight Film, Bh Entertainment, Acemaker Movieworks

From Korea, this movie tells the story of Cho Hun-hyun, a former Go champion who discovers a gifted but untrained young boy Lee Chang-ho in an amateur contest.

The movie was originally stated to be released on Netflix in 2023 , but we’ve yet to have confirmation that’s the case given that the release looks to be held off because of the involvement of Yoo Ah-in, who has been arrested on drug charges . It could be the case the movie never sees the light of day.

The Thanksgiving Text

Announced in early 2022 , this new movie is based on the real story of a grandma who accidentally invited a stranger to Thanksgiving, which soon became a heart-warming annual tradition.

State Street Pictures is producing the title with Robert Teitel and George Tillman Jr. with Abdul Williams writing.

Untitled Hulk Hogan Biopic

Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

First announced in February 2019 , Chris Hemsworth was being lined up for a biopic where he’d play WWE superstar Hulk Hogan with Todd Phillips set to direct.

The latest we heard about the project was in 2022, when Chris Hemsworth provided a disappointing update about the project, saying he didn’t know where it was in development.

White Mountains

Picture: Getty Images

Still yet to be confirmed by Netflix itself is White Mountains, a new production from Higher Ground Productions (the production company founded and helmed by Barack and Michelle Obama).

Netflix picked up the script after it featured on The Blacklist with the movie retelling the story of Barney and Betty Hill who claim they were abducted by a UFO in the 1960s.

Rounding out the preview, here are a few more announced projects in the past, but we’ve had little to no information since:

• Janet – From Janet Mock, this feature film was announced back in 2020 and would tell the story of a young black woman at the Washington Post and her ambitious and complicated quest to make the front page.
• Tenzing – A feature film from Higher Ground Productions based on the life of Tenzing Norgay, the first man to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.
• The Ice Bucket Challenge – Produced by Casey Affleck, this biopic would’ve looked into the activist behind the viral sensation.

What biopics are you most excited to watch on Netflix in the years to come? Let us know in the comments.

Founder of What's on Netflix, Kasey has been tracking the comings and goings of the Netflix library for over a decade. Covering everything from new movies, series and games from around the world, Kasey is in charge of covering breaking news, covering all the new additions now available on Netflix and what's coming next.

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2023 Biography Movies

Unconfirmed release dates, august 2023, september 2023, november 2023, december 2023.

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Top 10 best 'biography'-movies in 2023

Based on moviemeter ratings, these are the 10 best 'biography'-movies released in the year 2023.

This is a list of the best 10 'biography'-movies from 2023 and highly rated on MovieMeter. Click on a title of a movie to find more information about movie.

• Top 50 best movies from 2023
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The Most Anticipated Movies of 2023

The year boasts a wealth of superhero titles, plenty of explosive action, some spine-tingling horror, and even a few throwbacks to franchises of old, so start marking your calendars..

TAGGED AS: Film , films , movie , movies

The past couple of years have been unusual, to say the least, and like most other industries, Hollywood has had to make a number of adjustments. We saw Warner Bros. commit to streaming all of their major 2021 releases simultaneously on HBO Max, with mixed results, while other studios incorporated some combination of theatrical and digital strategies. That has changed a bit so far in 2023, as we’ve seen studios release some big box office winners through July. Read on for the Most Anticipated Movies of 2023, and as more titles are announced and information is released, we will continue to update this page, so check back often!

[Updated 10/2/23]

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• Recommended: The Best New Movies of 2023, Ranked by Tomatometer
• Recommended: The Best New TV & Streaming Shows of 2023, Ranked by Tomatometer

See January-September

Dicks: The Musical (2023)

Larry Charles, the man who worked with Sacha Baron Cohen to bring us movies like  Borat ,  Bruno , and The Dictator , sets his sights on the big screen musical in this not-so-subtle twist on  The Parent Trap . Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp — the creators of the play upon which the film is based — play a pair of competing businessmen who discover they’re long-lost identical twins and decide to swap identities in order to bring their divorced parents back together.

The Exorcist: Believer (2023)

After capping off his trio of Halloween films, director David Gordon Green jumps right into another beloved horror franchise. As with his tackling of the Michael Myers story, The Exorcist is a follow-up to the original — and the 1973 original only — and will reportedly unfold as the first of a trilogy, with Ellen Burstyn set to reprise her starring turn.

TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR (2023)

If you missed out on seeing Taylor Swift in person during her Eras tour — and a lot of people did — then you’re in luck. You can see her in all her glory on the big screen in this concert film that weaves together some of the best moments from the tour.

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Based on David Grann’s broadly lauded best-selling book, Killers of the Flower Moon  is a sobering appraisal of America’s relationship with Indigenous peoples and yet another artistic zenith for Martin Scorsese and his collaborators.

Pain Hustlers (2023)

Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts director David Yates delves into decidedly less fantastical territory with this based-on-true-events crime drama that centers on a woman who takes a job at a pharmaceutical start-up in Florida and finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy. The film stars Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, and Andy Garcia, among others.

