Cinema is alive and well, and here are the 15 movies from this year that prove it.
There’s been a lot of doom-and-gloom talk regarding the current state of film over the past few years. The pandemic changed the game, driving audiences even deeper towards the comfort of the home-viewing experience, in turn forcing the big studios to shift their gaze to streaming. The few independent movies that are given wide cinema release are dwarfed by IP driven franchise fare straight from the factory line. Still, despite the (somewhat bleak) lay of the land, if 2022 has shown us anything, it’s that cinema always finds a way. To prove that good movies aren’t going anywhere, we at A RABBIT’S FOOT have compiled a list of the top 15 movies to grace our big screens this year, from festival favourites (Decision To Leave, Joyland) to awards season darlings (The Whale, TÁR) to the triumphant return of the traditional blockbuster (Top Gun: Maverick).
15. GODLAND (dir. Hlynur Pálmason)
Hlynur Pálmason’s overlooked journey through the Icelandic wilderness may not have cracked our top 10, but make no mistake: it is one of the best looking films of the year. The film follows Elliott Crosset Hove as Lucas, a priest tasked with building a church for a Danish settlement located in the heart of rural Iceland. As he traverses the harsh conditions of the region, Lucas begins to question his own faith. Inspired by a collection of wet plate photographs of Iceland taken by a priest in the 1800s, the film is shot in 1.33 : 1, reminiscent of the large-format that our protaganist himself is shooting in. Every frame stylised as a perfectly composed photograph, Pálmason effortlessly captures the beautiful and chaotic tug of war between man and nature.
14. BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS (dir. Alejandro Iñarritu)
One of the more controversial picks on our list, Iñárritu’s latest may not have been beloved by critics, but this flawed but brilliant psychotropic trip about a Mexican Journalist fighting the demons of his past went down a storm at A RABBIT’S FOOT HQ — read our review here to find out why!
13. AFTER YANG (dir. Koganada)
An underrated gem (and the second great Colin Farrell performance of 2022) Kogonada’s follow up to his architectural minimalist masterpiece Columbus tells the story of a family dealing with questions of love, connection, loss, and identity after their A.I. helper unexpectedly breaks down. A meditative drama that establishes Kogonada as a filmmaker to keep a watchful eye on, and Mitski as the Lily Chou-Chou of our generation (if you know, you know). A must-watch if you like your cinema gentle and lyrical while still packing an emotional, existential punch.
12. BABYLON (dir. Damien Chazelle)
A Damien Chazelle film is an event, and Babylon is no exception. The Whiplash and La La Land director’s third quarter entry into the 2022 pantheon might be the buzzer-beater opus of the year. Decadence, depravity, and outrageous excess lead to the rise and fall of several ambitious dreamers in this love letter to 1920s Hollywood.
11. JOYLAND (dir. Saim Sadiq)
Saim Sadiq’s debut feature Joyland is the only film on this list to enjoy the bizarre honour of being banned in Pakistan due to its explicit depiction and stance of trans identity. While the ban was lifted after protests from Sadiq and the film’s supporters, the strong reaction to the movie on either side remains an indicator that Sadiq is doing something right by putting gender roles and the patriarchy in Pakistan under the microscope.
10. THE WHALE (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
Darren Aronofsky’s latest film has earned much of its acclaim for Brendan Fraser’s performance, as an obese homosexual teacher attempting to make amends with his daughter. It is a moving drama, adapted from Samuel D. Hunter’s original play. Confined to a single apartment, we watch as the morally ambiguous, desperate characters show themselves for who they really are. In Aronofsky’s hands. this is a beautifully understated addition to his body of work — and one to watch with a tissue box in near proximity.
9. DECISION TO LEAVE (dir. Park Chan-wook)
We’ve been raving about Park Chan-wook’s latest masterclass since we first saw it way back at Cannes this year. The film features all the sleekness, visual splendour and twists and turns we’ve come to expect from Park during this stage in his career, as well as a career-best performance from Tang Wei. Wei delivers a magnetic performance as Song Seo-rae, a murder suspect (and twisted romantic) who catches Park Hae-il’s meticulous detective in a dangerous web of love and sensuality. Read our full review of the noir-thriller here.
