Top 20 Films Of 2022 (Part 1: 20-11)
Another year, another late Best Of List. I know I’ve been slacking in the full reviews – I don’t think I did any for 2022. But I still like to get a Top 20 done every year to look back and remember the standout moments, and there were quite a few standout moments this year, so much so that at one point any one of the honourable mentions could’ve made it onto the official list had I cut off just a film or two ago.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish – The unexpected sequel to the Shrek franchise is also one of it’s unexpectedly best, mixing stunner animation and vibrant action with actual character growth for Puss and a genuinely frightening villain in The Wolf.
Watcher – A slow-burn thriller that creeps under your skin through isolation but it’s tacking of gaslighting and presumed hysteria give it an extra kick that even has you doubting yourself by the end of it all.
Lady Chatterly’s Lover – A love story with actual emotions, an erotic film that’s actually sensual, Netflix’s adaptation of a nearly 100 year old novel shows there’s life in the old girl yet with a fantastic pairing between Corrin’s steadfast Lady Chatterly and O’Connel’s rugged Mellows. Easily one of the most believable pairings of the year.
Babylon – It’s far too long, it’s far too chaotic, it slumps in the second act.... and I couldn’t get enough of it, Chazelle’s equal parts love letter to Hollywood excess and damnation of the destruction power of stardom often goes to some fucked-up places and at one point literal Hell. But it’s stress inducing anxiety is hilarious, it’s off-the-wall insanity is infectious, Pitt is perfectly cast as the Golden star no long shining, Robbie is the best she’s been since I, Tonya and the soundtrack is the best fucking thing I’ve heard all year.
Nope – The final film to have just been knocked out of the Top 20 before making this list but honestly call it 20.5 because it came so damn close to staying there. Peele’s take on sci-fi horror is simple but so goddamn original and how he ties it all together is nothing short of remarkable. Not to mention how effectively distressing the entire second act of the film is, everything from the Star Lasso Experience to the red rain utterly chilled me in the best possible way.
And now then, onto the main event, the Top 20 Films of 2022.
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20: Bullet Train
It’s fitting that Bullet Train is set in Japan because it is a goddamn live-action anime in the best way, a ton of characters ranging from cockney assassins to psychotic schoolgirls, flashbacks within flashbacks, pay-offs to off-hand remarks that brings several stories together in a surprisingly neat, if a little bloodstained, bow, and a lead character who just want to go home and have nothing more to do with this. It’s also one of the most manic films I’ve seen this year and easily one of the most entertaining, I mean it has a samurai fight set to Japanese Bonnie Tyler, if that doesn’t get a film into the top 20 then nothing will.
19: The Northman
You can tell Robert Eggers is gonna have a hell of a career when I can call The Northman his weakest film and it still makes it onto my Top 20. While it lacks the instant classic appeal of The VVitch and the literal fucking masterpiece of The Lighthouse, Eggers take on the original revenge tale – Amleth being the Viking story that inspired Hamlet – is brutal as shit, weird as all Hell and unafraid to ask some troubling questions about the destructive powers of vengeance. It might be Eggers weakest film to date, but it still holds onto his auteur spirit and unashamedly fever-dream aesthetic to bring a healthy dose of style of a familiar tale.
18: Bones & All
I went into Bones & All expecting a cannibal movie with romance elements, what I got instead was a romance movie with cannibal elements and in a way that worked out for the better, it’s soft focus on the love story between two lonely people, each dealing with a sickness they can’t control and finally having someone who understands allowed the sudden, often brutal displays of violence to retain their impact each and every time. The bloodied heart of the film belongs to Russell and Chalamet who take on every aspect of their troubled characters, Russell especially with her coming-of-cannibal arc, but it’s Mark Rylance who makes the biggest standout as the incredibly lonely and almost pitiful villain, adding the most to the uncomfortable atmosphere that crept this film under my skin and kept in my mind for days afterwards.
17: Women Talking
If Bones & All crept under my skin because of it’s on-screen violence, then Women Talking does an even better job making me uncomfortable with its implied violence. This is very much an actor’s film and all the actors are phenomenal, in particular Mara, Foy and Buckley who each give some career best work and are given lots of monologues and heavy discussions to work with. But they’re discussions that need to be had, where the women in a religious colony have to contend with not only being repeatedly attacked, but that the men in their colony, their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons were all aware of the attacks and gaslighted them into ignoring their pain. It’s a conversation that has its roots fitted into a timeless space that still lingers through to today’s society and the different reactions of the women involved, be it forgiveness, fear or righteous hellfire anger, all feel genuine and help this delicate but harrowing film to bring sexual assault into the frame without feeling exploitative. I've waited a while to see what Sarah Polley did next and she did not disappoint.