Priscilla (2023)

Last year we got Elvis , and this year we get Priscilla . Sofia Coppola’s latest film is an adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s memoir and something of a passion project for Coppola. The film, which largely charts Presley’s relationship with Elvis, premiered at the Venice Film Festival to rave reviews and looks to be another Awards contender.

The Killer (2023)

Following up on his Oscar-winning Mank for Netflix, David Fincher turns to something a little darker. We don’t know much about this film, except that it’s a neo-noir thriller based on a French graphic novel series, and it will star Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton, among others.

The Marvels (2023)

The MCU ain’t getting any smaller, as Marvel plans to release five films in 2023 alone, including this sequel to Captain Marvel , which has Nia DaCosta (2021’s Candyman ) at the helm and Brie Larson returning as Carol Danvers. The film will also be the big screen debut of Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel after her eponymous Disney+ series debuts in 2022.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)

Franchise vet Francis Lawrence returns to direct this  Hunger Games prequel based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins. The story primarily follows a young Coriolanus Snow (originally played by Donald Sutherland) and his involvement in the Hunger Games as a game-changing mentor years before the events of the original series.

Next Goal Wins (2023)

Taika Waititi takes on a decidedly more grounded film after last year’s Thor: Love and Thunder in this adaptation of the 2015 documentary of the same title. The story follows Dutch-American soccer coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), who is hired to help turn around the American Samoa national team, which is considered one of the worst in the world.

Napoleon (2023)

Joaquin Phoenix reunites with Gladiator director Ridley Scott for this historical drama about the famous French general-turned-emperor. The film will be a chronicle of Napoleon’s rise to power, told through the lens of his volatile relationship to his wife, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). The film is also reported to have several big battle sequences, which Scott should be able to manage with plenty of flair.

Wish (2023)

Just as the meta  Lightyear  looked at the character that inspired the character Tim Allen voices in the  Toy Story  movies,  Wish  will tell the origin story of the wishing star that factors into so many Disney fables.  Frozen’s  Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck are writing the script for the animated film while Oscar winner Ariana DeBose will star.

Not to be outdone by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé dropped an unexpected trailer for a concert film documenting her Renaissance World Tour, the highest-grossing concert tour by any woman, the day after its final performance on October 1. Let the Beyhive rejoice… and show up in theaters on December 1, when the film debuts.

The Bikeriders (2023)

Austin Butler and Jodie Comer headline an all-star ensemble cast in this drama inspired by the eponymous nonfiction photo-book, courtesy of writer-director Jeff Nichols ( Take Shelter ,  Mud ). The story traces the history of a Midwestern motorcycle club during the 1960s through the viewpoint of a woman (Jodie Comer) married to one of its members (Austin Butler).

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

The latest iteration in the Japanese Godzilla franchise comes to us courtesy of writer-director Takashi Yamazaki (he also did the visual effects!) and takes place just after the end of World War II. As Japan struggles to recover from the effects of the war, the kaiju we all know and fear suddenly appears and wreaks destruction across the land.

The Boy and the Heron (2023)

Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki’s reportedly final film was famously not promoted in any way — before the first teaser dropped just days ahead of the film’s TIFF premiere, the only thing we had to go on was a poster image and the fact that it was inspired by a 1937 novel. We now also know the film’s release date, and while those looking for a description of the film can find it online easily, we’ll choose to let audiences discover the film for themselves (and you can always check out the teaser above).

Poor Things (2023)

Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail wrote, directed, and produced this thriller based on the novel of the same name about a family whose vacation at an Airbnb is interrupted by the property’s owners, who have arrived with news of a mysterious widespread blackout. The cast includes Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke.

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Wonka (2023)

Timothée Chalamet steps into the offbeat shoes of a young Willy Wonka in this origin story, which captures the budding chocolatier as he crosses paths with the Oompa-Loompas. Olivia Colman, Sally Hawkins, Keegan Michael-Key, and Rowan Atkinson round out the grade-A cast, while Paul King, who enjoyed massive critical success with his two  Paddington films, takes the helm.

The Color Purple (2023)

The musical, which nabbed a Tony for its revival on the Great White Way in 2016, makes its way to the silver screen just in time to close out the year. Be on the lookout for R&B phenom H.E.R., who makes her screen debut in the early-1900s-set Southern epic.

Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire (2023)

After the success of  Army of the Dead , Zack Snyder’s next project for Netflix is this space epic based on an original story of Snyder’s own. The story centers on a peaceful colony who, threatened by a tyrant, send a young woman to neighboring planets to recruit an army. The film is scheduled for a limited theatrical release before it streams on Netflix, but we don’t know when that will be yet.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

James Wan returns to the director’s chair for another go at the world of Atlantis and the DC superhero Aquaman (Jason Momoa), who will be joined by Amber Heard (Mera), Patrick Wilson (Ocean Master), and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Black Manta).

