Qala
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Netflix
Visually sumptuous and nightmarish in its exploration of fame, guilt, talent, and the pressures we put on ourselves and our children. Tripti Dimri delivers a haunting performance that truly touches the soul.
RRR
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Netflix, Zee5
Were this list be ranked in order, this is my number one. Easily the best theater going experience I had all year. A true action epic with some galaxy-brain logic and a great joy for the art of filmmaking in every frame.
Resurrection
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: AMC+, Shudder, VOD
Deeply unsettling, thrilling in its grounded anxieties with a mix of the existential and the trappings of the mind. Rebecca Hall continues to prove herself as a lowkey modern horror icon.
Saint Omer
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: VOD
Enthralling barely scratches the surface in terms of describing the experience, and it may not seem that way with such a seemingly dry setup. Alice Diop adds layers upon layers that keep you guessing and thinking.
Saloum
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: AMC+, Shudder
A Senegalese genre bender that digs into the dark and harsh realities of life and human nature while diving deep into mythology, tradition, and the supernatural in fascinating and provocative ways.
Terrifier 2
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Home Media, VOD
An unabashed gore fest that is somehow the kind of straightforward slasher we rarely get these days while also being unlike anything I’ve seen before, not only for its length but its delightful extremities and achievements within a small budget.
The Bad Guys
Review: N/A Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Home Media, Netflix, VOD
Big year for DreamWorks Animation between this and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, both very worth of this list, but I was ultimately very charmed by the style, humor, the attitude, and the vibrant animation in this.
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Review: N/A Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Home Media, HBO Max, VOD
The most tragic of comedies. A parable about the Irish Civil War with themes of friendship, art, masculinity, and community. A very rich text, Martin McDonagh’s most accomplished work to date.
The Fabelmans
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: VOD
One of the most self-reflective and nuanced look at art, family, dreams, filmmaking, and the often impressive yet ugly intersections that can leave a lasting mark on a young mind. Beautiful but harrowing, a masterwork.
The Northman
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Home Media, Prime Video, VOD
Brutal, mythic, transportive. Descriptions that can be applied to all of Robert Eggers’ films. His first foray into big budget filmmaking is astonishing, mesmerizing, impressively detailed, like a window to a place in time I’d rather not be in.
The Princess
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Hulu
Arguably a lightweight and simple feature, like a Disney TV Movie with The Raid level violence, but one that packs quite the literal punch. I was really taken aback by the creativity and thought and escalation that was put into the choreography. Very fun.
The Stranger
Review: N/A Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Netflix
A procedural that uses the visual language of horror to tap into the mind of a man who has been placed with a massive task that might finally bring justice to a murder case. Brooding barely even describes it. But it’s captivating nonetheless.
Three Thousand Years Of Longing
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Home Media, MGM+, VOD
A vibrant and lush fable about the empathy, the humanity, the power, and the capabilities of storytelling. A strange film, but a beautifully made one, with characters I could watch talk to each other for hours.
Top Gun: Maverick
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Home Media, Paramount+, MGM+, VOD
An immaculate piece of old fashioned blockbuster filmmaking with one of greatest and potentially last big American movie stars. It almost feels like the end of an era, but this is not an era I would want to end.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Review: N/A Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: The Roku Channel
One of the funniest films of 2022, from one of the greatest comedians and entertainers to ever do it. A thoroughly wacky ride with an anarchic sense of humor and committed performance from Daniel Radcliffe.
What Josiah Saw
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: AMC+, Shudder, VOD
A drama about a broken family that feels like a total apocalyptic nightmare. For a film as patient as this, I was on the edge of my seat, wondering where it would all go, and by the end, my jaw was on the floor.
Vortex
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: Mubi, Kanopy, VOD
Heartbreaking and hard to watch, but on a different wavelength than what you usually get from Gaspar Noé. A genuine and refreshing step forward for a provocative filmmaker without losing his edge.
You Won’t Be Alone
Review: Click Here! Trailer: Click Here!
Where To Watch: VOD
A dreamy and almost stream-of-consciousness approach to horror that never terrified me, but always had my attention, my interest, and a desire to learn and experience more of what the film had to offer. A total surprise of a film that I wish I could experience for the very first time again.
And there you have it! These are the 50 Films I Loved In 2022! I hope I have introduced you to some movies that you may have not seen or considered, and if that is the case, let me know what you think of them (either in the comments or in my socials, all linked in the paragraph below). And feel free to tell me what some of your favorites of 2022 are and why in the comments. We got quite a stacked year ahead, and I am very much looking forward to what the rest of 2023 has to offer.
Thank you for taking the time to read my list. If you appreciate what I do here on Cinema Sanctum, I’d like to remind you this is a one-man operation, and any tips and donations go a long way in helping me keep the site going. Give me a follow on all my socials (here’s my Linktree)!