The Best Films of 2022
As every year we witness foul balls and home runs. For 2022 it was unquestionably one of the best years for film in recent memory. Ever since the 2020 pandemic, the film industry was forced to delay many projects that were supposed to drop in that time period, but didn’t make it out until last year or recently in the past few months. This year has certainly been a journey for cinephiles, so as we close out for the year, let’s take a look back at some of the best films that impacted the land of cinema for this year and the rest of time. This list will be completely subjective, some may see certain ones placed here that they would rank differently, but regardless of the numbers no film on this list should go underlooked. Before we jump into the top 10 let's start off with some honorable mentions, because there were just so many great ones that unfortunately couldn’t make the top list.
Honorable Mentions
Three Thousand Years of Longing
The Black Phone
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me
Barbarian
Decision to Leave
X
Kimi
Tár
Aftersun
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
The Menu
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Avatar: The Way of Water
Emily the Criminal
Triangle of Sadness
The Fabelmans
Causeway
Babylon
Prey
Bodies Bodies Bodies
# 10. Nope
If you're looking for a film with a director who’s in full creative control of their vision, look no further than here. Jordan Peele is simply one of the most ambitious filmmakers working today. One of the unique things about Peele’s work is that it’s never about one specific idea, but rather several and it never feels as if he’s biting on more than he can chew while tackling so many themes. The clothing, lighting, locations, song choices, and the facial expression in the actors are treated with the utmost care and detail, if there was any film that really showcased Peele’s education of film it’s this one. Just like his previous two films (Get Out, Us) they are about race, grief, and class structure. When it comes to this Sci-Fi/Horror epic it is about all of those things and more. Animal rights, below-the-line film workers, obsession, and ownership, but the one word that every viewer who first walked out of this film for the first time seemed to agree upon, and that was the word Spectacle. This certainly is the work of a Spectacle, while creating a massive film like this is extremely daunting, most artists would not even know where to start with an idea like this and yet he manages to really shoot for the stars here. It’s just really interesting to see the amount of trust that Hollywood has in Peele, allowing him to go big and weird into these high concepts while having trust in his audience. Nope is wonderfully structured, well subverted, and most of all another triumph for Peele. He’s managed to create one of the biggest summer blockbusters that’ll not only change how we view human nature, but how we'll view the perplexing clouds when gazing up into the sky.
# 9. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Before the fans of Star Wars would eventually label Rian Jonson as deficient after the unexpected catastrophic backlash of 2017’s The Last Jedi, he was already a proficient of subverting expectations. Regardless of what anyone’s opinions are of that film, the majority of critics and audiences can at least agree on the fact that Johnson is actually a pretty good storyteller when it comes to writing & directing his own original stories. Ever since 2005’s Brick and 2012’s Looper, Johnson knows how to play on tropes and cliches of what we’re expecting to eventually see unravel right in front of us. The first Knives Out came out in 2019 and was a huge success all around the globe, it completely changed the way murder-mysteries/who-done-its are now viewed. Netflix would eventually purchase the rights and allow Johnson to carry on with his own original ongoing franchise, having said that it seemed questionable if a sequel or sequels were even necessary since the first was such a genuine gift that anything after could come off as dispiriting. Safe to say, Glass Onion is an exceptional successor to its predecessor and is toe-to-toe with Knives Out (at least for now). It would most definitely require multiple viewings before coming to the decision of which one is superior, but to go back and analyze every little thing in a film like this is such a marvelous fun time to be had, certainly was back in 2019. The entire cast is sensational. Dave Baustia, Kate Hudson, Edward Norton are all absolutely terrific, the biggest and brightest new addition to this universe is Janelle Monáe who completely steals every scene and is shrouded in mystery throughout the runtime. Daniel Craig is once again a magical presence as Benoit Blanc and is one of the best new characters in modern day film. It's really nice to see him still going strong now that he’s retired from James Bond. Glass Onion has a lot going for it, there are many things this film does better than Knives Out and many it does not, but for the time being it is graceful to see Rian Johnon putting 110% into his work. Going forward whatever he decides to do in the third chapter (which is already greenlit) I’m sure we’ll be special. The fact that we have an original franchise that isn’t part of any existing property already should make us all the more gleeful to see that there is still originality left in this world.
