Top 10 Films of 2022
2022 saw the film industry continue to adapt to the post-lockdown world. Ticket sales remained low, though Tom Cruise and James Cameron provided lifelines to theaters with “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” I’m looking forward to the cross-over where a Na’vi is Maverick’s wingman. “I have a need…a need for environmentalism!” Still, major theater closings have been announced. But I am hopeful. January 2023 saw a spike in box office and there are a lot of promising titles in the year ahead. And in large part, I’m hopeful because the 2022 slate of releases was SO DAMN GOOD. Here are some of the titles that resonated most with me.
Eligibility for this list is pretty simple – I went by US release dates. Not festival screenings and not international release, even in the title’s country of origin. As always, I’ll avoid spoilers as best I can, but if you haven’t seen a title and you’re particularly sensitive to plot details, best to skip that section. Now let’s get on with it!
10.) PEARL
In March, Ti West released “X,” a ’70s-set slasher about a porno film crew at a remote shooting location – a farm they rented from an elderly couple with a taste for blood. During the release of “X,” filmmaker Ti West announced he had already shot a prequel. Set in 1918, “Pearl” tells the story of the elderly wife, as a much younger woman named Pearl (Mia Goth, also co-writer), pursuing a career in movies. I almost put both titles on this list as a tie, but as much as I enjoy “X,” “Pearl” is more artistically adventurous. Where “X” owes a lot to films like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Pearl” borrows from films like “The Wizard of Oz” – splashy technicolor, a musical number, and some real quality time with a scarecrow. It’s a good, healthy slice of demented horror as Pearl’s sanity – which is on shaky ground when the film starts – slips further and further as a career in show business eludes her. This is a marvelous vehicle for Goth, who has one hell of an eight-minute monologue and an unforgettable final moment.
9.) PINOCCHIO
“Pinocchio” is Guillermo del Toro’s first foray into stop-motion animation. It’s an ideal medium for someone so meticulous and visually-minded. You know the story of the wooden puppet, but this version takes place in Fascist Italy. In flashback, we learn that Geppetto (David Bradley) lost his son in World War I and creates Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) in an act of grief. The story, particularly this iteration of it (co-directed by Mark Gustafson), is a great vessel for del Toro’s passions and obsessions – history, rebellion, individuality, and monsters. It’s got an aw-shucks charm to it, though there’s an undercurrent of menace that recalls the work of Bob Fosse. I suspect children will like it even if the political implications and insights are over their heads. It’s a funny and moving ode to life, with all its pain and pleasure.
8.) RRR
“RRR” is unlike any other spectacle I saw in 2022. It mixes historical epic with action/adventure and throws in a dash of musical. Directed and co-written by S. S. Rajamouli, it’s set in 1920s British-ruled India and centers on two revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.). The real-life freedom fighters never met each other, but here, Rajamouli imagines a story where they had a bromance while kicking imperialist ass and taking names. The film offers quite the introductions to these two. We meet Raju, working for the British government, taking on hundreds of protesters by himself. And Bheem? We meet him going toe-to-claw with a tiger! “RRR” is the type of movie that’s not content to rest on its laurels. Each set piece outdoes the previous, from a raid on an estate involving a pack of wild animals to a dance-off that is one of the most infectious musical numbers this side of Gene Kelly singin’ in the rain. To use the parlance of Film Twitter, that’s cinema!
7.) AFTERSUN
I might be doing “Aftersun” a disservice by placing it on this list. On the surface, it’s as slight and simple as they come. The feature debut from Charlotte Wells, it’s the story of a father (Paul Mescal) and daughter (Frankie Corio) on vacation for her 11th birthday. Wells’s conception of the film is anything but simple. Sprinkled throughout are home videos of the trip. We intuit early on, thanks to sharp editing from Blair McClendon, that the videos are being viewed by the daughter as an adult. It’s a haunted film in that way, but the bulk of the screen time is spent in the past. Wells’s camera captures the fleetingness of memory, often drifting away from the father. We learn that a darkness surrounds him, even as he loves his daughter deeply. What that darkness is is never clear, but again, we intuit. Those looking for a traditional catharsis will be disappointed, though if you’re open to what the movie is offering, the tears will come. With the final image, narrative pieces click devastatingly into place.
6.) DECISION TO LEAVE
Filmmaker Park Chan-wook made his name in Korean cinema for violent revenge dramas like “Oldboy.” But here, he hangs up the bloody hammer in favor of an aching romance. A detective, Hae-Jun (Park Hae-il) investigates the death of a man found at the base of a mountain. He suspects the man’s widow, Seo-Rae (Tang Wei), who doesn’t seem particularly upset by her husband’s passing. But as Hae-Jun investigates further, he falls in love with her – in true noir fashion. This is dizzyingly put together, a beguiling mix of reality, fantasy, and memory. Phone conversations are often staged with the characters standing next to each other in the same room, a mental projection that makes the sense of attraction palpable. The amount of thought and care the director and his editor, Kim Sang-beom, have put into this film is something to behold. First-person perspective shots, match cuts, and cross fades that bind Hae-Jun to Seo-Rae. Park Hae-il is wonderful at communicating suppressed longing, and Tang Wei makes for a mysterious yet captivating figure.
