What topped a poll of the most enjoyable films of 2023?

By Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

A concert film from Taylor Swift has topped a poll of the most enjoyed movies of 2023.

The American singer-songwriter released Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which features songs spanning her entire career and attracted a huge reaction from her fans, in October.

Vue International said the film, which featured Swift performing during the US leg of her high-grossing tour, topped ratings from its cinemagoers after feedback surveys completed after their visit this year.

Swift, 34, broke the cinema chain’s record for the most tickets sold during the UK pre-sale opening week for a music event and Odeon had to add more screenings.

To calculate the most enjoyable films, Vue International received more than 67,000 ratings across different films and sorted them by ranking those with more than 250 ratings by the percent of customers who gave it the full five points out of five.

Comedy drama A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks as a man reeling from family tragedy, took second place, while Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 secured the third spot.

Horror Saw X and Whitney Houston biographical musical drama I Wanna Dance With Somebody came fourth and fifth respectively.

Also appearing in the top 20 were titles such as musicals based on Roald Dahl books such as Matilda The Musical and Wonka, Michael Caine drama The Great Escaper and Disney’s musical fantasy live-action The Little Mermaid.

Notably absent was Barbie, the highest grossing film of 2023, and its rival Oppenheimer.

Founder and chief executive of Vue International Tim Richards said: “Taylor Swift: Eras Concert Tour saw the highest ever box office takings for a big screen event release in the UK and Ireland so securing the top spot as the most enjoyable big screen content watched in 2023 is testament to the power of fans, shared social experiences and the growing appreciation of events screened at the cinema.

“We’ve seen some amazing standout performances this year, with movies such as Barbie, Oppenheimer and Super Mario Bros breaking records and bringing a combined £208m to the UK and Ireland’s box office.

“Throughout the year we’ve also seen great levels of engagement from our customers and demand for the big screen experience across a mix of genres, as reflected in the Vue top 20 which includes music, family and horror titles.

“We love getting feedback from our customers about their visits including these enjoyment scores as it helps us provide the best possible experience in our cinemas and keep our customers coming back.

“We have an exciting line up of content for the year ahead and we’re looking forward to seeing which titles our customers rate as the most enjoyable big screen content of 2024.”

Also voted as the top 20 enjoyable films at the Vue were slasher Scream VI, Chris Pratt-voiced The Super Mario Bros Movie, boxing movie Creed III, action flick Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, comedy-horror Haunted Mansion and science-fiction movie Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts.

Vigilante thriller The Equalizer 3, animated superhero movie Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, action movie John Wick: Chapter 4, Gerard Butler thriller Plane and action film Fast X were also among those seen as most enjoyable in the Vue poll.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody and Matilda The Musical were released in the UK at the end of 2022 and continued to be shown in cinemas this year.