#8. RRR
RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt) seems to have hit the jackpot. It is one of the most successful films to come out of South India Tollywood and probably the most astronomical film of the last century. A fictitious story about two revolutionaries and their journey to fight for freedom against British colonialism in 1920’s pre-independence India. RRR is everything you’ve ever known or could possibly want in film. Action, adventure, fantasy drama, comedy, history, romance, musical, you name it it’s here. This truly is larger than life, through heart just as much as it is spectacle and detail. It feels like the kind of film that people have been genuinely asking for Hollywood to make again, or only just wish they could be in the first place. Muscular macho men, packed with over-the-top insane action set pieces with damsels and distress. Definitely something that would’ve starred any action star of the 80’s whether it be Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damn, Norris or all of the above. Very heavy American pulp entertainment, but this time with Indian cinematic influences with much more skill and magnetism to it all. Some may even take one look at the poster itself saying its way too ridiculous, and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but why this film is truly one of a kind is because it may be removed from reality more than half the time, the motivations and emotions behind every creative choice is perfectly relatable to any genuine human being. It’s very extroverted and vigorous in its approach and isn’t afraid to wear it like a badge of honor. The film does goes through a vast array of tonal shifts throughout, I mean we got musical dance sequences, children being stripped away from families, kids being trained to become soldiers while being forced to kill loved ones, the most bombastic, absurd, jarring, yet all the more welcoming action sequences since Mad Max: Fury Road and the film stunningly manages to remain in control of what it's doing. But most of all it’s the most heartwarming story about friendship probably ever made. So yeah this is a whole lot of movie packed in here, but it’s very refreshing to see one this large centered on a friendship, or as some would say “bromance” which is the more natural inclination because we don’t see friendships glorified on the screen as much as we do romance. It’s the loyalty that they have and the gusto with which they throw themselves into all these situations, the love they share for each other with no shame is just so spirited you can’t help but ride along to the end of this 3 hour epic fantastical journey with these two guys. RRR feels like a celebration of Indian history, cinema, life, and humanity. A powerful story supported by awesomeness for the sake of being awesome and two of the most astounding performances in a blockbuster in a long time.
#7. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Yes, this is another adaptation of 1940’s Pinocchio. There have been numerous wary remakes/retellings of the original tale, just this year we were presented a live-action version of this story. Unfortunately it just ended up being another one of Disney’s soulless sanitized versions of their already beloved classics by not even attempting to create anything new. As for this entry, leave it up to the ingenious Guillermo Del Toro to bring his visionary mind and create an all new tale by not only breathing new life into the story of Pinocchio, but completely recontextualizing it. This is a Del Toro production through and through, whereas the Disney live-action sugar-coated the adult themes and thematic weight, Del Toro chose to venture down a much darker path in its retelling. If anyone is familiar with the man’s work, whether it's The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, or even The Shape of Water you’ll know facism is a key part that’s explored through his films in order for the characters to overcome their long battled journey by fighting oppression. Using the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy of the 1930’s as a backdrop is quite genius actually, but it’s not just used as a device for narrative tension, it’s to flip the original story’s morals. It’s no longer pushing for children’s obedience, but advocating for their agency in rebellion when they don’t believe something is right. Similar to his previous films that were just listed, here he also explores themes of loss, grief, fatherhood, war, death, the nature of evil, and the fragility of life, but by doing so this version of Pinocchio actually managed to contribute something more meaningful to the overall narrative while simultaneously respecting it’s source material. Shooting this in stop motion makes this take all the more palpable. Love is constantly being poured onto the screen, with highly detailed hand-made designs that are both simplistic and, yet jaw-dropping in creativity, bursting with emotional weight from the characters' facial expressions and body language, every single little detail is made with pure craftsmanship. This is unlike any interpretation of Pinocchio done before, and as much as the 1940 original was groundbreaking for its time, Del Toro’s version is leaps and bounds better in every way possible.
