We kick off our review of 2023 with the year’s worst films; and by worst films I mean the worst ones I actually bothered to go and see, so some of the truly dreadful stuff may not appear here as it does on other lists – perhaps you can consider this more the disappointments of the year in such a sense!

5. Hypnotic

Ben Affleck is at his wooden worst here in this subpar sci-fi thriller that doesn’t remotely manage to deliver on the promise of its intriguing premise.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/hypnotic-2023

4. Beau is Afraid

Typically committed Joaquin Phoenix performance and entertaingly bonkers opening act aside, ‘Beau is Afraid‘ is the latest attempt from Ari Aster to bamboozle his audience, and for my money he certainly succeeded in a movie that besides the opening is impenetrable, self indulgent and ultimately boring.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/beau-is-afraid

3. The Son

This loose prequel to the excellent ‘The Father‘ is unfortunately nowhere near as good, a messy, stagey, overly melodramatic drama that feels like it was tailor made to try and generate award nominations. It didn’t, deservedly so, and is ultimately a waste of a talented cast.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/the-son-2022

2. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

It has been a poor year for superhero movies with the generally reliable (in box office terms at least) Marvel having a couple of duds, but the worst I saw (having missed a couple of the Marvel ones) was ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘, a lazy, phoned in sequel to one of DC comics better movies of recent years. Other than Jason Momoa being great fun again, this is a mess of a film with effects that look like they’re straight out a video game, a boring story and supporting characters who look like they’d rather be doing anything else. A bit of a mess, in short.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom

1. Enys Men

Mark Jenkin’s debut movie was the excellent ‘Bait‘, a story of gentrification in a Cornwall fishing village, but unfortunately his follow up is this dreary, dull folk horror that bored me to tears. More like an art installation than an actual movie, it really, really was not for me.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/enys-men

Narrowly avoiding this list: The Pale Blue Eye, The Old Way