Top 10 Best Movies of 2022
The year 2022 saw plenty of high-profile releases, arthouse films and prestige pictures as cinemas resumed as usual while streaming platforms from the likes of Netflix and Prime Video were filled with star-studded content.
Big-budget blockbusters such as Top Gun: Maverick exceeded expectations to the point it became the highest-grossing film of 2022 — a feat typically reserved for MCU movies in today’s dominating era of superhero movies. There were surprise hits too such as A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, which redefined Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan’s respective careers to new heights.
2022 was somehow an extraordinary year for the comedy genre, specifically black comedies as seen in the Palme d’Or-winning Triangle of Sadness and the culinary-horror thriller The Menu, just to name a few. As we are now in the final week of December 2022, here is my selected list of Top 10 Best Movies of 2022.
10. RRR
An epic 3-hour spectacle, S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR — Rise, Roar, Revolt — is a prime example of how maximalist cinema should be. It’s a more-is-more approach for Rajamouli, who also wrote the screenplay, combining historical fiction of the otherwise two real-life Indian revolutionaries — Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) — with anti-colonialism theme, over-the-top action sequences, musical interludes, comedy, drama and even bromance.
The first 40 minutes itself is truly an adrenaline rush — from a dedicated officer (Raju) who single-handedly arrested a man while fighting his way through an angry mob to Bheem’s incredible encounter with a wolf and a tiger in the jungle and an extraordinary rescue of a trapped boy from a burning train wreck. Despite its length, Rajamouli keeps the pace moving at a confident pace and even in some of its downtime moments, RRR is hardly boring. Ram Charan and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. share terrific onscreen bromance chemistry and their larger-than-life action personas help too.
The action is all thrillingly staged with an ingenious mix of dynamic camerawork, slo-mo effects and lots of CGIs (including the extensive use of wild animals). At one point, Rajamouli goes full-on John Woo mode during the climactic third act of piggybacking double-rifle shootout sequence. If you miss watching this in the cinema, you can still stream RRR on Netflix if you don’t mind the Hindi-dubbed version (the film was originally released in Telugu).
9. Top Gun: Maverick
A sequel that shouldn’t have been made because well, the first Top Gun thirty-six years ago was more of a one-off blockbuster. At the hands of a lesser director, Top Gun: Maverick could have been easily dismissed as a mere cash grab for nostalgia’s sake. While I have to admit the strong nostalgia factor plays a huge part in this sequel, kudos to Joseph Kosinski and Tom Cruise for doing it right and unexpectedly better too.
Top Gun: Maverick is an ultimate highway-to-the-danger-zone summer blockbuster — the kind that you can’t replicate the experience at home other than the cinema hall. Specifically, the IMAX hall since the sequel was shot with the particular cameras and what a blast it turns out to be! It was a cinematic thrill ride of sound and sight and the sequel even went as far as shooting aerial sequences with practical stunts and little CGI. Tom Cruise’s magnetic charm is on point while Val Kilmer shows up in an unforgettable cameo appearance that gives the sequel a much-needed heart and soul. (Read my full review here)
8. Bones and All
Bones and All marks the second time Luca Guadagnino explored the horror territory after the Suspiria remake four years ago. While the latter fails to live up to its lofty ambition to distinguish itself from being a mere remake of the 1977 original, Guadagnino’s follow-up fares better this time around.
Subtly combining the grisly theme of cannibalism with a road movie and a YA romance, Bones and All is a visceral and strangely bittersweet love story of two young lonely souls (cannibals) sharing a journey together. Timothée Chalamet and notably, Taylor Russell share great chemistry here while Mark Rylance steals the show every time he shows up as the creepy and eccentric Sully. The film is also notable for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ atmospheric score and Arseni Khachaturan’s gorgeous cinematography of the midwestern United States landscape. (Read my full review here)
7. Thirteen Lives
Three consecutive disappointments later as seen in Inferno (2016), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and Hillbilly Elegy (2020), it’s finally nice to see Ron Howard back in form in Thirteen Lives. Working from William Nicholson’s encompassing screenplay based on the true story of Tham Luang cave rescue, Howard does an excellent job of keeping things grounded in reality. There’s no larger-than-life Hollywood gloss here and not even any sight of melodramatic moments typically seen in this kind of true-story survival/rescue drama. The story goes to an extra length to not just focus on the British cave divers’ rescue mission but also on other pivotal characters, namely the Thai Navy SEALs and the trapped boys’ families.
Thirteen Lives also features some of the best performances this year with Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell deserving a mention here. Not to forget, the top-notch technical showcase from the specially-built intricate cave set to Sayombhu Mukdeeprom’s impressive underwater cinematography and practical cave-diving stunts. (Read my full review here)
6. Speak No Evil
Some movies simply make your skin crawl and feel uncomfortable. Christian Tafdrup’s psychological horror-thriller Speak No Evil is one of them. An uncompromising cautionary tale of the age-old lesson of “never trust a stranger”. Or in this case, the seemingly nice and harmless strangers of a Dutch couple (Fedja van Huêt’s Patrick and Karina Smulders’ Karin), who invited a Danish couple (Morten Burian’s Bjørn and Sidsel Siem Koch’s Louise) and their daughter Agnes (Liva Forsberg) to stay at their rural house in the Netherlands.
