Top 25 Films of 2022

Our 2022 Annual Report continues with our Top 25 Films list. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2022. You can find it all in one place here.

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2022 might be remembered best as the first year in recent memory that people felt safe going back to the movies, and while the movies that succeeded at the box office were limited, there were still enough high points to make a person feel at least tentatively optimistic about the big screen’s odds of survival — at least for a few more years.

Moreover, the movies we did see and love, whether at home on a streaming service or in a multiplex, were packed with imagination and vision. There were wholly original tales of parallel universes, inspired riffs on franchise properties, deeply personal stories of love and family, and a little shell with shoes on. There were movie stars wielding the full might of their charisma on screen, and newcomers who blew us away.

The future may be an uncertain one for the industry, as the business evolves around new distribution platforms and studio acquisitions shake out. But it was as hard to narrow down this list of 2022’s best films as it’s been in any year — maybe even more so. And for any movie lover, that is the best kind of problem to have.

— Liz Shannon Miller
Senior Entertainment Editor

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25. Fire Island

Directed by: Andrew Ahn
Written by: Joel Kim Booster
Cast: Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Margaret Cho

Thanks to both writer/star Joel Kim Booster’s inspired script and Andrew Ahn’s artful direction, Fire Island in part proved, once again, that Jane Austen knew what she was doing when crafting a story. But the ways that Pride and Prejudice influence this story of gay men doing their best to find love in these complicated modern times shows the filmmakers’ talent more than stacks up. The central romance between Noah (Booster) and his Darcy equivalent (Conrad Ricamora) has both heat and sweetness to it, and the way that Regency-era class issues translate into the modern-day gay scene works exceptionally well. — L.S.M.

24. Bodies Bodies Bodies

Directed by: Halina Reijn
Written by: Sarah DeLappe
Cast: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, Pete Davidson

No spoilers, but a good rubric for gauging the perfect “horror” movie is having a lot of men die. Throw in some campy fun, a satirical evisceration of an entire generation of spoiled rich kids, Pete Davidson starring as himself, a slumber party set in a luxurious mansion, and all of a sudden, a whole lot of blood — what could possibly go wrong? That’s Bodies Bodies Bodies for you. — Cady Siregar

23. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Written by: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole
Cast: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Angela Bassett

While Marvel movies tend to carry a lot of baggage given their interconnected nature, none have been heavier than creating a Black Panther follow-up without King Chadwick Boseman. Filmmaker Ryan Coogler and his stellar cast not only pull off a worthy tribute to the late actor, but turn it into a compelling story of grief. Even under all that weight, they also manage to introduce one of the most compelling MCU adversaries in years with Tenoch Huerta’s Namor. There are more than a few award-worthy performances here, which could well set up Wakanda Forever to follow the original into the Oscar-nominated echelon. — Ben Kaye

22. Jackass Forever

Directed by: Jeff Tremaine
Cast: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, Preston Lacy

Here we are in 2022 praising a Jackass movie. Is this the world we expected? Of course not, but it’s the one we’ve got, and in this reality, Jackass still has value. And no, it’s not just the original viral video artists showing the newbies how it’s done — it’s the joy they find in it. Through all the broken ribs you can see a massive amount of heart, which keeps these homemade stunt people so oddly endearing. — B. Kaye

21. The Woman King

Directed by: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Written by: Dana Stevens, story by Maria Bello and Dana Stevens
Cast: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, John Boyega

The Woman King captivated audiences with its bombastic action and brilliant acting by Viola Davis. Following the trials of a group of all-female African warriors fighting against a foreign enemy of their kingdom of Dahomey, many have made comparisons between this movie and Zach Snyder’s 300. Despite the original history of this time being mainly told from a colonizer’s perspective, Gina Prince-Bythewood managed to switch that perspective around, while also delivering an edge of realism and grittiness to some of the year’s very best action scenes. — Caitlyn Taylor

20. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Directed by: Dean Fleischer Camp
Written by: Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley
Cast: Jenny Slate, Rosa Salazar, Thomas Mann, Dean Fleischer Camp, Lesley Stahl, Isabella Rossellini

This movie is more than a charming big-screen adventure featuring Jenny Slate and Dean Fleisher Camp’s adorable viral creation. It’s a balm for anyone whose heart has gotten a little bit broken by life, whether it be the grief of losing a loved one, or the reminder that the world is a much bigger and more complicated place than we can ever really know. Also, Lesley Stahl stans unite! — L.S.M.

