Too many movies on your to-watch list? Here are the best films of 2023

Every week, the list of must-watch movies and new releases grows. To help you decide what to watch, The Globe and Mail critics round up some of their top choices of recent releases.

Fallen Leaves

Written and directed by Aki Kaurismaki

Starring Alma Poysti and Jussi Vatanen

Classification PG; 81 minutes

Opens in select theatres Nov. 24, including the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto

From Barry Hertz’s review of Fallen Leaves: Moments of levity in Fallen Leaves help pave the way for what’s ultimately a beautiful tribute to the power of resilience. As Ansa (which Google tells me is Finnish for “trapped”) and Holappa each lose a series of jobs only to pick themselves right back up, Fallen Leaves delivers on the promise of its title: This is a crisp autumn breeze of a movie, refreshing and invigorating even when it seems like things are falling apart.

Monster

Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Written by Yuji Sakamoto
Starring Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama and Soya Kurokawa
Classification N/A; 125 minutes
Opens at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and Varsity Cinemas in Toronto Dec. 1, expanding to other cities Dec. 8

From Barry Hertz’s review of Monster: The split-POV conceit of Monster three perspectives are not so much in argument with one another as they are pieces of the same puzzle. And once they are locked together, the final portrait is staggeringly heartbreaking.

Maestro

Directed by Bradley Cooper
Written by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer
Starring Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan and Sarah Silverman
Classification N/A; 129 minutes
Opens in select theatres Dec. 1, including the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto; streaming on Netflix starting Dec. 20

From Barry Hertz’s review of Maestro: Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro is a production built on practice, practice, practice. A movie made by a showman, about a showman, for audiences who appreciate showmen, Maestro has the rhythm, scope, and big brass, ahem, chutzpah of an artist who has honed his craft to as fine a form as possible.

Dream Scenario

Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli
Starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson and Michael Cera
Classification 14A; 100 minutes
Opens in theatres Nov. 24

Barry Hertz’s review of Dream Scenario: What if everyone in the world started dreaming of Nicolas Cage – or at least some version of Nicolas Cage – at the very same time? And what if we couldn’t stop?

This is the chef’s-kiss premise of the new dark comedy Dream Scenario, a thoroughly imaginative and mostly brilliant movie from Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli that is easily the best thing – real or otherwise – that Cage has starred in for ages.

Napoleon

Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by David Scarpa
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby and Tahar Rahim
Classification 14A; 157 minutes
Opens in theatres Nov. 22

Barry Hertz’s review of Napoleon: The fun of a Ridley Scott film is not in figuring out how they add up to make a man, but in seeing which pieces that man gives of himself to make each film. And for Napoleon, Scott gives every last little slice of himself – the dramatist, the set-piece strategist, even, and especially, the comedian – to deliver what just might be his late-career masterpiece.

May December

Directed by Todd Haynes
Written by Samy Burch
Starring Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton
Classification N/A; 113 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of May December: The outlandishly queasy premise of May December could be so easily mangled in less inspired hands. Yet director Todd Haynes approaches the material with a lip-smacking enthusiasm, playfully mocking the high-volume drama as much as he embraces it. This is a juicy, outré exercise that gets its kicks from booting its audience into deliberately uncomfortable corners and then leaving them there to stew.

Priscilla

Directed by Sofia Coppola
Written by Sofia Coppola, based on the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon
Starring Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi and Dagmara Dominczyk
Classification 14A; 113 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of Priscilla: Building the pseudo-courtship up at a careful, steady pace – almost as cautious as the young Priscilla is in getting close to Elvis – Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla finely draws the line between attraction and coercion, innocence and corruption, that defines one of the most famous “love” stories in pop culture.

The Holdovers

Directed by Alexander Payne
Written by David Hemingson
Starring Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph
Classification 14A; 133 minutes
Opens in Toronto theatres Nov. 3, expands across Canada Nov. 10

Barry Hertz’s review of The Holdovers: The Holdovers is character-first movie that embodies the best, most ambitious spirit of mainstream American entertainment. There is a joy watching interesting people change for the better while in a carefully crafted environment – a third-act trip to Boston feels like a true time warp thanks to meticulous production design – and director Alexander Payne knows just how to balance the sour and sweet.

