Best movies 2022

Have we finally entered a post-pandemic moment in our collective movie-going history? While the studios certainly hoped so, the box office tells a different story, with some of 2022's biggest productions barely scraping by. But let that be no reflection of the eclectic, innovative, and surprising offings that came not only out of Hollywood but also Ireland, Korea, Iran and elsewhere this year. And with the ever expanding ecosystem of streaming platforms, there are more ways to watch than ever before. Here, we present the best films of 2022—roughly in order of the date they came out this year—from block-busting action flicks to cozy dramas. Go forth, and settle in for some good old-fashioned movie magic…no matter how you watch it. The Worst Person in the World Joachim Trier’s latest is a romantic-comedy-drama with the stunning Renate Reinsve (she took home the best actress award at Cannes) starring as Julie, a somewhat directionless young woman involved in a relationship with a more ambitious and directed man 15 years her senior. The setup becomes more complicated when she meets and begins to fall for a man closer to her age. The self-described “European art-house guy” director told the Los Angeles Times that he “went out on a limb” with this surprisingly romantic film. —Chloe Schama The opening night film at SXSW, A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once stars Michelle Yeoh as a Chinese American woman who sets off on a mundane task—finishing her taxes—and ends up…traversing...

The best movies of 2022 From 'Top Gun: Maverick' to 'Everything Everywhere All At Once,' Boston.com readers and our entertainment writer share their picks for the year's best. The best movies of 2022 (L to R): Tom Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick," Michelle Yeoh in "Everything Everywhere All At Once," and Colin Farrell in "The Banshees of Inisherin." Paramount Pictures; A24; Searchlight Pictures In what was supposed to be the year of triumphantly returning to the movie theater post-pandemic, 2022 ended up being more of a mixed bag. There were triumphs, like Tom Cruise’s “ “Tár,” the Cate Blanchett composer drama that is a near-lock for a Best Picture nod at the Oscars, cost $35 million but made just under $5.5 million. “She Said,” the dramatized story of The New York Times journalists who broke open the Harvey Weinstein case, couldn’t crack $6 million domestically. Even Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” the director’s most personal film to date, earned just over $9 million in theaters, and is already available to purchase on-demand. The culprit was undoubtedly the proliferation of same-day streaming during the pandemic accelerating a change in viewer habits. With studios making it easier than ever to watch a movie on the couch at home, audiences only headed to the multiplex to see big-budget blockbusters enhanced by a theatrical viewing. As detailed in my article about the Doom and gloom aside, there were still plenty of great films released in 2022 — whether in theaters or ...

Well, we’re now closing in on the end of 2022, which means that the year in movies is coming to a close. Since the prehistoric days of January, we’ve been compiling and periodically adding to our list of the best films of the year, In this final installment, we’ve added new titles that we here at Esquire believe are not only worth checking out, but will also still hang around in the pop-culture conversation well into 2023—and certainly after year-end Top 10 lists are trotted out. As you’ll see, our countdown includes a TÁR follows conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) as she is accused of offering her assistants quid pro quo sexual favors in exchange for promotions in the industry—whether the allegation is true or not. She is viewed as a visionary in the music industry, and her downfall is the first film of the last few years to truly explore the journey of a celebrity getting canceled in real time. Blanchett's performance as Lydia Tár is a tour de force, with Oscar consideration just about guaranteed. You might even say that TÁR is a TÁRiffic film. Sorry. —Josh Rosenberg In The Eternal Daughter, Tilda Swinton stars in a dual role as an aging mother and her daughter, who are both returning to a gothic mansion that holds many family memories. Half ghost story and half meditative drama, The Eternal Daughter is clearly a very personal work for director Joanna Hogg. You truly feel the film's depth in its devastating final moments. Swinton also gives so much life to both of her ...

There is no end to the making of lists, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy reading them as much as I like making them. There’s a polemical side to criticism that finds a crystalline form in lists, but contentiousness isn’t their only value. For starters, lists are mnemonic, gathering things to remember, and also judgmental, asserting what’s worth remembering. That’s why I don’t limit myself to a Top Ten but stretch the list to fit as many films as I’m moved to include. The essential idea that guides me in criticism is that the world of movies is far bigger than the run of widely publicized releases. At year’s end, I compile the movies that imposed themselves on memory and which (even if their subjects are grim or their tones are severe) have provided enduring pleasures and illuminations. This year, it’s all the more important to offer a widely inclusive list, because a wide range of American filmmakers have caught up with the inescapable phenomenon of the recent past: the resurgence of openly anti-democratic forces and brazenly hate-driven ideologies, the crisis of illegitimate rule, the menace of authoritarianism, the potential end of even our current debilitated American democracy. The phenomenon is certainly not limited to the United States, and filmmakers from around the world have long been confronting it in their own countries bravely, insightfully, and ingeniously. For years, many of the best American filmmakers have been making films of political outrag...

Even if it weren’t so timely, French director Happening would still be a tense and quietly radical piece of work. Adapted from the 2000 memoir by Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, the picture is both forthright and moving in its exploration of what an unwanted pregnancy can mean to a woman—in this case a young student played with raw, bruised resolution by Anamaria Vartolomei. The Fabelmans is his most personal film to date, one that reckons with the bittersweet truth of how families endure even in the midst of stress and crisis. Michelle Williams and Paul Dano star as Mitzi and Burt Fabelman, stand-ins for Spielberg’s real-life parents. Their performances are among the year’s best, delicately textured and deeply moving. Honorable Mentions: Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives, Park Chan-Wook’s Decision to Leave, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, Jeff Tremaine’s Jackass Forever, David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future, Sophie Hyde’s Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, Sacha Jenkins’ Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR, Phyllis Nagy’s Call Jane More Must-Reads From TIME • • Why Job Hunting Is Getting Worse • Ethan Hawke Wants You to Know You’re in Charge of Your Life • How MrBeast Broke His Own YouTube Record • The Very Online Campaign of RFK Jr. • 6 Essential Cormac McCarthy Book...