Best films of 2013
The first six are in order and are essential viewing in my opinion. I awarded these films a perfect rating.
I consider titles that I rated at least 9/10 the best films of any given year. As such, there is no arbitrary restriction on the number of films included in the list, nor is there a need to add films that don't merit inclusion.
Although IMDB lists Post Tenebras Lux and other films listed below as 2012 releases, these weren't released in North America until 2013. Nonetheless, I somewhat regret putting a title that is recorded as being from 2012 in first place in a list of the best films of 2013.
I will continue to add titles as I see them, provided that they make the cut. Your recommendations would be appreciated!
I consider titles that I rated at least 9/10 the best films of any given year. As such, there is no arbitrary restriction on the number of films included in the list, nor is there a need to add films that don't merit inclusion.
Although IMDB lists Post Tenebras Lux and other films listed below as 2012 releases, these weren't released in North America until 2013. Nonetheless, I somewhat regret putting a title that is recorded as being from 2012 in first place in a list of the best films of 2013.
I will continue to add titles as I see them, provided that they make the cut. Your recommendations would be appreciated!
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20 titles
- DirectorCarlos ReygadasStarsNathalia AcevedoAdolfo Jiménez CastroRut ReygadasJuan and his urban family live in the Mexican countryside, where they enjoy and suffer a world apart. And nobody knows if these two worlds are complementary or if they strive to eliminate one another.
- DirectorAbdellatif KechicheStarsLéa SeydouxAdèle ExarchopoulosSalim KechioucheAdèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
- DirectorAlexandros AvranasStarsThemis PanouReni PittakiEleni RoussinouA chilling account of a horrendous family tragedy perpetuated behind closed doors. As chronic violence chips away at the household's elaborate façade, the shocking secret reveals that almost nothing is as it seems.
- DirectorAmat EscalanteStarsArmando EspitiaAndrea VergaraLinda GonzálezHeli must try and protect his young family when his 12-year-old sister inadvertently involves them in the brutal drug world. He must battle against the drug cartel that have been angered as well as the corrupt police force.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingKristin Scott ThomasVithaya PansringarmJulian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok's criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother's recent death.
- DirectorGianfranco RosiStarsFrancesco De SantisGaetano FinocchiRoberto GiulianiFor nearly two years of exploring the "Great Ring Road's" almost 70km of looping highway, Gianfranco Rosi brings to the foreground the daily routine of ordinary people, composing the profile of a microcosm on the outskirts of Great Rome.
- DirectorPaolo SorrentinoStarsToni ServilloCarlo VerdoneSabrina FerilliJep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsAmy SeimetzFrank MosleyShane CarruthA man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsBérénice BejoTahar RahimAli MosaffaAn Iranian man deserts his French wife and her two children to return to his homeland. Meanwhile, his wife starts up a new relationship, a reality her husband confronts upon his wife's request for a divorce.
- DirectorRithy PanhStarsRandal DoucJean-Baptiste PhouRithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.
- DirectorAlain GuiraudieStarsPierre DeladonchampsChristophe PaouPatrick d'AssumçaoSummertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel, an attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this but wants to live out his passion anyway.
- DirectorAlain GomisStarsSaul WilliamsDjolof MbengueAnisia UzeymanSatché is about to die. He decides to make his last day on this world the day of his life.
- DirectorClio BarnardStarsConner ChapmanShaun ThomasSean GilderTwo thirteen year-old working-class friends in Bradford seek fortune by getting involved with a local scrap dealer and criminal.
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsMads MikkelsenThomas Bo LarsenAnnika WedderkoppA teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
- DirectorUlrich SeidlStarsMelanie LenzVerena LehbauerJoseph LorenzThe final installment in Ulrich Seidl's Paradise trilogy, 'Paradise: Hope' tells the story of overweight thirteen-year-old Melanie and her first love. While her mother travels to Kenya ('Paradise: Love') and her aunt does missionary work ('Paradise: Faith'), Melanie spends her summer vacation at a strict diet camp for overweight adolescents. Between physical education and nutrition counseling, pillow fights and her first cigarette, Melanie falls in love with the camp director, a doctor forty years her senior. As the doctor struggles with the guilty nature of his desire, Melanie had imagined her paradise differently.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsJulian BarrattPeter FerdinandoRichard GloverAmid the Civil War in 17th-century England, a group of deserters flee from battle through an overgrown field. Captured by an alchemist, the men are forced to help him search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field.
- DirectorBen RiversBen RussellStarsRobert Aiki Aubrey LoweHunter Hunt-HendrixNick McMasterA man in search for the creation of utopia in the present. First, as a member of a commune on an Estonian island, then alone in the majestic wilderness of Northern Finland and later as the singer of a neo-pagan, black metal band in Norway.
- DirectorMahamat-Saleh HarounStarsSouleymane DéméAnaïs MonoryCyril GueïDespite a paralyzed leg, Grigris, 25 year old, dreams of being a dancer. A challenge. But his dreams are dashed when his stepfather falls critically ill. To save him, Grigris resolves to work for petrol traffickers.
- DirectorVisra Vichit-VadakanStarsSa SittijunSupavitch MepremwattanaNang SittijunA young country girl is working at a bar in Bangkok as an escort to support her family in rural Thailand.