Hands that Bind

Written and directed by Kyle Armstrong
Starring Bruce Dern, Paul Sparks and Nicholas Campbell
Classification N/A; 116 minutes
Opens in select theatres Nov. 3

Anne T. Donahue’s review of Hands that Bind: An exercise in mental and emotional claustrophobia, Kyle Armstrong’s new Canadian drama Hands that Bind succeeds beautifully at examining the social trappings of toxic masculinity, poverty and the desperation created by both.

The Killer

Directed by David Fincher
Written by Andrew Kevin Walker, based on the graphic novel by Alexis “Matz” Nolent and Luc Jacamon
Starring Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton and Arliss Howard
Classification N/A; 118 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of The Killer: David Fincher is in pure pioneer mode in The Killer, inventing a new kind of cinematic humour that can only come from his own uniquely icy perspective of the world. This is brutal, high-impact filmmaking that delivers its visual punchlines with the patience of a sharpshooter and the menace of a sociopath who has put in his 10,000 Malcolm Gladwell-style hours of practice in not caring about anyone or anything

The Delinquents

Written and directed by Rodrigo Moreno
Starring Daniel Elias, Esteban Bigliardi and Margarita Molfino
Classification N/A
Runtime 180 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of The Delinquents: Leisurely paced, thoroughly if not relentlessly deadpan, and quietly contemplative to the point of gentle sleepiness, Moreno’s The Delinquents is a challenging yet decidedly alive thing.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, based on the book by David Grann
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro
Classification 14A
Runtime 206 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of Killers of the Flower Moon: With its crushing themes, massive run-time, vast array of ugly characters, and refusal to hand-hold audiences through its decades-spanning narrative, Killers of the Flower Moon can be a demanding film. But its rewards are rich, easy, inexhaustible.

In Cannes, Martin Scorsese balances carnage with Indigenous consultation to deliver a new American epic

Foe

Directed by Garth Davis
Written by Iain Reid and Garth Davis, based on the novel by Iain Reid
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre
Classification N/A; 110 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of Foe: Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal dig into their roles with quiet, determined ferocity. The pair generate instant chemistry even – especially – when they are at odds with one another.

She Came to Me

Written and directed by Rebecca Miller
Starring Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei
Classification N/A; 102 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of She Came to Me: Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me conjures up one of the more wholly “original” romantic comedies to come along in years. The dominant plot thread focuses on New York opera composer Steven (Peter Dinklage), an irascible genius who is suffering a serious case of writer’s block, who is married to Patricia (Anne Hathaway), a type-A therapist who decides to become a nun and give up her worldly possessions. Meanwhile, a third storyline traces a teenage love affair between Steven and Patricia’s son Julian (Evan Ellison) and Tereza (Harlow Jane), which is threatened by Tereza’s overprotective stepfather (Brian d’Arcy James). It is overstuffed to be sure, but in an admirable way that underlines Miller’s fierce desire to enchant and entertain an audience looking for stories about people, not intellectual property.

The Royal Hotel

Directed by Kitty Green
Written by Kitty Green and Oscar Redding
Starring Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving
Classification 14A; 91 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of The Royal Hotel: The harsh light of day plays a central role in Kitty Green’s unsettling and nerve-rattling new film, The Royal Hotel. Based on a 2016 documentary, Green’s new film continues a tense and important conversation that the Australian filmmaker began with her feature-narrative debut, 2019′s The Assistant. While that film focused on the million small aggressions that poisoned a workplace led by a Harvey Weinstein-esque movie producer, The Royal Hotel explores the toxic power dynamics that men can hold over women on a grander scale. One that is as blistering as it is frustrating.

Fair Play

Written and directed by Chloe Domont
Starring Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich and Eddie Marsan
Classification N/A
Runtime 13 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of Fair Play: The new film Fair Play is such a steamy affair – both metaphorically and literally, with mists escaping from shower stalls and sewer grates alike – that critics might feel the need to clear the air before getting lost in its thick vapours. By which I mean: Despite the many headlines proclaiming director Chloe Domont’s feature debut to mark the long-awaited return of the “erotic thriller,” Fair Play sits as far away from that genre as Paul Verhoeven is from Pixar.

