Year-End Lists

Peter Debruge: The Best Films of 2022, as published by Variety

[see also 2023 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Tár
   Todd Field
2. Saint Omer
   Alice Diop
3. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
   Sophie Hyde
4. Playground
   Laura Wandel
5. The Batman
   Matt Reeves
6. Corsage
   Marie Kreutzer
7. Happening
   Audrey Diwan
8. After Yang
   Kogonada
9. The Whale
   Darren Aronofsky
10. You Won't Be Alone
    Goran Stolevski

Esquire: The Best Movies of 2022

[see also 2010s]

1. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
2. Everything Everywhere All at Once
   Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
3. RRR
   S.S. Rajamouli
4. Top Gun: Maverick
   Joseph Kosinski
5. Turning Red
   Domee Shi
6. X
   Ti West
7. Ahed's Knee
   Nadav Lapid
8. Navalny
   Daniel Roher
9. Hustle
   Jeremiah Zagar
10. The Northman
    Robert Eggers
11. Vortex
    Gaspar Noé
12. Kimi
    Steven Soderbergh
13. After Yang
    Kogonada
14. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
    Akiva Schaffer
15. Vinyl Nation
    Kevin Smokler and Christopher Boone
16. Fresh
    Mimi Cave
17. Deep Water
    Adrian Lyne
18. Jackass Forever
    Jeff Tremaine
19. Where the Crawdads Sing
    Olivia Newman
20. The Batman
    Matt Reeves
21. Fire Island
    Andrew Ahn
22. Orphan: First Kill
    William Brent Bell
23. Crimes of the Future
    David Cronenberg
24. The Gray Man
    Anthony and Joe Russo
25. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
    Eric Appel
26. Don't Worry Darling
    Olivia Wilde
27. Nope
    Jordan Peele
28. Bones and All
    Luca Guadagnino
29. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
    Rian Johnson
30. The Fabelmans
    Steven Spielberg
31. The Banshees of Inisherin
    Martin McDonagh
32. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
    Ryan Coogler
33. Broker
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
34. The Eternal Daughter
    Joanna Hogg
35. Tár
    Todd Field

The Playlist: The 25 Best Films Of 2022

[see also 2023 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018]

1. Tár
   Todd Field
2. The Banshees of Inisherin
   Martin McDonagh
3. Everything Everywhere All at Once
   Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
4. Nope
   Jordan Peele
5. Aftersun
   Charlotte Wells
6. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
   Guillermo del Toro
7. The Fabelmans
   Steven Spielberg
8. Athena
   Romain Gavras
9. Top Gun: Maverick
   Joseph Kosinski
10. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
    Laura Poitras
11. Armageddon Time
    James Gray
12. Fire of Love
    Sara Dosa
13. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
    Sophie Hyde
14. Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
    Alejandro G. Iñárritu
15. RRR
    S.S. Rajamouli
16. Return to Seoul
    Davy Chou
17. Bones and All
    Luca Guadagnino
18. After Yang
    Kogonada
19. Decision to Leave
    Park Chan-wook
20. Nanny
    Nikyatu Jusu
21. Catch the Fair One
    Josef Kubota Wladyka
22. Resurrection
    Andrew Semans
23. Benediction
    Terence Davies
24. The Batman
    Matt Reeves
25. The Northman
    Robert Eggers

Honorable Mention

• Avatar: The Way of Water
  James Cameron

David Sims: The 10 Best Films of 2022, as published by The Atlantic

[see also 2023 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018]

1. Tár
   Todd Field
2. The Eternal Daughter
   Joanna Hogg
3. The Fabelmans
   Steven Spielberg
4. Three Thousand Years of Longing
   George Miller
5. The Northman
   Robert Eggers
6. Armageddon Time
   James Gray
7. We're All Going to the World's Fair
   Jane Schoenbrun
8. After Yang
   Kogonada
9. Nope
   Jordan Peele
10. Murina
    Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović

Honorable mentions

• Top Gun: Maverick
  Joseph Kosinski
• Barbarian
  Zach Cregger
• The Banshees of Inisherin
  Martin McDonagh
• Decision to Leave
  Park Chan-wook
• RRR
  S.S. Rajamouli
• Babylon
  Damien Chazelle
• Return to Seoul
  Davy Chou
• Aftersun
  Charlotte Wells
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
  Laura Poitras
• Crimes of the Future
  David Cronenberg

Adam Nayman: The Best Movies of 2022, as published by The Ringer

[see also 2023 • 2021 • 2015]

1. Aftersun
   Charlotte Wells
2. Saint Omer
   Alice Diop
3. Nope
   Jordan Peele
4. Decision to Leave
   Park Chan-wook
5. Crimes of the Future
   David Cronenberg
6. Earwig
   Lucile Hadzihalilovic
7. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
   Laura Poitras
8. The Fabelmans
   Steven Spielberg
9. EO
   Jerzy Skolimowski
10. Top Gun: Maverick
    Joseph Kosinski

Jordan Cronk: The Ten Best Experimental Films of 2022, in alphabetical order

[see also Top Ten Films of 2022 • Top Ten Films of 2021 • Top Ten Films of 2020 • The 50 Best Films of the 2010s • Top 20 Films of 2019 • Top 20 Films of 2018 • Top Ten Films of 2017]

