Best Movies of 2023 - Best Director

Continuing my look at the best movies of 2023, I am now going to make my pick for the best director of 2023. 2023 was a great year for movies and one of my favorite aspects of it was how many of my favorite directors made movies. We got great films from legendary veterans like Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Alexander Payne, Todd Haynes, David Fincher, M. Night Shyamalan, Kelly Reichardt, Ben Affleck, Wes Anderson, and Sophia Coppola, to name a few. We also saw a slew of impressive work from new and up-and-coming directors like Matt Johnson, A.V. Rockwell, and Cord Jefferson, and we saw the return of award-winning directors like Michael Mann, Hayao Miyazaki, and Ben Affleck, following long directorial hiatuses.

Like the other lists, I am going to pick “nominees” for Best Directoral Debut and Best Director and pick a winner for both, which will be highlighted in bold. Here are my picks for the best director and best directorial debut of 2023.

BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

Greta Lee (left) and writer-director Celine Song on the set of Past Lives. (JonPack/A24) — Greta Lee (left) and writer-director Celine Song on the set of *Past Lives*. (JonPack/A24)

Cord Jefferson – American Fiction

Miles Warren – Bruiser

Michael B. Jordan – Creed III

Celine Song – Past Lives

A.V. Rockwell – A Thousand and One

This is becoming one of my favorite categories to write about because it always reassures me that the future of cinema is in good hands. These were all impressive directorial efforts from new voices in 2023, but Celine Song’s work on Past Lives was not only the best directorial debut of 2023 but one of the best directed films of the year. Song exudes confidence with captivating long takes of subtle glances and gestures that fill the screen with emotion. Past Lives was as beautiful as movies got 2023 and that’s all because of Song’s vision.

BEST DIRECTOR

Director Christopher Nolan (r) directs Cillian Murphy (l)—the actor portraying J. Robert Oppenheimer in the film—on the set of Oppenheimer (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures) — Director Christopher Nolan (r) directs Cillian Murphy (l)—the actor portraying J. Robert Oppenheimer in the film—on the set of *Oppenheimer* (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)

Justine Triet – Anatomy of a Fall

Chad Stahelski – John Wick: Chapter 4

Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon

Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer

Celine Song – Past Lives

Watching Oppenheimer is watching a master have complete control of the story they are telling and the way they want to tell it. Nolan made a biopic as only he could; it features two different plot lines in two different timelines while cutting back and forth between them and showing us the stories they are telling us. He keeps a gripping pace from the very start and doesn’t slow it down once during the three-hour runtime. He gets spectacular performances from his gigantic ensemble. From the main stars to the smallest roles, every performance is note-perfect. The film is a technical marvel on every level and boasts the best script of his career.
Nolan takes all of this, the plot, story, performances, and technical pieces, and brings them together to make the most epic movie of 2023. It is filmmaking at the absolute highest form and could go down as Nolan’s crowning achievement as a director.

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