Weirdo Watchlist: Strange but Good Movies from 2023
Six bizarre and captivating films for whatever it is you're into exactly. Normies, keep scrolling.
In the spirit of throwing things at the wall / embracing failure / just going for it, I bring you Stoner Fruit’s inaugural post. I’m trying to find my voice again as a writer and in doing so I want to share all that makes (my) life more vibrant, rich, deep, and delicious with whoever out there is listening. By starting Stoner Fruit, my hope is to filter these experiences into essays, recommendations, and reviews that we can share together. Since this is new to both of us, Stoner Fruit will remain entirely free for 2024. Thank you for being here — xo Liv
As another December comes to a close one of the things I look forward to the most about the ending of a year is the permission it grants us to lay around and do nothing. Having been laid off from my job since May I found this particular holiday break to lack the same charm, since being graced with over 6 months of this “permission”. However, one serious upside of my downtime has been the ability to indulge in movies again and while becoming a more dedicated Letterboxd user is on my resolution list for 2024, my analog backup system (brain) has done a fairly decent job of keeping track of what I got to see this year. In reflecting on what to include in my recommendations from 2023 it became pretty clear to me what many of them have in common: they’re fucking weird.
Please enjoy this list below and comment to let me know which weird-ass movies I missed in my recap. You might also consider subscribing to Stoner Fruit (consider it the Christmas gift you didn’t get me).
🙈 Spoilers ahead ➡️
Sentimental Weirdos
Fingernails, November 2023
Directed by Christos Nikou, Starring Jessie Buckley / Riz Ahmed / Jeremy Allen White
💓 If you love: ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, ‘Her’, having a twee phase
My review is basically “Oh my god, JUST KISS ALREADY!”. Fingernails is a sort of sci-fi (500) Days of Summer set in a world where people falling out of love has become an epidemic and a totally normalized but actually super traumatizing test seems to be the only solution. While the concept of technology meddling in the affairs of the heart is nothing new (see: TiMer, Hang the DJ from Black Mirror S4) what is most exceptional about this movie is how all three of the main characters’ performances managed to break my heart in their own way. Not a surprise from such a talented love triangle.
I’ll admit, the weirdest thing about Fingernails is probably that anyone would question being in love with Jeremy Allen White. I do however think there is always something special worth seeing when retrofuturism and the problems of the modern world come together on screen. Lovers of the rom-com genre will appreciate the film’s tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, like forcing people to sit through a Hugh Grant film festival as part of couples therapy (Nikou actually approached Grant to play a role in this film). Offbeat and not too deep, Fingernails is a fun watch to save for Valentine’s 2024.
Awkward Weirdos
Bottoms, August 2023
Directed by Emma Seligman, Starring Rachel Sennott / Aoy Edebiri
💓 If you love: ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’, ‘PEN15’, thrift haul videos
I love a movie that feels like it’s breathing new life into a genre and Emma Seligman’s second feature film Bottoms does just that. An escapist, steamy summer release, it pays homage to Y2K hits like Wet Hot American Summer, where adults pretend to be horny teenagers and the “ugly, untalented gays” get the girl. Edebiri and Sennott play sexually depraved high school seniors Josie and PJ who devise a plan to land their dream girls by starting an all girls self defence club. It’s a refreshing, queer satire best described as Fight Club meets Mean Girls all of which delivers on belly laughs the whole way through.
The movie is extremely stylized that transports you to a strange, John Hughes on acid kind of world. Visual references from cult favourites like Clueless and The Craft (“we are the weirdos, mister”) feel seamlessly integrated. In fact, if you need any further proof that the all-star cast of the film channeled a range of references for the picture you can bookmark this interview from Letterboxd for later. Bottoms is a weirdo friendly, feel-good film experience that definitely left me smiling in 2023.
Kinky Weirdos
Saltburn, November 2023
Directed by Emerald Fennell, Starring Barry Keoghan / Jacob Elordi
💓 If you love: ‘Atonement’, ‘Call Me By Your Name’, #perfumetok
Saltburn is the erotically supercharged sophomore release from director Emerald Fennell. Her debut film Promising Young Woman drew me in with its whimsical art direction and sold me with its delivery on female rage. Saltburn however feels like a more mature, even more sinister side of Fennell that had me instantly bought in. While she doesn’t have any confirmed projects on the rise for 2024 I am highly anticipating her next release.
