Once a year in cinema is over and done with, it’s fair game to assess overall and look back on how strong it was for movies. So, sure, 2022 wasn’t all that long ago, in the overall scheme of things, and it’s going to be a long time before it was, objectively, a long time ago. And it was a good year; plenty of great movies that might well eventually be considered classics, once enough time has passed.
The following movies can be counted among the best or, put another way, might well be the most essential films released in 2022. There are blockbusters here, some smaller films, and even a couple of underrated releases that will likely (well, hopefully) have their reputations grow, in time.
10 'Pearl'
Directed by Ti West
Pearl is a prequel to the also very good X, with the whole trilogy getting concluded with the somewhat less remarkable MaXXXine (2024). X was a movie about a bunch of people making an adult movie and getting killed by an old woman and her husband (it does kind of work in execution, though it sounds sillier on paper), while Pearl goes back in time to show the life of the titular Pearl when she was young.
It's kind of a villain origin story, if you want to call it that, but also better than such a description might make it sound. Pearl has a bold look aesthetically and perhaps works even better as a drama than a horror film, being occasionally creepy, as far as the latter genre is concerned, but being oddly harrowing and hard-hitting emotionally, as far as the former genre goes.
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Pearl
R
Horror- Release Date
- September 16, 2022
- Runtime
- 102 minutes
- Director
- Ti West
9 'Avatar: The Way of Water'
Directed by James Cameron
Yes, you can complain about the Avatar series all you want, and maybe you’re among the people who believe they're too long, formulaic, or forgettable. The second film in the series, Avatar: The Way of Water, is probably a little more out there narratively than the first movie (released all the way back in 2009), but it is longer, so that runtime could be a barrier to some, sure.
But there’s also something undeniably immersive about Avatar: The Way of Water as a visual experience, and so if you're kind of vibing with the whole thing, sinking into this world for 3+ hours is a blast. It’s certainly one of the most technically impressive films of the 2020s so far, and it made enough money to show that even if plenty of people keep on talking smack about Avatar, there are clearly enough fans out there to show it’s a series that still has legs.
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Avatar: The Way of Water
PG-13
Action Adventure FantasySci-Fi
- Release Date
- December 16, 2022
- Runtime
- 190 Minutes
- Director
- James Cameron
8 'The Fabelmans'
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg got more introspective than ever with The Fabelmans, which might not be one of his very best films, but it is potentially his most personal. Also, it’s one of his most emotional, and there’s a sincerity to the coming-of-age story being told here that’s easy to get swept up in. It’s never overly sentimental, either, because The Fabelmans isn't afraid to get pretty raw and honest at times.
It's about a young boy who’s struggling with the fact his parents are growing apart, all the while he’s starting to discover a passion for filmmaking, in turn dealing with his emotions through the creation of art. The Fabelmans isn't complicated narratively, but it’s the thematic stuff that ends up hitting most of all, and the performances are all exceedingly easy to admire, too.
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The Fabelmans
PG-13
Drama9 10
- Release Date
- November 23, 2022
7 'Babylon'
Directed by Damien Chazelle
Babylon is probably one of the most exhausting movies in recent memory, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. It frustrates thematically with a purpose, being both a celebration of movies as an art form while being critical of the business side of filmmaking, shining a light on the brutality of the industry and the way it chews dreamers up before spitting them out.
It’s easy to get swept up in the humor, energy, and style of Babylon, much as it is easy to find other parts of the film repulsive, off-putting, and depressing. The excess is the point, as is the violent clashing of the wonderful and the horrifying. People successfully grappled with the thrill and the horror of Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, so hopefully, people will come around to properly understanding, in time, that Babylon does much the same thing… only this time, it’s looking at an entire industry, rather than just one passionate individual.
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Babylon
r
DramaComedy
History8 10
- Release Date
- December 23, 2022
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6 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'
Directed by Joel Crawford
Somehow, the sequel to a spin-off featuring a character introduced in another sequel ranks among the best movies released in 2022. The film in question is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which balances colorful visuals and broad/family-friendly humor with a surprisingly dark (at least at times) story that looks at death pretty head-on, with the personification of it pursuing the film’s titular character throughout.
It's not a morbid watch, though, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is able to be watched by just about anyone of any age. It strikes the right tone, thankfully, as far as having a little more going on thematically than might be expected, but not leaning too heavily on the death-related stuff to upset younger viewers (you could well say that the balance is just right).
