Friday, December 30, 2022
Top Ten Films in 2022
It's time for the annual top-ten list again. Here are the ten best films among the 251 feature-length narrative and documentary films I watched during the calendar year of 2022, no matter when and if a film was released in the US during 2022.
-
Benedetta (France/Belgium/Netherlands 2022 | in French | 131 min.)
In this provoking, erotic, and funny movie, the Dutch director Paul Verhoeven tells a riveting story about a nun who manipulates her way to power in an Italian monastery in the 17th-century.
Virginie Efira and Daphné Patakia in Benedetta (Courtesy of IFC Films)
-
Wet Season (热带雨 | Singapore 2019 | in Mandarin | 103 min.)
The talented Singaporean director Anthony Chen tells a deeply touching and honest story about the complicated relationship between a teacher and student.
Jia Ler Koh and Yann Yann Yeo in Wet Season (Courtesy of Strand Releasing)
-
A Distant Place (정말 먼 곳 | South Korea 2020 | in Korean | 117 min.)
A farmer's dream of living with his gay lover on a quiet farm is shattered when his twin sister comes into the picture.
Kang Gil-woo and Hong Kyung in A Distant Place
-
Bad Axe (USA 2022 | 100 min. | Documentary)
The director David Siev's superb storytelling intimately captures his family's struggles with racism, the pandemic lockdown, and the generation gaps within the family, as well as the divisive political reality in rural America. This honest, balanced, and sometimes deeply moving documentary unfolds a very personal yet very common Asian immigrant story. It's an elegant portrait of a resilient and hard-working family's American dream.
Chun Siev in Bad Axe
-
After Yang (USA 2022 | 96 min.)
The director Kogonada crafts a beautiful and melancholic film about a family's relationship with a robot who asks mind-boggling questions such as "what's so great about being human."
Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja and Justin H. Min in After Yang (Courtesy of A24)
-
The writer-director Alejandro Loayza Grisi's elegant, captivating, and visually stunning directorial debut reveals a part of the world that you probably have never seen before.
Utama (Courtesy of Kino Lober)
-
The Worst Person in the World (Verdens verste menneske | Norway/France/Sweden/Denmark 2021 | in Norwegian | 128 min.)
The Norwegian director Joachim Trier exquisitely creates a mesmerizing character which is marvelously played by Renate Reinsve, who won the Best Actress Award at last year's Cannes Film Festival.
Renate Reinsve in The Worst Person in the World (Courtesy of Neon)
-
All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen nichts Neues | Germany/USA/UK 2022 | in German | 148 min.)
This new adaptation, by the German director Edward Berger, of the classic anti-war novel, is an engrossing epic that depicts the war's brutality and the humanity of those who fight in them.
Felix Kammerer in All Quiet on the Western Front (Photo: Reiner Bajo / Netflix)
-
Official Competition (Spain/Argentina 2021 | in Spanish | 115 min.)
Penélope Cruz gives a fantastic performance as a director for hire in this enchanting comedy, directed by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat.
Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz in Official Competition (Photo: Manolo Pavon / IFC Films)
-
The writer-director Todd Field returned to filmmaking and skillfully orchestrated a sumptuous symphony of ambition, power, politics, desire, talent, love, ideology, manipulation, and disgrace.
Cate Blanchett in TÁR (Courtesy of Focus Features)
