(Photo by Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection. Featured image: A24.)

Best Movies of 2022 Ranked

Welcome to the best-reviewed movies of 2022! All eyes are on the film slate as 2022 represents the first year since the pandemic lockdown that saw theaters back at full capacity. The year started strong with Scream in January, becoming the first Certified Fresh movie in the franchise since 1997’s Scream 2.

Spring saw a string of critical hits, including the dark crime epic on The Batman, the spirited YA comedy Turning Red from Pixar, and two from A24: Some throwback horror with X, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, which would become A24’s biggest box office hit, surpassing Hereditary.

Of course, no story about the state of movies in 2022 is complete without full mention of Top Gun: Maverick. With afterburners activated, the crowd-pleasing blockbuster set records across the board, including an easy landing on the coveted billion-dollar movie hall of fame.

More headline-grabbing films include another great Adam Sandler dramatic turn in Netflix’s Hustle, the surprise Predator return-to-form prequel Prey, the latest from auteurs Jordan Peele and Robert Eggers (Nope and The Northman, respectively), and Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which sees anime continuing to make inroads with critics and at the box office.

Read on for the best movies of 2022, ranked! (And for more, explore the best movies of previous years with our guides on 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018.) —Alex Vo