BEST FILMS OF 2022

2022 was a wild year. There was war in the Ukraine, the United Kingdom went kept on changing Prime Ministers like nobody's business and like what many people always say on these end of year lists, it was a big year for the movies.

The year kicked off, as they usually do, with awards season which was different to say the least. The usual first award show of the season, the Golden Globes, didn't have a televised ceremony with on the winners being announced privately. This was due to the fact many people in the entertainment industry boycotted the awards over the HFPA* lack of diversity.

Things got stranger as it headed towards the big one, the Oscars. There was controversy from the start with several categories being cut from the television broadcast to allow time for more comedy sketches and to shorten the runtime of the ceremony. This caused a massive backlash from the industry from many figures like Guillermo del Toro, James Cameron and John Williams.

In an attempt to attract more general audiences to get involved with the Oscars. Two bizarre online Twitter was set up by the Academy was the "Oscar Fan Favourite" and "Oscar Cheer Moment" where online users could vote for their favourite films and moments and for Spider-Man: No Way Home to get something after keeping the box office afloat in December. The winner of the Oscar Fan Favourite was Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead and the Cheer Moment went to Flash entering the Speed Force. If you know how online polls often go, then there was a chance of bots were used in the voting and there was strong chance there was.

But all of this got overshadowed when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage after making a joke about his wife. This lead to a massive amount of backlash with Smith being banned from the Academy for 10 years. The caused several different reactions not just from the entertainment world but the political world with figures like when Rishi Sunak compared himself to Smith in an interview.

The slap overshadowed many of the winners of the Oscars this year. It saw the first streaming film to win a Best Picture Oscar with Apple TV+ and Sian Heder's CODA winning over Jane Campion and Netflix's The Power of the Dog. CODA was also the first film with an all-deaf cast to win Best Picture. Jane Campion became the third woman win a Best Director Oscar. West Side Story's Ariana DeBose was the first Afro-Latina, openly queer woman of colour to win a Oscar and CODA's Troy Kotsur became the first deaf-man and second deaf individual to win an Oscar as well.

2022 was also dubbed the year "cinema came back" this was in part to the successful box office runs of Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion and Avatar: The Way of Water. Those weren't the only successful box office stories of the year, with indie films like Everthing Everywhere All at Once making a big splash and strong year for horror as well with films like Barbarian, X, Smile and the crowd funded horror film Terrifier 2 making big splashes on the box office scene. The same couldn't be said for the more adult oriented fair and while some films like Where Crawdads Sing did well at the box office, more award season fair like Tár or the Fabelmans didn't do much better. Animation also was in a odd place, with some Disney's animated films like Turning Red being put onto streaming leaving there big tentpole films like Lightyear and Strange World stagnating at the box office and competitors like Illumination's Minions: Rise of Gru and Dreamworks' The Bad Guys being hits.

Hierarchies of big studios was also big theme this year as well. Warner Bros. Discovery had a year to say the least. Firstly with them burning bridges with several creatives with several movies and TV shows being taken off their streaming services for tax write offs, like a completed Batgirl movie or animated shows like Final Space or Close Enough. The DC film universe is also under new management with director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran taking the helm and potentially doing a complete reboot of the universe.

Not to be outdone, Disney CEO Bob Chapek was ousted by his company and replaced with his predecessor Bob Iger after string major PR disasters. From getting into a fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over his Don't Say Gay Bill or disparaging animation, the bread and butter of your company. Sound leadership.

Anyway let's get onto the what I consider the best films of 2022. I few stipulations before we get into the list.

1. The films must have been released in 2022. If it premiered at a festival the year before then it counts but it must have had a released in 2022.

2. No films that had a wide or limited released in a country the year before. That's technically cheating.

3. Certain films that are absent on this list, like most of the prestige pictures, are not on this list because of they haven't been released in the UK during 2022.

10. BARBARIAN

As mentioned before 2022 was a strong year for horror. Icons like Ghostface, Leatherface, Pinhead and Michael Myers stoked fear on our screens again but it was also a good time for new horror icons. Mia Goth had barnburner of the year with a double performance in X, David Cronenberg returned to show Crimes of the Future and scares were found around the world with films like Incarnation, Speak No Evil and Virus :32 but what I would pick for the best example of horror in 2022 would be Zach Cregger's Barbarian.

Barbarian is a movie I can't get into too much detail because what makes the film work is that it gradually reveals itself to you. It has an escalating momentum that can only be experienced firsthand. Cregger manages to mix a blend of comedy into the horror that works, with giving a reaction of either sheer terror or sheer hilarity. It's the best horror film of year and I'm excited to see what the crew do next.

9. TURNING RED

Animation was also on it's A-game this year. While films like Lightyear and Strange World didn't offer a lot in the box office, but did give some cool science fiction films in their own right. The Sea Beast was a fun rip roaring oceanic adventure. Richard Linklater's Apollo 10 1/2 was a fun reminiscence of a childhood summer and I wished I saw films like Inu-Oh and Suzume but I didn't get to. But I did manage catch Domee Shi's Turning Red.

Turning Red was a more down the Earth slice of life film about growing up. It has a charming tone and a hyperactive energy to it. The anime influence makes it one of the more unique Pixar films I've seen. The film also has a lot to say about generational trauma and about how hard it is to live to certain standards set up by various people. It's a fun time and I feel a lot of people will get a lot out of it.

8. PINOCCHIO (THE GUILLERMO DEL TORO ONE)

It was also a big year for stop motion films as well. The House was great disturbing and creepy anthology that brought to mind the great British horror anthologies like The House That Dripped Blood or Tales of the Unexpected, Henry Selick returned with Wendell and Wild and Phil Tippett's Mad God was a foreboding piece of art, but it was Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson's adaptation of Pinocchio that earns the number 8 spot on the list.

