Best Limited Release Movies 2023

In a year packed with notable true stories and biopics, writer-director Matt Johnson’s smartly funny chronicle of the rise and fall of BlackBerry managed to wow both critics and fans en route to a Best Limited Release win.

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#1

BlackBerry (2023)
Tomatometer icon 97%

#1
Adjusted Score: 108694%
Critics Consensus: With intelligence as sharp as its humor, BlackBerry takes a terrifically entertaining look at the rise and fall of a generation-defining gadget.
Synopsis: 'BlackBerry' tells the story of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the two men that charted the course of the spectacular... [More]
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Rich Sommer
Directed By: Matt Johnson

#2

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
Tomatometer icon 96%

#2
Adjusted Score: 112146%
Critics Consensus: A smart, solidly crafted procedural that's anchored in family drama, Anatomy of a Fall finds star Sandra Hüller and director/co-writer Justine Triet operating at peak power.
Synopsis: For the past year, Sandra, her husband Samuel, and their eleven-year-old son Daniel have lived a secluded life in a... [More]
Starring: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz
Directed By: Justine Triet

#3
#3
Adjusted Score: 107265%
Critics Consensus: Poignant and profound, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie offers a captivating inside look at the life and career of a beloved entertainer.
Synopsis: The film, which will incorporate documentary, archival and scripted elements, will recount Fox's extraordinary story in his own words --... [More]
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Tracy Pollan, Andrew Barber, David Diamond
Directed By: Davis Guggenheim

#4

May December (2023)
Tomatometer icon 91%

#4
Adjusted Score: 109492%
Critics Consensus: Swaddling its difficult fact-based story in a blanket of campy humor, May December is a seductively discomfiting watch.
Synopsis: Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, Gracie Atherton-Yu and her husband Joe (twenty-three years her junior)... [More]
Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Cory Michael Smith, Charles Melton
Directed By: Todd Haynes

#5

Fallen Leaves (2023)
Tomatometer icon 97%

#5
Adjusted Score: 106051%
Critics Consensus: A quirky tale of star-crossed lovers, Fallen Leaves is a life-affirming gem from Finnish filmmaker Kaurismäki.
Synopsis: In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a local karaoke bar. However, the... [More]
Starring: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Janne Hyytiäinen, Alina Tomnikov
Directed By: Aki Kaurismäki

#6

All of Us Strangers (2023)
Tomatometer icon 96%

#6
Adjusted Score: 111063%
Critics Consensus: All of Us Strangers examines profound grief and love through a fantastical lens that is always grounded on human emotion.
Synopsis: One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam (Andrew Scott) has a chance encounter with a mysterious... [More]
Starring: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy
Directed By: Andrew Haigh

#7

Passages (2023)
Tomatometer icon 95%

#7
Adjusted Score: 105009%
Critics Consensus: Elevated by a remarkable Franz Rogowski performance, Passages adds another smart, deeply humanistic film to director/co-writer Ira Sachs' estimable filmography.
Synopsis: Celebrated filmmaker Ira Sachs (Love is Strange) makes a breathtaking return with PASSAGES, a fresh, honest and brutally funny take... [More]
Starring: Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Erwan Kepoa Falé
Directed By: Ira Sachs

#8
#8
Adjusted Score: 104001%
Critics Consensus: An explosive adaptation of Andreas Malm's treatise, How to Blow Up a Pipeline delivers a high-stakes eco-thriller ignited by riveting and complex antiheroes.
Synopsis: A crew of young environmental activists execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline, in Daniel Goldhaber's taut and... [More]
Starring: Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck
Directed By: Daniel Goldhaber

#9

Monster (2023)
Tomatometer icon 96%

#9
Adjusted Score: 104987%
Critics Consensus: Gently devastating in its compassion, Monster is a masterpiece of shifting perspectives that surprises to the end.
Synopsis: When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a... [More]
Starring: Sakura Andô, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Mitsuki Takahata
Directed By: Hirokazu Koreeda

#10

KOKOMO CITY (2023)
Tomatometer icon 99%

#10
Adjusted Score: 102755%
Critics Consensus: Kokomo City is a rousing docu effort that illuminates trans lives within a world of adverse circumstance and invariable optimism.
Synopsis: In the wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary KOKOMO CITY, filmmaker D. Smith passes the mic to four Black transgender... [More]
Starring: Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, Dominique Silver
Directed By: D. Smith

