© 2023 Studio Ghibli
After 2013’s The Wind Rises, Miyazaki spent ten years creating The Boy and the Heron, speculated to be his final film.
Timothée Chalamet as Wonka.
Jaap Buittendijk/Warner Bros
It’s a little too dark for small children and not funny enough.
Bonsai Films
New independent Aussie film Christmess is emotionally engrossing and satisfying in its combination of melancholy tinged with the vague outlines of hope.
Ian Routledge
New Australian film Monolith is a refreshingly high concept film, as opposed to the usual social realist and period dramas.
Madman Entertainment
Arkie was created by illustrator Nathan Jurevicius 21 years ago. She has evolved into graphic novels, games, toys – and now an animated feature.
A couple have been chosen to help humanity survive the coming collapse of the planet.
Amazon Studios
Set in the not-so-distant future, Foe poses questions about humanity and what it means to be human in the face of environmental collapse.
Netflix
These are some of the most literal and faithful Roald Dahl adaptations ever put on screen.
Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor in Fair Play.
Sergej Radovic/Courtesy of Netflix
In the US, where Fair Play is set, women didn’t gain the legal right to be members of the New York Stock Exchange until 1967.
Jane Zhang/Madman Entertainment
Shayda is a powerful debut feature for Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari.
Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal in Strange Way of Life.
Sony Pictures Classics
The most distinctive aspect of Almodóvar’s film, beyond its acknowledgment of same-sex desire, is its focus on mid-life intimacy.
Signature Entertainment
The stylish Oscar Wilde animation has a distinguished cast, including Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
Poirot investigates in Venice in this spooky murder mystery that cherry picks from several Agatha Christie stories.
Disney
The most recent instalment in Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot franchise is not faithful to Agatha Christie’s work, but it is entertaining all the same.
©Disney
In A Haunting in Venice, Kenneth Branagh continues cinema’s long tradition of adapting Christie through the lens of horror.
Jon Pack
Loving portrait of an unrequited love and a cultural divide.
Antoinette Robertson as Lisa in The Blackening.
Glen Wilson
The Blackening excels at subverting the very stereotypes it plays upon for its humour.
Xolo Maridueña as Blue Beetle.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures & DC Comics
Blue Beetle’s emphasis on the power of family is being touted by its creators as the film’s standout feature.
MIFF
From Korean realism to experimental maximalism, our top 5 of the most memorable films from the 2023 Melbourne International Film Festival.
Netflix
Ordinary, everyday experiences of the pandemic, such as mask wearing and quarantining, are rendered extraordinary through the show’s melodrama.
Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine in Red, White & Royal Blue.
Prime Video
Cultural differences and stereotypes between the Englishman and American are at the heart of the film’s humour and play a significant role in the development of their relationship.
Jann Mardenborough as played by Archie Madekwe.
Sony Pictures
Audiences are essentially paying Sony for the privilege of watching an extended advert.