Find out which movies released in 2022 stood out as the best… or the worst.
Overview
2022 has been an interesting year for movies. In particular, there were a number of quality horror and mystery films that I quite enjoyed. So without further ado, here are my top ten favorite movies I watched that came out this year, along with a couple honorable mentions, and the one I felt was the worst of the lot.
10. Do Revenge (2022)
This movie is a lot of fun. It’s filled with great actors, quippy dialogue, and some crazy twists. It’s not a perfect movie, and the ending had me a little confused at first, but overall it’s definitely worth the watch.
9. Death on the Nile (2022)
I’ve been looking forward to a sequel to Murder on the Orient Express (2017) for a while now, and what they came up with did not disappoint. Kenneth Branagh always does such a great job as a director and actor, especially when these two roles are combined. The murder mystery, though it took a while to actually get started, is well done and keeps you guessing up until the end reveal.
8. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Considering the first Doctor Strange (2016) is pretty low on my list of preferred Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the sequel. It’s always interesting to explore multiverses and see how characters and history differ between parallel universes. Plus, this is the first MCU movie so far that truly falls within the horror genre, and there are some amazing visuals.
7. Barbarian (2022)
I’ve never thought so highly of a movie that also made me yell at the characters for making idiotic choices. This is such an engaging and horrifying movie that it’s hard not to like, even when the main character did the exact opposite of what you want her to do, so that’s really saying something. Sometimes movies have red herrings that are so obvious, they can be immediately ignored, but this one had some that were so well done, I didn’t realize they were red herrings until they were revealed to be. I also found the shift in the middle to a completely different setting and tone to be fascinating.
6. Prey (2022)
Historically, the Predator series has been very hit or miss for me, but this one is easily my favorite. Amber Midthunder does such an amazing job, and putting a Predator in this unique setting is a wonderful idea. I can’t wait for more of these types of sequels in other settings, like the one in the works that will be set in Japan.
5. They/Them (2022)
See my They/Them review for my full thoughts on this one, but to summarize, it’s much better than I expected going in, and it’s so nice to finally find a story with a non-binary main character like myself. I hadn’t really realized how much I needed that until I finally saw myself represented in this way.
4. See How They Run (2022)
As if you could possibly be disappointed with a meta mystery movie starring Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan. This film excels in a lot of ways: the expert implementation of the meta aspect–not everyone can pull it off well, but when it’s done right, it’s so much fun–the mystery being truly difficult to guess in advance, the filmmaking–especially the cross cutting and the play-style blocking–and, of course, the wonderful performances by the two leads.
3. Men (2022)
This movie manages to maintain a super eerie vibe the entire time. I love the aspect of casting one individual male actor (Rory Kinnear) for 90% of the male characters, to subtly add to the uncomfortable tone as well as the underlying moral of the story. I watched it right around the time I watched the first few episodes of She-Hulk (2022), and while both stories focus a lot on situations where women have to navigate men being disrespectful, I thought Men pulled it off in a much better, realistic (to a point) way. And that ending… wow. Super disturbing.
2. Black Adam (2022)
I genuinely don’t understand why so many people were disappointed in this movie. I had an absolute blast. Maybe it’s also because the Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) storyline is one of my favorite parts of the 52 comic run, which not everyone has read. I don’t know. All I know is that it was exactly what I was hoping it would be, the casting was perfect across the board, and the fight scenes and visuals are so epic, especially the designs for Doctor Fate’s (Pierce Brosnan) magic. They made some tweaks to the content from the comics (for example, in the comics, Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) and Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) are siblings, not mother and son), but the changes they made work really well. I hope they make another one, because there is more to Adrianna and Amon’s story in the comics that I would love to see come to the screen.
1. Nope (2022)
This just further proves to me that Jordan Peele can do no wrong. While I still like Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) ever so slightly more, I love Nope in it’s own right. It boggles my mind that a comedian somehow constantly pulls out some of the most epic and thought provoking horror films of our generation. The finale is fantastic, and I’m in love with the design for Jean Jacket.
Honorable Mentions:
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
While this wasn’t one of the best overall movies of the year, and not even my favorite Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie from the franchise as a whole, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out one of the best things about this movie: a literal Texas chainsaw massacre. I feel like that shouldn’t be too much to ask, but after binging the series last year, I noticed at the time that there are very few chainsaw deaths throughout the various movies, and all I ever really wanted from the series was an epic chainsaw massacre scene. Finally, FINALLY, after eight prior movies, we got it. Thank you, David Blue Garcia.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
I have to say, going into this, I absolutely thought this was going to be my favorite movie of the year, maybe even in my top ten. On the surface, it sounds like my kind of movie. And there are some truly amazing things about it, which is why I didn’t want to leave it off my review altogether. Unfortunately, there were also a handful of things I just didn’t like about it, which was enough to knock it down below my top ten. It’s probably just personal preference, so still go see it, because it’s ultimately a very unique, fun, and engaging movie. If I could just make a couple tweaks to it myself, it really would be one of my favorite movies.
Worst:
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
I love the first Thor (2011) movie (another great example of Kenneth Branagh’s directing), I love the Guardians of the Galaxy crew and Hulk’s Warbound crew, and I love Taika Waititi… when he’s not doing MCU movies. But Taika has zero understanding of what Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Guardians, and the Warbound are supposed to be, and it drives me crazy. I found this movie to be very annoying, especially the screaming goats. Also, I know Axl (Kieron L. Dyer) isn’t trans, but the conversation between him and Thor where he declares his chosen name and Thor refused to acknowledge it, even mocking the name when he does use it, feels eerily similar to some common real-life transphobic conversations, and it makes me super uncomfortable.
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