#11
#11
Adjusted Score: 112755%
Critics Consensus: Dispassionately examining the ordinary existence of people complicit in horrific crimes, The Zone of Interest forces us to take a cold look at the mundanity behind an unforgivable brutality.
Synopsis: The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in... [More]
Starring: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Medusa Knopf, Daniel Holzberg
Directed By: Jonathan Glazer

#12

20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
Tomatometer icon 100%

#12
Adjusted Score: 103151%
Critics Consensus: 20 Days in Mariupol offers a grueling but vital look at the devastating impact of war.
Synopsis: As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue... [More]
Starring: Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka
Directed By: Mstyslav Chernov

#13
#13
Adjusted Score: 102670%
Critics Consensus: As ambitious and provocative as its subject, The Disappearance of Shere Hite is a fascinating glimpse of a remarkable life.
Synopsis: Shere Hite's 1976 bestselling book, The Hite Report, liberated the female orgasm by revealing the most private experiences of thousands of... [More]
Starring: Dakota Johnson
Directed By: Nicole Newnham

#14

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
Tomatometer icon 95%

#14
Adjusted Score: 102001%
Critics Consensus: They Cloned Tyrone is provocative, clever sci-fi with an exceptional cast.
Synopsis: A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of... [More]
Starring: John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris, Kiefer Sutherland
Directed By: Juel Taylor

#15

Beyond Utopia (2023)
Tomatometer icon 100%

#15
Adjusted Score: 102429%
Critics Consensus: A documentary that feels like a thriller, Beyond Utopia is a gripping -- and frightening -- glimpse of life under oppression.
Synopsis: A suspenseful, riveting portrait of the lengths people will go to gain freedom, BEYOND UTOPIA follows various families as they... [More]
Starring: Lee So-yeon, Barbara Demick, Sung-eun Kim, Hyeonseo Lee
Directed By: Madeleine Gavin

#16

Joyland (2022)
Tomatometer icon 98%

#16
Adjusted Score: 102118%
Critics Consensus: With stunning honesty that's achingly bittersweet, Joyland tackles gender and sexual fluidity in a repressed patriarchal society with wisps of hopefulness.
Synopsis: The Ranas--a happily patriarchal joint family--yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line. Their youngest... [More]
Starring: Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani
Directed By: Saim Sadiq

#17
#17
Adjusted Score: 101824%
Critics Consensus: A bone-chilling body horror, Huesera offers genre fans a twisted take on What to Expect When You're Expecting.
Synopsis: Valeria's joy at becoming a first-time mother is quickly taken away when she's cursed by a sinister entity. As danger... [More]
Starring: Natalia Solián, Alfonso Dosal, Mayra Batalla, Mercedes Hernández
Directed By: Michelle Garza Cervera

#18

Flora and Son (2023)
Tomatometer icon 93%

#18
Adjusted Score: 101505%
Critics Consensus: Another music-fueled crowd-pleaser from writer-director John Carney, Flora and Son proves almost impossible to resist.
Synopsis: Single mom Flora (Eve Hewson) is at a loss about what to do with her rebellious teenage son, Max (Orén... [More]
Starring: Eve Hewson, Orén Kinlan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jack Reynor
Directed By: John Carney

#19

The First Slam Dunk (2022)
Tomatometer icon 100%

#19
Adjusted Score: 101588%
Critics Consensus: A heart-pumping, breathtaking, wonderfully crafted manga adaptation, The First Slam Dunk shoots and scores.
Synopsis: Shohoku's "speedster" and point guard, Ryota Miyagi, always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while... [More]
Starring: Syugo Nakamura, Jun Kasama, Shinichiro Kamio, Subaru Kimura
Directed By: Takehiko Inoue

#20

The Killer (2023)
Tomatometer icon 85%

#20
Adjusted Score: 101567%
Critics Consensus: The Killer finds director David Fincher on firm footing with a stylish and engaging thriller that proves a perfect match for leading man Michael Fassbender.
Synopsis: After a fateful near-miss an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn't personal.... [More]
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Tilda Swinton
Directed By: David Fincher

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