The year is coming to a close and there have been some pretty great movies for us to see. We saw James Cameron return to the big screen after over a decade. We saw Tom Cruise break box office records. We saw one of the best years we have had for horror. There were definitely highs and lows. Some surprises and some disappointments. I was able to see a ton of movies this year in exchange for not getting enough sleep at all. Here are my picks for the top 10 movies of 2022.
Honorable Mentions
These are some movies that are definitely worth checking out but just missed my top 10. It has definitely been a great year for movies.
- Till
- Avatar: The Way Of Water
- Deadstream
- The Black Phone
- X
- Soft and Quiet
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
- Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
10. Hustle
I have always been a sucker for Adam Sandler as well as underdog sports movies. Hustle is all that and more. I love when Sandler comes out and gives a performance that shows that he can handle drama just fine. He plays a sports recruiter who is tired of traveling for his job. He just wants to spend more time with his family and not lose his passion which is the game of basketball. He meets a young man who has the talent and drives and does what he can to help them both reach their dreams and full potential.
The movie is full of heart, characters to root for, and some great montages. The movie is definitely full of passion. Adam Sandler has always been open about his love for basketball and this feels like a special film for him. Everything just feels genuine.
Also, it is no secret that when athletes are in movies, they usually aren’t the best actors. I have to give credit to director Jeremiah Zagar, because this has to be the best acting I’ve seen from athletes possibly ever. This is a great film and one that people do not even need to like sports in order to appreciate.
9. Elvis
When this Elvis biopic was announced and when it was said that Baz Luhrmann was directing, I remember thinking that this could be a huge mess. Baz is a very flashy director and a lot of times the story in his movies can be underwhelming. I would argue that this movie is his best-directed film to date.
I thought that I knew everything about Elvis and boy was I wrong. I never realized how sad the life of Elvis really was. Elvis is a flash movie for sure but the king of rock and roll was a flashy person. We go through his whole life and I love that the movie doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff. Elvis was not a saint at all and they acknowledge that.
The main reason why this movie works so much is because of Austin Butler who plays Elvis. I truly feel that if you just got an Elvis impersonator that this wouldn’t be a good movie. It would come off as goofy. Austin Butler is Elvis. He embodies the character and gives easily one of the best performances of the entire year. The music and visuals are outstanding and helped elevate the film even more.
8. The Menu
The menu is great for multiple reasons. It is a great horror thriller as well as a great commentary on obsession. It is also one of the only times that my stomach was growling throughout watching a film.
There is a problem when you focus on one thing for so long that you lose everything else around you. You forget about relationships and putting your love and passions first. Ralph Fiennes gives a great performance where you fear him as well as sympathize with him. Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult also are great.
I wish more people would see this movie for sure. It has a little bit of everything. It is funny, it is thrilling, it is scary and most of all it probably has the most delicious-looking cheeseburger ever put to film.
7. Scream
The original Scream film is my favorite horror film. I have really enjoyed every single sequel that we have gotten. When a 5th installment was announced, I was not sure about what to think. Wes Craven had passed away and writer Kevin Williamson was not attached. I was afraid that this would just be a cash grab and an insult to the franchise. I was so happy to admit that I was wrong.
Radio Silence who is the directing team this time around understands this franchise completely. You can tell that they are fans and they made this movie with such respect. The suspense is there. The commenter on horror is here and the whole reveal of what the motive is in this movie is so spot-on and perfect.
The old cast mixed with the new cast is perfect and they blend well together. The kills are some of the best we have ever seen and have so much weight to them. It was everything that I wanted in a Scream sequel and it definitely made me excited for the new installment coming out next year.
6. Watcher
Watcher is one of the scariest films of this year. A young woman follows her husband to Romania because of his work. She does not speak the language and she does not know anyone there. That alone is scary enough but throw in the fact that there is a serial killer who is targeting women.
The movie is suspenseful as hell as our main character does not know if she is being watched or if she is just paranoid. There are many sequences throughout that cause the viewer to question everything that we see. Very similar to a Hitchcock film, the movie relies on building up tension. Another great thing is when people speak Romanian, there are no subtitles. The movie wants you to feel as isolated and alone as our main character feels. It is one of the best thrillers in a while.