1. Darkness, Darkness, Burning Bright - Prelude
   Gaëlle Rouard
1. Darkness, Darkness, Burning Bright - Oraison
   Gaëlle Rouard
2. Devil’s Peak
   Simon Liu
3. Eventide
   Sharon Lockhart
4. Fata Morgana
   Tacita Dean
5. De humani corporis fabrica
   Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
6. The Newest Olds
   Pablo Mazzolo
7. The Sower of Stars
   Lois Patiño
8. The Tomb of Kafka
   Jean-Claude Rousseau
9. The United States of America
   James Benning
10. A Woman Escapes
    Blake Williams, Burak Çevik, & Sofia Bohdanowicz

Leah Greenblatt: The 10 Best Movies of 2022

[see also 2020]

The year's best films

1. Tár
   Todd Field
2. The Banshees of Inisherin
   Martin McDonagh
3. Triangle of Sadness
   Ruben Östlund
4. Top Gun: Maverick
   Joseph Kosinski
5. Fire of Love
   Sara Dosa
6. Aftersun
   Charlotte Wells
7. All Quiet on the Western Front
   Edward Berger
8. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
   Dean Fleischer Camp
9. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
   Laura Poitras
10. RRR
    S.S. Rajamouli

Plus more we loved

• Navalny
  Daniel Roher
• Close
  Lukas Dhont
• The Menu
  Mark Mylod
• Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood
  Richard Linklater
• EO
  Jerzy Skolimowski
• Hustle
  Jeremiah Zagar
• Turning Red
  Domee Shi
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
  Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
• Emily the Criminal
  John Patton Ford
• Decision to Leave
  Park Chan-wook
• Happening
  Audrey Diwan
• Clara Sola
  Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
• Great Freedom
  Sebastian Meise
• Pearl
  Ti West
• Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
  Sophie Hyde
• Mad God
  Phil Tippett
• Empire of Light
  Sam Mendes
• You Won't Be Alone
  Goran Stolevski
• Bros
  Nicholas Stoller
• The Woman King
  Gina Prince-Bythewood

A.O. Scott: Best Movies of 2022, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Nope
   Jordan Peele
2. Neptune Frost
   Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman
3. Mr. Bachmann and His Class
   Maria Speth
4. Aftersun
   Charlotte Wells
5. No Bears
   Jafar Panahi
6. Tár
   Todd Field
7. Lost Illusions
   Xavier Giannoli
8. Flux Gourmet
   Peter Strickland
9. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
   Laura Poitras
10. Down with the King
    Diego Ongaro

And 20 more …

• A Chiara
  Jonas Carpignano
• All That Breathes
  Shaunak Sen
• Armageddon Time
  James Gray
• Corsage
  Marie Kreutzer
• Descendant
  Margaret Brown
• Donbass
  Sergei Loznitsa
• Dos estaciones
  Juan Pablo González
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
  Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
• The Fabelmans
  Steven Spielberg
• Fire in the Mountains
  Ajitpal Singh
• Futura
  Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi and Alice Rohrwacher
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
  Rian Johnson
• Happening
  Audrey Diwan
• The Inspection
  Elegance Bratton
• Lingui, The Sacred Bonds
  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• Marx Can Wait
  Marco Bellocchio
• Pleasure
  Ninja Thyberg
• The Woman King
  Gina Prince-Bythewood
• Women Talking
  Sarah Polley
• X
  Ti West

Manohla Dargis: Best Movies of 2022, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2023 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. EO
   Jerzy Skolimowski
2. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
3. Nope
   Jordan Peele
4. No Bears
   Jafar Panahi
5. Kimi
   Steven Soderbergh
6. The Eternal Daughter
   Joanna Hogg
7. Happening
   Audrey Diwan
8. Decision to Leave
   Park Chan-wook
9. Expedition Content
   Ernst Karel and Veronika Kusumaryati
10. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
    Laura Poitras

And make sure to watch

• Armageddon Time
  James Gray
• The Cathedral
  Ricky D'Ambrose
• Corsage
  Marie Kreutzer
• Descendant
  Margaret Brown
• Dos estaciones
  Juan Pablo González
• Funny Pages
  Owen Kline
• Futura
  Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi and Alice Rohrwacher
• Great Freedom
  Sebastian Meise
• Hold Your Fire
  Stefan Forbes
• I Didn't See You There
  Reid Davenport
• Întregalde
  Radu Muntean
• Lingui, The Sacred Bonds
  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
  Sacha Jenkins
• Nanny
  Nikyatu Jusu
• Playground
  Laura Wandel
• Pleasure
  Ninja Thyberg
• Return to Seoul
  Davy Chou
• Riotsville, U.S.A.
  Sierra Pettengill
• Three Minutes: A Lengthening
  Bianca Stigter
• The Tsugua Diaries
  Maureen Fazendeiro and Miguel Gomes
• Till
  Chinonye Chukwu
• The Woman King
  Gina Prince-Bythewood
• The Worst Person in the World
  Joachim Trier

Clarisse Loughrey: The Best Films of 2022, as published by The Independent, drawing from films released in the UK over the past year

[see also 2023 • 2021]

1. The Northman
   Robert Eggers
2. Aftersun
   Charlotte Wells
3. Nightmare Alley
   Guillermo del Toro
4. Crimes of the Future
   David Cronenberg
5. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
6. Nope
   Jordan Peele
7. Bones and All
   Luca Guadagnino
8. Elvis
   Baz Luhrmann
9. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
   Will Sharpe
10. Everything Everywhere All at Once
    Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
11. Memoria
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
12. Decision to Leave
    Park Chan-wook
13. Cow
    Andrea Arnold
14. Neptune Frost
    Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman
15. Happening
    Audrey Diwan