Flora and Son

Written and directed by John Carney
Starring Eve Hewson, Jack Reynor and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Classification N/A
Runtime 97 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of Flora and Son: If you can walk away from a movie with a tune in your heart and a bounce in your step, then it’s safe to say that the film clicked in just the ways that were intended. And while fans of Irish filmmaker John Carney should expect nothing less by this point in his career, it’s still heartening to realize that the writer-director behind Once, Sing Street and Begin Again still has his musical-dramedy set-list locked down tight.

The Creator

Directed by Gareth Edwards
Written by Gareth Edwards and Chris Weitz
Starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan and Allison Janney
Classification PG; 133 minutes

Barry Hertz’s review of The Creator: There are a solid half-dozen moments during the new sci-fi thriller The Creator in which your head might explode. These are all welcome acts of cranial combustion, by the way – imagination-popping instances in which director Gareth Edwards thrills and seduces, his (mostly) original vision of a future gone to rot as fully realized in its world-building as it is pulse-pounding in its action.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Directed by Jeff Rowe
Written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit and Brendan O’Brien
Featuring the voices of Nicolas Cantu, Ayo Edebiri and Jackie Chan
Classification PG
Runtime 99 minutes

What our critic Radheyan Simonpillai said: Mutant Mayhem is a giddily fun and relentlessly eye-pleasing rebranding for the Turtles, which, like the Spider-Verse movies, mixes up daring and inventive animation styles while embracing visual imperfections as part of its soulful artistry.

Talk to Me

Directed by Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou
Written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman
Starring Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen and Miranda Otto
Classification 14A
Runtime 94 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Talk to Me aims for an elevated kind of hipster-horror thrill ride, a round of high-shriek scares amplified by the cynical consumerism of the TikTok generation. And damned if the movie doesn’t pull its sick trick off, delivering a jolt to the genre that should hopefully turn the summer around.

Oppenheimer

Directed by Christopher Nolan
Written by Christopher Nolan, based on the book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Starring Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr.
Classification 14A
Runtime 180 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: While Christopher Nolan’s new film, Oppenheimer, may look like a familiar biopic that has simply been scaled up to Nolan-sized heights, it is deeper, richer and more devastating than anything that the director has ever made.

Barbie

Directed by Greta Gerwig
Written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach
Starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Will Ferrell
Classification PG
Runtime 114 minutes

What our critic Chandler Levack said: Barbie is both a master’s thesis on feminism and an Austin Powers-esque romp. It is an absolutely deranged comedy that wants to humanize its titular plastic heroine, forever biting the hand that feeds it, in an attempt to gain some gravitas for our twisted world where the men are in crisis and the women are forever posting pictures of their boobs and butts.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
Written by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen
Starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell and Simon Pegg
Classification PG
Runtime 163 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: No movie is worth dying for. But if Tom Cruise wants to sacrifice himself for this greater good, who are we to stop him?

Afire

Written and directed by Christian Petzold
Starring Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer and Langston Uibel
Classification N/A
Runtime 103 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Afire is a dramedy of manners that is as rich and rewarding as any of director Christian Petzold’s more ambitious films

Asteroid City

Directed by Wes Anderson
Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Starring Jason Schwartzman, Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson
Classification PG; 104 minutes
Runtime 105 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Think of it as the Wes Anderson equivalent of the Marvel multiverse, except entertaining and inventive. This means that characters are doubled, sometimes tripled, and occasionally cross divisions of mediums and realities.

The Blackening

Directed by Tim Story
Written by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins
Starring Dewayne Perkins, Sinqua Walls and Antoinette Robertson
Classification 18A
Runtime 96 minutes

What our critic Sarah-tai Black said: The Blackening speaks directly to Black audiences: Characters communicate in full dialogue with each other through knowing exchanges of looks, in-jokes land sharply and are not explained any more than they need to be, and the playful reactions of Black audiences are echoed by characters in the flick itself. This is a horror movie that loves horror movies as much as it does its audience. Each and every joke and allusion lands with an easiness that could only come from its creators being fans of the genre.

Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella

Written and directed by Barry Avrich
Classification N/A; 80 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: If you don’t already know who Rosalie Abella is, then it is high time you learned – and the best entry point is Without Precedent, a new documentary that explores one extremely remarkable, perhaps underappreciated life.