Speak No Evil is a 98-minute of dread-inducing and creeping descent to hell, going from everything-looks-fine-at-first moments to the subsequent disturbing reveals about the Dutch couple. Then comes the shocking third act. It was ugly and pessimistic and might probably make you think twice to accept a stranger’s invitation the next time someone invites you for a weekend stay.
5. Triangle of Sadness
The Palme d’Or-winning Triangle of Sadness may have clocked a mammoth 147 minutes for a… satirical black comedy. I initially thought this was going to be an overlong, self-indulgent excess.
But writer-director Ruben Östlund (The Square) does an excellent job poking fun at the fashion industry (the mockery of the way male models would be doing their facial expressions and pose differently based on the brand reputations, which in this case, H&M vs. Balenciaga), the shallowness of the filthy-rich and social hierarchy.
Harris Dickinson and the late Charlbi Dean, who unfortunately died too soon at the age of 32, are especially great as the young model-and-influencer couple during the first act of the film — a fancy dinner date that ends up with an argument over money and gender equality. Östlund is then having a field day during the luxury yacht-set second act, complete with the Farrelly brothers-style gross-out comic moment of an extended vomit sequence.
He shifted gears again in a Lord of the Flies-style third act while retaining the film’s satirical bite, focusing on how the tables have turned between the otherwise lowly employee of the luxury yacht (Dolly de Leon in her scene-stealing supporting turn as the “toilet manager”, Abigail), the chief steward Paula (Vicki Berlin) and the rich guests.
4. The Banshees of Inisherin
Imagine having someone close that you know suddenly decided to cut ties with you. It could be a relationship or a friendship. You just don’t know why the person would do that to you. That’s the whole idea and more in The Banshees of Inisherin, which sees Martin McDonagh reunite with his In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. A pitch-black comedy about Pádraic (Farrell) finding out his best friend, Colm (Gleeson) does not want to be friends with him anymore. His reason? Because he’s “dull”.
This may sound like a straight-up childish act but McDonagh has something deep and profound to say about the abrupt end of a friendship. And somewhere in between — the existential dread, depression and loneliness — are all subtly incorporated and told in a darkly humorous way. It was shockingly violent too — the self-mutilation, that is while McDonagh manages to find beauty behind all the madness. The sheer beauty of Ben Davis’ picturesque cinematography of the Irish isle. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson deliver perhaps their career-best performances as Pádraic and Colm respectively while Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon, who play the respective village idiot and Pádraic’s sister equally shine in their supporting roles.
3. Everything Everywhere All at Once
Here’s an indie sensation that incorporates the multiverse concept better than a certain big-budget Marvel blockbuster. The directing duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — collectively known as Daniels — brilliantly use that aforementioned concept to tell a fascinating story about infinite possibilities and what-if scenarios in an absurdist-fantasy style. Slip in some well-choreographed fight sequences (love that ingenious use of the fanny pack as a makeshift nunchaku) and playful homages from The Matrix to 2001: A Space Odyssey and even Hong Kong’s Category III martial arts fantasy, this film certainly lives up to its title.
But it wasn’t just the high-concept premise that interests me the most. Everything Everywhere All at Once also gets a boost from some of the best actings this year, notably Michelle Yeoh and the long-missed Ke Huy Quan as well as the nearly unrecognisable Jamie Lee Curtis while the film is also subtly layered with underlying universal themes of family and love.
2. The Menu
Mark Mylod of Game of Thrones and Succession fame deftly combines culinary horror and dark comedy that is as sharp as a chef’s knife. And somewhere in between, we get And Then There Were None-style whodunit with great performances all around, particularly Ralph Fiennes in his scene-stealing turn as the enigmatic Chef Slowik.
The Menu also incorporates wry social commentaries on the restaurant industry — specifically, fine dining — as well as commercialism, celebrity chefs and class conflict. Peter Deming’s elegant cinematography is worth mentioning as well — the way he shoots the exquisitely plated fine-dining foods served on every guest’s tables. (Read my full review here)
1. Barbarian Invasion
Tan Chui Mui’s third feature-length effort (2006’s Love Conquers All, 2010’s Year Without a Summer) marked her incredible comeback in Barbarian Invasion, a Malaysian-Hong Kong joint-venture genre-bending independent film that combines showbiz satire and familiar action-movie mould with an arthouse sensibility. Tan Chui Mui, who wrote the screenplay as well, even deftly shifted tones between a meta-commentary and a thematic drama about existential crisis and motherhood.
Barbarian Invasion also brilliantly pays homage to the ’80s Hong Kong girls-with-guns actioner Angel to F/X, The Bourne Identity and even The Matrix. The film boasts several standout performances from Tan Chui Mui’s multifaceted turn as the conflicting actress, Moon Lee to Pete Teo as Moon’s frequent film director, Roger Woo and Bront Palarae playing dual roles as Julliard and Adnan. (Read my full review here)