The Pinocchio story is perfect adapted to del Toro's sensibilities by having the setting to be facist Italy having a preoccupation with themes of death and humanity also manages to stay true to the original fairy tale as well. The stop motion animation is great, managing to have a delicate and handmade feel to it. It also has a good voice cast of big name of actor who all give subtle performances, but especially David Bradley as Gepetto who is the definitive heart of the film. Pinocchio is a great updating of a classic tale.

7. PREY

With the modern film landscape there was also a lot of streaming movies and one of the more notable releases this year was Dan Trachtenberg's prequel to Predator, Prey.

Prey manages to refresh the Predator franchise by changing the setting to 18th Century Great Plains and have the main cast being Comanche gives energy to this film. It goes back to basics in the best way as well, playing similar to the original 1987 Predator but in a way that does not redo the film wholesale, with the different setting and time period being used particularly well. Amber Midthunder's lead performance is great and hopefully leads to some cool stuff down the road.

6. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

Comedies were a bit far and few between this year. Nicolas Cage meta turn in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was a fun romp and celebration of the actor's work, Do Revenge was a fun reinvention of the Strangers on the Train formula and White Noise delivered in the existential department, but the tragic and funny The Banshees of Inisherin earns the number six spot on the list.

Set against the backdrop of the last years of the Irish Civil War, the Banshees of Inisherin deals with breakup between two friends. The fallout spirals out into conflict and then into tragedy. Director Martin McDonogh manages balance tones perfectly, with having exclusive moments of comedy and sadness. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson also deliver career best performances, with Farrell showing an brush of innocence and Gleeson having a air of grumpiness about him. It can make you laugh, it can make you cry and that's why it's on the list.

5. THE NORTHMAN

Action films had a good year as well. The previously mentioned Prey breathed new life into an old franchise, Bullet Train was a Rube Goldberg action contraption and Timo Tjahjanto's The Big 4 was a fun mix of Sam Raimi and John Woo but taking spot number five is Robert Egger's The Northman.

A healthy mix of Shakespearian myth (or proto-Shakespearian because Amleth was the basis for the Danish prince) and John Milius' Conan the Barbarian, the Northman is an exhilarating experience. Dark and horrific imagery collides with epic tapestries of Norse myth. It is a simple story told exceptionally well through great direction from Robert Eggers, everything is understandable and intentions are clear. He manages to go big and deliver an experience you will not forget.

4. MEN

Back on the horror kick now and again such a good year for the genre I decided to put a horror film and creeped me out and stayed with me all year, Alex Garland's Men.

Set in the English countryside, Men sees Jessie Buckley spend sometime alone in a quaint British village but everything seems... odd. Everyone in the town looks the same and there is something following Jessie Buckley's Harper. Like Banshees of Inisherin the film spirals from an off kilter tone to an outright Goya painting. Garland's direction gives the film an isolated vibe and helps add to the horror.

3. RRR

This would be the part where I would write a preamble about the best international or foreign films. But then I realised that I'm from Britain and almost all the films here are not from England, but leads down a whole other discussion on American and other English speaking countries dominance and how it excludes films from other countries. But 2022 did have a film that made waves and broke through the barrier of language: S.S. Rajamouli's RRR.

RRR is an electrifying film. Both old fashion spectacle but goes beyond the extra mile. From intense musical numbers, an all-out animal assault and one of the best slow motion explosion scenes to make Zack Snyder blush. But it also unabashedly goofy and heartfelt, with a good friendship story, romance and a classic story of good vs. evil. With the rise of streaming and internet breaking down cultural barriers and showing people things they might never have seen before, RRR might be a great entry for many people to check out Indian cinema.

2. NOPE

2022 was a good and healthy year for blockbusters. While the usual superhero films like The Batman, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever showed up and made their mark on the box office, we also had films like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water make a billion at the box office and along with horror also having a good bout show a more diverse range of films. But Jordan Peele's latest film Nope was, in my opinion.

Nope is both an fable about how thin the line is between exploitation and entertainment and how far people will go for fame. It's Peele in his usual allegorical wheel house continuing the trend of Rod Sterling and George A. Romero. It is also Peele going big as well a much larger scale than Get Out and Us, with some of the most simultaneously scary and breathtaking set pieces. Combine that with a scene stealing performance by Keke Palmer and an soon to be iconic movie monster, Nope is more of a big yes in my book.

1. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Before we get into the number one spot on this list, a couple honourable mentions. These are some films I liked and think are interesting, but I couldn't place on the list but feels like they deserve a mention.

+Carter: Goes above and beyond in the action department. All that is missing is Free Bird playing over it.

+Revealer: Fun apocalyptic two hander with fun leads.

+See How They Run: Quirky West End set murder mystery.

+Thirteen Lives: Well made rescue film from Ron Howard

+Decision to Leave: Intricate romantic thriller.

And now the best film of 2022 is already written on the heading above, but anyway here's the trailer for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Everything Everywhere All at Once lives up to it's title. It is a family drama, a cosmic science fiction story, a wuxia action film, a comedy film, a love story and a rock show. It is a bold and creative endeavour brought about with a great confidence in itself. It's film about big ideas but makes them accessible to the audience and does not talk down to them. Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and the legendary James Hong give some of the best performances of the year playing several different version of the same character. Everything Everywhere All at Once is an amazing film with a lot to offer.

*HOLLYWOOD FREE PRESS ASSOCIATION