Best movies of 2022

Here is Metacritic's final list of the 50 best-reviewed movies of 2022, ranked by Metascore. This list only includes films receiving at least 7 reviews from professional critics. All films released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 in at least one U.S. theater or directly to streaming or VOD/digital services were eligible for inclusion. Short films and reissues are excluded. Titles are ranked by Metascore (a weighted average of scores from top professional critics) prior to rounding based on scores as of January 1, 2023. Additional content by Keith Kimbell.

Clockwise from top left: The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Only Murders in the Building, Nope, This Is Going to Hurt and The Dropout Searchlight Pictures, A24, Hulu, Universal Studios, AMC Networks, Hulu hide caption toggle caption Searchlight Pictures, A24, Hulu, Universal Studios, AMC Networks, Hulu Clockwise from top left: The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Only Murders in the Building, Nope, This Is Going to Hurt and The Dropout Searchlight Pictures, A24, Hulu, Universal Studios, AMC Networks, Hulu Whether you plan to head out to the theater, or binge from the couch, our critics have gathered together their favorite films and TV shows of 2022. You can search by genre and where you can see it. Have at it!

This fall, the story of how prestige films, awards films — whatever you want to call them — underperformed at movie theaters was more than a box office story. It was, potentially, the story of a paradigm shift. An essential question was raised: If a drama as acclaimed and exciting to watch as “Tár” — or, God forbid, the most highly lauded Steven Spielberg film since “Lincoln” — can’t raise the temperature of moviegoers, then what hope do movies for adults have? The reason we make note of this here is that if we’re going to be honest about it, there’s a subtle way that this trend can taint the films we’re talking about. Instead of triumphs, they can look like “disappointments,” like movies that somehow didn’t measure up to what they were supposed to be. But this is a moment to remind ourselves that our favorite movies, and the others singled out by our critics as the best of the year, really are triumphs. They are films that are built to last, and will. There are hit movies on our lists, like “The Batman,” but in an age of numbers-crunching it’s important to remember that the achievements of movies like this don’t need to be quantified. We hope, in reading our lists, that you embrace the quality in these films that so inspired us: the sensation of discovery. (Click here to jump to ’ s list.) It’s a staggering portrait of celebrity and power. It’s a seductive peek into the lofty bubble of the classical-music world. It’s an insidiously unfolding thriller about a brilliant art...