On a base level, 2022 will be remembered as the year we all went back to the movies. It technically started in December 2021, as Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: No Way Home started luring crowds back for the reunion of the three Spider-Man actors, a movie that broke box-office records and climbed near the top of our list of every Spider-Man movie, ranked. The Sony blockbuster would end up being a bellwether for good things to come, especially when it came to populist entertainment. Marvel Studios posted their expected wins. But Jurassic World and the Minions stayed strong, Matt Reeves reinvented Batman, and Tom Cruise proved he’s still got it.
Looking over my favorite movies of 2022, there’s a healthy mix of popcorn entertainment and art, of sequels and heart. There are fantastic movies about moviemaking, and films that flew completely under my radar until they finally were seen, instantly winning me over. As a reminder, these are my personal favorites from the year 2022, the 10 movies I loved the most. They’re hardly the ONLY 10 excellent films released this year. For a rundown of some suggested rentals, go scan CinemaBlend’s Year-End Top 10 as chosen by our staff. For now, here are my Top 10 movies of 2022.
10. Hustle
Adam Sandler forever will hold a special place in my heart. His Saturday Night Live cast was the one that I grew up on, and when he branched into movies, I was the right age to start worshipping idiotic characters such as Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore and Bobby Boucher. That character may have grown tired (sorry, Hubie Halloween), but Sandler still manages to entertain with unexpected projects like Uncut Gems, or this winning Netflix basketball dramedy Hustle. Actual NBA stars Juancho Hernangomez and Anthony Edwards bring authenticity to this story about a pro scout who thinks he has found a once-in-a-lifetime talent. Sandler’s love for basketball shines through the comedy, and his relationship with Hernangomez has a lot more in common with Mickey and a young Rocky Balboa from the initial Rocky. I’m not kidding.
Where to stream Hustle: Netflix
9. Bardo: False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths
We’ve enjoyed a recent trend of directors looking back over their careers, and their early lives, to mine it for emotional drama and confessional truths. Even “False Chronicles” of those truths, which seem to be what acclaimed director Alejandro Inarritu is wrestling with throughout the admittedly lengthy runtime of Bardo. I pegged this as a Best Picture contender early on, and while that didn’t pan out for the movie, I was right in predicting that the movie would land with me. Inarritu normally does (see his Oscar-winning The Revenant, Birdman, Babel, 21 Grams… just see his movies). Bardo is a pseudo-biographical story following a documentary filmmaker caught between his roots in Mexico and his career in Los Angeles. The guilt associated with Inarritu’s migration north informs every scene of this captivating masterwork, which begins with a birth, ends with a death, and captures a miraculous life that has been fully lived in between.
Where to stream Bardo: Netflix
8. The Fabelmans
The next great example of a master analyzing his childhood through film. Though as with Inarritu, it’s Steven Spielberg, so we care. Spielberg picks away at some extremely uncomfortable scabs as he substitutes a fictional family, The Fabelmans, for his own. Young Sammy (Steven) escapes into film when the burdens of school bullying and his parents’ divorce become too much. We learn about Spielberg. But we also, through The Fabelmans, better understand how film captures life, film can manipulate life, film can restore life, and film can change one person’s life, forever. Also, Janusz shoots the shit out of this movie.
Where to stream The Fabelmans: It's currently in theaters and available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video, and it will likely become available to stream on Peacock.
7. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
I’ll never quite understand how Marcel the Shell got me emotionally invested in the day-to-day lives of two shells – one very young, another quite old – who are figuring out how to move forward after their “community” of shells gets moved away. The premise couldn’t be more simple. But by framing it as a documentary being shot by a man (actual director Dean Fleischer-Camp) who moved into Marcel’s AirBNB, Marcel the Shell opens the door to relevant commentary about social media, existential meanderings about how small we are in this great big world, and the rapturous joy (and overwhelming fear) that can come from meeting your heroes. The most human movie made this year starred a shell. And it was magical.