Past Lives

Written and directed by Celine Song
Starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro
Classification PG
Runtime 106 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Past Lives is still a rare thing: honest, intimate, lasting. If it took centuries’ worth of inyun to make, then it was well worth the wait.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson and Kemp Powers
Written by Phil Lord, Chris Miller and David Callaham
Featuring the voices of Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld and Oscar Isaac
Classification PG; 140 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes out swinging, hitting us with dazzling sights, a wicked sense of humour and the boundless energy of a restless teenager throwing everything they’ve got at you fast and furious.

You Hurt My Feelings

Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener
Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobias Menzies and Michaela Watkins
Classification N/A
Runtime 93 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: The characters in You Hurt My Feelings are compelling and carefully crafted, inhabiting warm and witty worlds. And when embodied by the finest comic performers working today, the film’s well-to-do woe-is-me types cut through any shivers of privilege to deliver something wholly universal, and frequently hilarious.

Mission Kandahar

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh
Written by Mitchell LaFortune
Starring Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban and Travis Fimmel
Classification 14A
Runtime 100 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Mission Kandahar is not going to surprise or enthrall audiences, but it does deliver on the many B-movie promises that Gerard Butler has now built his throat-slitting career on. The movies need Gerard Butler like popcorn needs a layer of artificial butter. It’s not good for us, but we don’t – and shouldn’t – care.

Fast X

Directed by Louis Leterrier
Written by Justin Lin and Dan Mazeau
Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jason Momoa
Classification PG; 141 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Fast X, the latest in the Fast & Furious remarkable megafranchise, hits like a souped-up Dodge Charger whose engine runs on rocket fuel – a beast that knows no brakes. Once it starts, you’re strapped in till the jaws of life (the end credits) can set you free.

Master Gardener

Written and directed by Paul Schrader
Starring Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver and Quintessa Swindell
Classification N/A
Runtime: 107 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Master Gardener is a complex and layered thing that is sturdily resistant to quick, dirty, in-and-out discourse.

The Maiden

Written and directed by Graham Foy
Starring Jackson Sluiter, Marcel T. Jimenez and Hayley Ness
Classification N/A; 117 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: An intensely atmospheric meditation on friendship, grief and the pains and wonders of being an adolescent outsider, The Maiden is a haunting work that announces the arrival of a startling new talent.

Polite Society

Written and directed by Nida Manzoor
Starring Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya and Akshay Khanna
Classification PG
Runtime 103 minutes

What our critic Aparita Bhandari said: Polite Society is in a league of its own. The concept – a young Pakistani girl growing up in London with the desire to become a stuntwoman, just like her idol Eunice Huthart – is fresh and original.

Sisu

Written and directed by Jalmari Helander
Starring Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie and Jack Doolan
Classification 18A
Runtime 91 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: If you are entering Sisu hoping for some character development or exploration on the themes on war and trauma, stay home. But if you are hungry for excellently choreographed (if sometimes overly CGI-reliant) blood splatter, then Sisu is your ticket to sicko-cinema hea‐ven

Beau Is Afraid

Written and directed by Ari Aster
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Nathan Lane and Patti LuPone
Classification 18A; 179 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: To all those moviegoers who at any one point flee Beau Is Afraid, god bless, and enjoy the rest of your evenings. Because I will still be sitting there in the theatre, back row centre, soaking up all the demented psychological sludge that Aster is eager to serve up in heaping, overflowing spoonfuls.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig
Written by Kelly Fremon Craig
Based on the novel by Judy Blume
Starring Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates
Classification PG
Runtime 106 minutes

What our critic Marsha Lederman said: Director and screenwriter Kelly Fremon Craig does not mess this adaption of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. She has created a film that is true to the book’s heart, but is also its own thing.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Directed by Daniel Goldhaber
Written by Daniel Goldhaber, Ariela Barer and Jordan Sjol, based on the book by Andreas Malm
Starring Ariela Barer, Sasha Lane and Kristine Froseth
Classification 18A
Runtime 104 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: The very existence of How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a feat in and of itself, and will all-too-predictably flummox all manner of panic-pushers who have no such time or desire to examine its nuance and context. Ultimately, it is only as dangerous as you allow it to be. Whether you walk out of it radicalized or not might say more about you than the film.

Showing Up

Directed by Kelly Reichardt
Written by Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt
Starring Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, André 3000, Todd-o-Phonic Todd
Classification R
Runtime 108 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Showing Up works so well not only because of Kelly Reichardt’s typical technical prowess and attention to detail, but also because of the natural onscreen strength of Williams, working here with the director for the fourth time.