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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
PG
Adventure AnimationComedy
- Release Date
- December 21, 2022
- Runtime
- 102 minutes
- Director
- Joel Crawford
5 'Top Gun: Maverick'
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Here’s another sequel worth mentioning, and, like with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, it’s one that improves immensely on what came before. That movie is Top Gun: Maverick, which can be broadly described as “Top Gun if it was good.” Well, maybe that’s a bit harsh. Top Gun has a certain flair to it that makes it endearing, but as far as things like narrative and pacing go, it’s pretty clunky (it’s more about the music and occasional striking imagery).
Top Gun: Maverick has a simple story to tell, sure, but it’s easy to get wrapped up in thanks to how rigidly it sticks to a three-act structure; there’s a problem introduced, characters formulate a plan, and then a mission is carried out. It doesn’t over-extend itself and works as a great all-around blockbuster, perhaps even being the definitive – or at least most pleasing – crowd-pleaser of the 2020s so far.
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Top Gun: Maverick
PG-13
Action DramaWar
9 10
- Release Date
- May 27, 2022
4 'The Batman'
Directed by Matt Reeves
It’s harder to call The Batman a sequel, given it’s a new take on Bruce Wayne/Batman, but there are familiar elements here, and characters who have obviously been portrayed on screen before by other actors. The execution is what sets it apart, though, because it’s a Batman movie that’s unafraid to take its time, thematically offering darkness and grit alongside hope while being confident enough to not continually rely on action scenes all the time.
This makes it stand out from other superhero movies generally, too, and it’s easily one of the best released in the last few years. It kind of works as a slow-burn, and an inevitably satisfying and extremely atmospheric one, too. The period of waiting for some sort of sequel (The Penguin doesn’t count) has been long, but hopefully it'll be worth it.
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The Batman
PG-13
Crime
Action Drama7 10
- Release Date
- March 4, 2022
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3 'RRR'
Directed by S. S. Rajamouli
2022 was a good year for long movies, thanks to releases like Avatar: The Way of Water, Babylon, and RRR. Of those, RRR is probably the most exciting, working as both an impressive epic and a supremely satisfying action flick simultaneously, with a story that centers on two real-life people meeting (even though they didn’t in real life) and teaming up to take on the Crown Rule in India during the 1920s.
The heroes are easy to root for, the villains are deliciously hateable, and the revolutionary heart at the spirit of RRR makes it soar. It’s explosive and very over-the-top at times, but those qualities are what make it special. It knows what it is, and embraces it wholeheartedly, and it’s hard to imagine many people watching it without having at least a bit of fun at some point throughout the film’s beefy three-hour runtime.
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RRR
Not Rated
Action Drama History- Release Date
- March 24, 2022
- Runtime
- 185 Minutes
- Director
- S.S. Rajamouli
2 'Aftersun'
Directed by Charlotte Wells
It would be a sin to ruin what Aftersun is ultimately about, given it plays its cards close to its chest for so much of its runtime. Also, summarizing the plot wouldn’t be doing the film justice in the sense that it would make it sound overly simplistic. It’s uniquely cinematic in that it kind of just has to be experienced to be understood, but it’s very rewarding – by the end – for those who are willing to be patient.
Otherwise, broad things about Aftersun can be praised, including the acting of the two central stars (Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, playing a father and daughter respectively). It's as emotionally harrowing as it is subtly impressive, and it lingers in one’s mind long after it’s over to arguably the strongest extent of any movie released in 2022.
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Aftersun
R
Drama10 10
- Release Date
- October 21, 2022
1 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'
Directed by Daniel Scheinert, Daniel Kwan
It doesn’t always happen, but sometimes, Academy voters get things right with the ultimate Best Picture win. It happened in 2019, and it debatably happened again in 2022, because Everything Everywhere All at Once really was the greatest and most impressive film of its year, perhaps most plainly because of how it managed to do everything tonally and genre-wise while still somehow feeling coherent.
It's about members of a family growing apart, getting old, having an existential crisis, and saving the entire multiverse from doom, all at once; all within a runtime of less than 2.5 hours. It has zany martial arts sequences one minute, crude sexual humor the next, a scene with telepathic(?) rocks a couple of minutes later, and then something surprisingly heartbreaking not long after that. Everything Everywhere All at Once lives up to the hype, and make no mistake: it’s been seriously hyped. It’s just that good/essential.
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Everything Everywhere All at Once
R
AdventureComedy
Action10/10
- Release Date
- March 25, 2022
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