8. TÁR (dir. Todd Field)
Returning to the big screen after over 15 years, Field’s first feature since the Oscar nominated Little Children is a timely (or timeless, depending on how you look at it) case study on the abuse of power and its consequences. Featuring a powerhouse performance from Cate Blanchett, the film follows the rise and fall of maestro composer Lydia Tár as she prepares for a live recording of her magnum opus: an interpretation of Mahler’s 5th Symphony.
7. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (dir. Edward Berger)
A fitting counterpoint to 2019’s 1917, Berger captures the horror of the WW1 German novel ‘Im Westen Nights Neues’ where brutal trench warfare is amplified by Oscar-ready makeup and period costumes. As the young German troops bond more over their inner battles with trauma and hunger, there’s a poignant reminder that war has no winners or losers — only human survivors.
6. AFTERSUN (dir. Charlotte Wells)
Normal People star Paul Mescal leads this acclaimed lyrical first-feature from Charlotte Wells – a slice of life drama exploring the relationship between a father and daughter during a family holiday at a sun-kissed resort in Turkey. A film where nothing much happens, and everything happens, a heart-wrenching core hidden beneath the mundanity of a sunny getaway. Will pull at your nostalgia strings.
5. ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED (dir. Laura Patrois)
Laura Poitras’ powerful documentary on Nan Goldin’s battle with the Sackler family is actually really all about Goldin herself. It observes the latest chapter in the photographer’s activism but provides context into the journey that Goldin has taken that makes her fight with the opioid crisis so meaningful. It is the best documentary of 2022, a deeply personal and emotional insight into the mind and profound miseries of Nan Goldin.
4. BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (dir. Martin McDonagh)
Both a spiritual prequel to In Bruges and the stuff of pub-legend, Banshees of Inisherin describes how suicidal fiddler Colm (Brendan Gleeson) attempts to avoid simple friend Padraic (Colin Farrell) in the windbluffed isle off Ireland’s West Coast – vis-a-vis threatening to cut off his fingers. A deeply existential film that delights with lyrically Irish comedy. Read our review here.
3. TOP GUN: MAVERICK (dir. Joseph Kosinski)
37 years after the original Top Gun, Tom Cruise is still at the peak of his game. One of Hollywood’s last legendary superstars, Cruise’s commitment to death defying stunts and the blockbuster sensibilities of the 80s and 90s make Top Gun: Maverick one of the finest cinema-going experiences of the year, following Maverick as he returns to Top Gun, this time to teach a new class of recruits — including the son of his old partner, Goose.
2. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (dir. Ruben Östlund)
It’s been a great year for everyone’s favourite new genre, the “eat-the-rich” film, though a clear favourite stands above all in Ruben Östlund’s roaring comedy Triangle Of Sadness, as a cruise for the Uber-wealthy sinks, leaving the passengers to fend for themselves on a desert island. Sharp and biting. Read our piece on the film here.
1. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (dir. Daniels)
After Yang director Koganada (who you’ll find at number 13 on this list), a master of the minimal, made a great point about the Daniels’ multiversal acid trip adventure Everything Everywhere All At Once, tweeting “Less is not always more. Sometimes more is more. EEAAO is a triumph of the more. The Daniels find meaning in the all-at-onceness of our metamodern existence. In the everything and everywhere”. He couldn’t have said it better. Featuring Michelle Yeah and Ke Huy Quan in unprecedented roles, EEAAO is a film that reminds you that in our reality, nothing matters, and it’s for that very reason that everything does. A tour de force of grassroots special effects and editing, the Daniels’ effects team consisted of seven people working on a home computer. Technical inventiveness coupled with out-of-the-box manifestations of the infinity and a heartfelt mother-daughter story at its core, EEAAO is everything a multiverse story should be: giant ideas, giant framework, told through, in the scale of things, a microscopic story of a relationship between people. Lightning in a bottle filmmaking at its finest.
