The Top 25 Movies of 2022

Even as the industry continues to change amidst theater closings, rising ticket costs and increased at-home streaming options, there were still more movies worth watching released in 2022 than most people can find the time to get to. A lot of COVID-delayed projects finally saw the light of day and the screens of theaters in 2022, which means there were plenty of high-quality intelligent dramas, awe-inspiring blockbusters, thoughtful indies, and creative works of sci-fi and horror to check out.

Read on to see The Filmologist’s list of its top 25 movies of the 2022, ranging from the preaching-to-the-choir mega hits to some smaller, quiet projects that you might not have heard of. There’s something for everybody!

#25 - Something in the Dirt

Directed by (and starring) Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead

Benson and Moorhead have now made five interesting (and at times spectacular) DIY, micro-budget sci-fi movies, and people are starting to pay attention. The directing duo has been chosen to do some work with Marvel as of late, including two episodes of 2022's Moon Knight and episodes in the upcoming second season of Loki. But if you thought the higher-profile gigs would affect their movie ethos at all, you'd be mistaken. Something in the Dirt is an even more ultra-grassroots piece of work than their last few projects, likely aided by the fact that it was filmed in Benson's apartment as a result of the COVID lockdown.

Benson and Moorhead also star in front of the camera as two neighbors that notice objects starting to float and glow supernaturally in their apartment, prompting them to start making a documentary about the phenomenon. Certain clues and coincidences seemingly begin to reveal themselves, including possible connections to secret societies and the paranormal. As the pair start to get deeper into several rabbit holes, they also start to learn more about each other, and it starts to get hard to determine what's real and what isn't.

It's a delightfully fun dose of intrigue and paranoia, playing out a lot like a documentary version of an X-Files episode. The supernatural and conspiracy elements may or may not make any sense by the end, but what really makes it all work is the chemistry and developing mistrust between the two leads. You're right there with them as they share the excitement of each new discovery and start to feel the possible danger each revelation brings.

As the credits roll, there's a dedication that reads "To making movies with your friends," and it really feels like Benson and Moorhead have managed to make a successful career doing just that. Long may it continue.

#24 - Triangle of Sadness

Directed by Ruben Östlund

"Eat the Rich: The Movie" could've worked as the title for multiple releases in 2022, but Ruben Östlund's Triangle of Sadness might be the best of them. You might think the winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes and an Oscar Best Picture nominee might not choose such an obvious target to take so many unsubtle swings at, but Östlund (Force Majeure, The Square) still gets a lot of laughs at the expense of the same out-of-touch elites you see in the news every day.

The three-act structure is really well done, initially featuring male model Carl (Harris Dickinson) and influencer Yaya (Charlbi Dean) as they bicker about gender roles and money. They eventually end up on a luxury yacht and meet a crazy crew of rich passengers, including a drunken captain played by Woody Harrelson. A big storm during a dinner party causes one of the year's most memorable and hilarious scenes, and leads into the third act, which flips the roles of the haves and have-nots in a very fun way.

If you're on board with Östlund's sense of humor (or maybe enjoyed The White Lotus), you'll have a great time with this, as the humor and clever dialogue mostly overrides the slightly long runtime and obvious thematic material.

#23 - Barbarian

Directed by Zach Cregger

First-time filmmaker Zach Cregger put out one of the year's surprise hits, creating a creative and wildly entertaining modern horror classic that all starts with a double-booked Airbnb. Tess (Georgina Campbell) shows up late at night to her Detroit rental home, only to discover it's already occupied by Keith (Bill Skarsgård, or Pennywise the Clown from the recent IT movies). The first 30-40 minutes are a masterclass of tension building and trope subversion, leaving the audience with no idea what's coming next.

What comes next in the second act is so out of left field that literally no one could have predicted it, introduced by one of the best smash cuts I've ever seen. We follow a seemingly unrelated new plot featuring Justin Long as a delightfully dickish canceled sitcom actor, who eventually converges into the original Detroit setting. It's a risky gamble and a large tonal shift, but I think it mostly pays off.

That anything-could-happen energy carries the audience through the chaotic and violent last act, which ends in a satisfying if not slightly more formulaic fashion. But don't let that take anything away from what is a highly enjoyable debut from Cregger, and a sure crowd pleaser for anyone looking for a fun and fresh horror movie.

#22 - The Woman King

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood

Fans of crowd-pleasing epics like Braveheart and Gladiator take note: The Woman King hits that same sweet spot, almost feeling like a throwback to a time when there were a lot more movies like them. It's a popcorn movie with a lot of heart, great action sequences and some terrific performances from big-time movie stars. What's not to like?

Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love and Basketball, The Old Guard) seems to have taken a mid-career shift into action storytelling, while still imbuing her characters with the strength and tenderness of her older, more dramatic work. If this is the result, I'm all for it.