#6. Pearl
The best horror films out there are the ones that are able to put a human face on pure insanity, in the case of Pearl it succeeds in almost every category of horror there is. Trauma, psychological, slasher, splatter, all of them excel tremendously here. Pearl is the prequel to the X-traordinary film X that was released earlier this year by writer & director Ti West. Once again this entry is helmed by him and has Mia Goth returning as a younger version of Pearl, one of the dual roles she portrayed in X and this time as a co-writer alongside West. X was a pastiche to the horror genre of the 1970's, particularly the grindhouse experience, this installment is widely different from X and even more barbaric. Here it’s set in WW1 during the Spanish Flu, this time West is aiming for a more Victor Flemming look into it all, and the main implication that’s being discussed about this film is that it’s just a disturbed version of The Wizard of Oz. While that is true in some areas there is something holy about this film that feels so immediate and fresh that it shouldn’t even be compared to anything else. But unfortunately it’s just gonna have to be accepted because everybody does it (including myself), especially in today’s time where we constantly compare art to other art, but it’s just part of the culture now. When you have a studio like A24 distributing your film you know it’s going to hit a lot differently than what you’re used to seeing nowadays. West has done something truly astonishing here and that is creating a villain that is so ethereal, yet so haunting. This is an origin story afterall, so anyone who watched X the beginning of this year might have wondered what drove Pearl to this level of madness. When your villain is also your lead in your film it is an extremely hard task to pull off because you have to get the audience to invest/care about them and show what drives this person down this dark path throughout the whole runtime. What both Ti West and Mia Goth accomplish here is truly mesmerizing. Not only does this film make X retroactively better on rewatch, it gives us one of the most humanzing broken characters ever put to screen while also making us understand why she becomes a complete psychotic nut at the same time. Mia Goth is absolutely divine here and she gives arguably the best performance of this entire year, she has such an editorial beauty to her which would've made her fit perfectly in the 60’s or 70’s with Sissy Spacek, Shelly Duvall, or even Judy Garland if she was around that time as well. Pearl also has the greatest monologue of the year that goes on in a 7 minute unbroken long take and an ending that’ll remain in our eyes long after the credits roll. Really glad to see that Ti West has his own little horror franchise that’s taking off this quickly, and can’t wait to see what he has in store for the third installment titled “MaXXXine”.
#5. The Banshees of Inisherin
With this being Martin McDonagh’s fourth film, the bases were fully loaded this time and McDonagh has managed to hit a grand slam home run with The Banshees of Inisherin knocking it far out of the park. This is one of the most moving films of the whole year. Everything about this from the social divisions of its characters, to its setting of the 1920’s turmoil in Ireland, lushes cinematography, and everlasting music makes this out to be one of the best fables in recent memory. Brendan Gleason and Colin Farrell have got to be the most gifted dynamic duo ever put together. They play so well off each other to the point it makes you feel like you're almost watching a romcom, and at times I felt like this was a genuine continuation of “In Bruges''. Barry Keoghan is such a joyful spirit, his presence alone is commendable. He’s possibly the best side character to have in any movie and steals every scene he’s in. Kerry Condon is also a standout here and should not go under looked, the entirety of the island here is a character of its own. This one really makes you sit and ponder about friendships, the estimate of time, and if we appreciate and utilize them the way we think we should. Definitely wouldn’t go as far as to condone or pursue most of the appalling acts some of these characters commit, but it really showcases what one can go through that can cause them to eventually lose it after feeling trapped for so long when they feel as if they’re time has passed and there’s nothing left. This is a must-see for fans of dark comedy, but caution to those who are emotionally fragile to be prepared for the film’s exploration of the darker side of the human experience. This might actually be McDonagh’s best work to date, every film after In Bruges feels all the more distinctive. It’s satisfying to see him really take his time when making films and if he says he’s not making another film for another 20 years, at least we’ll know it’ll be worth the long wait.
