Drama Movies of 2023

Aftersun

Aftersun – Critics Cheer, Viewers Marked Down (2.5*)

Aftersun is, for most viewers, a rather boring but sensitive story of a young father and his 11-year-old daughter on vacation at a beach resort in Turkey. surreptitiously woven into this story is another, more tragic tale – but good luck to the casual viewer trying to find it.

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All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front – A Gut Punch Focus on War (4*)

A German production, All Quiet on the Western Front re-adapts the 1928 novel of the same name, adding some distinctive scenes and commentary to the story of a young German man, and his friends, thrust onto the “Western Front” to fight the French in the final months of World War I. Accompanied by some stunning cinematography, dominating sound and music, and visceral visual effects, the film reaches new heights in presenting the horror of war. It also adds another, very important message about how events are felt differently depending on where you stand on the social ladder.

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Blonde

Blonde – Long Sexy with Hidden Truths (3.5*)

Blonde is not a biography of Marilyn Monroe, although she is the central character. This is, instead, an unusually forceful exploration of how difficult it is for women to fuse their public and private personas. It is also an indictment of Hollywood, and of men generally. (3.5*)

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Living

Living – Basic Still and Calm (3*)

Living is a remake of a 70-year-old Japanese film with the setting changed to London. The story is a classic, about a man who, told he only has six months to live, suddenly decides to do something different with his life. Nighy’s acting is “spot on”, and the film is a tearjerker, but ultimately it doesn’t present anything new.

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Banshees of Inisherin

The Banshees of Inisherin – When Friendship Ends (4.5*)

Set during the Irish Civil War in 1923, in a very small village on an isolated island (Inisherin) off the coast of Ireland, Padraic (Colin Farrell) finds his lifelong friendship is torn when his older best friend, Colm (Brendan Gleeson) suddenly, and without apparent reason, finds him “dull” and no longer wants to be with him. The change alters both men, and the entire village, both emotionally and physically. Martin McDonagh’s carefully written and directed script is executed by an Irish-born cast with seemingly perfect chemistry. A must-see film for any adult interested in how and why relationships, of any kind, change and, sometimes, end. (4.5*) The Banshees of Inisherin

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