This is a historical fiction based on the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. There's a serviceable plot about the group liberating women from and then doing battle with a powerful neighboring empire, and a pretty obvious twist that slows things down a bit about halfway through, but the real appeal is the sisterhood between the women and the steps they take to be in charge of their own destinies.

Viola Davis is, of course, fantastic, and she's aided by the powerful presence of Lashana Lynch and a great performance from Thuso Mbedu (also the star of Barry Jenkins' The Underground Railroad). It's thrilling stuff, full of action and genuine emotional impact.

I should note there is a controversy surrounding the historical facts portrayed in the movie. There's plenty to find online about this if you're interested and I won't rehash the debates here. Considering this part of history is pretty much unknown to most audiences, I would say that it's still very much worth seeing and educating yourself further about it afterwards.

#21 - Bones and All

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

This is the first of several movies on this list that were not received too kindly by critics and general audiences. In fact, I think I was the only person at my screening of Bones and All that wasn't outright laughing at the movie as the credits rolled.

And to be fair, the concept is a tough one to get people to take seriously. The movie introduces us to the concept that there is a small group of people in the world called "eaters" that have overwhelming urges to...well...eat people. Obviously this causes all kinds of problems for the eaters, who are more or less on the run or hidden away. 18-year-old Maren (Taylor Russell) is one such eater, who discovers that eaters can smell other eaters when they are nearby after being found by Sully (Mark Rylance). Sully teaches her the ropes, until she goes out on her own and comes across Lee (Timothée Chalamet), and the two develop a relationship.

That may sound only kind of weird, but the true weirdness comes from the fact that the movie is written and shot like an indie rom-com. There isn't as much cannibal violence as you might expect from the plot summary, but when it does happen, it's very jarring and seemingly at odds with the tone of the rest of the movie. Beautiful, purple-tinged landscapes of the American Midwest serve as backdrops to vulnerable and heartfelt conversations, as the two beautiful leads get to know each other while tender music plays. And then suddenly we're killing and eating a guy.

You really have to be willing to engage with the movie's themes and get emotionally invested in the characters, and I can understand how that might be difficult for some given the whole people eating other people thing. The central metaphor seems to be that there's always someone who can empathize with and love you, no matter what kind of quirks you have (such as eating people), but yeah, the delivery system of that metaphor is admittedly a strange one.

I am generally predisposed to like everything Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria) does, so maybe I was more willing to go along with this one, but I found it very touching and oddly beautiful in a way that I've haven't seen in many other movies before. Give it a shot and embrace the weirdness.

#20 - The Whale

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Speaking of directors that I'm predisposed to like anything they do: enter Darren Aronofsky. I have been willing to defend the merits of every single one of his seven features, including The Fountain and Mother!, as well as his more well-received works like Black Swan and The Wrestler. So when initial bad reviews starting coming out, I was not at all worried, as people tend to have very heightened feelings about Aronofsky's provocative stories.

The Whale is the big comeback starring vehicle for Brendan Fraser, who plays a reclusive English teacher with severe obesity trying to rekindle his relationship with his teenage daughter (Stranger Thing's Sadie Sink) and deal with the general hardships of his everyday life. The movie is based on the 2012 play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter and is set entirely in one house.

As with most Aronofsky movies, this is pretty dark and bleak stuff. If you've seen Requiem for a Dream, you know Aronofsky really likes to put his viewers through the ringer, and this is no exception. But what most people seem to be offended by is the perceived intent of the story. I've read a lot of reviews calling this misery-porn and mean-spirited, and that we can do nothing but pity this man. There are two scenes where we watch him cram candy bars into his mouth in moments of frustration that I've seen called grotesque.

I don't agree with just about any of that. Thanks in large part to Fraser's incredible performance, it's a lot more gentle and empathetic than people are making it out to be. Those candy-eating scenes aren't exploitative at all; they are the result of trauma and stress that is well established in the movie, and I find it hard to believe that most people couldn't relate to them at least on some level. The claim that Aronofsky has disdain for the character and shot this like a horror movie couldn't be farther off the mark, and I struggle to see how someone could watch this and think that way.

Yes, it's not an easy watch but it's an extremely moving character study of a fully realized, three-dimensional human being, flaws and all. It's about love the way it can be in real life -- complex, difficult and emotional -- and how people deserve to receive love, even if they don't make it easy. It's maybe not grand entertainment to watch someone on a path to self-destruction, but to me, the movie works because I felt for Fraser's character and was rooting for him to succeed. I accept that the harsh reality of the situation is not something everyone would want to watch, but I would challenge anyone who felt disgust, and would ask them to really examine themselves for the answer why.

This is a difficult subject not often brought up in popular entertainment, and I credit Aronofsky for not letting the viewer look away from it.