#4. The Batman
This is the only comic book film on this entire list because many films in the superhero genre for today’s culture feel like an empty void of counterfeit products made by machines and not by artists. It feels as if there have been so few filmmakers that have approached the bench in the last decade, eager and burning to tell their own versions of these iconic characters. Thankfully in the case of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, he has crafted not only the best comic book film of the year, but one of the greatest of all time. Notorious for his beloved two Planet of the Ape films Dawn & War and the found footage monster movie Cloverfield, Reeves has proved himself as meticulously bold when approaching heavy dark films. With The Batman he doesn’t just fabricate another dark Batman movie, instead brings both Batman and Bruce Wayne to a level that’s never quite been done before, along with the city/people of Gotham. This is not the same origin story that’s been done a million times for the character, here he presents to us a coming-of-age story for a Batman that still has a lot to learn, as he’s only in his second year of adapting. Fans of the comics have been eager to see Batman’s detective skills be brought to life and here they finally are, we’ve seen Batman solve mysteries in past projects, but never to this extent. This is neo-noir through and through, what Reeves has brought is not another cape flick filled with long pauses for fan cheers, or stale backgrounds that come off as some snl sketch that we’ve been force fed for the last few years. No, this is David Fincher meets Alfred Hitchock in pure crime fashion, all while keeping it passionately empathetic, enduring, and subtle. The grime, the dirt, the filth, everything about this new take on the world of Batman is so cunningly fresh and scarring all around. Every character in this new adaptation is given so much heavy lighting to uphold, it really makes this out to be the most richly empowering take on the people of Gotham that Batman has crossed paths with. As for the caped crusader himself, Robert Pattinson might just have crossed through a new path of greatness. It isn’t just the way he fights or the cool gadgets that make Pattinson’s take interesting, it's the way he carries himself as both Batman and Bruce. The movement in his eyes with the long subtle stares, how he turns and examines everything and everyone, his footsteps when he approaches from the shadows, everytime the man even speaks you can see how much pain is seeming through his face. This reclusive Kurt Cobain inspired take on The Bat is one that makes us wonder why it hasn’t been done this way before. There’s so much more that can be said about this 3 hour long run of a film, but at least we get to participate with Bruce on his journey as he still has a lot to learn in his upcoming years of dawning the cape. DC may be in a sink hole for attempting an extended universe to gradually build up from scratch, but for the meantime it seems as if Matt Reeves' take on an expanded standalone Batman world is here to stay.
#3. Bones and All
If you’re a fan of the 2016 French-Belgian film “Raw'' and would like to see it done in the fashion of a thousand-mile odyssey, then here it is. Bones and All is the grossest film of the year and the most heartfelt. If you’re familiar with Luca Guadagino (Call me by Your Name, We Are Who We Are, Suspira) you know the man pays a lot of attention to sensuality and the human body in his work. He really has an understanding on where to place the camera and shoot a specific touch that is a unique skill of his that most filmmakers don’t have, which makes his films so inviting no matter the subject matter, for the case with Bones and All it just so happens to be about cannibals. Why this film works as well as it does is because you can view this from a hundred different angles and it all makes sense within each other, particularly with the younger audience. The film is being praised for its themes of identity, body image, eating disorders, feminism, sexuality, addiction, and depression through a prism in the forgotten corners of 1980’s Miwest Americana. Those are all ideal ways to interpret this film, personally it didn’t feel as if Luca was strictly trying to convey a bunch of metaphors within each other. He rather only showed cannibals as a fun and absurd way of exploring being an outsider as a young person and how this specific trait affects the people in their lives and how it affects normal everyday people with good intentions, but hey that’s the beauty of this soft tender coming-of-age story, viewing it from all kinds of different angles. It's a loose enough narrative where you can apply it to a wide variety of different themes, in my eyes the only real metaphor was Luca kinda toying on the idea of cannibals resembling vampires and how they sense and treat one another or others that aren’t eaters. It’s the best way to view this film, a grounded version of a vampire love story with elements of Badlands, Romeo & Juliet, and as mentioned before Raw. Other than the graphic content, Bones and All is actually a pretty calm, meandering, and casual film just with two very different kinds of people at its center. film. As mentioned earlier, the setting is in the 1980’s through Midwest America, and what feels like a nice warm summer road trip, you truly feel that Midwestern warmth throughout the runtime. It’s certainly a mix of all types of genres whether it’s horror, romance, coming-of-age it balances everything tremendously, but having it being a road trip made this out to be all the more engaging. Road trip movies work so well because it always feels as if we go from one weird person or small town to the next and every supporting actor in here brings their own quirk to the table. It’s a perfect setting in a film like this that is taking place in a bunch of isolated Midwestern towns by not only feeling authentic to the way of how unnerving some of these townspeople are, but by adding to the absurdity to the script in a really exciting way. With this long battled odyssey of encountering weirdos and personal temptations our leads Maren (Taylor Russell) and Lee (Timothée Chalamet) go on; it makes us viewers wish for them to be all the more protected and guided through their journey. Taylor and Timothée truly go together like bread & butter. Top tier chemistry at its finest. The companionship and reckoning they share is what makes all the horrors this film offers all the more intelligible, finding the darkness in beauty is somehow disturbing as it is welcoming. Taylor Russell is so dominant here she really needs to be in more films because she is a real standout and this one will most likely amplify the Chalamet fan base to as high as it can possibly go. Drowned in desperation, isolation, and rejection, this film managed to soften on the heart strings more than it tried to feast upon it.
