Best Movies 2022

Critics Consensus: Top Gun: Maverick pulls off a feat even trickier than a 4G inverted dive, delivering a long-belated sequel that surpasses its predecessor in wildly entertaining style.

Synopsis: After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm

Directed By: Joseph Kosinski

Critics Consensus: Featuring some of Martin McDonagh's finest work and a pair of outstanding lead performances, The Banshees of Inisherin is a finely crafted feel-bad treat.

Synopsis: Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN follows lifelong friends Pádraic and Colm, who find themselves at... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan

Directed By: Martin McDonagh

Critics Consensus: Led by an outstanding Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once lives up to its title with an expertly calibrated assault on the senses.

Synopsis: Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, the film is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong

Directed By: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Critics Consensus: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio delivers fully on its title -- which is to say it's a visually stunning adaptation that embraces its source material's darkness.

Synopsis: Academy Award®-winning director Guillermo del Toro and award-winning, stop-motion legend Mark Gustafson reimagine the classic Carlo Collodi tale of the fabled wooden boy with a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Tilda Swinton

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson

Critics Consensus: Heartwarming, humorous, beautifully animated, and culturally expansive, Turning Red extends Pixar's long list of family-friendly triumphs.

Synopsis: In "Turning Red", Mei Lee is a confident, dorky thirteen-year-old torn between staying her mother's dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. And as if... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park

Directed By: Domee Shi

Critics Consensus: A tough but rewarding watch, Happening puts a personal face on an impossibly difficult choice and its heart-rending aftermath.

Synopsis: France, 1963. Anne is a bright young student with a promising future ahead of her. But when she falls pregnant, she sees the opportunity to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anamaria Vartolomei, Kacey Mottet Klein, Luàna Bajrami, Louise Orry-Diquéro

Directed By: Audrey Diwan

Critics Consensus: A grim, gritty, and gripping super-noir, The Batman ranks among the Dark Knight's bleakest -- and most thrillingly ambitious -- live-action outings.

Synopsis: Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the scale of the perpetrator's plans become... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell

Directed By: Matt Reeves

Critics Consensus: Whether as a story of one couple's quixotic quest or simply a stunning collection of nature footage, Fire of Love burns bright.

Synopsis: Fire of Love tells the story of two French lovers, Katia and Maurice Krafft, who died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Miranda July

Directed By: Sara Dosa

Critics Consensus: Poignant, profound, and utterly heartwarming, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is animated entertainment with real heart.

Synopsis: Marcel is an adorable one-inch-tall shell who ekes out a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jenny Slate, Rosa Salazar, Thomas Mann, Isabella Rossellini

Directed By: Dean Fleischer-Camp

Critics Consensus: Till reframes an historically horrific murder within a mother's grief, brought heartwrenchingly to life by Danielle Deadwyler's tremendous performance.

Synopsis: Till is a profoundly emotional and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14 year old... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Haley Bennett

Directed By: Chinonye Chukwu

Critics Consensus: All hail Viola Davis! The Woman King rules.

Synopsis: The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim

Directed By: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Critics Consensus: The rare action thriller that spikes adrenaline without skimping on character development, Prey is a Predator prequel done right.

Synopsis: Set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago, "Prey" is the story of a young woman, Naru, a fierce and highly skilled warrior. She has... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Stormee Kipp, Michelle Thrush

Directed By: Dan Trachtenberg

Critics Consensus: A bloody revenge epic and breathtaking visual marvel, The Northman finds filmmaker Robert Eggers expanding his scope without sacrificing any of his signature style.

Synopsis: The Northman is an epic revenge thriller, that explores how far a Viking prince will go to seek justice for his murdered father.

Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke

Directed By: Robert Eggers

Critics Consensus: A fresh spin on the classic slasher formula, X marks the spot where Ti West gets resoundingly back to his horror roots.

Synopsis: In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow

Directed By: Ti West

Critics Consensus: A sweet swan song for director Roger Michell, The Duke offers a well-acted and engaging dramatization of an entertainingly improbable true story.

Synopsis: In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Fionn Whitehead, Aimée Kelly

Directed By: Roger Michell

Critics Consensus: Frighteningly timely and powerfully persuasive, The Janes offers a unique opportunity to look back at a pivotal chapter in American history through the eyes of those who helped define it.

Synopsis: In the spring of 1972, police raided an apartment on the South Side of Chicago. Seven women were arrested and charged. The accused were part... View Full Synopsis

Directed By: Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes

Critics Consensus: Descendant serves as a fantastically compelling example of how history can be reclaimed -- and a stirring tribute to a resilient community.