#19 - Hit the Road

Directed by Panah Panahi

Hit the Road is the debut full-length movie from Panah Panahi, the son of well-respected filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who you may have read about in the news recently for being imprisoned (and thankfully recently released) after his numerous clashes with the Iranian government. Following in his father's footsteps, Panah has made a movie that is a slightly coded presentation of issues in modern Iran, leaving out specifics and details in an attempt to avoid the further wrath of the Iranian government.

Hit the Road is, as it sounds, very much a road movie. It depicts a family of four driving across the country for what seems like a pretty innocuous trip, but is slowly revealed to be something a lot more dangerous.

The tone is classic road movie for much of the first half, as the family bickers and teases each other, highlighted by the absolutely non-stop banter and shenanigans of an adorable six-year-old trickster, played impossibly well by the young Rayan Sarlak. Cell phones are hidden, hitchhikers are picked up (as part of an incredible bike racing gag), and the miles go on and on while the viewer is drip-fed bits of information behind the true purpose of the trip.

And when that purpose becomes apparent, the movie changes tone completely and devastatingly, highlighted by a truly tremendous single-take scene shot maybe a hundred yards away from the action. It's a wonderfully put-together structure, highlighted by some really lovely cinematography and camera work.

In the end, the movie's political point is made and the missing details don't matter as much as the consequences to this family (and many other families), unfairly torn away from their loved ones. It's a work that is both charming and devastating in equal measure, and it's a hell of debut from Panah Panahi.

#18 - The Northman

Directed by Robert Eggers

I'm actually surprised at both how high and how low this is in the top 25. My expectations for The Northman were through the stratosphere, as young director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) is coming off two straight masterpieces and was given around $80 million dollars to make an epic, historically-accurate Viking movie starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Björk. I would've easily penciled this in as my expected number one movie of the year last January.

And here it sits at number 17, which is certainly a disappointment but also somewhat fortunate, as I'm not sure I would've told you this would make the top 25 at all directly after seeing it. Not that it was particularly bad or anything. It just felt a little too...normal, I guess? Pedestrian? For Eggers, anyway.

But time and a rewatch certainly raised it up again, reminding me that there is a lot to really enjoy here. First off, it's absolutely spellbindingly gorgeous. Eggers works with his usual cinematographer Jarin Blaschke here, and they produce some really memorable images and action, including a blood-pumping, adrenaline-spiking extended tracking shot sequence of a Viking raid on a village. The too-brief scenes of Björk as a mystical Seeress are appropriately wonderous, and the final climactic showdown is a one-on-one bare-chested (or bare-everything) battle for the ages.

This is certainly Eggers' most accessible movie, and maybe that's what initially threw me off as I might've been waiting for some kind of trickery or narrative complexity. But this is just a straight-up Viking revenge story with all-around nasty characters, a punishing environment and lots of bloody violence. Certainly nothing wrong with that.

#17 - Amsterdam

Directed by David O. Russell

This might be one of the very few movie websites in the world that has David O. Russell's Amsterdam in their best of 2022 lists. It's a universally panned (if not outright hated) movie by the entire movie-watching community, and I don't think I've heard a single positive thing about it from anyone. I don't know what to tell you; I really enjoyed it quite a bit.

I have a feeling that a lot of the critical vitriol comes from the fact that David O. Russell (American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook) has a long history of really poor on-set behavior, including a rumored fistfight with George Clooney and a leaked video of a nasty on-set tirade directed at Lily Tomlin. I would not be surprised if Russell is not very well liked by a lot of people in the industry, and there's a high likelihood that he's a colossal jerk at best.

But he still always manages to assemble insane casts, and Amsterdam is no exception, with a main trio of Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington alongside an ensemble supporting cast that includes Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Andrea Riseborough, Taylor Swift, Rami Malek and Robert De Niro.

The story itself is kind of a goofball political conspiracy caper that is very Coen Brothers-lite (which is fine by me). Our main trio becomes friends during World War I in France and reunite 15 years later in New York to try and foil the plot of a mysterious organization known as the "Committee of the Five". The details aren't important; I just found it a blast to go along on this mostly light-hearted romp with all of these wonderful actors. I know a lot of people found it all very boring but I was completely charmed, and further entranced by lovely sepia-toned nostalgic imagery from the master Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity, The Revenant).

It's stylish, slapstick fun with huge stars hamming it up, and a timely (if not very subtle) message of anti-fascism. This may have been a massive box office bomb with very few positive reviews, but I'll just happy over here on my Amsterdam island, grinning enthusiastically.

#16 - Top Gun: Maverick

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

I didn't watch a lot of movies growing up in the 80s and 90s, so I never saw the original Top Gun when it first came out (or most action movies from that era, to be honest). So as all of this IP starts to come back out in modern times for a nostalgia remake or sequel, I have typically not been very interested. I did finally watch Top Gun last year and thought it was fine, but was a little unsure how a sequel would work out in 2022.

Turns out it worked out amazingly and is a better movie than the original in just about every conceivable way.

