Killers Of The Flower Moon Tops Sight And Sound 2023 Best Films Poll

2024 is nearly here, those ‘Best Films’ lists will start to appear online, like Sight And Sound 2023 Best Films Poll. Today the long running film magazine revealed it’s Best Films for this year with Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon  at the number one spot.

After premiering at October’s BFI London Festival, period crime opus is regarded as one of the great chroniclers of American life, and an undisputed giant of cinema, Scorsese charts the complex human relationships at the centre of a grand conspiracy against the Native American Osage Nation in his 26th feature.

Martin Scorsese said: “I’ve been so heartened by the response to Killers of the Flower Moon. To have been able to make this picture, at this time in my life, and to see it so appreciated by so many, and by the Osage community in particular. . . for me, it’s grace.

“When I was told that it had topped the critics’ poll at Sight and Sound, I have to say that I was moved. The magazine has been so important to me, for such a long time.

“As far back as I can remember, I’ve seen the cinema ridiculed in so many different ways. Over the last few years, the ridicule has reached a new level. The cinema has been culturally devalued, from all sides and at a constant pace. Anyone who loves the cinema needs to stand up for it. What I don’t mean is the idea of movies as a kind of cultural messaging delivery service, which can actually play a part in the devaluation. What I do mean is the art of cinema. Period.

“I’ve been subscribing to Sight and Sound for 60 years. And when I look through the pages of the latest issue, it always lifts my spirits. Why? Because it’s made and maintained by people who care. People who love our art form. Please keep it that way.

“Thank you for your recognition of Killers of the Flower Moon.”

Some other films include Jonathan Glazer‘s The Zone Of Interest ins second place. A Holocaust drama to depict the pampered life of executioners inhabiting a bubble of bourgeois denial. The poll also features 17 films directed by female filmmakers like Celine Song’s Past Lives (3rd), Justine Triet‘s Anatomy Of A Fall (8th) and Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning (34th). Other films included are Bertrand Bonello‘s The Beast (26th), Makoto Shinkai‘s Suzume (38th) and Davy Chou’s Return To Seoul (24th).

The full Top 10 in Sight and Sound’s Best Films of 2023 poll are:

1. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (Martin Scorsese)
2. THE ZONE OF INTEREST (Jonathan Glazer)
3. PAST LIVES (Celine Song)
   4. POOR THINGS (Yorgos Lanthimos)
   =5. BARBIE (Greta Gerwig)
   =5. OPPENHEIMER (Christopher Nolan)
4. PASSAGES (Ira Sachs)
5. ANATOMY OF A FALL (Justine Triet)
6. DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD (Radu Jude)
   10. MAY DECEMBER (Todd Haynes)

Sight and Sound Editor-in-Chief Mike Williams commented: “2023 has been huge for cinema. The writers’ and actors’ strikes shone a light on many issues the industry is facing, while the summer box office proved that audiences still have a huge appetite for the theatrical experience. It feels apt that in a year in which the very soul of cinema has been in the spotlight Martin Scorsese, one the greatest filmmakers of all time, should top our annual poll. Killers of the Flower Moon, a story of greed and murder that cuts to the heart of American identity, is a towering achievement deserving of its many plaudits, not least for the powerful central performance of Lily Gladstone. Scorsese has been eloquently advocating for the art and history of cinema for five decades, and in Killers of the Flower Moon he’s added another masterpiece to the canon.”

You can check out the full results online here. Sight and Sound’s winter 23/24 issue is available digitally on 11th December and on newsstands from 14th December.