Favourite Films of 2022

I watched 192 new films in 2022 (not counting films I rewatched) in a combination of cinemas and streaming. It was a great year for movies overall and even though they weren’t in my top ten I would still strongly recommend each and every one of these: After Yang, Anything is Possible, The Batman, Beast, Belle The Dragon and the Feckled Princess, Black Phone, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Brian and Charles, Bros, Bullet Train, Cow, Death on the Nile, Decision to Leave, Elvis, Emily the Criminal, Empire of Light, Eo, Fall, Fire Island, Glass Onion, Good Luck to You Leo Grande, Hit the Road, The House, Hustle, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, The Inspection, Jockey, Matilda the Musical, Men, The Menu, Old Henry, The Outfit, Peace by Chocolate, Pearl, Prey, RRR, The Shadow in My Eye, Slash/Back, Spirited, Strange World, Tar, Three Months, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Triangle of Sadness, Turning Red, Vengeance, Violent Night, Windfall, The Woman King, Women Talking… and probably a few more. 

But as I do every year, I challenge myself to pick the 10 films that I loved the most in 2022 and this is what I came up with. They aren't the best as none of us are able to determine some sort of objective quality; it all comes down to our personal preferences. These are the films that I personally loved, that I know I will enjoy over and over again, and the films that I will most recommend others watch. The list is in alphabetical order not order of preference... except the end... because I love them all in different ways that can't be compared to each other or ranked. 

Aftersun

A young woman remembers her final trip with her father as a child through watching videos of their vacation. 

What is amazing about Aftersun is how much it tells you without telling it to you. Instead it lets you pick up cues from the lived-in scenes it portrays. Aftersun if filled with mundane moments that just hold within them so much power and story. It is a quiet little movie that sneaks up on you and shakes you to the core in the best of ways. As a father with a daughter this film was just breathtaking for me. What a powerful debut from a promising film maker. 

All Quiet on the Wester Front

As The Great War breaks out German youth enthusiastically enlist to fight the “enemy” and come to see that war is never great.

I am a huge fan of the 1930 film but everything about this version is what I would want from a remake. It brings a whole new perspective to the story while keeping true to the themes that make the tale great. 

All Quiet is a gorgeous film and a brutally honest depiction of war and all its horrors performed by a strong cast. The legacy of this story remains one of the strongest indictments of war while also being an incredible film to experience.  

The Banshees of Inisherin

On a small island off the coast of Ireland, two friends struggle with how to coexist after one decides he no longer wants to be friends and threatens to cut off his fingers if his former buddy won’t leave him alone. 

Banshees is perhaps the funniest film of the year is also one of the most heartfelt and moving. It is the sort of film that is both wonderfully hilarious and deeply sad. A powerful meditation on friendship in all of its beautiful and ugly aspects. This film features my favourite original screenplay of the year and some of the best performances in any film of the past 12 months. A true joy and a true tearjerker all at once. 

Bones and All

Two young cannibals find each other and try to make a life for themselves as they cross America and find what they thought was impossible, love. 

This film put me through an emotional wringer. I was disturbed and frightened and bawling my eyes out and falling in love, all at once.  2022 was an amazing year for horror but who would have thought a cannibal romance would have me fall so in love and wreck me so thoroughly? While Bones and All may not be for the faint of heart, those who can stomach it will be richly rewarded. 

Cha Cha Real Smooth

A young man falls for an older woman when he looks after her autistic teen daughter. 

When I sat down to watch the sophomore film of writer/director Cooper Raiff I had no idea what I was in for, but few films gave me as much melancholic joy as this one did. So many of my favourite films this year are stories about love tinged with sadness, but this one the most directly. I love how it doesn’t fall into “love triangle” tropes and just gives us a purely lovely movie about a crush that I could watch again and again.  

Emergency

Three college roommates, two Black, one Hispanic, find a white girl passed out in their hallway and try to find help for her despite all the barriers the racial intersections present to them on their last night before graduation. 

Emergency is another film that came out of nowhere for me and knocked me on my ass. The film is hilariously funny while also being brutally honest about the state of America in 2022. Emergency features a cast of promising young actors and made by promising young film makers. The kids are alright if Emergency is any indication.  

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

A small shell lives with his grandmother when a film maker renting the house they inhabit discovers them and decides to help them find their lost community. 

The most absurdist film on my list, yet also one of the most universally accessible and lovely movies to come along in a very long time. The sort of film a child could watch that is also completely satisfying for any adult of any generation to enjoy. Quite honestly funny and incredibly moving at the same time. Marcel is the sort of joyous and original film that is comes along so rarely. I knew I was watching something special the moment it started.  

Nope

A man tries to maintain his deceased father’s movie horse training business despite the lack of much help from his sister when something in the skies threatens them and their neighbours. 

I can’t remember as good a year for horror as 2022 in a long time, yet it is no surprise that Jordan Peele’s new film is one of the best of that genre for another year. Nope kept surprising me, never going where I thought it was going, and hitting me right in the gut. No matter how many times I watch it I catch something new and I could just talk about it for days and days as it is such a rich thought provoking film. 

Easily the best film about making films of the year, no question. 

Scarborough

Three children meet and becomes friends while spending time in a day program which provides some respite from the harsh world around them. 

It is a cliché that Canadian films are depressing but it is a cliché because it is mostly true (this year's Peace by Chocolate is the rare exception). Scarborough keeps that tradition alive with its beautiful tear jerking tale that gets deeply into the stories of three children whose lives are filled with challenges but also a great deal of love. Scarborough will have you cheering through your tears by the end. Such a lovely film with powerful performances from the children at its centre and the adults around them. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once

A woman who runs a laundry business discovers… oh who am I kidding. There is no explaining this movie! 

I saw this film at a film festival screening early in 2022 and the crowd cheered as did I, surprised and shook by what I had just seen. I saw it again a few weeks later when it got a limited release, eager to experience it again so I could catch even more of all that was going on. I got even more out of it than I did the first time, picking up on things I hadn't been able to process in the first viewing. For my birthday I took my family to see it again later in the year when it was still playing in mainstream theaters months after its initial release as it had become a phenomenon. And once again I loved it even more. I have watched it a number of times since at home and each time I am wowed by the story, the characters, and the sheer magnitude of its power. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a tiny miracle of film making and a reminder of just how magical movies can be. I am so thrilled it found an audience as I truly expected it to play the underground circuit and disappear into the memories of movie nerds like me. A reminder that they do still make original films and not just churn out the next instalment in billion dollar franchises. Everything Everywhere became an unlikely blockbuster and awards darling and it fully deserves all of it. 

What a film! My favourite of 2022 and one of my favourite of all time.