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1. Poor Things

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6. Anyone But You

7. The Bricklayer

8. The Zone of Interest

9. Anatomy of a Fall

10. Hit Man

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15. Perfect Days

16. The Iron Claw

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22. Boy Kills World

23. Godzilla Minus One

24. Baghead

25. American Fiction

26. All of Us Strangers

27. Knox Goes Away

28. Napoleon

29. Dream Scenario

31. Migration

32. One Life

33. The Long Game

34. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

35. No Hard Feelings

36. Leave the World Behind

37. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

38. Death Whisperer

39. Asphalt City

40. The Boys in the Boat

41. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

42. Priscilla

43. Past Lives

44. 12th Fail

45. La Chimera

46. John Wick: Chapter 4

47. The Expendables 4

48. Blood for Dust

49. Ferrari

50. Trolls Band Together

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Most anticipated movie releases of 2023.

From 'Cocaine Bear' to 'Fast X,' Ant-Man to Aquaman, 'Barbie' to 'Blue Beetle,' and everything in between.

By Kimberly Nordyke, Editor

Kimberly Nordyke, Editor

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From a cocaine bear to a Willy Wonka origin story and the latest in the John Wick , Aquaman and Mission: Impossible franchises, there is a lot to look forward to in 2023. Next year, we will see new movies from Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson and Nia DaCosta and long-awaited titles like the live-action Barbie movie and the Spider-Verse follow-up.

Check out some of the most anticipated 2023 feature film releases below.

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Bafta tv craft awards: 'black mirror,' 'the last of us,' 'slow horses' among winners, korean rock group the rose on coachella debut, new fragrance and their next album, house party.

The reimagining of the 1990 classic follows two friends who throw a massive party in the house of NBA superstar LeBron James, who also produced the movie and appears as himself.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The latest installment in the Ant-Man franchise will see Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp exploring the Quantum Realm and battling a new big bad, Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors.

Cocaine Bear

From director Elizabeth Banks, a bear in Kentucky ingests cocaine that ends up in the forest after a bungled drug run and goes on a homicidal rampage.

Franchise star Michael B. Jordan is stepping behind the camera for this entry, which will see Adonis Creed face off against a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, played by Majors.

The franchise update continues with the next gen of Ghostface survivors attempting to leave Woodsboro behind for a new start in New York City. Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Melissa Barrera and Mason Gooding return, along with Scream vet Hayden Panettiere.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Pushed from 2022, the Shazam! sequel will see Zachary Levi’s hero square off against Helen Mirren’s Hespera.

John Wick: Chapter 4

Dungeons & dragons : honor among thieves.

The movie adaptation of the beloved role-playing game from Game Night duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein stars Chris Pine as the head of a band of adventurers searching for a lost relic. Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Regé-Jean Page and Hugh Grant round out the cast.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

The latest attempt at bringing the video game to the big screen is an animated feature that has the eponymous Italian plumber voiced by Chris Pratt, with Charlie Day as Luigi and Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach.

The horror comedy sees Nicolas Cage playing Dracula, with a focus on his henchman, played by Nicholas Hoult, who starts to consider life outside his servitude, finding a new lease on life in modern-day New Orleans.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The final Guardians film takes place after Endgame , with Peter Quill reeling from the loss of Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora.

The second-to-last installment of the Fast franchise will see Vin Diesel and his team back together, this time joined by franchise newcomer Brie Larson.

The Little Mermaid

Spider-man: across the spider-verse.

The follow-up to the Oscar-winning Marvel animation will see Miles Morales diving into the multiverse, meeting new Spider-Mans and foes voiced by franchise newcomers like Oscar Isaac, Issa Rae and Daniel Kaluuya.

Transformers : Rise of the Beasts

The first Transformers movie since 2017’s The Last Knight stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback and centers on Brooklyn archaeologists in the 1990s who uncover an ancient conflict.

No Hard Feelings

This coming-of-age comedy-drama stars Jennifer Lawrence as a woman who answers a Craigslist ad that was placed by a mother for someone to date her son before he enters college. The project has been described as being in the vein of Bad Teacher and Risky Business .

The Pixar film hails from The Good Dinosaur director Peter Sohn. It takes place in Element City, where fire, water, land and air residents live together. It follows the adventures of Ember (Leah Lewis), a twenty-something tough and quick-witted fire element and Wade (Mamoudou Athie), a fun, go-with-the flow water element.

Ezra Miller, who has been mired in controversy, will lead the DC superhero stand-alone that will see the return of Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton as Batmans.

Untitled Adele Lim Comedy

Indiana jones and the dial of destiny.

The latest Indiana Jones is set in 1969, against the backdrop of the Space Race, and sees Jones — along with a goddaughter played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge — attempt to uncover whether the U.S. government recruited their former World War II enemies in desperation to beat the Soviet Union.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning — Part One

The seventh installment of Tom Cruise’s spy thriller series will no doubt include globe-trotting and outsize stunts.

Oppenheimer

The latest from Christopher Nolan tells the story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer as he develops the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy leads a cast that also includes Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon, among many, many others.

The long-awaited movie based on the best-selling toy has Margot Robbie starring as Barbie, Ryan Gosling playing Ken, and Greta Gerwig in the director’s chair.