5.) THE FABELMANS
“The Fabelmans” is one of the great superhero origin stories. It’s the latest in a string of autobiographical projects from high-profile directors – Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast.” This time the director is Steven Spielberg. Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryan and Gabriel LaBelle) navigates a burgeoning love for filmmaking and a tumultuous relationship between his mother (Michelle Williams) and father (Paul Dano). It’s an emotional family drama as well as a funny coming-of-age story. (See: a Christian girlfriend who dates Sammy because he’s a handsome Jewish boy, just like Jesus.) Films like this are often criticized for getting high on their own supply. The Magic of the Movies! But “The Fabelmans,” written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, is more complex. The act of filmmaking is sometimes a curse. One of the standout scenes is when Sammy makes a movie depicting a school bully as a gargantuan athlete, complete with slow motion shots of him looking like he’s flying. The bully is angry over why Sammy depicted him that way. “I didn’t mean to freak you out,” says Sammy. “Who cares what you meant,” the bully counters. Don’t worry, movie geeks, it’s not all a bitter pill. There’s a cameo in the final moments that had this film fan elated.
4.) MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
Based on a series of shorts by Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” answers one of the most pressing questions of our time: what if Paddington was a shell instead of a bear? This is an unabashedly wholesome and tender movie that combines live-action with stop-motion animation and mockumentary. Dean (Fleischer Camp) is documenting the lives of Marcel (Slate), a tiny shell, and Marcel’s grandmother (Isabella Rossellini). Slate gives a marvelous vocal performance. The character is exactly the kind of independent and positive protagonist that kids (and adults) need. “I like myself,” Marcel tells Dean during an interview. Like the best of children’s cinema, the film isn’t afraid to tackle bigger and more mature subject matter. Marcel’s grandmother has dementia, and much of the movie is about Marcel processing that. His rendition of The Eagles’ “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” wrung my tear ducts out like a sponge.
3.) THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Set on a remote island during the Irish Civil War, “The Banshees of Inisherin” is a spellbinding film about the dissolution of a friendship. Colm (Brendan Gleeson) suddenly no longer wants to associate with the kind-but-dim Pádraic (Colin Farrell). As their feud escalates, it embroils fellow islanders like Pádraic’s sister, Siobhán (Kerry Condon), Dominic (Barry Keoghan), and Pádraic’s donkey, Jenny (…Jenny). This marks writer-director Martin McDonagh’s first movie since 2017’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” I was thoroughly mixed on that one, but “Banshees” is a welcome return to form. (I’m a big fan of McDonagh’s “In Bruges,” which also stars Farrell and Gleeson.) This has the filmmaker’s foul-mouthed silliness and propensity for bloodshed. It’s also profoundly sad, thanks in part to Carter Burwell’s melancholy score and Ben Davis’s gloomy cinematography. Farrell, Gleeson, Condon, Keoghan, and Jenny are all stellar. Farrell is so good at playing dopey characters. “But you liked me yesterday,” he plaintively tells Colm. This movie’s feckin’ great!
2.) EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Filmmakers Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert threw disparate elements into a blender – parallel universes, taxes, hotdog fingers, googly eyes, “Ratatouille,” and butt plugs – and created something wholly unique. Amidst family and financial troubles, Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) learns that she, her husband (Ke Huy Quan), and daughter (Stephanie Hsu) are central to the survival of the multiverse. To go much further into the story would involve spoilers, but this is also a film you need to experience. It has one of the best ensembles of the year – a real showcase for Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan in particular. Yeoh shows tremendous range, tapping into the types of personas she’s played throughout her career. Paul Rogers offers a masterclass in film editing. This is a whirlwind of genre, tone, emotion, and imagination. One second, you’ll be laughing at two characters with hotdog hands playing the piano with their feet – because how would you do it with wieners for fingers? – and the next you’ll be in tears over a family in turmoil.
1.) THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
I’m not someone to crown all-time favorite movies quickly. It’s not a conscious effort, just something I’ve noticed about myself, I need time for things to settle. But after seeing “The Worst Person in the World” (released in the U.S. in February 2022), I knew I’d found a new favorite.
From Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, it’s a sublime romantic dramedy about Julie (Renate Reinsve) as she navigates passions, professions, and romances in her mid 20s through early 30s. It’s a coming-of-age story with the thrust of the plot – such as there is one – being Julie’s indecisiveness and tendency to make bad decisions. But it’s that rare film about a Millennial that isn’t condescending or patronizing. It doesn’t dabble in online speak or similar cliches embraced by other storytellers. Renate Reinsve gives the best performance I’ve seen in some time. She is sweet, funny, romantic, sad, and angry. A lot of different notes to play, and none of them are false. Like “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the film itself is a rich emotional experience. It’ll make you laugh, like when Julie has a bad drug trip, or when the film cuts to her and her boyfriend, Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), cowering in bed as a couple argues in the next room. The movie will titillate and provoke, such as when Julie crashes a wedding reception and meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum). Neither is single, but they openly debate the line between cheating and being faithful. One will drink from the other’s beer or stand just a little too close. “Is this cheating,” they ask. The film will fill you with sweetness and whimsy, like when Julie jogs through an Oslo frozen in time. It’ll also break your heart, but there’s real beauty as well. I love Kasper Tuxen’s gorgeous yet un-showy cinematography. Few films attempt the emotional breadth of “The Worst Person in the World,” and even fewer succeed. But it’s why we go to the movies. Or certainly why I do.
Some honorable mentions: “After Yang,” “Glass Onion,” “Tár,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” and the aforementioned “X.”
What were your top films of 2022?
