Top 10 Movies of 2022
“Movies are dreams that you never forget.”
I’ll admit. The plucky optimism towards film I came into 2022 with wasn’t fully honest. That is to say, I’m not sure I wholly believed it. I wanted to believe it. After two years of movies that I did love (Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Eurovision, The Last Duel, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar), but felt hadn’t really ascended into that echelon of my all-timers, I was worried. Was it a pandemic production symptom? Was it a floundering movie business? Was I losing the wonder of youth? Put it this way. My top five in 2019 was Avengers: Endgame, Little Women, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Knives Out, and Uncut Gems. Not one movie from 2020 or 2021 would have that cracked batch. Those are five of the best ever, for me, and even my number ones from the past two years wouldn’t have made it.
So, yes, I had optimism, but I wasn’t sure. It was wobbly optimism. Wobtimism (not a Rob Perez nickname, just to be clear). Pretty early on in 2022, though, I realized this was well-founded hope. I actually found a charm that wasn’t just “pretty good for the pandemic.” It was genuine filmmaking that engaged me! Death on the Nile, Deep Water, Marry Me, After Yang, Lucy and Desi, and Turning Red were the first six movies I saw in 2022 and I didn’t think any of them were even below-average. Pretty good all around! Something about them just signaled to me that movies were back. It panned out over the course of the year, too! For the first time in years, I agonized over what to put in the number ten spot (Ticket to Paradise is in eleventh here). Likewise, my number ones from 2020 and 2021 wouldn’t crack the top five in 2022 either.
What followed from those early goings, though, was one of my favorite years for cinema ever. Did it help that long-delayed releases finally came out? Did it help that I subscribed to Regal Unlimited (sans that awful Regal movie quotes ad)? Did it help that new producers came into the Oscars and helped boost the profiles of genuine hits that people loved and not Nomadland? All are probably true, if you want to be cynical. But The Fabelmans was never delayed. I saw Amsterdam with Regal Unlimited. The Oscars still nominated Triangle of Sadness. You can look for the cynical patterns, but I’m not interested in that.
Instead, I think movies are back. I see patterns of creative, honorable, moving efforts with IP that exists outside of a galaxy far, far away. I see patterns of filmmakers not afraid to make bold choices that will cut away thirty percent of their audiences. I see artists empowered to tell the stories they feel in their souls, whether it’s coming-of-age by way of kaiju, the reconciling of a lost father, or the guilt that comes from raising children on a crumbling planet painted across the most sumptuous screens since Dorothy stepped into Oz. I see movies from 2022 in their truest forms. Audacious, imaginative, transporting, and brimming — overflowing — with the hope and love that made the medium worth rooting for in the first place. Cinema thunderously announced itself as distant from that gentleness of the “good night.” And the light isn’t dying anytime soon.
Honorable Mentions: After Yang, Aftersun, Babylon, Blue’s Big City Adventure, The Bob’s Burgers Movie, Bullet Train, Catherine Called Birdy, Causeway, Decision to Leave, Lucy and Desi, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Nope, See How They Run, She Said, Spirited, Ticket to Paradise
10. Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers
I was an easy mark with this one, I admit. I’m already predisposed to enjoying Disney movies, especially ones with connections to Who Framed Roger Rabbit (an all-time favorite) and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (a classic Disney Channel animated series). Not to mention, I’ve always been a Lonely Island devotee with affection for comedians like John Mulaney and Seth Rogen, as well. There were probably very few scenarios in the world where I wouldn’t like this. But Rescue Rangers didn’t just meet my expectations, it exceeded them with an intelligent commentary on the state of IP in the entertainment industry (including a skewering of their own financiers) and sharply written comedy outside of a meta nature, too. What made the viewing experience doubly great was seeing just how much the creators were able to achieve in terms of world-building. It’s a marvel to see characters like Jimmy Neutron and Sonic the Hedgehog (somewhat) in a Disney movie with humor surrounding them that is more than just “hey, I recognize that thing.” I don’t know how Disney let this one slip through, but we’re better for it.
9. Vengeance
What would be the point of a top ten list that was just like everyone else’s? It’s not even that Vengeance, B.J. Novak’s directorial debut about a New York podcaster who travels to Texas for a true crime investigation, received poor reviews. At worst, they were middling and at best, they were people who were surprised to be positive. It’s just that I haven’t seen Vengeance making the year-end rounds anywhere else but here and Jeff Cannata’s list for The Filmcast. Those of us in the know, however, are not surprised that B.J. Novak’s first self-establishing foray into film was such a phenomenal cinematic achievement; he has always been an expert writer. We’re just happy that Vengeance wasn’t just “good for a first film.” It was genuinely good! It is a bold film that isn’t afraid to make stark choices about its storytelling and its character development. By nature of being polarizing, it’s not for everyone. But the humor behind it and the feeling that Vengeance really had something to say makes me so excited for the future of B.J. Novak’s directorial career.