The movie centres around Oliver Quick (Keoghan), a socially inept loner who quickly forms a close bond with fellow classmate Felix Catton (Elordi) after arriving to study at Oxford in 2006. As the school year comes to an end Oliver, a seemingly abandoned puppy with no where to go, follows Felix to his infamous family estate to experience summer alongside his disgustingly rich family. From there things get, you guessed it, weird. From the viral soundtrack to the entire Midsummer Night’s Dream party, I might go so far as to call this the thriller of the year for me. Satburn is a salty, sweaty, feast for the senses that will leave you licking your lips and betraying your instincts all the way to the end.
Masochistic Weirdos
Birth/Rebirth, August 2023
Directed by Laura Moss, Starring Marin Ireland / Judy Reyes
💓 If you love: ‘Raw’, ‘Midsommar’, cutting your own bangs
Viewer discretion advisory: this film contains highly graphic imagery that might be disturbing for some viewers.
Based on Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, I consider Birth/Rebirth to be one of the best (and definitely the most disturbing) movies of 2023. It tells the story of an eccentric (I’m being generous here) morgue technician played by Ireland who spends her waking hours engrossed in her attempts to reanimate the dead. When she meets grief stricken Celie (Reyes) the two join forces with the common goal of returning her recently deceased daughter back to life.
This movie is like being opened on an operating table with zero anesthetic. It will leave you feeling exposed, both emotionally and in its intense, graphic choices. What I found most compelling about Birth/Rebirth was that all the gore you witnessed in the film is in fact just natural biology, the process of life and death. Despite doing the impossible, the movie feels extremely real at many points. During what is arguably was the most excessive and violent parts of the movie, nothing is explicitly shown on screen (perhaps a testament to how real life is often scarier than anything our minds could come up with on their own). Birth/Rebirth is a movie I can’t wait to revisit just, maybe not while any of my friends are pregnant.
Obsessive Weirdos
Lynch/Oz, June 2023
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, Starring John Waters / Karyn Kusama / Rodney Ascher
💓 If you love: ‘Twin Peaks’, ‘Sofia Coppola Archive’, niche Youtube essays
The only documentary to appear on this list, Lynch/Oz finally became available for limited theatrical releases and exclusive streaming on Criterion this year. It details the surrealist director’s lifelong obsession with 1939 cultural icon The Wizard of Oz and its influence on not only his work, but its seemingly intrinsic presence in film in the over eight decades of its existence.
Movie buffs (read: losers) will appreciate the extensive list of films that appear in the documentary, delving into other cult favourite directors like Stanley Kubrik and the many comparisons between his work and Oz. Beloved weirdo, director John Waters, narrates a portion of the film where we get to hear his shared love for The Wizard of Oz alongside other influences like Cinderella, puppets, and villains.
Lynch/Oz is certainly beautiful to look at including dozens of haunting crossfades of Hollywood’s most iconic films and each of the micro-essays that drive the film offers something unique. It is a definite must-watch for reasons far beyond what the title implies.
Existential Weirdos
Beau is Afraid, April 2023
Directed by Ari Aster, Starring Joaquin Pheonix / Parker Posey
💓 If you love: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’, ‘Donnie Darko’, microdosing
One of the few new films I went out of my way to see in theatres this year, Beau is Afraid did not disappoint (but it was unsettling). It takes you on the seemingly drug induced journey of Beau Wasserman (Pheonix) who leaves home to face the sudden and confusing death of his overbearing mother. Probably the most controversial release from A24 studios this year, you might consider seeing it for that reason alone.
Described as a “Kafkaesque odyessey”, it’s certainly a long trip coming in at 2h 59m. In fact, just when you think you’re over whatever sick and twisted hill Beau is Afraid just took you down something even more bizarre shows up and fills you with dread. Aster has commented that it may require multiple viewing, provided you can stomach it, to catch its many hidden details that are sure to solidify its place among other cult-worthy films like it. The perfect movie for anyone who doesn’t like a happy ending (they’re kind of overrated anyways).
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Written by: Olivia Biggar (you can call me Liv)
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