As with the original, there's some set-up for the barely-there plot (the Navy has to destroy an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant located somewhere because they just do, don't ask), and we're off to Cruise and Co. doing what they do best, having macho unit-measuring contests, disobeying orders and flying planes really, really fast. Cruise is joined this time by Miles Teller as Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of "Goose" from the original, creating some interpersonal tension (and also indirectly reminding us that Cruise is 60 years old).

Director Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion, Tron: Legacy) oversees some truly gnarly action set pieces well worth the price of admission, but more importantly, he perfectly balances the tone between light-hearted action/military hijinks and more serious self-introspection, resulting in payoffs that seem simple but have an emotional impact that can catch you off guard. Sure, it's big, it's loud, it's got explosions and planes and bromances, but it's an example of how you can still make a "dumb" action movie that can get your heart racing and have you reaching for a tissue. I wouldn't have guessed this would be one of my favorites of 2022 when the year started, but it's a welcome surprise.

#15 - The Menu

Directed by Mark Mylod

There's was very little chance that I wasn't going to love The Menu. Two of my favorite working actors (Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Hoult) alongside the white-hot Anya Taylor-Joy in a comedy/horror satire about the high-end restaurant business made by the main director of one of the best shows on television (Succession's Mark Mylod)? It's like it was made just for me.

Thanks to its early availability on HBO Max, a ton of people got to see and enjoy this crowd-pleasing takedown of the elite (there's that theme again), as this giddily over-the-top parody takes aim at the gourmet food world and the kinds of people it attracts. In this case, its a crew of rich finance bros, snobby middle-aged food critics, has-been celebrities, and know-it-all self-proclaimed foodies. Some might complain that these are pretty easy targets, and maybe they are, but that doesn't make this any less fun.

This group of hungry people are welcomed to an ultra-exclusive restaurant on a secluded island, run by the genius Chef Slowik (Fiennes). Things get increasingly out of control, as it becomes clear that just about everyone in the room is there for a reason. I can't stress enough how good Fiennes is here (which isn't surprising), as he calmly wades through staff and customers like a great white shark, intimidating and unpredictable. The movie's MVP might be his #2, Elsa, played with smarmy perfection by Hong Chau.

The movie might not have all that much to say in the end, but it's still an absolute blast, with plenty of laughs and shocks provided by A-list actors and crew clearly having a great time.

#14 - Avatar: The Way of Water

Directed by James Cameron

Yes, Avatar! Even though I can't say I was hotly anticipating this long-gestating sequel to a mostly okay movie, you just can never bet against James Cameron when it comes to delivering the largest spectacle possible.

In case you forgot, Avatar was probably the biggest cultural event of 13 years ago, wowing audiences with levels of CGI and 3D imagery that hadn't really been seen before. While time dulled a lot of that enthusiasm (not to mention the original story didn't exactly leave you clamoring for more), Cameron got to work developing new technology to make the sequel even wilder than before, and it's evident mere seconds into The Way of Water. This thing looks incredible. It's easy to become numb to visual effects in modern movies, but Cameron takes motion capture to such an unbelievable level that it's hard not to believe that Pandora isn't just some real-life planet that Cameron found and filmed this movie on. The level of detail in each leaf or drop of water, whether it's front and center or part of the background, is simply astonishing.

The sequel's story is very similar to the original, as time has passed on Pandora and our two heroes Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have raised a family. The bad Earthmen from before have returned, and they are out to continue mining Pandora's resources and get a little revenge on the Sullys as well.

The Sullys eventually flee to the reef home of a water tribe called the Metkayina. The second hour of this 3+ hour movie is basically just the Sullys swimming around and exploring, and I honestly didn't want it to ever end. It's world building at its very finest, and if you thought you wanted to live in Pandora after the first movie, you'll soon be begging Cameron to takes us all to space to find this place for real.

The story problems from the original are still present here, and a lot of the dialogue is once again clunky (every military character can only yell cliches), but to honest, it doesn't really matter. By the time the third act (which is just a giant action climax) comes to end, you'll thank your lucky stars that Big Jim has at least three more sequels coming our way.

#13 - Babylon

Directed by Damien Chazelle

Damien Chazelle started his career throwing straight heat with Whiplash and La La Land, but his third feature (2018's biographical Neil Armstrong space movie First Man) was released to a pretty muted reaction. As the press started gearing up for Babylon in 2022, you started to see a lot of articles and commentary about how maybe First Man didn't get a fair shake, with the term "underrated masterpiece" starting to get thrown around with increasing regularity.

So based on its extremely polarizing reception, I for one cannot wait for Babylon to get the "underrated masterpiece" label right around the time we start talking about Chazelle's next movie in a few years, and I'm going on the record right now that I was on board from day one. If anything, I'm a coward for not putting it way higher in this list.