19. After Yang

Directed by: Kogonada
Written by: Kogonada
Cast: Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Haley Lu Richardson

After a burst of dopamine in the form of the year’s wildest opening credits sequence, Colin Farrell delivers his best performance of the year as a loving father who just wants to fix the family robot. Of course, Yang (brilliantly played by Justin H. Min) is far more than just a robot, as director Kogonada’s story of family and grief eventually reveals. — L.S.M.

18. Decision to Leave

Directed by: Park Chan-wook
Written by: Jeong Seo-kyeong, Park Chan-wook
Cast: Tang Wei, Park Hae-il

Park Chan Wook’s twisty 2022 mystery never quite goes the way the viewer might expect, which only adds to the unsettling fun. Decision to Leave is centered on two characters who provide a new definition for romantic obsession, circling one another through multiple seasons of life in a thoroughly engaging game of cat and mouse. Never before has ice cream for dinner felt so intimate. — Mary Siroky

17. Pearl

Directed by: Ti West
Written by: Ti West, Mia Goth
Cast: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Alistair Sewell

Audiences were unnerved and thrilled by A24’s latest gut-wrenching slasher film, as Pearl is the perfect follow-up to Ti West’s ’70s-set X. Giving audiences a twisted look into the descent of a young woman desperate to escape from an oppressive lifestyle in the 1900s American countryside, Pearl creates sympathy for a legitimately disturbing character while bringing even more context to the story of the movie that preceded it. — C.T.

16. Bones & All

Directed by: Luca Guadagnino
Written by: David Kajganich, based on the book by Camille DeAngelis
Cast: Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, Jessica Harper, Jake Horowitz, Mark Rylance

Who knew cannibalism could be so romantic? Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All is a story about young love, the very human urges for connection and closeness, and the feral nature of desire — all set against a classic Americana backdrop and a fantastic score by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor (plus a little Joy Division thrown in for good measure). So what if you love someone so much that you just want to consume them — mind, body, and soul? We’re only human, after all. — C.S.

15. RRR

Directed by: S. S. Rajamouli
Written by: S. S. Rajamouli
Cast: N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, Olivia Morris

The natural reaction to watching RRR for the first time is just a never-ending stream of “Oh my god!” — an international phenomenon for a reason. The epic-length historical drama (with a loose definition of the concept of historical) might have complicated political themes, but it’s also a cinematic feat packed with mind-blowing sequences of action and drama and yes, even a little dancing. At three hours and seven minutes, it’s the longest film on this list. But there’s not a single dull second. — L.S.M.

14. The Banshees of Inisherin

Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Written by: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan

Martin McDonagh’s latest is maybe his simplest and best, another acid-tongued tale of Irish folklore circling around the self-inflicted wounds of a fractured friendship. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson (McDonagh’s greatest muses, if this and In Bruges are any indicator) act circles around each other, the idyllic Irish countryside setting the stage for a bloody, drunken fable about whether it’s better to be remembered or to be nice. — Clint Worthington

13. Barbarian

Directed by: Zach Cregger
Written by: Zach Cregger
Cast: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long

Any preconceived notions of Barbarian will inevitably be crushed, as Zach Cregger’s unpredictable horror venture doesn’t show its full hand until the credits roll. If you think you’ve had a bad Airbnb experience, Georgina Campbell and Bill Skarsgård might have you beat, as there are more guests at the rental homestay than they first imagined. Throw in a top-tier douchey performance from horror veteran Justin Long, and Barbarian provides a claustrophobic and filthy viewing of unexpected proportions. – Joe Eckstein

12. The Fabelmans

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner
Cast: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Gabriel LaBelle, Judd Hirsch

What Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film about the “Fabelman” family reveals is that Spielberg has really been making movies about his family this whole time. As seen through the eyes of Sammy Fabelman (played in his adolescent years by Gabriel LaBelle), mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams) is a bubbly, quirky, and sometimes moody artist, while father Burt (Paul Dano) means well but struggles to understand his son’s own artistic interests. Thanks to both a shocking revelation as well as the realities of getting older, The Fabelmans is all about what it’s like to discover that the people who made you are as flawed as anyone else. — L.S.M.

11. The Northman

Directed by: Robert Eggers
Written by: Sjón, Robert Eggers
Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gustav Lindh, Ethan Hawke, Björk, Willem Dafoe

Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) wielded his largest budget to date with this blood-soaked Viking-era tale that will feel familiar to anyone who knows Hamlet — except that instead of monologuing like the aforementioned mopey Dane, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard, ripped) goes on an epic revenge quest that culminates in naked combat inside a freaking volcano. A movie thrumming with electricity from its opening moments, The Northman is epic cinema, a reminder of what movies can do that other forms of storytelling just can’t. — L.S.M.

10. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Directed by: Eric Appel
Written by: Al Yankovic, Eric Appel
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson

“Weird Al” just can’t seem to miss. Whether he’s pointing his parody projectile at music, TV interviews, or cinematic biopics, Yankovic never fails to deliver an explosion of fun. It might come down to his utter commitment to the bit, but even that wouldn’t be so catastrophically funny if he weren’t a complete genius to back it up.

For his big swing at Hollywood Oscar bait, Yankovic took care to bring together folks who could match up with his towering comedic talent. The biggest surprise is how fantastic Daniel Radcliffe leads as the Weird One himself; the part demanded an utter commitment to being a serious character in outlandish situations – improvising hit songs at a celebrity pool party, a gun battle with Pablo Escobar – to truly sell the joke, and Radcliffe simply nails it.

As does his supporting cast, including Evan Rachel Wood disappearing into her mock Madonna and Rainn Wilson embracing the absurdity of Dr. Demento. Veteran comedy director Eric Appel leads it all with as deft a hand as Al uses to guide his music. It’s all that talent together that makes this not just a great entry in Al Yankovic’s iconic career, but a true tribute to weirdness everywhere. — B. Kaye

09. Meet Me In the Bathroom

Directed by: Will Lovelace, Dylan Southern

Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern’s adaptation of Lizzy Goodman’s 2017 oral history Meet Me in the Bathroom is an intimate look at the vibrant NYC indie rock scene in the early 2000s, and its content is even richer in the context of the city today. One of the biggest focal points is 9/11’s impact on the city, how it forced artists across the bridges to Brooklyn, leading to a community-driven, artist-led movement that eventually exploded out into the rest of the world.

But as we examine the cultural landscape of New York City today along with the more fragmented rock scene in general, Meet Me in the Bathroom is a loving reminder of what came before, and the possibilities of what can come next if we allow artists to chart the path. Oh, and the music still rips. — Paolo Ragusa

08. Top Gun: Maverick

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Written by: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer

“The end is inevitable. Your kind is heading to extinction,” General Ed Harris glowers to Tom Cruise in the opening act of Joe Kosinski’s decades-late sequel to Tony Scott’s fighter-bro classic. But over the next two and a half hours, Cruise, Kosinski, and some of cinema’s most adrenaline-pumping aerial stunts prove him dead wrong. It’s a legacyquel that doesn’t just reckon with the legacy of its predecessor, but Cruise’s own invulnerability as an action star in a landscape hostile to his breed. “Maybe so, sir,” Cruise retorts to Harris and the Hollywood that wants to leave folks like him behind. “But not today.” — C.W.

07. The Batman

Directed by: Matt Reeves
Written by: Matt Reeves, Peter Craig
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell

Why is this movie so fun, refreshing, and enjoyable? Two words: emo Batman.

In all seriousness, The Batman has a lot going for it outside of a mopey, Nirvana-loving Bruce Wayne. For starters, the performances are consistently fantastic, from Robert Pattinson’s aforementioned angsty hero to Paul Dano’s Riddler, Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle, and Collin Ferrel’s transformative Penguin. When combined with a compelling script and one of the most memorable film scores of the year, you have a winning combination.

And yet, taken more holistically, The Batman is more than merely the sum of its parts. Each aspect Matt Reeves and his team pulled together contributes to a superhero film that distinguishes itself from those that came before it – quite a feat in today’s saturated market. For a character we’ve seen portrayed in seemingly every conceivable way, especially when it comes to “grounded and gritty,” the fact that The Batman has its own, unique identity – let alone one that’s so exciting – is legitimately awe-inspiring. — Jonah Krueger

06. Prey

Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
Written by: Patrick Aison, story by Patrick Aison and Dan Trachtenberg
Cast: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp, Julian Black Antelope, Bennett Taylor

From its basic concept, Prey is a thrilling example of the kind of storytelling possible within the framework of a “franchise” movie, thanks to its stripped-down narrative that certainly does not lack for strong themes, but also makes sure to deliver a roller coaster of a thriller. Amber Midthunder stars as a young Native woman in the year 1719 who’s desperate to prove her abilities as a hunter even before a galactic badass drops into the lands of her tribe, and it’s her singular performance which glues together this cat-and-mouse game.

It’s foolish men who think they know all the dangers of this land versus a foe whose extraterrestrial origins don’t necessarily give him the advantage against human ingenuity, and the twists which result will keep you on the edge of your couch (as Prey never received a theatrical release). Prey could have been another forgettable Predator movie, but instead, it will be remembered as one of the cleverest films of the year. — L.S.M.

