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With 2022 winding to a close, it is time to look back at the best in films, streaming, and video games for the past year. For clarification, this list takes into consideration movies that premiered between January 1st
and December 31st, 2022, so movies like The Tragedy of MacBeth and Flee
were not considered for this list since they were released in 2021. For the purpose of this list, a movie is just defined as something that is feature-length; distribution method does not matter so it could have been streamed or it could have gotten a wide theatrical release.
10. Turning Red:
In a way, Turning Red
was a return to form for Pixar, delivering their strongest movie since Inside Out. While there is the obvious allegory for puberty, the movie dives deeply into the mother/daughter relationship between Mai and Ming, which does a lot to set this apart from other movies like it. Like Encanto, the movie dives into dealing with cycles of abuse, even if the abuse is not in the traditional sense like was seen in The Black Phone, and the process behind breaking that cycle after understanding what causes it. The imagery is unique and stands apart from other animated movies this year, which situates it as a clear frontrunner for Best Animated Feature.
Where To Stream: Disney+
9. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery:
The great success of the first Knives Out was the political commentary that served as the undercurrent for the narrative. While the first one dealt with class solidarity in the form of the family uniting against Marta, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a little more explicit in laying out just how much power money has and how the power of money and optics control how the upper classes act. This is wrapped in an intriguing mystery with great performances from the cast makes this movie an excellent sequel to already strong material.
Where To Stream: Netflix
8. Three Thousand Years of Longing:
Maybe it was just the fact that this movie came out just after The Sandman was released on Netflix and it had that same look and feel of some of the issues of the comic that span centuries in the past, but Three Thousand Years of Longing was such a great experience. It is a character study that is carried by Idris Elba’s performance and narration. The story of the Djinn going through its life and continued adventures getting trapped in the bottle is entertaining and interesting and has some really impressive visuals and costume designs that make it worth watching.
Where To Stream: PVOD on Amazon, iTunes, and other Digital Marketplaces
7. The Batman:
The Batman may well be the best Batman movie to be released theatrically, allowing for a great exploration of the “world’s greatest detective” aspect of the character. Showing the evolution of Batman from a year one iteration that is all about vengeance to the more comic version that’s about justice and is less of a symbol of fear for the city of Gotham. It’s a unique story that loosely adapts The Long Halloween and insulates itself from a wider DC Universe which only works to the movie’s advantage. Maybe the third act could have been shorter, however that would have cut key moments of Batman’s character development. Despite its three-hour runtime, The Batman is definitely the most rewatchable movie for the character with tons of easter eggs to other properties like Hush and The Flashpoint Paradox to keep viewers entertained.
Where To Stream: HBOMax
6. Aftersun
One of last year’s top contenders for Best Picture was Belfast, a coming-of-age story set during the wars in northern Ireland in the 1960s. One of the best things about this movie was the fact that there were sequences in the movie that were shot almost from the perspective of Buddy (who is a child) which leaves the audience with key information missing, however it is ok because Buddy would not know these things. Aftersun plays with similar motifs, however it does it so much better than Belfast as the viewer gets to simultaneously explore the vacation at the center of the movie from the perspective of both the child iteration of Sophie and her hindsight looking back at the events. There is this great undercurrent of nostalgic sadness that runs through the whole movie, even though the events of the movie are not specifically negative. Aftersun is a masterclass in subtext and one of the strongest entries of the year.
Where To Stream: PVOD on Amazon, iTunes, and other Digital Marketplaces
5. The Northman:
The Northman is a straightforward adaptation of Hamlet
but with Vikings, outstanding performances from a large ensemble cast, a visionary director who is among one of the best active today, and some of the most unique lighting of any movie released in the last few years. It cannot be overstated how well this movie uses in-scene light sources to create tension and has a ton of beautifully unique visuals that play off this. The acting performances across the board are fantastic and the resolution of the movie is beautifully shot.
