The Best Movies This Year — And No, ‘Barbie’ Isn’t One Of Them

- “Oppenheimer”: Christopher Nolan’s biographical thriller about J. Robert Oppenheimer.
- “The Holdovers”: A heartwarming comedy-drama set in a New England boarding school.
- “Poor Things”: Yorgos Lanthimos’s surreal and visually stunning adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s novel.
- “Killers of the Flower Moon”: Martin Scorsese’s epic crime drama based on true events.
- “Past Lives”: A poignant exploration of love, fate, and cultural identity.
- “The Zone of Interest”: Jonathan Glazer’s chilling portrayal of life adjacent to Auschwitz.
- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”: A visually groundbreaking animated sequel.
- “May December”: Todd Haynes’s nuanced drama starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore.
- “Anatomy of a Fall”: A gripping French legal drama that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
- “The Boy and the Heron”: Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated masterpiece.
While “Barbie” garnered significant attention and commercial success, these films have been praised for their artistic merit, storytelling, and cinematic innovation.