There's so much crammed into this three-hour bonanza that it's pretty impossible to recap completely, but the story at its core is the inverse of La La Land -- where La La Land was about the wide-eyed dream of making it and becoming a star, Babylon is about what that dream can cost you. Chazelle is grappling with how an artform that produces such joy and transcendence can be operated almost completely by scumbags and immoral sadists. The movie is set in the 1920s as the silent film era came to a close, and even though Hollywood was much different then, a lot of the basics remain the same: corruption, drugs, sleaze and backstabbing to get to the top.

Despite all of the filth, nudity and depravity on display, it's one of the movie's final scenes that seems to really be divisive, as Chazelle highlights cinema's greatest moments in a montage meant to evoke the best movies have to offer, standing in contrast to the three hours of sleaze that came before it. How can such beautiful art come from a city of shit? Some may scoff at the suggestion that all of the filth might be worth it if it produces magic. It's certainly a conversation worth having, and Babylon does it with overwhelming style.

#12 - Cha Cha Real Smooth

Directed by Cooper Raiff

The 24-year-old Cooper Raiff came out of nowhere in 2020 to put out one of that year's best movies in Shithouse, a charming no-budget look at a lonely freshman (also played by Raiff) adjusting to college life. Comparisons were made to the tender, thoughtful movies of Richard Linklater, making expectations pretty high for his sophomore effort Cha Cha Real Smooth, which premiered at Sundance and was promptly purchased by Apple for $15 million.

People seemed to forget about it pretty quickly for one reason or another, but I happened to think this was a step up from Shithouse, even if it does retread some similar territory. Raiff again casts himself as the star, which is by no means a dig: he has a very endearingly vulnerable screen presence that is perfect for these college slacker-type roles. Here he plays a directionless college grad who starts making money as a party starter while also striking up a relationship with an older woman and her autistic daughter.

It helps significantly that the mother is played with terrific melancholy by Dakota Johnson, who is frankly outstanding in an already severely overlooked performance. Her chemistry with Raiff is a joy to watch and helps overcome some of the slower moments in the back half of the movie.

Raiff is two for two in making funny, honest and true-to-life movies about young characters struggling to figure things out. The fact that he's done it with such aplomb at such a young age is a true feat, and I'll be watching his career with great interest.

#11 - The Banshees of Inisherin

Directed by Martin McDonagh

Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) is a true master at very dark comedy, and he takes it to new levels with his fourth full-length movie, once again starring the In Bruges partnership of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. This time, the boys are set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland at the tail end of the Irish Civil War. Colm (Gleeson) decides seemingly out of the blue that he no longer wants to be friends with his long-time drinking buddy Pádraic (Farrell), and as Pádraic tries desperately to understand why, Colm gets more and more extreme in his desires to be left alone.

It's a brilliant showcase for the two leads and McDonagh's usual razor sharp dialogue, and while it's maybe not "funny" in the traditional sense, there are so many laughs garnered from conversational pauses, gestures and the actions of nearby animals. McDonagh also finds a perfect balance of the silly and the emotionally profound, as the genuine heartbreak at the center of the rapidly deteriorating friendship can easily be felt by the viewer.

The supporting cast are also tremendous, featuring a deservedly Oscar-nominated Kerry Condon as Farrell's sister, the always excellent Barry Keoghan, and a truly all-time great animal performance (entirely adlibbed!) from Jenny the donkey. McDonagh has such compassion for all of his characters (even if they are "dull"), and they're each given the time and space to change and grow.

I suspect this movie will only rise in estimation upon a few rewatches, as there's plenty here to chew on allegorically and historically. But like all McDonagh movies, any rewatch will be a pleasure.

#10 - Decision to Leave

Directed by Park Chan-wook

Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) is one of the biggest names in South Korean cinema, and if you've seen either of the two movies I just listed after his name, I wouldn't blame you if you clenched up a little bit at the thought of going through another one of his crazy roller coaster rides of sex and violence. But would you believe me if I said Decision to Leave was a fairly straightforward noir-ish detective thriller in the mold of some of the best Hitchcock movies? And that is by no means a bad thing.

Detective Hae-Jun (Park Hae-il) is a pretty classic tough detective type who comes across a case where a retired immigration officer is found dead at the foot of a mountain he often climbed. The officer's much younger wife Seo-Rae (the incredible Tang Wei) is the chief suspect, and as Hae-Jun starts to conduct interviews and stakeouts, he becomes more and more enraptured with the mysterious Seo-Rae, becoming so compromised by his obsession that he struggles to figure out what is true and what isn't.

Chan-wook's style and craft are at the highest possible level, as each frame bursts with beauty and meaning. It's a movie that rewards close watching, as each glance and gesture contain multitudes. The stylistic elements may even seem overwhelming at first, as they keep coming and coming while you struggle to keep up, but it's a wonderful rhythm to eventually fall into.

By the time things truly escalate at the end, you're already hooked and invested in what is suddenly one of the weirdest but strangely romantic love stories you'll see in some time. It's a wonderful refresh of the detective noir genre, shot by a world class stylist at the top of his game.