Where To Stream: Amazon Prime
4. Tár:
One of the strongest performances of the year comes from Cate Blanchett in Tár in the titular role. That’s not to say that the only place this movie works is in the performance since the cinematography and production design are top notch as well. It is also a rare example of a movie that does color grading so well that it is visibly noticeable how well it plays into the narrative. If the movie has a downside, it is that the broader societal critique feels a little shallow, however the story around this is strong enough where that shortcoming is debatable at best. The editing couples with Blanchett’s performance, allowing for long and tense scenes where an argument is allowed to play out all in one take to really allow the tension to build, to the point where it is a strong choice for a Best Editing Academy Award come the end of the year.
Where To Stream: PVOD on Amazon, iTunes, and other Digital Marketplaces
3. Nope:
Nope continues to show Jordan Peele’s ability to create some of the most tense scenes in movies while pulling career best acting performances from his cast. The night exterior cinematography is some of the best visuals of that type in a movie and the production design around the traps for the monster and the monster itself are truly unique. Maybe one subplot does not dovetail into the main plot as nice as it could have, however Nope is still among the year’s best.
Where To Stream: Peacock
2. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever:
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had the deck stacked against it when it was formally announced. Between the last time audiences saw the characters and this entry, the lead actor had passed on and the decision was made to not recast T’challa so the movie had a ton of narrative ground to cover. It had to set up Namor and Telocan, set up Shuri becoming the new Black Panther after Killmonger destroyed the heart-shaped herb in the last one, and introduce Ironheart so she can move forward into her own project. Impressively, the majority of these land (Ironheart could definitely have used more development) and delivers a strong ending built on an emotional story with a truly sympathetic villain that is one of the strongest movies of the year.
Where To Stream: Disney+ at some point in the next few months
1. Everything Everywhere All At Once:
Everything Everywhere All At Once is far and away the best movie to come out in 2022. It blends a ton of different visual styles and moves across the emotional spectrum in a way that feels organic. The comedic moments and the dramatic moments flow together seamlessly and do not step on each other’s moments. It takes the type of nihilism that has dominated multiversal-science fiction in the last decade and issues a full-throated rebuttal to these motifs in a heartfelt and beautifully shot movie that does not have a weak point.
Where To Stream: Paramount+
Series of the Year: Andor:
The decision this year came down to either Andor or The Sandman and ultimately Andor
takes home the prize because of how consistent it is all the way through. The interwoven plotlines between the various characters and how they mirror each other make for a unique viewing experience, while taking the series and breaking it up into four mini-arcs makes it so nothing ever feels too slow as the plot unfolds. The arc in the prison is some of the best Star Wars period, let alone of the Disney-era and the show manages to take well-worn motifs and devices that viewers know from Star Wars and make them scary, arguably for the first time.
Where To Stream: Disney+
Game of the Year: Cult of the Lamb:
The year 2022 for games was interesting, in so much as it was a year for innovation. Games like Elden Ring capitalizes on the success of “soulslike” games while entries from major franchises like Sonic Frontiers, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga tried to take existing formulas and bring them up to contemporary standards. Following the enduring success of Stardew Valley (which, if this award was given based on play time, would have won this award but it is also over five years old at this point), the market was flooded with similar farming simulators, to the point where the September Nintendo Direct announced an unholy number of these games and any given Steam indie event is flooded with these games. These took over the independent love of the “roguelike” subgenre.
All of this is to say that Cult of the Lamb is the best game of the year because of how much it innovates both the roguelike genre and the city management genre. It boasts a unique and beautiful art style that looks similar at times to Paper Mario and has just the right amount of difficulty and depth of gameplay for both genres that it exists within. The city management aspects are both intricate enough that they have deeper purposes while also being easy enough to use where they are not cumbersome. At the same time, the difficulty of the roguelike elements and combat is punishing, however at the same time it is not soul-crushing to the point that it makes the player not want to continue playing.
Available On: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X