The Marvels

The Captain Marvel follow-up will see the team-up of Larson’s Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

An animated feature based on the 1980s cartoon about humanoid, pizza-loving and crime-fighting turtles, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

Haunted Mansion

Based on the Disney attraction, Haunted Mansion stars Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson and Dany DeVito.  Dear White People  creator Justin Simien directs the film, which   follows a mother and son who come across a mansion that is more than it seems.

Blue Beetle

Previously destined for HBO Max, the stand-alone superhero movie is getting a full theatrical release. It follows a Mexican American teenager, Jaime Reyes, who gains superpowers thanks to a blue scarab beetle.

Equalizer 3

Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington are back for the latest movie about retired U.S. Marine and former DIA officer Robert McCall.

A Haunting in Venice

Kenneth Branagh returns to star and direct a third Agatha Christie mystery for 20th Century. The sequel to Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile stars Branagh as detective Hercule Poirot and also stars Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, Jude Hill and Kelly Reilly.

The Expendables 4

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Dolph Lundgren return as mercenaries, who are this time tasked with taking down an arms dealer who commands the might of a massive private army. Iko Uwais and Andy Garcia also star.

Kraven the Hunter

Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as big-game hunter Sergei Kravinoff, a Spider-Man villain. Russell Crowe and Ariana DeBose also star.

The Exorcist

After finishing up his take on another horror classic, Halloween , David Gordon Green is now back in theaters with The Exorcist , a sequel to the 1973 film about a 12-year-old girl who is possessed by a demon.

Dune: Part Two

The second half of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi adaptation will pick up where Part One left off, with Paul Atreides looking to avenge his family by teaming up with the Fremen. Joining Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya will be Austin Butler and Florence Pugh.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snake s

The Hunger Games prequel stars Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12 who is mentored by a then-18-year-old Coriolanus Snow.

Frozen filmmakers Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck are behind Disney’s Wish , which stars West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose will. The feature tells how the wishing star that so many Disney characters have wished upon came to be.

Paddington director Paul King is behind this Willy Wonka origin story that stars Chalamet as the future candymaker. The story will center on how he met the Oompa Loompas on one of his earliest adventures.

The Color Purple

Aquaman and the lost kingdom.

The sequel will see the return of Jason Momoa’s DC superhero, along with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta and Nicole Kidman’s Atlanna. Franchise newcomers include Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin, a marine biologist obsessed with finding Atlantis, Jani Zhao as Stingray, and Indya Moore as Karshon.

Beau Is Afraid

The logline for the latest film from Ari Aster, previously titled Dissapoint Blvd. , reads: “A decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.” Joaquin Phoenix leads a cast that includes Patti LuPone and Nathan Lane.

The Leonard Bernstein biopic has Bradley Cooper back in the director’s chair for the first time since A Star Is Born . He will play the famous composer, with Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke and Sarah Silverman also appearing in the Netflix project.

The latest historical drama from Ridley Scott will track the French leader’s origins and, as the logline reads, “swift, ruthless climb to Emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine.” Phoenix plays Napoleon, with Vanessa Kirby starring opposite him as Empress Joséphine.

Asteroid City

Killers of the flower moon.

The latest team-up between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio is expected next year from Apple TV+. Based on the book of the same name, the story takes place after members of the Osage tribe in the United States are murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s.

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The Best New Biographies of 2023

CJ Connor is a cozy mystery and romance writer whose main goal in life is to make their dog proud. They are a Pitch Wars alumnus and an Author Mentor Match R9 mentor. Their debut mystery novel BOARD TO DEATH is forthcoming from Kensington Books. Twitter: @cjconnorwrites | cjconnorwrites.com

View All posts by CJ Connor

Read on to discover nine of the best biographies published within the last year. Included are life stories of singular people, including celebrated artists and significant historical figures, as well as collective biographies.

The books included in this list have all been released as of writing, but biography lovers still have plenty to look forward to before the year is out. A few to keep your eye out for in the coming months:

• The World According to Joan Didion by Evelyn McDonnell (HarperOne, September 26)
• Einstein in Time and Space by Samuel Graydon (Scribner, November 14)
• Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani (Penguin Random House, November 14).

Without further ado, here are the best biographies of 2023 so far!

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

Ellen and William Craft were a Black married couple who freed themselves from slavery in 1848 by disguising themselves as a traveling white man and an enslaved person. Author Ilyon Woo recounts their thousand-mile journey to seek safety in the North and their escape from the United States in the months following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act.

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel

Written over a period of 11 years with exclusive journalistic access to the subject, author Michael Finkel explores the motivations, heists, and repercussions faced by the notorious and prolific art thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Of special focus is his relationship with his girlfriend and accomplice, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus.

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

While recently published, King: A Life is already considered to be the most well-researched biography of Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. published in decades. New York Times bestselling journalist Jonathan Eig explores the life and legacy of Dr. King through thousands of historical records, including recently declassified FBI documents.

Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters by Lynnée Denise

This biography is part of the Why Music Matters series from the University of Texas. It reflects on the legendary blues singer’s life through an essay collection in which the author (also an accomplished musician) seeks to recreate the feeling of browsing through a box of records.

Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power by Leah Redmond Chang

Historian Leah Redmond Chang’s latest book release focuses on three aristocratic women in Renaissance Europe: Catherine de’ Medici, Elizabeth de Valois, and Mary, Queen of Scots. As a specific focus, she examines the juxtaposition between the immense power they wielded and yet the ways they remained vulnerable to the patriarchal, misogynistic societies in which they existed.

Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang

Anna May Wong was a 20th-century actress who found great acclaim while still facing discrimination and typecasting as a Chinese woman. University of California professor Yunte Huang explores her life and impact on the American film industry and challenges racist depictions of her in accounts of Hollywood history in this thought-provoking biography.

Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the 21st Century by Jasmine Brown

Written by Rhodes Scholar and University of Pennsylvania medical student Jasmine Brown, this collective biography shares the experiences and accomplishments of nine Black women physicians in U.S. history — including Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first Black American woman to earn a medical degree in the 1860s, and Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.

Larry McMurtry: A Life by Tracy Daugherty

Two years after the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s death, this biography presents a comprehensive history of Larry McMurtry’s life and legacy as one of the most acclaimed Western writers of all time.

The Kneeling Man: My Father’s Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by Leta McCollough Seletzky

Journalist Leta McCollough Seletzky examines her father, Marrell “Mac” McCollough’s complicated legacy as a Black undercover cop and later a member of the CIA. In particular, she shares his account as a witness of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel.

Are you a history buff looking for more recommendations? Try these.

• Best History Books by Era
• Books for a More Inclusive Look at American History
• Fascinating Food History Books

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Best Movies of 2023

It was a terrific year for film, whether art house or mainstream, even if the main subject the movies wrestled with was deeply pessimistic.

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By Manohla Dargis and Alissa Wilkinson

Manohla Dargis | Alissa Wilkinson

Manohla Dargis

A Thrilling Bounty

I had a terrific movie year — you? I saw hundreds of new films with a variety of plots and styles made on every imaginable scale and budget. Some were from newcomers like A.V. Rockwell and others from the ever-new Martin Scorsese. Some you’ve heard of or will, while others scarcely made a ripple. Some were released by independents like A24 and the tiny KimStim; others came from tech companies and still others from what are now often called legacy studios, a vaguely eulogistic term that suggests influence but also obsolescence.

The movies have ostensibly been at death’s door at least since the shift to sync sound, which isn’t to undersell the industry’s business woes. When the year began, it was still recovering from pandemic-forced shutdowns and slowdowns. “As 2023 Begins, Worry and Fear Linger After a Topsy-Turvy Year,” The Hollywood Reporter fretted , calling the ups and downs of the 2022 box office “dramatic.” Yet some Wall Street analysts were bullish on moviegoing. “We’re seeing a resurgence of interest back in the theaters,” one analyst told Yahoo in late January. I had just returned from the bounty at the Sundance Film Festival and was feeling bullish, too.

As winter gave way to spring and summer, several of my favorite movies had been released in theaters and I had previewed several others at Cannes, where I had again been buoyed by what I had seen. At the same time, the drumbeat of worrying industry news continued when the Writers Guild went on strike on May 2 and several sure-bet blockbusters failed to charm audiences into theaters. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” was “ cursed ,” read one headline; “‘Mission: Impossible 7’ falls short of expectations ,” ran another. The moaning in the trades gave way to klaxon horns when much of SAG-AFTRA went on strike on July 14. Two days later Barry Diller, who once ran Paramount, warned that the strikes could lead to the industry’s “absolute collapse.” Five days later, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” opened.

That phenom dubbed Barbenheimer buoyed the box office, the strikes ended, and here we are. It’s tempting to repeat William Goldman’s axiom that “nobody knows anything” and leave it at that. Except that this year also reminded us of some things that we have known for a while, including that women directors can make any kind of movie, from the intimately scaled to larger-than-life productions that become monster hits. This year also reminded us that a mass audience will happily get out of the house for movies without superheroes. And, on occasion, it won’t show up for movies with them, which was evident after disappointments from both the DC and Marvel studios as “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash,” “Blue Beetle” and “ The Marvels ” sputtered in theaters.

Two other words that popped up regularly in the news this year were “superhero fatigue,” which should have surprised absolutely no one. Old Hollywood embraced genre films but it also banked on variety, churning out musicals, westerns, dramas, comedies, historical epics, detective and gangster tales and genre hybrids. Some were interchangeable; others had fresh stories, distinctive visual styles and authorial flourishes. Now, though, the big studios are largely in the business of action-adventure franchises and serials; they bank on similarity, not variety. As of Nov. 30, half of this year’s top 20 grossing domestic releases fall in the action-adventure category, including a clutch of superhero flicks.