#9 - Three Thousand Years of Longing

Directed by George Miller

Here's another one that's due for reevaluation in the near future. George Miller's latest epic was a complete box office disaster, grossing only $19 million on a budget of $60 million. You'd think more people would've been interested seeing as it's Miller's first movie since his mega smash hit Mad Max: Fury Road. Not to mention the fact that it stars Idris Elba as a djinn who is unleashed from a bottle by a professor (Tilda Swinton) to tell her tales of his thousands of years of existence. If this one paragraph isn't selling you on the movie, I don't know what can.

I was completely taken with this stunningly gorgeous tale and could've sat happily through another two hours of Idris recounting his long life story. Each flashback is a lush mini-fable, featuring people and places from across the globe. The narrative framing device is mostly philosophical conversation between Idris and Swinton, as they feel each other out and start to develop a relationship. Both characters are seeking a connection, but Swinton is mistrustful of djinn because she's read the same genie stories we all have growing up, and knows that wish fulfillment never seems to work out so well for the wisher.

The ending is a little abrupt and the overarching philosophical threads might seem a little loose by the end, but those are minor quibbles. This thing should've been a smash, and I'm positive that it'll find its audience with time.

#8 - Crimes of the Future

Directed by David Cronenberg

At 79 years old, the legendary David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome) certainly has nothing left to prove, but I'm definitely glad he decided to come back after eight years to grace us with another weird movie. And what a return! Crimes of the Future is just as stylish, shocking and thought-provoking as anything Cronenberg made in his 80s-90s heyday.

Once again dealing with themes of how the human body might interact and intersect with advancements in modern technology, Crimes of the Future is set in a near future world where advances in biotechnology led to the invention of machines and computers that can directly interface with and control bodily functions. Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux are a performance artist duo who perform live surgeries to audiences, taking advantage of Mortensen's "accelerated evolution syndrome", a disorder that forces his body to constantly develop new organs. As sophisticated art crowds look on (and are turned on), Mortensen wearily endures his disorder and fame, while dealing with government agents trying to use him to infiltrate a group of radical evolutionists.

It's a lot of take in, but it also builds an absolutely fascinating world the likes of which hasn't been seen in fiction since...earlier Cronenberg movies. If you can get past (or get into) the body horror (including stitched-together eyes and ears, and organs growing on every inch of people's bodies), there's quite a bit to chew on philosophically, including fascinating questions about evolution, vanishing environmental ecosystems, and the nature and limitations of pain itself.

No one does is quite like Cronenberg, and thankfully Mortensen and Seydoux are up for the role, effusing a very weird calm amidst a completely insane world. Kristen Stewart is also absolutely delightful in a scene-stealing role as a nerdy fangirl. All in all, it's classic Cronenberg, and here's hoping he has a few more of these in him.

#7 - The Fabelmans

Directed by Steven Spielberg

I was all ready to cynically dismiss The Fabelmans as a narcissistic, late-career vanity project from Steven Spielberg, but I should've known better than to doubt the man at this point. While many might bristle at the thought of watching a living, white male director telling his own coming-of-age story about how he got really good at making movies, I would say A) if any director deserves the benefit of the doubt, it's Spielberg, and B) it helps when the final product is extremely good.

And The Fabelmans IS extremely good, no doubt in part because the story and characters mean so much to Spielberg. Young Spielberg's stand-in, the fictional Sammy Fabelman, grows up in New Jersey with his mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams), his father Burt (Paul Dano), and Burt's best friend Benny Loewy (Seth Rogen), who is around so much that he's practically part of the family. Burt is a bland man of science, not really encouraging Sammy's burgeoning love for making movies, whereas Sammy's mother Mitzi is a free-spirited artist who can see the talent Sammy possesses.

The trio of adults is eventually revealed to be a love triangle of sorts, all taking place under the watchful eye of Sammy, who records everything with his camera. There's a heartbreaking scene (which might be one of the best scenes of the last few years) where Sammy reveals to his mother that he knows what's been going on, and the relationship between the family members are never the same, as they are then forced to confront things out in the open.

The second half of the movie shifts into a kind of teen/high school drama, as 16-year-old Sammy and his family move first to Arizona and then California, where nerdy Sammy gets made fun of and beat up in school for being Jewish. He also really starts to develop his talents as a filmmaker, perhaps filling the gaps in his life left by his crumbling family with a desire to reveal the truths in people that only he can see behind his camera.

It's a lot to fit in one movie, even at two and a half hours, but Speilberg knows how to keep your attention, aided by a good cast and a really good performance from young Gabriel LaBelle as teenage Speilberg. The movie ends on an all-time great movie gag, and it's hard not to feel good as the credits roll. It's a movie that gets you invested and runs you through all kinds of emotions just like all of the best dramas do, and this one is right up there among Spielberg's best, which is really saying something.