Where to buy/rent Marcel the Shell: Amazon Prime Video
6. The Batman
It has been years since a Marvel Studios movie hasn’t made my year-end Top 10 list. But in 2022, DC Films made the best superhero, a reimagining of a character that has been interpreted so many different ways, yet still finds a way to intrigue. The jury’s out on Robert Pattinson as Batman (for me, personally). I’m excited to see where he takes the glum, determined hero in future stories. But The Batman lands here on my list because of the fully realized world that director Matt Reeves created for his Gotham. It’s authentic and unconventional, recognizable and yet foreign. I just want to step into it, and interact with the brilliant creatures Reeves has sprinkled around the town. James Gunn may be considering big changes at DC, but it’s comforting knowing that Reeves’ world will continue to expand, because it’s just that good.
Where to stream The Batman: HBO Max
5. Emergency
I haven’t stopped thinking about Carey Williams’s Emergency since it knocked me on my ass at the SXSW film festival in March (then again on Amazon Prime Video). And a huge part of the movie’s impact is not knowing what is about to happen to college friends Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) and Sean (RJ Cyler) as they plan an epic night of partying. Emergency is intelligent and unpredictable, the kind of movie that will ask tough questions of its audiences, then change the movie’s story depending on how you answer them. Williams is now a filmmaker I’ll be paying attention to, and Donald Elise Watkins should have a ton of exciting offers based on the work that he does here.
Where to stream Emergency: Amazon Prime Video
4. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story
The most fun I had in a movie theater in 2022. I like Rian Johnson’s Knives Out a lot, but hesitated to believe he could have lightning strike in the same spot, mainly because twisty but satisfying whodunit murder mysteries are difficult to construct. Glass Onion, however, makes it all look so easy, with Daniel Craig’s delightful Benoit Blanc traveling to a remote island off the coast of Greece to attend a “murder mystery party” that, naturally, turns deadly. The cast of colorful loonies is spot on, the screenplay is airtight and uproariously funny, and I sincerely hope Johnson makes a dozen of these romps with Craig in the lead.
Where to stream Glass Onion: Netflix
3. Babylon
Damien Chazelle does it again. The masterful filmmaker behind Whiplash, La La Land and First Man drop kicks his audience back to the debaucherous 1920s Los Angeles, when silent film stars were treated like gods but the arrival of sound was about to rattle the film industry to its core. There’s a precise method to Chazelle’s on-screen madness, as he charts the course of a rising starlet (Margot Robbie, on fire) and a fading superstar (Brad Pitt, never better). Babylon is rowdy and raunchy. But look past that to connect with the timeless messages of fleeting celebrity, of innovation as a tool for survival, and of the legacy that’s left behind by anyone lucky enough to experience a day inside of the dream factory of Hollywood.
Where to stream Babylon: It's currently in theaters, but likely will go to Paramount+
2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
I’m honestly not sure how this movie exists. I absolutely don’t understand how it exists AND works as well as it does. Embracing the concept of a multiverse (but using it far better than, say, the MCU), Everything Everywhere follows a laundromat owner (a magnificent Michelle Yeoh) on a dimension-hopping adventure to reconnect with her daughter, save her family business, and maybe learn how to live her own life a little better. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert draw on, seemingly, every movie they have ever seen to inform and enhance EEAAO, creating something that’s so incredibly original, I doubt we will ever see anything as imaginative, inspiring, and insightful as this again.
Where to stream Everything Everywhere: Paramount+
1. Top Gun: Maverick
The best movie of 2022. Here’s the thing about Top Gun: Maverick, though. There’s nothing remarkable about it. The movie follows a formula, proudly. There are predictable scenes sprinkled throughout the movie, from the hotshot pilot getting dressed down by his superiors, to the cocky young flyer figuring out how to trust his training and complete a mission. But every single example of a storytelling cliche included in Top Gun: Maverick is perfectly pitched. Every note rings true. It’s the rare nostalgia project that advances the original story, rounds out the characters, and rewards its audience for their loyalty. Also, Tom Cruise is our last great movie star. His dedication to entertaining is unmatched. His commitment to filming practically elevates the action on Top Gun: Maverick to new stratospheres. I never thought we needed a Top Gun sequel. But damn, am I glad this movie exists.
Where to stream Top Gun: Maverick: Amazon Prime Video
