From Barbenheimer’s box office triumph to tense industry-wide strikes, the highs and lows of Hollywood may have dominated film discourse this year. But the more substantive conversations about what’s on screen have centred around the slew of sublime films coming out of Asia over the past 12 months.
Whether it’s the glorious return of Studio Ghibli mastermind Hayao Miyazaki, the critical adoration surrounding a pair of tender South Korean indie dramas, or the film festival buzz following two Southeast Asian horror standouts, 2023 has been a banner year for the continent’s cinema.
10. Hunger (Thailand)
Sitisiri Mongkolsiri’s culinary thriller is a psychologically intense look at the dark side of fine dining. Hunger follows Aoy (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying), a humble hawker who is recruited to join Thailand’s foremost haute cuisine team. Led by the acclaimed and infamous Chef Paul (Nopachai Jayanama), Aoy’s gourmet ambitions are rocked when she’s plunged headfirst into her abusive mentor’s toxic and high-stress kitchen.
While Paul’s methods do produce masterful meals, is the excellence he elicits worth the suffering he inflicts? Will Aoy’s insatiable drive for greatness compromise her moral compass? These savoury questions are but appetisers to Hunger’s meaty’s themes of privilege and exploitation.
For fans of: Pig, The Menu
9. La Luna (Singapore, Malaysia)
Written and directed by M. Raihan Halim, this heartwarming dramedy takes place in the fictional Malaysian village of Bras Basah. Life in the kampung is sleepy and tranquil until a city girl named Hanie (Sharifah Amani) moves into town and opens a lingerie shop. Slowly but surely, the scandalised villagers are won over – except for their iron-fisted leader, Tok Hassan (Wan Hanfafi).
On the surface, La Luna is an uproarious comedy about the clash between modernity and tradition, but underneath the laughs, this film also succeeds with its sharp commentary on female autonomy in religious communities.
For fans of: Easy A, Yes God Yes
8. Full River Red (China)
Full River Red’s big budget and blockbuster status might give the impression that it’s yet another period war epic. It’s not. Instead, this Chinese film is an acidic black comedy and an engrossing murder mystery. Set in the 12th century, during the Jin people’s rebellion against the Song Dynasty, a key diplomatic meeting in the Imperial Court is ruined when the Jin Ambassador is murdered.
What follows is a dizzying comedy in the corridors of power as a twisty conspiracy unravels among guards, courtiers and soldiers. Featuring plenty of offbeat humour and clever dialogue, this paranoid and playful whodunnit is a satirical treat.
For fans of: The Death of Stalin, Knives Out
7. Cobweb (South Korea)
Kim Jee-woon’s meta deconstruction of the film industry is the most absurdist movie within a movie you’ll see this year. Set in the 1970s, Cobweb follows a director named Kim Yeol (Song Kang-ho). Although he’s just finished his latest film, his thoughts are plagued by a new ending that, in his mind, will turn the project into a “masterpiece”.
Desperate to turn his flailing career around, Kim fights to get a reshoot while struggling to convince the cast, crew and executives of his revised vision. From his black-and-white fiction, to his production struggles, to his feverish dreams, we’re plunged into the ego of an auteur on the brink of delirium.
For fans of: Adaptation, Mank
6. In My Mother’s Skin (Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan)
Filipino folk horror at its finest. Helmed by writer-director Kenneth Dagatan, In My Mother’s Skin is a terrifying fantasy allegory about the ravages of war. Taking place in 1945 during the tail-end of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the film revolves around Tala (Felicity Kyle Napuli), a 14-year-old who lives in a country manor with her sick mother. Isolated and desperate, the girl calls upon a fairy (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) to help them.
Unfortunately, the fairy turns Tala’s mom into an aswang, a bloodthirsty supernatural creature. Graphic, grim and gruesome, In My Mother’s Skin is a chilling fable that will give you nightmares.
For fans of: Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone
5. Monster (Japan)
There is arguably nobody in the medium better at crafting naturalistic and empathetic stories than Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda. His latest is yet another delicate and humanist gem that continually makes you rethink your preconceived notions. When single mom Saori (Sakura Ando) notices that her son Minato (Soya Kurokawa) is behaving abnormally, she suspects that his teacher (Nagayama Eita) is abusing him.
As Monster continues, the non-linear narrative shifts its perspective among the three characters, revealing hidden depths to each of them and showcasing how prejudice can lead to incorrect conclusions. Perhaps there are no monsters, other than the monsters we imagine others to be.
For fans of: Rashomon, Shoplifters
4. Tiger Stripes (Malaysia)
The debut feature of Malaysian filmmaker Amanda Nell Eu is an animalistic and empowering coming-of-age tale that brilliantly explores gender, religion and culture through the lens of body horror. Tiger Stripes follows 11-year-old Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal), a rebellious free spirit in a strict Muslim school. Since she’s the first among her friends to hit puberty, she’s ostracised for the natural changes her body is going through.
But when unnatural changes occur (such as her transformation into a tiger!) things get even worse for the poor girl. Now with the strength and claws to fight back, she isn’t going to take her community’s revulsion and repression lying down.
For fans of: Carrie, The Witch
3. Past Lives (South Korea, US)
An exquisitely understated and emotionally honest drama about the roads not taken. Playwright Celine Song’s debut feature tells the story of Nora (Moon Seung-ah, Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Leem Seung-min, Teo Yoo), two childhood friends in South Korea whose connection is severed when Nora’s family moves to Toronto.
Past Lives follows both their journeys over the next two decades, as they briefly reconnect online in the 2010s and physically reunite in the present day. We follow along as they reminisce and ruminate on what might have been, and through their conversations, Song weaves a nuanced and quietly devastating portrait of lost love that will break your heart.
For fans of: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset
2. The Boy and the Heron (Japan)
10 years after Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement, the 82-year-old maestro makes a welcome comeback by crafting another Studio Ghibli showpiece.
Set during World War II, The Boy and the Heron follows young Mahito (Soma Santoki), a boy grieving for his mother who perished during a bombing of Tokyo. Amid his mourning, Mahito is harassed by a grey heron who tells him that his missing aunt can only be rescued if he enters a mystifying tower built by his granduncle. Once inside, Mahito ventures into a magical realm shared by the living and the dead. Miyazaki’s adaptation of Genzaburō Yoshino’s 1937 novel How Do You Live? is a graceful and gorgeously hand-drawn wonder that ranks among his best works.
For fans of: The Wind Rises, Spirited Away
1. Return to Seoul (South Korea)
Adopted by loving French parents as a baby, Freddie (Park Ji-min) has little to no relationship with her homeland of South Korea. But when the listless 25-year-old takes an impromptu trip to Seoul, she’s spurred on a journey of self-discovery that reshapes her sense of identity and belonging. Whether she’s looking for her biological parents or travelling for work, Freddie revisits the country several times over the next decade and at each stage, we see how the young woman has grown or regressed – and how reconnection with her roots has both healed and torn open old wounds.
Buoyed by Park Ji-min’s phenomenal lead performance, Cambodian-French filmmaker Davy Chou renders an intimate and vivid character study of a capricious girl’s quarter-life crisis.
For fans of: The Worst Person in the World, The Farewell