At the midpoint of the year, it’s essential to see what is behind us before we move ahead–we’re talking about the Top 10 movies of 2022. This has been a triumphant year for cinema, with COVID-19 in the rearview. People are returning to the theater in droves. We have been setting records, and production houses are back, making obscene amounts of cash on our coin.
Another spoke in the wheel that keeps on turning is breaking out the listicle hat to make a list about those movies. What worked and didn’t work? Will anyone be considered for awards? And where are the surprises? For this critical Top 10 list, we’ll investigate the moments in time that pasted a smile on our faces and maybe merchandise on our bodies.
Parameters:
- Box office success
- Storytelling
- Acting performances
- Cultural Impact
- Critical acclaim
- Because we said so
Without any more hesitation, let’s get into the Top 10 Movies of 2022 (so far).
10. Happening
You can’t plan this kind of timing. In the face of Roe v. Wade being overturned, you get a glance into one of the many stories on the planet about this controversial issue. Happening is an uncomfortable movie, making it stand out among the Top 10 movies of 2022 to this point.
We are voyeurs to Anne’s story (Anamaria Vartolomei), which walks us through 1960s France and places the unrelenting power of will on full display. Vartolomei is remarkable at capturing what only those women forced with that decision understand. Currently (in the timeline of the film), abortions are illegal and punishable with substantial prison time. Yet, this 23-year-old woman is a few weeks into an unwanted pregnancy and believes that choice will save her life and bring peace to her soul. The crumbs of her gut-wrenching decision lead us down a path to follow and feel.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
- IMDb: 7.4
- Box Office: $1.55 million
9. Kimi
If you’re wondering, Zoe Kravitz has mad skills. In 2022, she was Catwoman and won Emmys for HBO Max’s Euphoria. And then, there’s this Steven Soderbergh Hitchcockian film pertaining to the Pandemic called Kimi. Now that we can all relate to being locked in against our will, Kimi is an agoraphobic asked to work on this voice-activated device.
One day, while she is working, a transmission bleeds in that she was never supposed to hear, and that’s where this thriller about mental health and determination begins. She reports what she heard to people she thought she could trust. Welp, they suck and she’s on the run. It sounds typical, but it’s anything but–and HBO Max has another hit on their ledger.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
- IMDb: 6.3
- Box Office: N/A (HBO Max)
8. Master
Master was made by Amazon Studios, so you may have missed this selection among the top 10 movies of 2022 if you don’t have Prime Video. Do yourself a favor and change that! This bougie, private college tucked away in a New England Forest has a secret–a Salem witch was hanged there and the school’s new Dean of Students, Gail Bishop (played superbly by Regina Hall), begins to have visions of the past.
Directed by Mariama Diallo, this intelligent horror movie delves into the real horror of institutional racism, caste systems, and roots-deep bigotry while woven delicately into a supernatural thriller guaranteed to have you guessing when the jump scare happens, along with the next historical waning. It is an exceptional story that demands to be seen because of everything in its soul.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
- IMDb: 5.0
- Box Office: N/A
7. Hustle
Granted, this Adam Sandler-helmed movie is full of typical sports movie tropes like a kid from an impoverished neighborhood, no one taking him seriously for the sport because of his home. Yet, Adam Sandler somehow gives a movie like this a thriving pulse. Once this burned-out and jaded basketball scout renews his zeal for the game when he accidentally finds Bo Cruz (it’s the acting debut of Utah Jazz forward Juancho Hernangómez, a 2016 first-round draft pick).
The relationship between Cruz and Stanley Sugerman (Sandler) is heartwarming, to the point that you cheer for Bo at every opportunity. Bo’s rival in the movie is a disingenuous punk named Kermit (Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards) who needs his bell rung all movie long. If you’re following the path of the tropes, you already know what happens, but when it does — my theater cheered. Hustle is that kind of good and makes you happier you watched it when it’s over!
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
- IMDb: 7.4
- Box office: N/A (Netflix)
6. Licorice Pizza
Three words: Paul Thomas Anderson. The man known for his slow-paced and didactic pacing surprises us all with a snootful of happiness and joy. This coming-of-age story places us in the middle of the San Fernando Valley and makes anyone yearn for yesteryear and dream of any opportunities you are allowed to slide through your fingers.
What’s even more impressive is this mercurial director who has worked with acting legends like Daniel Day-Lewis and Phillip Seymour Hoffman got two newbies to tell the 1970s first love story on screen! Alana Kane plays a photographer assistant who has as much experience in the studio as she does in life, when she is asked out by Gary Valentine, a kid who thinks he is Rico Suave (in a Napeleon Dynamite kind of way) and isn’t affected at all that he is 10 years younger than her.