The mass turnout for both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” has been credited to everything from timing to originality, their meme-ability and people’s fear of missing out. Whatever the reasons for their success — and talent played a part, too — they proved that those Wall Street analysts bullish on moviegoing were onto something. That’s what else this year reminded us, and what I’m reminded of each week: Films can be great! They can embrace genre, play with it, transcend it. Their stories and their telling can be diverse, their quality thrilling, their art transporting. There’s more to movies than the industry, its crises and convulsions. In 1951, David O. Selznick, the producer of “Gone With the Wind,” rued that “there might have been good movies if there had been no movie industry.” The thing is, there have always been good movies despite the industry but, then, I’m a shameless optimist — I’m a film critic.

Here are my favorite movies of the year, all of which opened (or will open) theatrically in the United States.

1. ‘ Killers of the Flower Moon ’ (Martin Scorsese)

In this harrowing epic, Scorsese revisits a murderous crime spree perpetrated by white Americans — lovers and friends, ranchers and bankers, local lawmen and federally appointed guardians — against oil-rich members of the Osage Nation. The emotional center is an unspeakably cruel story of love and betrayal, a baroque conspiracy fueled by greed and an unshakable belief in white superiority. Manifest Destiny makes a hell of a gangster movie. ( In theaters )

2. ‘ Oppenheimer ’ (Christopher Nolan)

With his customary pointillist detail and monumental sweep, Nolan tracks J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called father of the atomic bomb, from his tortured youth to later anguished years. Much of the film involves Oppenheimer’s role in researching and developing the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, world-defining catastrophes that eventually killed an estimated 100,000 to upward of 200,000 souls and helped usher in our self-annihilating, human-dominated age. (In theaters)

3. ‘Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros’ (Frederick Wiseman)

In this deeply pleasurable movie, Wiseman focuses on the Troisgros family, a dynasty of French chefs. Much of the film takes place in their celebrated restaurant-hotel in the Loire where the paterfamilias oversees a team that with love, ingenuity, choreography, sublime technique and a regard for the larger world create one astonishment after another for the delight and delectation of others — much like the genius behind the camera. (In theaters)

4. ‘ Occupied City ’ (Steve McQueen)

In his startling and formally rigorous four-and-a-half-hour documentary, this British director (“Twelve Years a Slave”) uses everyday scenes from contemporary Amsterdam to map — street by street, address by address — the disastrous fate of the city’s Jewish population during World War II. The movie was written by Bianca Stigter, McQueen’s wife, and informed by her book “Atlas of an Occupied City: Amsterdam 1940-1945.” (Opening Dec. 25 in theaters)

5. ‘ A Thousand and One ’ (A.V. Rockwell)

In her knockout feature debut, Rockwell follows a young woman (a wonderful Teyana Taylor ) across the years — it opens in the mid-1990s — as she raises her son in a rapidly gentrifying New York. Rockwell was born and raised in Queens, and she has a deep feeling for the city and the people who, far from the corridors of power and despite the onslaughts of power’s rapacious mercenaries, have always given New York its lifeblood. (Stream it on Prime Video )

6. ‘ Asteroid City ’ (Wes Anderson)

In the small fictional Southwest town where much of this movie takes place, worlds collide, a love story (or maybe two) blooms and fades, children outwit adults and an extraterrestrial makes a surprising touchdown. With dexterity and complexity, tenderness and deadpan delivery, meticulous technique and mesmerizing colors, Anderson plays with different media and performing arts for a story about storytelling that’s wry, comic and tragic. (Stream it on Peacock )

7. ‘ May December ’ (Todd Haynes)

In this unsettling, perverse movie about that performance called life, an actress, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), visits the inspiration for her next movie. That would be Gracie (Julianne Moore), a homemaker who likes to bake cakes and happens to be an ex-con, having been imprisoned for having sex with an underage boy she later wed. (A terrific Charles Melton plays her tragic husband.) Things get very complicated, and then crushingly sad. (Stream it on Netflix )

8. ‘ Showing Up ’ (Kelly Reichardt)

Reichardt’s latest follows Lizzy (a delicately restrained and revelatory Michelle Williams), a sculptor in Portland, Ore., as she prepares a new gallery show while contending with friends, family, her very bad cat and a wounded pigeon. For Lizzy, making art is an act of self-creation and a way of being, which I suspect means that this lovely, modestly scaled movie is also somewhat of a directorial self-portrait. (Available for rent on most major platforms )

9. ‘Orlando: My Political Biography’ (Paul B. Preciado)

In this essayistic documentary, Preciado — a Spanish-born transgender philosopher and activist making his directing debut — uses Virginia Woolf’s novel “Orlando: A Biography” as a springboard to explore the complexities and many cages of identity. Drawing on a wide range of sources and aided by 20 trans and nonbinary performers, Preciado has made a movie that’s playful, urgent and as intellectually inspiring as it is emotionally exhilarating. (In theaters)

10. ‘ Stonewalling ’ (Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka)

It’s 2019 when this understated, formally rigorous heartbreaker opens and the painfully young Lynn (Yao Honggui) is facing a series of daunting hurdles, including her rotten boyfriend, bickering parents, no job and an uncertain future. By the time the story ends it’s early 2020, everyone is wearing surgical masks and Lynn is exhausted, having tried every imaginable gig and hustle. She is also pregnant, and now has something of exchange value. (Streaming on Criterion )

Ten more: “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” “Earth Mama,” “Fallen Leaves,” “Ferrari,” “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Past Lives” “R.M.N.,” “Scarlet,” “Will-O’-the-Wisp,” “Youth (Spring).”