#6 - RRR

Directed by S. S. Rajamouli

I knew I was in for something special when the opening scene featured a policeman beating up a festival-sized crowd. RRR is an explosive Telugu-language historical action movie directed by S. S. Rajamouli, and currently the most expensive Indian production of all time. I've been telling everyone I can to watch this for about a year and couldn't be happier that it inexplicably caught on here in the States.

This three-hour epic is an anti-colonist story at its heart, centered around fictional versions of two Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao) as they develop a great friendship and square off against the British Raj. The story really has it all: drama, betrayal, a love story, extended flashbacks, CGI animals, gorgeous costuming and set design, overwhelmingly insane stunt work and fight scenes, mustache-twirling British villains, an all-time bromance, and even an incredible and soon-to-be Oscar-winning musical number. It's a movie in the more-more-more style of Michael Bay and James Cameron, cranked to 11 at all times, with a non-stop gleeful parade of over-the-top set pieces. And it's all tremendous fun.

I have seen this twice now, and admittedly both times were made even greater by the shared crowd participation. It's the kind of movie where you want to shout at the screen and clap along to the music, and seeing it with an enthusiastic crowd just added joy to the already joyful experience. The second time I was lucky enough to see it with a packed audience and director Rajamouli in attendance. The laughs and cheers were deafening, but in the very best way.

This is maximalist pop cinema at its best, and American action directors should take note: even when you want to portray action, high stakes and drama, not everything has to be so dark and serious. See it on the biggest screen you can find.

#5 - Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp

Look, life is difficult for a lot of us these days. It's easy to feel like every day is just another one in an unending stream of stress and anxiety, as we muddle through our jobs to try and live our lives in an increasingly expensive planet chock-full of millions of certifiably insane human beings. Does our entertainment also have to always be filled with the same negativity, violence and depravity that we see in the news on a daily basis? Isn't there anything good and decent left in this world to watch that might make us feel hopeful that kindness and love might prevail?

Gentle reader, look no further than Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, a live-action/animated stop-motion comedy-drama directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, starring Jenny Slate as the voice of Marcel, who is, you guessed it, a shell that wears shoes.

It's a movie-length version of a series of shorts that took YouTube by storm back in the early 2010s, and while the concept absolutely should not work at all, it does so, so well. The adorable one-inch-tall Marcel lives with his grandmother Connie (Isabella Rossellini), and their pet lint, Alan. We are told that there once was an entire community of shells, but Marcel and Connie are the only ones left after some kind of mysterious tragedy. With the help of a documentary filmmaker (played by Fleischer Camp), they set out to try and find their lost friends, going viral and affecting millions along the way.

Every word out of Marcel's mouth is a delight, and you will likely be ready to die for Marcel within a matter of minutes. There are some extremely funny moments and a few scenes that will likely make you ugly cry, but not because of anything terrible; rather because you deeply care what happens to Marcel, while maybe feeling melancholy for a sense of friendship, community and togetherness that seems to have completely disappeared from our real world.

Watching Marcel is the cinematic equivalent of breathing in fresh air on a nice sunny day while you're on the way to meet with people you love. Give yourself a movie-hug and check this out as soon as possible.

#4 - After Yang

Directed by Kogonada

When it comes to visions of what our near future might look like, I much prefer the more understated ones like in Spike Jonze's Her (2013), and the similar one imagined in Kogonada's brilliant second feature, After Yang. It's not a dark, mechanically sanitized world of flying vehicles and neon colors; it's one that looks almost exactly like the world we're in now, with maybe slightly different clothes and some sleek, well-realized technological advancements that hide almost in plain sight.

In After Yang's world, they have something called a “techno sapien," an extremely human-looking and acting android companion that can assist around the house, learn new things, and in this case, help an adopted child learn more about her culture. Parents Jake (Colin Farrell) and Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith) purchase Yang (Justin H. Min) in the hopes that he will be that kind of companion to their adopted child Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja), and it works beautifully. But then Yang breaks and they have go on a series of adventures to try to fix him.

The beauty of this movie is less in the plot (as it's a very slow-moving movie generally), and more in engaging with the moments of quiet beauty and melancholic reflection along the way. Jake eventually accesses Yang's memory banks and spends hours pouring through them, pondering how little he really knows about Yang. The movie does a beautiful job of showing these memories visually, and then letting you reflect on what it would be like to see what you look like through someone else's eyes. There are many of these lovely little memory montages that I could've watched for hours.

Farrell is just as (if not more) brilliant here as he is in Banshees of Inisherin, portraying a frustrated father struggling with grief and trying to do right by his child. It's the quiet, understated gestures and facial expressions that make Farrell so effective, and he is utilized here to perfection, playing wonderfully off the rest of the cast (including Haley Lu Richardson, one of my favorites).

