Top 10 Films of 2022

Are movies “back”? Are studios allowed to stop blaming COVID for keeping people away from theaters? Was 2022 an encapsulation of where cinema is today? 

I’ll answer with a soft Yes to all of the above. I think 2022 was a far better year in film than the last two, and I’ll admit that the strength of this year gives me hope for 2023. 

10. All Quiet on the Western Front

Directed by Edward Berger

I’m so glad I got to see this in the theater, but it still holds up at home on Netflix too. This is war cinema at its most visceral. It has the empty humanity of Come and See, the battle brilliance of Saving Private Ryan, and the war futility of Paths of Glory. I was pleasantly surprised that this landed nine Oscar nominations. Wonder how many it’ll win? 

9. Bones and All

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

Such an honest love story set in such extreme circumstances. The cannibalism storyline is clearly in right now, but I’ve never seen it expressed the way it is in Bones and All. Taylor Russell (so good), Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, and Michael Stuhlbarg all help sell the notion that if they do not feast, they will die. It plagues them like a disease. Lord knows how Guadagnino made such a great love story out of such bleak material. 

8. Emily the Criminal

Directed by John Patton Ford

I loved this movie. It plays like a tough, capable street flick from the John Cassavetes School of ‘70s Cinema. Aubrey Plaza (her best role) plays a young woman from New Jersey struggling to make ends meet and pay off her student loans, so she falls quickly and organically into the dark world of credit card fraud. It’s such a believable film in terms of the process, they really make you understand how this type of fraud works. This isn’t a game changer movie or anything, just a very well-made, on the ground thriller. 

7. Top Gun: Maverick

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

The most entertaining film of the year. Period.

 

6. Blonde

Directed by Andrew Dominik

I’ve talked about Blonde a lot on my podcast since it was released on Netflix. You can listen to my full thoughts on the film here. Love that Ana got the Oscar nomination. I really didn’t think that was going to happen.

 

5. Petite Maman

Directed by Céline Sciamma

I made myself a promise to put this simple, profound, 72-minute wonder of a film in my top 5 of the year. Made for $2 million, shot largely in one location, using only five principal actors, Petite Maman is about a young girl trying to connect with her mother, through the help of another young girl. It’s easy, it’s sweet, and the last scene is one of the most moving things I saw all year. If you liked Sciamma’s previous film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, please watch Petite Maman. 

4. Babylon

Directed by Damien Chazelle

Another complicated, if not grossly misunderstood, film from 2022 that I’ve talked about a lot on my podcast. I don’t know what in the world critics were on about with this one. Babylon is also a total love letter to the art form of cinema, which is evidenced so clearly in its final, breathtaking sequence. My jaw was hanging open as I watched it. Listen to my fill episode on Babylon here.

 

3. Triangle of Sadness

Directed by Ruben Östlund

This is one of the most hysterical films I have ever seen, let alone the funniest film of 2022. I’m a fan of Ruben Östlund’s work, but he’s never had me gasping for breath like I do during this movie. I was so happy that this Cannes Palme d’Or-winner had such a nice showing in the Oscar nominations. If I was a member of the Academy, I’d vote for Triangle of Sadness to win everything it’s nominated for. 

2. Vortex

Directed by Gaspar Noé

Gaspar Noé is a very specific type of filmmaker, and Vortex is his most mature film yet. The fact that he decided to do the whole movie in split screen is something that, at first, seems like it’s going to be distracting. But after a few moments, you embrace it and find yourself falling into two concurrent worlds. It’s a massively experimental film made by an unapologetic master. Vortex certainly isn't the most rewatchable movie of the year, but it’s one I’ll always appreciate. I also recorded two Gaspar Noé podcasts in 2022. The first was his work from I Stand Alone though Climax. The second part covers Lux Æterna and Vortex.

 

1. Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Yep, I absolutely love Bardo. It’s an absurdist work of art that I never could have expected. The entire time I watched it, I was on the journey of the film, but had no idea how to anticipate the destination. 

The proper way to talk about Bardo is by discussing the entire thing, including the end, which I don’t want to do here. But when I finally fucking figured out what this film was doing, I was moved in a way that is becoming increasingly rare for modern movies. 

I understand that I am seemingly alone on Bardo Island. That’s okay. I’ve read all the criticisms and heard all the complains. I get it. I typically react strongly to Iñárritu’s films, I’m not sure why. Maybe because he seems to understand pain in a way that I appreciate, and he’s so fearless in putting that understanding on the screen, film after film. Whether I’m alone with Bardo or not, I will cherish this film forever.