The kid is Cooper Hoffman, as in the aforementioned son of Phillip Seymour. And he’s already showing signs of his progenitor. Together, they take what could have been a mediocre script and make it a summer memory for 2022. Oh, almost forgot, there’s this guy in there named Sean Penn. Seems like a good actor as well.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
- IMDb: 7.3
- Box Office: $32 million
5. Elvis
Baz Luhrmann gives. Baz Luhrmann takes away. That’s his frenetic, sensory overload storytelling style. You may get lost in the direction his movie takes at any given moment. Yet, that light of greatness shows up like a nova, and you enjoy the ride. What else would you expect from Elvis Presley’s whirlwind life? There was no way this film would not end up as one of the top 10 movies of 2022.
As for the acting, both Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as the demented Col. Tom Parker will both get a call from Oscar to come Spring 2023. There’s no denying the force Butler created to evolve into the King. And Parker? This dude was vile, and who knew Tom Hanks could do that?! Captain Pollyanna took a different role and killed it! To sum it up, those two took care of business better than anyone on the planet could have in those roles.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
- IMDb: 7.8
- Box Office: $113 million
4. The Northman
How great of a breath of fresh air is Robert Eggers? He’s more like a gale-force wind in Hollywood. He’s three movies in–The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman–and he’s already cemented himself as the Indie deity for the foreseeable future. This Nordic tale is a generational fable–it inspired Shakespeare to create Hamlet. (Alexander Skarsgard‘s character is Amleth. Do anagrams much?)
If anyone still believes the best way to watch a film is at home, I’d recommend you see this blood-bathed Viking story of angst, rage, revenge, WTF Lollapalooza! Eggers transports us to a mystical land where the men were men, and the sheep were scared! It is a bold and brooding depiction of what happens when you cheat a person of their destiny. It needs to be seen to understand how to feel a story on screen. And it was fantastic.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
- IMDb: 7.8
- Box Office: $68.5 million
3. Everything Everywhere All at Once
If any movie understood how to live up to its name, Everything Everywhere All at Once hits paydirt. At the core of this film is about a mother and a daughter learning to love each other. And then, there’s the best movie about the multiverse ever made.
Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) owns a laundromat with her waste of space husband (Ke Huy Quan). They’ve been audited by the IRS, and somehow unlock a skeleton key to reach her daughter (Stephanie Hsu), and an open door to every multiverse possible where she must save other versions of herself. No one saw this film coming and it’s easily one of the most welcome and gratifying surprises of 2022.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
- IMDb: 8.3
- Box Office: $91 million
2. Top Gun: Maverick
It took 35 years to conceive and longer than that for Tom Cruise to feel like a billion bucks, but Top Gun: Maverick was a fan-service ride of nostalgia, adrenaline, and fist-pumping excitement. Even though the film was delayed more times than an American Airlines flight, we never saw that coming!
It was the original on some of those premium Barry Bonds horse-roids. The ace fighter pilot scenes were mesmerizing and defied gravity more than Kris Jenner’s boobs. (She’s 66…c’mon!) Your feels will pass through the gamut of emotion. Even though it’s a legacy sequel by now, Top Gun: Maverick rivals the best sequels. It was soaring above most others.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
- IMDb: 86
- Box Office: $1.12 billion
1. The Batman
No movie in 2022 had as much riding on it–and against it–as Matt Reeves’ The Batman. It was a brooding noir saga about a man we have seen portrayed more than a dozen times. What could possibly surprise us about Bruce Wayne now? Expectations were lofty because everything appeared different in the trailers and articles discussing what this iteration could possibly mean to the Cape and Cowl’s legacy.
And then, DC Comics went back to its roots as the resting place for detective comics and struck gold! For any fan who has spent time reading comics about The Batman, this was an eloquent love letter to what comics are supposed to do to fans. Never before has the cowl been an extension of the man’s inner demons. Robert Pattinson made it come alive with his subtlety and precision.
The Batman could not have been cast any better. And Michael Giacchino composed his magnum opus. His melodies are intense and haunting. Every scene works and every actor crushed their role–from Paul Dano to Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright to Zoe effin’ Kravitz! If this film was an open door to a new DC comic universe, everyone would step into that black hole with pleasure.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
- IMDb: 8.1
- Box Office: $770 million
Since he saw ‘Dune’ in the $1 movie theater as a kid, this guy has been a lover of geek culture. It wasn’t until he became a professional copywriter, ghostwriter, and speechwriter that he began to write about it (a lot).
From the gravitas of the Sith, the genius of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, or the gluttony of today’s comic fan, SPW digs intelligent debate about entertainment. He’s also addicted to listicles, storytelling, useless trivia, and the Oxford comma. And, he prefers his puns intended.