5. Prey
There have been many franchises that have tried again and again to capitalize on their earlier films. Most have these have failed miserably. There hasn’t been a good Terminator or Alien film in ages. The same can be said for the Predator franchise. In my opinion, what these franchises do wrong is they try to match the original films by going bigger. What Prey does right is it takes a more simplistic approach.
The movie takes the Predator and drops him in a random time period and that’s all we really need. Amber Midthunder as Naru is fantastic as the lead. She is strong and wants to prove herself but I love that she isn’t perfect. She makes mistakes and it makes her journey more compelling.
The Predator is amazing in this. The kills and his weapons are some of the best shown in the franchise. I think this is the way all Predator movies should go from now on. It makes it more of a survivalist film but we also get to learn about different cultures in the era the movie takes place.
4. Barbarian
Barbarian is my favorite horror film this year because it has so much going for it. The movie starts off with a girl looking for an Airbnb and finds another man has booked the same one she has on the same night. Can she trust this man? What is really going on?
From here the movie becomes a thriller, a slasher, a creature feature, and so much more. The performances are all great as well, especially from Georgina Campbell and Justin Long. The director of the film is Zach Cregger who people might know from “The Whitest Kids U’ Know“. It is great to see comedians step out of their comfort zone and do something different.
Barbarian needs to be seen with as little knowledge as possible because to spoil it would be a crime.
3. Glass Onion
The first Knives Out was one of my favorite movies of 2019. It had a great cast, a great script, and a fun creative mystery. The sequel is more of the same and I couldn’t be happier.
The only returning cast member is Daniel Craig as the lead detective and he is truly perfect in the role. He is beyond likable and hilarious in his own way. The new cast is great as well with Janelle Monae being the standout. We are invested in all the characters and the way the crime is shown here is woven so creatively, it truly leaves you on the edge of your seat.
While the first movie was a mystery surrounding family, this one is more of a murder mystery game and the change is welcomed. Director Rian Johnson and Craig are set to return for more films and I can’t wait.
2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
This movie is truly unlike anything that I have ever seen. It is so bold to make a multiverse movie these days that does not have to do with the MCU and make it stand out and work so well.
This a movie that is hard to believe that it even exists. It is not only beyond entertaining and funny as can be. It also is one of the most heartfelt movies of the year. Michelle Yeoh is amazing as the lead. A woman who has lost who she has become and desperately needs a reminder of what is most important in life.
Ke Huy Quan is the standout and heart of this film though. If you told me that the boy from The Goonies had a chance to win an Oscar one day, I would have laughed but he does have a real chance as he truly holds the film together. The direction and visuals are one of a kind as we see all different types of multiverses in this film. We also get one of the best explanations of other possible dimensions that has been put to film.
There is no other film like this one and it should be watched and celebrated for years to come.
1. Top Gun: Maverick
There are actors and then there are movie stars. Tom Cruise is a movie star. Here is a sequel that has come out over 30 years since the original and not only surpasses it in my opinion but reinvents what a sequel should be.
This movie is incredible. It is so well written, well acted, and well directed. We have seen a lot of sequels where they bring back the original characters and try to capture the original and a lot of times they do not work out. Top Gun Maverick has returning characters but it is definitely its own thing. The movie has a lot of growth. We see characters grow and we see new characters properly developed.
The visuals are out of this world. The music and score are superb and the movie feels timeless. I am not a huge fan of the original. It is fine but definitely a product of its time. This movie doesn’t even tell you who the enemy is and by doing so, it can be placed in any time period and will become timeless. You don’t have to be a fan or even see the original to like this film. It catches you up on everything you need to know and progresses the story.
You care about the characters, There are real stakes on the line and from here on out I hope studios take more time with their sequels and craft them better.
Paramount at first panicked during the pandemic and wanted to put this film on their streaming service. Tom Cruise deserves a lot of credit for firmly saying no and believing in the film. He was correct as the movie still as of now is the top-grossing film of the whole year, When you are not a superhero film or a Disney movie this is beyond impressive. If you haven’t seen this one, do yourself a favor and see a movie that reminded me why I love movies and storytelling in the first place.
What are your favorite movies of 2022? Let us know in the comments. Here’s hoping that 2023 is another great year for film.