Synopsis: Documentary filmmaker Margaret Brown ("The Order of Myths", "The Great Invisible") returns to her hometown of Mobile, Alabama to document the search for and historic... View Full Synopsis

Directed By: Margaret Brown

Critics Consensus: No Bears bears witness to Jafar Panahi's incisive filmmaking while urging viewers to examine the complex layers of a deceptively simple story: a man oppressed and suppressed by his country.

Synopsis: NO BEARS portrays two parallel love stories. In both, the lovers are troubled by hidden, inevitable obstacles, the force of superstition and the mechanics of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjei

Directed By: Jafar Panahi

Critics Consensus: Navalny is a documentary that's as gripping as any thriller -- but the real-life fight against authoritarianism that it details is deadly serious.

Synopsis: Shot as the story unfolded, NAVALNY is a fly-on-the-wall documentary thriller about anti-authoritarian Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Recovering in Berlin after nearly being poisoned... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Alexei Navalny

Directed By: Daniel Roher

Critics Consensus: A poetic tribute to tenacity, All That Breathes uses two brothers' tireless efforts to make a broader point about finding triumph within tragedy.

Synopsis: In one of the world's most populated cities, cows, rats, monkeys, frogs, and hogs jostle cheek-by-jowl with people. Here, two brothers fall in love with... View Full Synopsis

Directed By: Shaunak Sen

Critics Consensus: Its premise may resonate most with hardcore film fans, but Official Competition's tight focus and sharp humor have a universal appeal.

Synopsis: Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas star as two egomaniacs commissioned by a millionaire to make a movie together in this sharp comedy skewering wealth, art,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Martínez, Carlos Hipólito

Directed By: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat

Critics Consensus: Sexual awakening stories aren't in short supply, but Good Luck to You, Leo Grande proves you can still tell one with a refreshing -- and very funny -- spin.

Synopsis: In GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE, two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson (Love, Actually) embodies the candor and apprehension of retired teacher Nancy Stokes,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack, Isabella Laughland, Charlotte Ware

Directed By: Sophie Hyde

Critics Consensus: A fitting tribute to a titan of American music, Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues honors its subject by letting him tell his story in his own words.

Synopsis: "Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues" offers an intimate and revealing look at the world-changing musician, presented through a lens of archival footage and never-before-heard home... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Louis Armstrong

Directed By: Sacha Jenkins

Critics Consensus: A moving look at Sinéad O'Connor's remarkable life and career, Nothing Compares is enriching viewing whether or not you're a fan of her work.

Synopsis: NOTHING COMPARES is the story of Sinéad O'Connor's phenomenal rise to worldwide fame and how her iconoclastic personality resulted in her exile from the pop... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sinéad O'Connor

Directed By: Kathryn Ferguson

Critics Consensus: Inspirational and unabashedly political, Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down pays passionate tribute to its resilient subject.

Synopsis: Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down tells the extraordinary story of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords: her relentless fight to recover following an assassination attempt in... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly

Directed By: Julie Cohen, Betsy West

Critics Consensus: Led by Frankie Corio's tremendous performance, Aftersun deftly ushers audiences to the intersection between our memories of loved ones and who they really are.

Synopsis: At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal). As a world of adolescence... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Kayleigh Coleman

Directed By: Charlotte Wells

Critics Consensus: If Decision to Leave isn't quite on the same level as Park Chan-wook's masterpieces, this romantic thriller is still a remarkable achievement by any other metric.

Synopsis: From a mountain peak in South Korea, a man plummets to his death. Did he jump, or was he pushed? When detective Hae-joon arrives on... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Wei Tang, Park Hae-il, Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo

Directed By: Park Chan-wook

Critics Consensus: Free Chol Soo Lee powerfully relates a story of injustice while issuing a searing indictment of the systemic racism that enabled it.

Synopsis: In 1970s San Francisco, 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. After spending years fighting to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sebastian Yoon, K.W. Lee

Directed By: Julie Ha, Eugene Yi

Critics Consensus: A taut thriller that contains a wealth of social commentary, Emily the Criminal is stolen by Aubrey Plaza's terrific work in the title role.

Synopsis: Emily (Aubrey Plaza) is saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Desperate for income, she... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Jonathan Avigdori

Directed By: John Patton Ford

Critics Consensus: Led by a luminous Lesley Manville, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a good old-fashioned story charmingly told.

Synopsis: In partnership with the House of Dior, MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS tells the story of a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London who falls... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, Anna Chancellor

Directed By: Anthony Fabian