Canadian cinema hasn't always gotten the mainstream love it deserves, but there are always several quality films to come out yearly.
2023 was no different, and it featured a plethora of genres, ranging from poignant pop culture documentaries, to left-field filmmaking, all the way to corporate biopic about one of the nation's biggest exports ever.
Complex Canada lists the five best movies to come out of the country in 2023.
5. Drop The Needle
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Directors: Rob Freeman, Neil Acharya
Drop The Needle is a documentary that focuses on the famous Toronto record store Play De Record. The movie revolves around the store's Trinidadian owner Eugene Tam who opened it between the bustling streets of Yonge and Dundas.
As physical media phases out more every year, Drop The Needle is a triumphant celebration of the culture that exists in Toronto. The scene has changed monumentally since the store originally opened, and Rob Freeman and Neil Acharya's documentary is a vital piece of history (and present) wrapped into one beautiful documentary.
4. Infinity Pool
Where to watch: Crave
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
In the supremely weird and debauchery-filled Infinity Pool, director Brandon Cronenberg asks what people would do if they could get away with even the most heinous crimes.
It balances psychedelic visuals and off-beat storytelling techniques to show just how crazy life can get when you have carte blanche to do whatever you want. Propelled by excellent performances from Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth, Infinity Pool is destined to permeate your brain for weeks after viewing.
3. The Grizzlie Truth
Where to watch: Crave
Director: Kat Jayme
The Vancouver Grizzlies seemingly came and went. Many factors led to their departure for Memphis but Vancouver residents are still reeling from the loss of their beloved team,
Director Kat Jayme, who's also a Grizzlies superfan, digs into what happened to the team, explaining the shortcomings of ownership and executives and the infamous Steve Francis draft incident.
The Grizzlie Truth will leave you reminiscing over what could have been, but most of all, it shows just how impactful basketball was in Vancouver during its brief NBA tenure there.
2. Skinamarink
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Where to watch: Shudder
Director: Kyle Edward Ball
Horror movies can be easy to make, but they can also be very easy to mess up. There is an abundance of tropes horror directors tend to lean on, but Kyle Edward Ball's experimental take on the genre will leave you feeling paranoid afterward.
Skinamarink follows two children who wake up at night to find their parents have gone missing and the windows in their house disappeared. The movie plays out through found footage and follows the two children as they try and figure out what's going on.
The movie is as eerie as its premise and the execution, though very much out of field, will send shivers down your spine. Skinamarink is an exercise in patience, with the most horrifying elements bubbling up slowly throughout its 100-minute runtime.
1. BlackBerry
Where to watch: Crave (Theatrical Version), CBC Gem (Series Version)
Director: Matt Johnson
The greatest Canadian movie of the year belongs to the one that so effectively told the story of the country's biggest cellphone export ever: BlackBerry.
The Matt Johnson-directed film follows Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel), the founder of BlackBerry, as he builds the company up from scratch with the help of the infamous Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton).
Simply put, BlackBerry is hilarious. Howerton's take on Balsillie echoes the anger felt in his performance as Dennis Reynolds in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia while Baruchel's Lazaridis comes off as a timid, nerdy guy who can't make a decision.
It follows the typical beats of a biopic, but the movie is so frequently funny, that it doesn't ever really matter.
Come for the tale about the rise and fall of BlackBerry, stay for the angry rant that Howerton's Balsillie unleashes toward NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