8. Glass Onion
I mentioned above that 2022 felt like movies were capital-B back, without any reservations, for the first time since 2019. Maybe all that’s needed to make that true is a movie that stars Benoit Blanc? After all, Knives Out bowed in 2019 and was a pretty impeccable murder mystery movie. Glass Onion did not disappoint either and Rian Johnson’s Blanc mysteries are now cemented among the best current film series we have. This time, Glass Onion took Blanc to Greece to investigate a group of “disruptors” (read: disillusioned, money-hungry “friends”) when one (or more?) of them fall to the very nefarious crime of murder. (Read in Blanc’s drawl.) Of course, a Rian Johnson film is never as simple as it seems and some of the wrinkles and twists that provide even more color to Glass Onion are enthralling and help make the film about a lot more than simply “whodunnit.” The cast this time is just as game (Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom, Jr.) and the production behind the film is as airtight as the mystery itself. Let’s get Benoit Blanc mysteries forever, shall we?
7. The Banshees of Inisherin
One of my favorite movies ever made is In Bruges. 2008’s dark hitman comedy was written and directed by Martin McDonagh and led by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. I was giddy with anticipation a couple years ago when I sat in my philosophy class in college and received a notification that McDonagh, Farrell, and Gleeson were reuniting for The Banshees of Inisherin — no further details. This year, the film was finally released and while it was markedly different from In Bruges, that was far from being in a bad way. Like In Bruges, it was thematically rich and laden with inquisitive, thoughtful dialogue between Farrell and Gleeson, who share strong on-screen chemistry. Unlike McDonagh’s other films, Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, though, Banshees didn’t bend over backwards to make its thesis obvious. I’m still not entirely sure I could unpack Banshees and what it means. The story of two friends who, suddenly, are no longer friends is our jumping off point, but the story dives much deeper than a lough. McDonagh allows us to explore loneliness, kindness, and greatness through these characters and those who color their lives in town (including a sensational Kerry Condon turn as Farrell’s sister) in a deeply Irish and tragic manner. There is humor throughout, yes, but McDonagh’s film cares primarily about what we can learn about humanity and the driving forces of it, rather than providing laughs or clear solutions. For Banshees, the intellectual side comes later; this one is just about what we feel.
6. Turning Red
I have felt Pixar move me to awe, to tears, to wonder, to joy. But whether it was the Toy Story series, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Coco, or Inside Out, it seemed to always be about how I felt watching Pixar. With Turning Red, for the first time, I experienced how much Pixar could move someone I love. Don’t get me wrong I was still enchanted and tickled by all the whimsy and artistry of Domee Shi’s directorial debut, but Turning Red meant so much more when I saw my girlfriend watch Mei obsess over books, crush over boys, and feel her own dorkiness cause anxiety and say, “That’s me.” Not derisively, not ironically. Sincerely. That’s what can happen when you take the power of Pixar storytelling and you spread it across a world that loves to see itself portrayed as they are.
5. Avatar: The Way of Water
There is a lot of smash-and-crash, trenchant, weighty, James Cameronian action in the last third of the sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all-time. There’s a lot of (necessary) expository sci-fi dialogue jibber-jabber in the first third. Take these two aspects on their own and Way of Water probably wouldn’t crack the top twenty. But the middle third of the long-awaited Avatar sequel. It’s that middle third. I don’t know how to really describe it because I can’t fully remember it because I lived it. In that second act, I lived on Pandora. I swam with the Tulkun, I linked to the Spirit Tree, I learned the methodology of the reef people. I was not watching a movie; I was on Pandora. I’ve never seen better visual effects in my life. I truly do believe these top what was achieved in Jurassic Park. And that’s because the visual effects were the story. It wasn’t about the plot or the environmentalism, both of which are important — no doubt. It was about what it could feel like to swim with the peaceful creatures in the oceans of another world. To touch them, to reach out, to feel. I felt every frame of The Way of Water, even more than with its 2009 predecessor, which I already liked. This film provided a surreal, out-of-body experience during its second act that I will never forget; that alone propels it to the top five.
