Particularly in the past two years, it seemed difficult to create a best-of list at the end of the year - not because the movies that were produced were bad, but rather because the content on television seemed so much more relevant. Now 2023 has proved itself to be a year of almost ideal balance, with strong titles  popping up on the big and small screen. We’ve missed a few biggies, though, like Poor Things and Anatomy of a Fall amongst others. Thus, here we go with our top picks. Shout outs to Femme, Monster, Huesera, Falcon Lake, Origin, Red Rooms, and Baby Ruby for almost making the cut. Now enjoy agreeing to disagree with our choice while popping some popcorn.

01.THE ZONE OF INTEREST by Jonathan Glazer
This highly unnerving, haunting and profound film proves that at this point Glazer simply plays in a league of his own. The same should be said about Mica Levi and Sandra Hüller.

02. SKUNK by Koen Mortier
Raw, consciously inconvenient and urgent. Supported by a star-turning performance from Thibaud Dooms, one of Europe’s most original filmmakers is back with a gripping story on how broken homes produce heavily broken people while the system turns a blind eye to it.

03. AND THE KING SAID, WHAT A FANTASTIC MACHINE by Axel Danielson & Maximilien Van Aertryck
At times shocking, often hilarious and always highly entertaining, this year’s most precious doc investigates our ongoing fascination with (moving) images - and how truth is altered and manipulated in the process.

04. LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Sam Esmail
High on atmosphere and tension, and (luckily) low on specific explanations for the threatening events on display, Esmail’s return to the big screen is an unexpected gem that’s delivering discussion material for weeks to come.

05. INFINITY POOL by Brandon Cronenberg
An unhinged Mia Goth steals the show in this deranged parable on colonial tourism and infinite money solving anything - including murder and having psychedelic group sex while wearing gruesome masks.

06. THE BEASTS by Rodrigo Sorogoyen
The Galician backdrop might be specific, but make no mistake: this tense and heavy drama about intolerance, xenophobia, masculinity and narrow-mindedness speaks a universal language.

&t=45s

07. WHEN EVIL LURKS by Demián Runa
Forget everything you know about the rule book of horror - Runa’s entry to the possession-subgenre is a very different and overall vicious kinda beast.

08. BEAU IS AFRAID by Ari Aster
A consciously divisive fairytale that people just loved to hate. In actuality though, it’s a fascinating one-of-a-kind ride that was simply doomed to fail due to the false expectations from critics and audiences alike.

09. MONOLITH by Matt Vesely
Far from being a flawless film, Vesely’s debut offers a highly entertaining chamber play on paranoia, conspiracy theories and how alleged news are manufactured.

10. TALK TO ME by Danny and Michael Philippou
Admittedly, it might not be the scare-fest we’ve so eagerly awaited. Instead it’s clever and original and not only offers a breakthrough performance by Sophie Wilde but probably the start of your new favorite horror-franchise.