This image released by Amazon Prime Video shows Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, left, and and Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan in a scene from "Air." (Amazon Prime Video via AP)

Air

Directed by Ben Affleck
Written by Alex Convery
Starring Matt Damon, Viola Davis and Ben Affleck
Classification 14A
Runtime 112 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: On paper, Air is not a remotely enticing pitch. Yet through a series of minor filmmaking masterstrokes – rhythmic dialogue, bouncy pacing, a record store’s worth of needle-drops, wonderfully on-the-nose casting and one crucial storytelling decision that is so counterintuitive that it works in spite of itself – director Ben Affleck has produced the kind of smoothly entertaining movie that washes over you, like waves on a beach. Or sneaker squeaks on a basketball court.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley
Written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and Michael Gilio
Starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant
Classification PG
Runtime 134 minutes

What our critic Radheyan Simonpillai said : Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – the big-screen adaptation of the popular role-playing game – is a giddy, comical and inviting brand expansion that gives its fans good reason to wear their nerdy affections with pride.

A Thousand and One

Written and directed by A.V. Rockwell
Starring Teyana Taylor, Aaron Kingsley Adetola and Aven Courtney
Classification 14A

What our critic Sarah-tai Black said: A Thousand and One is a thoughtful study of Black motherhood and Black boyhood as well as a sharp period piece tracking the changing social and political climate of New York.

Brother

Directed by Clement Virgo
Written by Clement Virgo, based on the novel by David Chariandy
Starring Lamar Johnson, Aaron Pierre and Marsha Stephanie Blake
Classification N/A

What our critic Barry Hertz said: The remarkable, beautiful new Canadian drama Brother, writer-director Clement Virgo is adapted from David Chariandy’s award-winning 2017 novel of the same name. irgo’s film is a special work to be cherished and pored over for generations to come – an instantly essential addition to the Toronto cinema canon.

Until Branches Bend

Written and directed by Sophie Jarvis
Starring Grace Glowicki
Classification N/A

What our critic Anne T. Donahue said: Until Branches Bend is the haunting debut from Canadian writer-director Sophie Jarvis, who examines the pervasive nature of broken systems working to uphold toxic norms. As deeply moving as it is upsetting, the film is an affecting drama that begs audiences to question their own social complacency.

This undated handout photo obtained from the Toronto International Film Festival shows a movie still from Korean-Canadian filmmaker Anthony Shim's poignant coming-of-age story "Riceboy Sleeps". "Riceboy Sleeps" won a prestigious prize at the Toronto film festival, but Anthony Shim's movie about growing up as a Korean immigrant in majority-white Vancouver has also proved a hit in his native South Korea. Courtesy of TIFF — Anthony Shim directed a poignant coming-of-age story Riceboy Sleeps.Courtesy of TIFF

Riceboy Sleeps

Written and directed by Anthony Shim
Starring Choi Seung-yoon, Ethan Hwang and Dohyun Noel Hwang
Classification N/A

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Riceboy Sleeps is as impressive in its technical approach as it is in its storytelling. Director by Anthony Shim shoots coverage with a single camera, affording the director luxurious single-take scenes that allow the audience to watch the action like secret observers hiding in the shadows of a room. The young director coaxes truly wonderful performances from his central trio of actors, each asked to balance moments of tenderness, anxiety and hope.

I Like Movies

Written and directed by Chandler Levack
Starring Isaiah Lehtinen, Krista Bridges and Romina D’ugo
Classification N/A

What our critic Amil Niazi said: If you are looking for a smart, nostalgic throwback to the kinds of films that marked the late-nineties and early aughts heyday of high-school movies, then I Like Movies deserves more than a rental – go see watch remarkable new Canadian video-store comedy I Like Movies in theatres.

The Quiet Girl

Directed by Colm Bairead
Written by Colm Bairead and Claire Keegan
Starring Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett
Classification PG

What our critic Anne T. Donahue said: Through heart-wrenching, nuanced and arresting performances by Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett, The Quiet Girl technically lives up to its name, but speaks volumes about the transformative power of what it means to be loved.