#2. Everything Everywhere All at Once
It’s really hard to find the right words to describe how much of a breakthrough this film is unlike anything else that has come out this year. The Daniels (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert) are the two most exciting and idiosyncratic filmmakers working today, similar to their last work together “Swiss Army Man” they both have a knack for surrealism in the most immense way imaginable. They've discussed over the course of its release that they made this film because lower budget indie films are no longer getting the same buzz as these big blockbusters or franchise films, then went and made something that still has that indie heart and creativity and encased it with this gigantic fantasy adventure. Don’t really know if it could have been pulled off any better than it is here. For anyone who says there’s no more originality in movies than give this absurdist drama-comedy a watch and while it may have parallels with The Matrix or Rick and Morty, this is unlike anything that has been presented before. Everything, Everywhere, All at Once utilizes the Multiverse concept as it has been showcased in big time franchises such as Marvel for the last couple of years. Starring Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn, an aging Chinese immigrant of a failing laundromat, along with her clumsy husband played by Ke Huy Quan (The Goonies, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom) and rebellious daughter played by Stephanie Hsu. As the family is losing business and failing to keep up with their taxes, Evelyn is suddenly swept up in an insane adventure where she is told to be the savior of the world by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led. Not going to go into any more detail about the plot, not only because it’s best to go in blind, it's really just one of those epic experiences you need to just witness for yourself. It’s so committed with all these crazy ideas to the point where it’s hard to wrap your head around how this whole thing was even conceptualized in the first place. The Daniels just have leaps and boundaries of a far imagination that one can only hope to obtain. From start to finish this film never lets up, keeps its audience constantly engaged, all while hitting all of its mural of emotional beats or the creativity and exploration of the cosmos. It is split into chapters with a 3-part act structure to it, but it never really feels like one, there were never aspects or sections that were weaker than others. This really does come together as a whole image on what it's trying to get across whether it be generational trauma, self ethnicity, mourning, what could have been, and seeing the beauty in what is. It may be downright goofy, yet it's somehow unimaginably transcendent in capturing how small humans are but how strategic they can be and it what makes this empowering story all the more humane. Every performance here is a knockout. It’s so incredible to see Ke Huy Quan back in acting after being retired for some many decades and still has the magnetic presence, Stephaine Hsu is a breakout star and is certainly going to rise up in this industry, Jamie Lee Curtis and James Hong are legends as always, but it’s Michelle Yeoh who is the standout here, and looks as if she’s locked in as best actress for the Academy award this year which would be more than justified. Everything, Everywhere, All at Once is a massive leap that was fully paid off with such grace and put every other Multiverse idea to bed. This should be the blueprint going forward on how personal stories and creative visions are allowed to flourish which can lead to a big success for everyone. This is now A24’s highest grossing film and one of the most applauded ones from their library of films amongst fans. A24 continues to keep going strong just by funding these types of projects and allowing filmmakers to have full creative control because otherwise we wouldn’t have films like this nowadays. Thank you A24 and thank you Daniels.