4. Top Gun: Maverick
Talk about cinema-going experiences I’ll never forget, how about Top Gun: Maverick? I’ve always appreciated the original Top Gun for the Tom Cruise performance, the musicality, the homoeroticism, the volleyball. It’s a rollicking time. Like Avatar before it, I think I like the sequel even more. It gives us everything we’ve come to love about a “Top Gun” movie, as much as something like that can exist when there was only one beforehand. Fun musical numbers are performed by Miles Teller and company at the bar, there’s a weird offense-defense football game in the ocean that I don’t really understand, Tom Cruise is as winning as ever. It’s all here! But Maverick goes deeper, just as Maverick goes faster and further than he ever has before. Those emotional stingers are remarkable throughout, whether it’s Val Kilmer’s return or “talk to me, Goose” or what Maverick sees in Rooster. Beyond that, it’s also an incredibly well-made action film with practical effects and extremely loud planes flying on screen like “whoosh.” The bar looks like a fun summer hangout spot, too! What more do you want? It was a perfect Memorial Day movie to kick off the summer at the cinemas and one that I’ve only felt fonder about the more it’s sat with us in our lives.
3. The Fabelmans
This was undoubtedly a year of auteurs using the “magic of cinema” to spin autobiographical tales about either their childhoods or who they wish they were today. Call it the “Belfast Movement.” There was Bardo, there was Empire of Light, but most importantly: there was The Fabelmans. Leave it to ol’ Steve Spielberg to craft the most moving, the most thought-provoking of this genre — largely because The Fabelmans isn’t about the “magic of movies.” Does it have a lot of nifty tricks for homemade movies? Does it show a child’s face aglow from an entrancing movie screen? Does it feature a moment of advice from a beloved role model of youth? Yes, to all of these. But Spielberg is too much of our greatest living filmmaker to settle for something so rote and trite. Instead, for him, The Fabelmans is about how movies can be revealing and weaponized. It has immaculate craft, but it’s all for a reason. For him, filmmaking is a lens on a world that he keeps cold from himself. A way to frame some of the worst things that have ever happened to him and reveal them to us now. There are so many different scenes with no clear thesis (but there is one) that I’m still unpacking in my mind now. I’m still not exactly sure how I would analyze what they are (and he is) trying to say, but I could feel I was watching a masterpiece unfold in front of me, a gleam on my face, too.
2. Elvis
Another movie that could have been rote was Elvis, a biopic of — who else — Elvis Presley. Of course, any fear of a Bohemian Rhapsody-esque disaster dissipated when Baz Luhrmann boarded the project. I know Baz isn’t for everyone, but he is unequivocally one of my favorite directors. Romeo + Juliet, Gatsby, Moulin Rouge! Gaudy, ostentatious, glitzy and glittery. There’s no denying that Baz prioritizes style in all of his films; Elvis is no exception. However, not once has Baz ever sacrificed substance. He got to the core of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great novel, he honed in on why Romeo + Juliet is baby’s first Shakespeare in the first place, he crafted one of cinema’s great tragedies and cast two of its best singing stars in it. Not once did I doubt his treatment of the Elvis Presley story. It’s a story wrapped up in everything that fascinates him. A towering figure who put his name in blinking lights, put on a show every night, and was riddled with the terror of what would happen when he was left alone. So much so, in fact, that he made sure he’d never have to feel that way again. Of course, Baz’s masterpiece weaves in and out of plenty of electrifying set pieces: Elvis’ first hip-gyrating performance, his crumbling in a Las Vegas residence, his total command of the global audience when he decided to have a comeback. Austin Butler’s devoted turn, Tom Hanks going sicko mode. It’s all utter glory, even in its smaller, distinctly Baz moments, like when Elvis walks around Beale Street while listening to Doja Cat.
1. Everything Everywhere All at Once
While The Fabelmans and Elvis are classic examples of “tried and true gone new,” Everything Everywhere All at Once is unlike any movie that has ever existed before. Sandwiched in between two MCU multiverse epics, EEAAO dared to harness the storytelling mechanism in all the ways that can make it special. Not for cameos, even though they’re fun, but rather for sincere, emotional storytelling and ruminations on love. Do we hurt the people we love when we’re afraid to tell them how we feel? What happens if we make the wrong choice in life and go down the wrong path? What could life have been on those other paths? These are grandiose, unanswerable questions, but the Daniels knew the only chance they’d have at depicting their own answers for them on screen was to use the multiverse and any influence from Community that may still linger. Confront these characters with the potential of their lives, past, present, and parallel. Bring them on a journey of their worst fears and their greatest hopes and square them with the reality that shouts, “We demand a seat at the table of your mind!” When the trailer for this dropped in 2021 and everyone flipped for it, I didn’t understand. I hadn’t even heard of it in the trades. Why does everyone care? Everything Everywhere All at Once is a sci-fi, sure, but best of all it’s a love story. Yes, Evelyn, Waymond, and Joy are thrust into a multiverse of body-swapping, time portals, and everything bagels, forcing them to maintain a prime timeline in the face of imminent danger. But we never need to worry about the “fate of the world” because the danger is what can happen to these people who love each other if they don’t just go out and fucking say it and fucking mean it. That is why it’s a love story. That is why Everything Everywhere All at Once is the best movie of 2022.
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