16: All Quiet On The Western Front
I’ve never seen the original Western Front, nor read the book, but I knew it’s a series that frames itself in the Anti-War sentiment. And by God does this film carry on that theme. Gone are the days of stalwart heroes with bare chests bum-rushing the Nazis to save the day, now it’s idealised teenagers brought to the front-line by propaganda and left to be slaughtered by the enemies superior and shit-scary firepower, if the hypothermia, the starvation, the disease or the depression don’t kill you first. The sheer cold-hearted nature of the film with how it portrays W.W.1 in all its horrific glory makes for a hell of an impact, and one that left me feeling hollow for a while, easily the most depressing film of the year but it’s meant to be so I had to reward it for that alone.
15: Barbarian
2022 was a fantastic year for horror, as you’re about to see with the next few films, Barbarian being the bottom of the best does in no way disparage how good it is, and it is really good. I’m not actually gonna talk much about this because what makes it so good is how it keeps you on your toes, the amount of red-herrings and misdirects in the first act before you even realise what the actual brand of horror is, and then it keeps you off-guard with some dark humour and charming characters before catching you with a left-turn again. All the while keeping a surprisingly strong feminist message about trust and male privilege that doesn’t beat you over the head with its themes. Go into this one blind, if you’re a horror fan you will not regret it.
14: Bodies Bodies Bodies
As someone who only JUST qualifies as a millennial, I find Gen Z a strange bunch of characters, well intentioned thanks to their belief in equality, but often so focussed on being equal that they start humble-bragging and ignore their own toxic qualities. This is where Bodies, Bodies, Bodies shines, what starts as a Gen Z slasher film turns into a frantic, anxiety ridden mess of coked out rich kids trying hard to keep their shit together whilst being completely unable to keep their shit together. Aside from main character Bee – a strong turn from Borat’s Bakalova – no-one in this film is likeable, they’re sometimes fun to watch with Rachel Sennot’s Alice being fucking hilarious, but none of them are likeable and that’s the point, all the gaslighting, emotional blackmail, triggering and toxic behaviour that Gen Z like to campaign against are all present and correct throughout these rich dickheads slasher film. It’s one of the darkest comedies I’ve seen for a while, but a whip-smart script, strong comedic acting and a directing style that manages to keep control through complete darkness and sheer anarchy all come together to create something as brilliant as it is infuriating.
13: Sissy
Much like Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Sissy tackles Gen Z culture in the guise of a slasher film but does so in a much more personal manner, focussing more on the mental health side of things and the dangers of psychopathy, obsession and self-image. It’s another film I’m not going to spend too much time on because I went into this blind and absolutely loved how much I was taken aback by the second half but all the set-up of the first half and how it paints the relationship between these characters pays off supremely well thanks to a twisted sense of humour and a pitch-fucking-perfect performance from lead actress Aisha Dee who tackles the often absurd nature of Cecelia’s mental health with power and a smile on her face.
12: X
Spoiler alert, not the only Ti West film on this list. Having been a fan of his slow-burn style for some time now, I was eager to check out his new grindhouse flick. And thankfully that trademark West style is in spades here, appealing to the pretentious dickhead in me with its examination of sexual liberation, aging jealousy, artful hypocrisy and a dirty aesthetic ripped straight out of Texas Chainsaw, as well as appealing to the primal slasher fan in me thanks to its grisly violence, copious nudity and surprisingly horny villains. It’s a film that really only Ti West could’ve done and I’m just as eager to see this surprising new franchise grow after this and a future film on this list.
11: The Whale
There’s still a part of me who doesn’t know where to stand on The Whale, which ironically is making me like it more for putting me into this position. It is a confusingly great movie, where good people make horrible choices and we see the ripple effects play out in this dingy little apartment block between an obese father and a troubled daughter. Far and away this is Brendan Fraser’s film, he’s surrounded by great performances with Sadie Sink’s difficult Ellie and Hong Chau’s angry but loving Liz being two highlights but it’s Fraser’s endearing, heartbreaking and frustrating role as Charlie that delivers not only his best performance since The Mummy but one of the best performances of the year. You desperately want him to succeed, to salvage what he can with his life, but every naive mistake and every mistaken belief drags the optimism of his character under this blanket of cynicism where you as the audience know it cannot survive. It’s a hard performance to watch and a hard film to enjoy, but through the utter car crash of Charlie’s life you are compelled to see it through, if only for the hope of one last bright spark ust around the corner.