Alissa Wilkinson

Where Evil Lies

This was the year of evil at the movies: gut-wrenching, bone-chilling, ordinary evil. It didn’t wear villainous capes, nor did it often arrive in the expected horror movie package. That’s why it was so terrifying.

The movies this year posited that evil’s opposite isn’t goodness; it’s reality. Evil was something for men of science, like J. Robert Oppenheimer , to wrestle with, realizing that when the physical universe intersects with human ethics, no decision can really be neutral. Evil was discussed at Cannes in the news conference after “ Killers of the Flower Moon ,” a film about how barbarous civilization can be. In “ The Zone of Interest ,” unspeakable evil is obscured, willingly, by people who are just going about their everyday business. Bureaucratic language and euphemism keep them from having to acknowledge the horrors they’re perpetuating.

In fact, the way language can mask and produce evil — especially the banal sort that stems from self-delusion — was all over the movies this year. Todd Haynes’s juicy “May December” is loaded with willful blindness on the part of characters who can’t even form the words to tell the truth about their lives. Justine Triet’s “ Anatomy of a Fall ” takes a marriage built on linguistic compromise — the partners communicate in English, a second language for both — as the jumping-off point for a story about the everyday violence that careless words incur, whether in the courtroom or the living room. And perhaps the strongest and most daring of these was “Reality,” which uses a real interrogation transcript to show the bendiness of words, the way power and justice can be warped to manipulate, well, reality.

When the great novelist Cormac McCarthy , no stranger to the movies himself, died this year, I found myself thinking about him because his vision of evil was far more in line with these depictions than the cartoon villains Hollywood typically serves up. To McCarthy, evil was a force or a being that stalked humanity, the basic fact of the human condition, nearly impossible to resist and embedded somehow in language. In his 1994 novel “The Crossing,” a character says that “the wicked know that if the ill they do be of sufficient horror men will not speak against it.” In fact, “men have just enough stomach for small evils and only these will they oppose.”

If he’s right, that may be why the antidote to cinematic evil could be found in people speaking words of healing to one another, facing truth together. The couples at the center of “The Eternal Memory” and “American Symphony,” the chaplains of “A Still Small Voice,” the family of “You Hurt My Feelings” — all are people who have found that in the midst of an impossible world, communicating with one another is what lets us go on.

Any form of art is capable of exploring the nature of evil. But there’s something about cinema — immersive, time-bound, hitting several senses at once — that feels uniquely suited for the task, since evil is something more readily identified in the gut than in the conscious mind. In a world increasingly unmoored from reality, where we can barely trust what we see with our own eyes, evil floats freely. Maybe cinema can give us language to face it courageously.

1. ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ (Martin Scorsese)

From the start of his career, Scorsese has been obsessed with guilt: What does it mean to be guilty? Is anyone really innocent? Is forgiveness possible, or just a convenient fantasy? The many-layered “Killers of the Flower Moon” offers perhaps his broadest take on the topic yet — proceeding from the firm belief that guilt is generational, just like grief, and that telling the story (in this case, of the systematic murder of Osage members) is both fraught and impossible to avoid. ( In theaters )

2. ‘Past Lives’ (Celine Song)

Once in a while, an understated stunner from a debut director (in this case, the playwright Celine Song) arrives early in the year, grabs you by the heart and won’t let go. For me that happened all the way back at Sundance in January with “Past Lives,” about a woman (Greta Lee) contemplating the lives she could have led and thus the choices that created the one she does lead. With magnificent co-stars in Teo Yoo and John Magaro, it’s brilliant and moving, an examination of destiny, chance, love and the invisible thread that binds one soul to the next. (For rent on most major platforms )

3. ‘The Zone of Interest’ (Jonathan Glazer)

Based loosely on a Martin Amis novel, “The Zone of Interest” bone-chills by omission, its meaning contained in what’s not onscreen. The story concerns the family of Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), commandant of Auschwitz, who lives an idyllic life with his family just outside the walls of the notorious extermination camp. His wife (Sandra Hüller) runs a peaceful household, proudly showing her life to her mother when she visits. But you can hear, and almost smell, what’s going on over the wall. It’s a nauseatingly and formally bold inquiry into the extent to which humans can, and do, willfully blind themselves to evil. (Opens in theaters on Dec. 15 )

4. ‘Reality’ (Tina Satter)