#1. Top Gun: Maverick
If someone would've said that Top Gun: Maverick was going to become not only the highest grossing film of the year (until the possibility of Avatar 2), but also the film that brought back the exhilarating movie going experience while also completely ignited a fire under our seats a year ago from today it would’ve sounded preposterous, but surprisingly it became fully accurate. A sequel to the original 1986 film we once again follow Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) 3 decades after the events of the first film as he is once again called back to Top Gun, this time as an instructor to teach the new recruits how to aviate in one of the deadliest missions the navy has had to face. In doing so he also has to navigate his bittersweet relationship with one of the new recruits named “Rooster” played by Miles Teller who is the son of his late friend and copilot “Goose'' from the first installment. I’m sure for years now many cinephiles out there such as myself have thought that blockbusters were becoming a dying breed (possibly still are) but in very rare cases in today’s youth are we gifted ones like Maverick. A film that has spent almost 30 years in the making and a concept that almost has no business being as good as it is. Maverick is not only the best of the year, but one of the most accomplished sequels of all time that also manages to stand on its own thoroughly and one of the largest scopes in a blockbuster in the last few years. I’ve heard many audiences asking what makes Maverick so special than any other summer blockbuster were accustomed to nowadays with the industry going full blown cgi and green screening everything to make things easier for its cast and crew members and that the answer would be is because Maverick chooses not to use the majority of those techniques, besides for a couple scenes then and there. The entire cast and crew of this film deserve a tremendous amount of kudos for this project, but the one man we should all be thanking for making this all even possible is the star of the show himself Tom Cruise. Cruise has been an advocate cinephile ever since he first got into the industry and has been more involved with the majority of his films than any other actor. He is no passive participant, he's always studying every aspect of film and puts 100% into everything he’s involved in, which is why he takes part as a prominent producer in his more recent films. The fact that Cruise and the actors portraying the new recruits went through real air force flight training for a couple of years and filmed around 800 hours of footage in actual cockpits for the dog fight sequences deserves an Oscar in itself. It’s very easy to imagine a cop out/cash grab version of this film that was shot in a couple weeks in a studio with fake jets and green screen everywhere, but as stated before what makes this film special is that it doesn’t and rather it pushes the boundaries of what film can achieve and makes it all the better. As for the writing itself it may not be very subtle because this is still a summer blockbuster, but the film does have something for everyone to enjoy. Maverick, unlike the original, has more to say about its subject matters such as maturing, pushing our limits, trusting ourselves, accepting where we belong, and the passage of time. The film is absolutely drenched in these themes particularly the last one, in the beginning of the film before Maverick himself is called back to Top Gun he gets disparaged by a rear admiral (Ed Harris) about how his time has passed and the new generation doesn’t need guys like him anymore. The film in a lot of ways can be looked at as a meta reflection of not just Maverick’s time in the navy, but Tom Cruise’s career as an actor. You really don’t hear a lot of actors especially in this generation going to some extreme lengths such as Cruise, even in the last 3 of his Mission: Impossible film series Cruise has learned how to fly helicopters, hold his breath underwater for 6 straight minutes, skydive out of airplanes, harness on to the side of airplanes, and harness on to skyscrapers. We really don’t get stars like him anymore and he truly is one of the last of his kind. Anything going forward with him I'll be there watching because I know I'm getting a passion project at the end of the day. For any fans of the original or newcomers who haven’t seen the original this should still win anyone over. As far superior this film is than its predecessor it still manages to pay great homage to what came before, with a classic 80’s romance feel, sweaty sport montages with dazzling sunsets, fun indulging Americana, and showcasing the american hero type, but this film all and all is more tender, mature, and deconstructive of all that. Layered with nuanced performances all around, an electrifying score and soundtrack by Lady Gaga, ending with an exciting 3rd act that’ll leave any viewer sweating, smiling, and in tears all at once. Thanks to the holy heavens that is IMAX, the more empowering this all became with extensive viewings. Paramount even delayed the film multiple times (mainly covid-19 at first) because Cruise wanted to save this for the big screens rather than for Paramount+. Top Gun: Maverick isn’t just a worthy sequel it’s a legacy sequel, a sequel that will live on for years to come. The same way the 2015 film Creed did for the Rocky franchise is what this film will do for movie fans all around the world. When you say the movies are back, you think about this one!
Make sure to check out our Nerdthusiast Movie Audio Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nerdthusiast-movie-podcast/id1599731947
By Danny Manna Twitter: @Cinemanna24 - Nerdthusiast Content Creator
Comments
Post a Comment