Unseen Skies

Directed by Yaara Bou Melhem

What our critic Chris Knight said: Although ostensibly an art doc, Unseen Skies will leave you with a great many questions and concerns about the place of surveillance in our lives, the ways that open-source artificial intelligence is getting in on the act, and what it might mean to the future of privacy and civil liberties. Do look up.

Creed III

Directed by Michael B. Jordan
Written by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors and Tessa Thompson
Classification PG

What our critic Barry Hertz said: There is very little new in Creed III, but almost everything that is here works tremendously. So much so that I could see the Creed movies extending into Fast and Furious territory. I, for one, would watch Jordan punch Vin Diesel in space, wouldn’t you?

Queens of the Qing Dynasty

Written and directed by Ashley McKenzie
Starring Sarah Walker and Ziyin Zheng

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Following two lost Cape Breton souls struggling to anchor themselves in a world that feels strange and hostile, Queens of the Qing Dynasty focuses on the teenage Star (Sarah Walker) and the twentysomething An (Ziyin Zheng). The two meet after Star is admitted to hospital following a suicide attempt, and An is assigned to watch over her as part of a volunteer outreach program.

BlackBerry

Directed by Matt Johnson
Written by Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, based on the book Losing the Signal by Sean Silcoff and Jacquie McNish
Starring Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton and Matt Johnson
Classification N/A

What our critic Barry Hertz said: BlackBerry is a relentlessly live-wire film that deserves its spotlight on the world stage at this year’s Berlinale: It’s funny, fast and nerve-rattling. And it is always – always – intensely entertaining.

Knock at the Cabin

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan, Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman, based on the novel The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
Starring: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff and Rupert Grint
Classification: R

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Knock at the Cabin is a film of curiously ambitious camerawork, fundamental misunderstandings of how real people might interact, idiosyncratic performances, and a twist that isn’t a twist at all. It is frequently eye-rolling but ultimately impressive filmmaking – M. Night Shyamalan remains a master mood-conjurer.

Close

Directed by: Lukas Dhont
Written by: Lukas Dhont and Angelo Tijssens
Starring: Eden Dambrine, Gustav De Waele and Émilie Dequenne
Classification: N/A
Runtime: 104 minutes

What our critic Amil Niazi said: Fans of stunning cinematography, thoughtful writing and pure, unadulterated emotional torture will find Close to be worthy of the Oscar nod.

Saint Omer

Directed by Alice Diop
Written by Alice Diop and Amrita David
Starring Guslagie Malanda, Kayije Kagame and Valérie Dréville

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Alice Diop’s narrative feature debut Saint Omer is an attempt to answer, or at least explore, the vexing question of Fabienne Kabou, a woman who stood trial for murder over the death of her 15-month-old daughter. The basics of Kabou’s story remain the same, albeit transferred to the trial of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda), a Senegalese woman who travelled from Paris to the town of the title expressly with the purpose of murdering her young daughter. Just as neat answers evaded Kabou’s case, so, too, are they in short supply in Saint Omer. But this is a feature, not a bug: by letting the so-called facts of the shocking act hang in the air for everyone to interpret, Diop’s film revels in the enigmatic power of uncertainty.

Living

Directed by Oliver Hermanus
Written by Kazuo Ishiguro, based on the film by Akira Kurosawa
Starring Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood and Tom Burke
Classification PG
Runtime: 102 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Living, while made with all the best intentions and ambitions by a supremely talented lot of artists, should not work. Yet it does, ultimately, thanks to the magnificent talents of its leading man, Bill Nighy.

Plane

Directed by Jean-Francois Richet
Written by Charles Cumming and J.P. Davis
Starring Gerard Butler, Mike Colter and Tony Goldwyn
Classification PG
Runtime: 107 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: Plane is an exceedingly entertaining and ridiculously titled new thriller. Gerard Butler brings a low-rent-but-high-effort energy to a film that unfolds like a series of increasingly outlandish screenplay-writing “What If …?” exercises. No matter your stomach for copious acts of kneecapping and throat-slicing, Butler brings a believable sense of gravitas to the proceedings. He gets, and looks, tired. He sweats, he bleeds, he struggles. But as dedicated Butler-heads by now know, he gets the job done. One murder at a time.