The movie plods along in a dreamlike state, and I imagine many will find this boring and uneventful, but there's wonder to be found here among all of the little details and memories if you're willing to engage with it. And if this does it for you, I can't recommend Kogonada's first movie (2017's Columbus) enough. Make more movies, Kogonada!

#3 - Tár

Directed by Todd Field

Renowned conductor Lydia Tár (played by Cate Blanchett) has everything going for her. She is the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, a virtuoso pianist, and a member of the EGOT club. From the very first scene, she is introduced as a keynote speaker by her own lengthy bio of accomplishments (of which she likely wrote herself) to rapturous applause. She is, as we quickly come to understand, at the absolute pinnacle of her profession.

So what is there left to do but fall? Tár is not exactly likeable to begin with, and we see her many machinations to get what she wants in every aspect of her life. She is cold and demanding, arrogant and manipulating, and impossible to look away from.

Todd Field's first movie since 2006 is such an accomplished work of character study that halfway through the movie I wasn't sure if I was watching a biography of a real Lydia Tár that I somehow hadn't heard of (it isn't). Played with fierce perfection in a likely Oscar-winning performance by Blanchett, Lydia Tár is larger than life, but also someone we've all met before. She isn't a perfect automaton; we see Tár express doubt and uncertainty, and large amounts of frustration at the people and the noises constantly in her way. She is a fully realized character in every sense, a marvelous cinematic creation.

As Tár continues to exploit people, you just know her comeuppance is coming, and it's breathless stuff as it all unfolds. This is a rare movie that is every bit an art film (those music theory conversations!) and crowd-pleasing drama, with multiple standout scenes and themes that you can't wait to discuss with friends afterwards. It may turn out to be my favorite movie of 2022 with a few more rewatches, and is every bit deserving of any awards it wins.

#2 - Aftersun

Directed by Charlotte Wells

The 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) goes to a cheap Turkish resort with her dad Calum (Paul Mescal) for a father-daughter vacation. In between moments of fun and sun, we get moments of Calum staring into the distance, smoking a cigarette, clearly struggling with something. And there IS a something, but what is it? That mystery lies at the heart of Aftersun, an emotionally autobiographical interrogation from debut director Charlotte Wells.

I don't want to get too much into the details of this incredibly emotional story, but it touches on something many of us have experienced: looking back on our childhood as adults and trying to see things from our parent's viewpoint. So much of what we remember of being a kid is of ourselves; we are learning and experiencing the world as it looks from our perspective. But for many, our parents were there as well, with their own struggles, desires and demons, more than likely completely unnoticed or unconsidered by us at the time.

We eventually come to understand that Aftersun is told from an adult Sophie's perspective, as she tries desperately to remember the details of that trip to the resort. She remembers her own experiences, but what was her dad going through? How did she not notice what it was? Were there signs that she missed? Try as she might, these memories come back visually in the movie as disorienting and dream-like rave sequences, with flashing lights and only half-snatched glimpses of what must have been the reality, which remains frustratingly just out of her field of vision.

It's a heartbreaking and emotionally taxing movie with a profound message that can apply to just about anyone's life. Mescal and Corio have perfectly natural father-daughter chemistry, and Mescal is incredible at capturing often silent rage and confusion, as he stalks around the resort like the wounded creature he is. The visuals and sound design work in perfect concert to produce a truly unique representation of director Wells' memories. I can't imagine this was an easy movie to make for her, but it's a minor miracle and a quiet masterpiece that completely wrecked me.

#1 - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

This movie certainly doesn't need my help in hyping it up any more than it already has been over the past year, and we're well into the backlash (and the subsequent backlash over the backlash) stages of a movie that is probably the front-runner to win the Best Picture Oscar. You've likely either seen or heard of this movie by now, as the word of mouth campaign spread like wildfire almost immediately after it was released in March of 2022. It's truly Everything Everywhere All At Once, a profoundly weird and ambitious extravaganza brought to you by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as Daniels).

In this case, all of the hype is completely deserved as there really is nothing else quite like this movie. It's a perfect mix of Marvel-style sci-fi storytelling, completely absurdist comedy and unexpectedly tear-jerking pathos, all blended together at a pretty low budget with innovative visual style and incredible practical effects and action sequences. It's a bonkers movie whose existence is a miracle unto itself; the fact that it's gotten this kind of mainstream recognition gives me hope for the future of the medium.

Recapping the plot in a few sentences is pretty pointless, so let's just say a Chinese-American immigrant couple (Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan) run a laundromat as their marriage deteriorates and their daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) grows distant, until Yeoh discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse.

So many crazy and wonderful things happen in this movie (hot dog hands! Raccacoonie! Googly-eye rocks!), but the biggest surprise is the perfect landing of huge emotional payoffs that quite simply should not be possible in this kind of frenetically-paced, pinball game of a movie. It's a staggeringly unique vision that no one but Daniels could've pulled off, made with an earnest plea for love and kindness, even when things are at their most chaotic.