“Reality” stars Sydney Sweeney as Reality Winner, the former N.S.A. translator imprisoned for leaking information about Russian interference into the 2016 elections. Adapted from a play also written and directed by Satter, the dialogue is a verbatim (and sometimes redacted) transcription of the F.B.I.’s interrogation of Winner at her home before her arrest. Sweeney is incredible in the role, the anchor of a furious, true thriller. But what stands out is the way “Reality” forces us to question what’s real on several levels — not just whether and when a government is trustworthy, but also when language deliberately obscures reality, and whether the movie itself is fiction, documentary or something uncomfortably in the gray area between. (Streaming on Max )

5. ‘A Still Small Voice’ (Luke Lorentzen)

Early in the pandemic, at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, a group of chaplaincy residents are caring for patients and their families while dealing with their own grief and fear. Lorentzen’s observational documentary (which he largely shot himself) follows one resident, Mati, and her supervisor. Mati’s idealism is challenged as she ministers to people of all faiths and none in particular while simultaneously experiencing her own crisis of faith. The nature of mercy, mortality and belief in the face of unimaginable pain makes this, somehow, a hopeful film, though it’s a hard-won hope. (In theaters)

6. ‘Oppenheimer’ (Christopher Nolan)

One-half of the year’s biggest moviegoing event, “Oppenheimer” is at its core an examination of power, both in the geopolitical and the atomic sense. Nolan’s choice to split the film along two power-generating acts, fission and fusion, underscores the point: While the film is largely about the Manhattan Project and the moral compromise Oppenheimer wrestles with, it’s also about man’s petty battles to gain power without regard for the future. Nolan is obsessed with the interplay between the scientific and the humanist, and thus it’s a perfect match. (For rent on most major platforms )

7. ‘Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’ (Anna Hints)

A number of good and much buzzier films from this year — “Barbie,” “Poor Things” — chronicled women’s journeys toward becoming their own heroes in a world still tilted toward patriarchy. But the Estonian documentary “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” is the one that’s stuck with me most. Women gather in a smoke sauna (we see their tightly framed nude bodies, shot from the neck down, for most of the film) repeatedly throughout a calendar year. They discuss the painful and joyful realities of their lives: fears and hopes, romances and abuses, weaknesses and strengths. Visually striking and uncommonly frank, it gets at an authenticity that few fiction films can fully capture. ( In theaters )

8. ‘Godland’ (Hlynur Palmason)

It’s the 19th century, and a young Danish priest with plenty of self-regard has decided to lead a church in remote Iceland (at that time a Danish colony). What he discovers on the frigid shores is a beguiling landscape that’s wholly indifferent to his existence. Watching him disintegrate when confronted with the reality of his calling is both tragic and darkly funny, but the deeper meaning is what remains: We can plan all we want to change the world, but the world usually gets the best of us. (Streaming on the Criterion Channel )

9. ‘The Eternal Memory’ (Maite Alberdi)

Alberdi’s haunting documentary centers on Augusto Góngora, one of the most famous cultural journalists in Chile, and his wife, Paulina Urrutia. Góngora is living with Alzheimer’s, and Alberdi parallels his slowly deteriorating mental state with his lifelong fight to preserve Chile’s history and collective memory. Without memory, Góngora says, we are lost. What anchors him is Urrutia’s fervent love, a bond so strong that it can withstand tragedy — and there are lessons there for nations that wish to wipe away their own memories. (Streaming on Paramount+ )

10. ‘Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros’ (Frederick Wiseman)

Wiseman, America’s greatest chronicler of institutions, turns his observational documentary eye toward La Maison Troisgros , a three-star Michelin restaurant in Roanne, France, run by several generations of the Troisgros family. While the food looks delectable and the diners are often very funny, the true joy of Wiseman’s film is his subtle weaving of a point into it all. Future generations of artists and chefs, diners and growers depend upon balancing profit with careful cultivation today, whether it’s in the way a kitchen runs, the way grapes are grown or the way a family plans its business. That balance is evident throughout the film, which is a sensory delight and at times almost balletic in its touch. (In theaters)

And don’t miss: “Afire” (Christian Petzold), “American Fiction” (Cord Jefferson), “American Symphony” (Matthew Heineman), “Anatomy of a Fall” (Justine Triet), “Anselm” (Wim Wenders), “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” (Kelly Fremon Craig), “Barbie” (Greta Gerwig), “BlackBerry” (Matt Johnson), “Eileen” (William Oldroyd), “Fallen Leaves” (Aki Kaurismaki), “Four Daughters” (Kaouther Ben Hania), “The Holdovers” (Alexander Payne), “May December” (Todd Haynes), “Poor Things” (Yorgos Lanthimos), “Priscilla” (Sofia Coppola), “The Royal Hotel” (Kitty Green), “Showing Up” (Kelly Reichardt), “The Starling Girl” (Laurel Parmet), “The Taste of Things” (Tran Anh Hung), “You Hurt My Feelings” (Nicole Holofcener)

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic of The Times, which she joined in 2004. She has an M.A. in cinema studies from New York University, and her work has been anthologized in several books. More about Manohla Dargis

Alissa Wilkinson is a Times movie critic. She’s been writing about movies since 2005. More about Alissa Wilkinson

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