05. Women Talking

Directed by: Sarah Polley
Written by: Sarah Polley, based on the book by Miriam Toews
Cast: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand

Sarah Polley has been delivering vivid, beautiful, and nuanced work from behind the camera for a while now, and there are few other directors who could have come close to delivering what she did with Women Talking, a movie that feels at times quiet in its construction, except for the way it screams for its characters, who are too used to being silenced.

The fact that this film, based on the book by Miriam Toews, is set in the year 2010 might come as a shock, as the women of a Mennonite community seemingly existing outside of time face the epidemic of sexual assault which has taken them to the breaking point. Will they stay in this community where they are no longer safe? Will they decide to leave? Or will they decide to fight back? Watching an all-star cast like this tackle the question makes for one of the most affecting viewing experiences of the year. — L.S.M.

04. Nope

Directed by: Jordan Peele
Written by: Jordan Peele
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, Keith David

“I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle.” Stemming from Nahum 3:6, Jordan Peele reveals Nope’s true message within its opening moments. While the hybrid thriller blends classic Westerns with a style akin to early Spielberg works, this extra-terrestrial feature serves as a vessel for spectacle and trauma. With Peele at his most visceral, Nope is as electrifying as it is critical, filled with stunning visuals and a unique approach to the sci-fi genre.

Seeing Peele put his own spin on genre tropes while balancing his touches of humor gives Nope a present sense of nostalgia. Whether it be the stoic, modern-day cowboy of OJ (Daniel Kalyuua) or his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) hitting an Akira motorcycle slide, Peele wears his inspirations on his sleeve, making Nope a venture of excitement, thought, and homage. — J.E.

03. TÁR

Directed by: Todd Field
Written by: Todd Field
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mark Strong

If Todd Field’s latest were merely a showcase for Cate Blanchett’s considerable command of her craft — smirking, imperious, grimly funny, and devastating in equal measure — that’d be good enough. But TÁR provokes far more than that, digging its thumbs deep into the wounds of upper-class artistic pretension and the monsters such clout protects.

It’s a character study of a self-aggrandizing, overly-congratulated fraud, the kind of “genius” who performs a kind of hollow virtue for herself as much as her audience. What’s more, it manages to point its finger in both directions of cancel culture discourse without letting its central character off the hook (or sacrificing its arch sense of humor for ponderous patience). — C.W.

02. Everything Everywhere All At Once

Directed by: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Written by: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis

There’s the debilitating kind of nihilism, and then the freeing kind — at least that’s according to the Daniels and their excellent Everything Everywhere All At Once. Featuring an all-star performance from Michelle Yeoh and wonderful supporting contributions from Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan, the absurdist sci-drama from the writer-director duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert manages to address existential dread and nihilism through the usage of googly-eyes and “everything” bagels as metaphors — and what a fun, wild, and absolutely emotionally satisfying thrill of a ride it is.

What makes it even sweeter is that the core of this electrifying, dimension-traversing rollercoaster has plenty of heart. It’s a story of feeling a little lost, for whatever reason, and ultimately rediscovering yourself through reconnecting with the people you love. Nothing, in this world, truly matters — except, maybe, the one person you wouldn’t mind spending the rest of your life with, just doing laundry and taxes. — C.S.

01. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Directed by: Rian Johnson
Written by: Rian Johnson
Cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista

Making a sequel to Knives Out was never going to be easy. The film’s palpable cleverness, potent but subtle meta-humor, and class critiques must have been lightning in a bottle. How could you possibly match it? Attain an equally star-studded cast and write an even wilder whodunnit for detective Benoit Blanc to crack?

Well, yeah, actually. That’s precisely what Rian Johnson did, and it worked like a charm. Doubling down on the original’s politics and trope-twisting, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is everything a sequel should be. It takes the already absurd spirit of Knives Out and makes it even sillier (and maybe even more fun), all without feeling like a simple retread. Plus, let’s face it, the fact that Glass Onion was able to tackle the COVID-19 lockdowns without inspiring groans throughout the theater is deserving of every award we have to offer.

Also, without diving into spoiler territory, the eventual payoff is superb, as it not only reveals I-should-have-known-all-along-caliber answers, but wraps the film’s themes into a layered (but ultimately clear) bow. Like so many great films this year, Glass Onion worked within the trappings of its chosen genre to tell a compelling story with a wink and a smile. But what led to its placement at the top of this list is how those genre trappings, and their ultimate resolution, led to a brutal, yet eerily timely, final note. The world has felt so very complicated recently. But as this movie reminds us, sometimes the simplest answer proves to be the right one. — J.K.