This year’s good films were marked by fun coincidences and creators going against the grain.
We got three Stephen King or King-adjacent films, two of which are about phones: The Black Phone and Mr Harrington’s Phone. We got two movies about the multiverse. Halloween Ends, the third and final film in David Gordon Green’s trilogy, took the franchise in a bold and divisive new direction, much like Halloween 3: Season of the Witch in 1983. We got After Yang and After Blue. Black Adam and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are both superhero films with black heroes and a strong focus on character growth.
Like Joker from 2019, The Batman is a great DC Comics film without the baggage of the main series. After several middling films, the best Star Wars content is currently on television, namely Obi-Wan Kenobi and the critically-acclaimed Andor. This year’s MCU entries feel more individualistic: Thor: Love and Thunder has Taika Waititi’s unique blend of humour and pathos, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is unmistakably a macabre, scary and funny Sam Raimi movie. The Northman is more of a conventional blockbuster than Robert Eggars’ other work, but still has his darkly surreal vision. The bombastic Baz Luhrmann shows unusual restraint where needed in his excellent Elvis biopic. Three Thousand Years of Longing is another resoundingly imaginative work from the esoteric George Miller, whose varied filmography ranges from Mad Max to Happy Feet and Babe.
Here are my picks for the top ten best films of 2022.
10. The Northman. An enthralling historical thriller with stunning costumes, props and cinematography and a powerful combination of cunning and gut-wrenching violence.
9. Men. One of the best horror films in years, with a remarkable central performance from Jessie Buckley and a near-flawless escalation of dread. The only reason it doesn’t place higher is the silly ending.
8. Don’t Worry Darling. A tense, stylish psychological thriller about a young woman struggling against a glamorous yet oppressive system. I’m in a relative minority who loved this movie; as a Matrix fan, I particularly enjoyed all the clues pointing to the simulation twist.
7. Nope. A fascinating, creepy and frequently fun sci-fi mystery with outstanding character development, Nope is also a wonderful love-letter to classic moviemaking.
6. X. Director Ti West shows an astounding command of suspense, both in nailbiting individual sequences and the chilling total narrative. Lurid but never gratuitous, X has some clever deconstruction of the slasher genre in a story about youth, envy and sexuality.
5. Everything Everywhere All At Once. This film is a superhuman balancing act: hyperactive and utterly bonkers yet deeply poignant and moving, and set across multiple universes yet laser-focused on its core family and their troubled but loving dynamic. In its own crazy way, Everything Everywhere All At Once may be star Michelle Yeoh’s career-defining film.
4. Three Thousand Years of Longing. An enchanting character study about a genie and a professor, each trapped in different ways, suffused with visual splendour and a love for storytelling, science and knowledge.
3. The Menu. A gourmet dark comedy about class, obsession and retribution. The Menu has a fun ensemble cast, stunning cinematography, a duelling dynamic between leads Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes, and a tone of clever, cruel hilarity, with ample helpings of disturbing and laugh-out-loud moments.
2. The Innocents. A darkly grounded story about superpowers and the challenges of childhood, The Innocents is a sterling example of indie filmmaking fundamentals: a small cast and apartment setting and simple camerawork and editing, conveying extraordinary depth and impact.
1. The Black Phone. An unparalleled fusion of psychological and supernatural horror, with the latter adding macabre intrigue to the former. The Black Phone has riveting performances from Mason Thames and a mercurial, terrifying Ethan Hawke, harsh atmosphere, exquisite pacing balancing despair with hope, and an ending that feels both exhausting and triumphant.
It feels as if cinema has been reinvigorated in 2022, with blockbusters returning to prominence and film productions in general regaining larger scales and casts, and I very much look forward to the films of 2023.