Missing

Written and directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick
Starring Nia Long, Tim Griffin and Storm Reid
Classification PG
Runtime: 111 minutes

What our critic Sarah Hagi said: Made by first-time directors Nick Johnson and Will Merrick (and produced by the writer and directors of Searching) Missing follows rebellious teen June Allen (Storm Reid) as her mother, Grace (Nia Long), goes missing while on holiday in Colombia with her boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung). When June is set to pick them up from the airport and they don’t arrive, her worst suspicions are confirmed: her mother has gone missing in a foreign country and Kevin may not be who he says he is. Missing is essentially a stand-alone sequel to 2018′s Searching, a well-received film where a father has to find his missing daughter and which the audience experiences through his Google searches and video calls. Could effectively the exact same concept work again? Somehow, yes. Missing is a delightful surprise.

Ever Deadly

Ever Deadly
Written and directed by Tanya Tagaq and Chelsea McMullan
Classification: G;
Runtime: 90 minutes

What our critic Radheyan Simonpillai said: Tanya Tagaq is a disarmingly funny, unsurprisingly eloquent and playfully coy presence throughout Ever Deadly. The documentary, which she co-directs alongside Chelsea McMullan, is partly self-portraiture, but one in which Tagaq stays light on personal details and regularly turns the lens away from herself. The doc is a lot like the outfit Tagaq is wearing at the live concert it repeatedly returns to. It’s a dress covered in glass scales, catching in its reflections the world surrounding Tagaq. And these reflective fragments come together as something beautiful, cohesive and significant all on their own.

Pathaan

Directed by Siddharth Anand
Written by Siddharth Anand, Abbas Tyrewala and Shridhar Raghavan
Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham
Classification 14A;
Runtime: 146 mins

What our critic Aparita Bhandari said: Bollywood and Shah Rukh Khan are back, aided in no small part by other celebrities such as Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, in Pathaan, a slick action-thriller. Don’t bother looking for a plot. To be honest, things like a coherent narrative arc are not top priority in such action flicks. The story is merely a ruse to take the audience on a whirlwind globe-trotting tour as beautiful specimens of good guys take on bad guys, with the odd gal thrown in the middle somewhere.

Infinity Pool

Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg
Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Mia Goth and Thomas Kretschmann
Classification R
Runtime: 117 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: In other, cleaner hands, Infinity Pool’s high-concept pitch might devolve into a ponderous and rather dry exercise. A movie in which everybody asks the other, “Are you really you?” But in Brandon Cronenberg’s palms, the central identity-crisis conceit provides an opportunity to revel in an all-out primal nastiness. People are shot, stabbed, vivisected and treated like disposable playthings. This violence isn’t limited to acts of murder, either, with several sex scenes – including a drug-fuelled encounter that might hold the record for the longest onscreen orgy – treating the human body as a mutable thing, to be used and abused, worshipped and feared. This is unapologetic, assured filmmaking that has no qualms about sticking its face in the muck and staying there till everything turns black.

You People

Directed by Kenya Barris
Written by Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill
Starring Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Classification R
Runtime 117 minutes

What our critic Barry Hertz said: The laughs in You People are not a chuckle or a polite throat-clearing: these were hearty, full-strength guffaws that kept coming and coming as Barris and Hill took their simple premise – a 2023-era Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – and laced it with enough sharp one-liners to punch up an entire year’s worth of other so-called Netflix comedies. This could be my Jewish High Holidays PTSD talking, but You People just might be the single funniest thing that the streaming giant has ever produced.

Adult Adoption

Directed by Karen Knox
Written by Ellie Moon
Starring Ellie Moon, Rebecca Northan and Michael Healey
Classification N/A
Runtime: 93 minutes

What our critic Tabassum Siddiqui said: It’s tempting to label Adult Adoption as “quirky” – from the pastel-hued cinematography and thrift-store wardrobe to the electropop soundtrack. But bolstered by a cast of Toronto theatre veterans, filmmaker Karen Knox’s directorial debut delivers a narrative that is more complex than twee. That’s in large part thanks to a clever screenplay by award-winning playwright Ellie Moon.

Corsage

Written and directed by Marie Kreutzer
Starring Vicky Krieps and Florian Teichtmeister
Classification N/A
Runtime 113 minutes

What our critic Kate Taylor said: In Corsage, a fictionalized account of Empress Elisabeth of Austria’s 41st year, writer and director Marie Kreutzer offers unrepentant anachronism and shifting perspectives on a character as unsettling as she is fascinating