At the end of every year a handful of films make it onto nearly every top ten list. While the widespread acclaim for those films is understandable, there are plenty of others that are just as good that don’t receive that level of notoriety. For this list, Jeff Sparks and Michael Clawson have selected a few of their favorite underseen films that were under-appreciated by mainstream critics and audiences last year.
Stonewalling – Jeff Sparks
2023 was a year stacked with films boasting lengthy runtimes like “Beau is Afraid,” “Killers of The Flower Moon,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Trenque Lauquen,” or the popular pick in “Oppenheimer.” The lesser known though is the patient two-and-a-half hour-long slice of life “Stonewalling” from directors Ryuji Otsuka and Huang Ji. Starring Yao Honggui, the film follows Lynn, a pregnant student who finds herself struggling to decide on what to do about her pregnancy, unsure of how each outcome will affect her future.
Eventually, she decides to give the child to another couple when it’s born. In the meantime, she spends her days taking odd jobs and dealing with her argumentative parents. Through long, static shots we accompany Lynn through nearly a year as she travels from place to place through China trying just to get by as she figures it all out. Appearing in almost every shot, “Stonewalling” embeds us into Lynn’s story as she roams through China’s gig economy. Consisting almost entirely of medium shots, Lynn often appears small in the frame.
In some cases, she’s difficult to spot when the film cuts to her in public places. Otsuka and Ji’s story tells one of a woman whose struggle is one that countless women have gone through. Lynn may have been able to find a way to get back to her normal life but “Stonewalling’s” devastating ending reminds us that the decisions women have to make in these types of situations are never easy.
Topology of Sirens – Michael Clawson
I saw and loved two different films in 2023 that were infused with the adventurous spirit of Jacques Rivette. One was “Trenque Lauquen” from Argentine filmmaker Laura Citarella, which landed on a number of prominent lists of the year’s best movies. The other has gone largely overlooked: “Topology of Sirens,” the feature debut of American director Jonathan Davies, and a quietly spellbinding mystery with Rivette-like enigmas around many of its turns. Courtney Stephens stars as Cas, a Los Angeles-based academic and musician who moves into her aunt’s old house and discovers something curious. Locked away in a closet, she finds a hurdy-gurdy, a Renaissance-era string instrument, which her father says he doesn’t recall his sister having. Tucked into a compartment on the hurdy-gurdy are a handful of mysteriously-labeled cassette tapes of ambient noise and experimental music. Beguiled by the mythic symbols on the tapes and the sounds they hold, Cas sets out to unravel the puzzle of where the tapes came from and what their soundscapes mean, finding new clues and new paths to explore as she drifts throughout the experimental music scene of her sunny LA neighborhood. Her journey is a low-key and peaceful one, with virtually nothing that presents itself as dangerous or threatening. Rather than a plot-driven voyage with dramatic ups and downs, “Topology of Sirens” is an ode to aural experiences, to the capacity of sound to enthrall and tantalize. With its charming variety of sonic textures, it encourages and rewards attentive listening.
Call Me Chihiro – Jeff Sparks
One day I found myself endlessly scrolling through Netflix looking for something to watch. Finally clicking on one that looked interesting, to find that I’d discovered one of the best films of the year, “Call Me Chihiro.” Kasumi Arimura stars as a former sex worker who works at a bento shop in a seaside town that she treats as her own personal playground while simultaneously feeling out of place in. There she meets multiple strangers whom she leads on journeys of self-discovery while still struggling to find her own path. The individuals she helps come from a wide range of backgrounds. An elderly homeless man, a neglected young boy, a lonely school girl, and a dying old woman, she goes out of her way to support them in the different stages of their lives. In the process though she finds that she could use a helping hand herself. Free-spirited and flawed, Chihiro is one of my favorite characters of 2023. Although she’s always thoughtful of those around her, the outgoing woman doesn’t pretend to know what her place in the world is as she searches for a sense of belonging. It’s a shame that this one got overlooked because the story that “Call Me Chihiro” tells is a powerful one that I won’t soon forget.
Earth Mama – Michael Clawson
Every year, there are at least one or two A24 movies that the distributor short-changes in terms of a release push. One of this year’s casualties was “Earth Mama,” the directorial debut of pro-athlete-turned-filmmaker Savanah Leaf, which premiered at Sundance and went on to get only a modest limited theatrical release before hitting VOD. An achingly honest portrait of motherhood and an immensely impressive debut, “Earth Mama” deserved more. The story concerns Gia (Tia Nomore), a young Black single mother in the Bay area with two children in foster care and a third baby on the way.
Her days are filled with work as a portrait photographer at a strip mall, classes that the courts require of her in order to see her children, visits to the foster care center, and appointments with counselors. Worried that she’ll also lose custody of her newborn when it arrives, Gia weighs the possibility of an open adoption – an excruciating prospect. “I’m trying my best,” Gia says to her daughter during one of their visits. Leaf’s humanism lies in her commitment to showing just that: an overwhelmed pregnant mother trying her best to navigate an impossibly difficult situation. Leaf’s compassion comes through her aesthetic choices: the light, color, and framing all suggest an artist with deep concern and empathy for her subject, even when Gia’s flaws present themselves.
Emotionally and stylistically, the film teems with beauty. Pastel pinks and purples run through the mise-en-scene, which is gorgeously lensed by cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes. The stylistic composure matches Leaf’s restraint with narrative: this story might have tipped into miserabilism on any number of occasions, but Leaf is careful and precise in her modulating of the film’s dramatic intensity. A terrific companion piece to A.V. Rockwell’s “A Thousand and One,” a 2023 film that received wider exposure, “Earth Mama” is more than worth seeking out.
Waiting for the Light to Change – Jeff Sparks
Thanks to an excellent writeup by Michael I found out about “Waiting for the Light to Change” late in 2023 and I’m glad I did because it’s one of the best films made on a shoestring budget I’ve seen in years. Jin Park and Joyce Ha star as Amy and Kim, best friends who spend a week at a lakeside getaway with a group of friends, some old, some new. Although they’ve known each other since they were teens, the two central women couldn’t be more different than they are now. Kim has a boyfriend and has an idea of what her life goals are, though she’s not confident in the progress she’s made while Amy is entirely lost on what the next step is or how she will get there. Even as historied as their friendship is, it’s evident early on the two have been drifting apart for some time now with resentment building as Amy struggles to find direction and meaning in her life. Slow and hushed, Linh Tran’s film is structured on long takes that see her characters talking to each other, revealing their personal thoughts that have been lingering in their mind through a series of beautiful, naturalistic shots that capture the characters within the environment around them. Not even scratching ninety minutes, “Waiting for the Light to Change” wastes no time in its delicate portrait of two women navigating an uncertain future.
