Our Must-See Movies in 2023

It's been a tough couple of years for movies, but it looks like we're coming back with some really promising new films in 2023. The theaters haven't been this bumpin' in years, so get excited as we run down some of the biggest must-see movies of 2023. Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a list like this. Grab your popcorn and the snacks you definitely didn't hide in your purse, and let's get into it.

It wouldn't be a 2023 movie list if we didn't start with the Barbenheimer of it all. Greta Gerwig's Barbie is the biggest movie in years – and as someone who has seen it twice, both times in costume, I have to agree it's worth the hype. And that's just gotta be Kenough for everyone.

And why not do a double feature with Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan's IMAX-shot J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic that we've all been told needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, it's just that great. I've heard great things about this movie, although it's a bit of a downer — shocking I know — so maybe start that double feature with Oppenheimer now that I think about it. 

I know I was recently reminded just how much fun going to the actual movie theater was, so why not give the new Haunted Mansion movie a go? Sure the first one was kind of a flop, but it's been 20 years, Danny DeVito is in this one, it seems like it will be a good time if nothing else. And nothing is more fun than Jason Statham versus a big-ass shark, so you can also catch me in Meg 2: The Trench – I may or may not be rooting for the shark.

Maybe it's the movie theater popcorn fumes, but I'm also getting more and more excited for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. I'm not the biggest Ninja Turtles person, but Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are behind this reimagining and this artwork is giving me Spider-Verse, so I'm sold! 

Dune: Part Two is also on the horizon, it's scheduled for a November release now but a lot of movie releases are kind of up in the air due to the strikes in Hollywood, so write that on your calendar in pencil. I admit it, I didn't see the first Dune, so the plot synopsis for the second one is pretty confusing, but Paul is rising to power, he's rebelling, who doesn't love that? I promise I'll watch the first one by the time it comes out.

Oh, and I will be doing a FULL Hunger Games rewatch before The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' scheduled November release. This prequel follows a young President Snow and what eventually leads him to become the tyrannical leader of Panem – may the odds be ever in the favor of the person I go see this with, because I'm gonna be in full Katniss cosplay.

I will not, however, be dressing up as an Oompa Loompa to see Wonka. This is Timothée Chalamet's take on young Willy Wonka, scheduled to be released in December 2023, and while normally I would say let's just let Gene Wilder be Willy Wonka, it is being directed by Paddington and Paddington 2 director Paul King and those movies are modern masterpieces. I'll see you in the theaters.

We have another reimagining of a classic coming in December with The Color Purple, this time starring Halle Bailey, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and so many other stars. The 1985 movie is truly perfection so normally I would be a little nervous, but this cast looks great, the trailer looks great – I am really excited for this one.

And then it's 2024 – jumpscare! Which of these movies are you most excited for? Let me know in the comments while the popcorn's popping.