The best movies of 2022, so far

The early months of a year may be a good time for resolutions, renewal, and taking stock of life, but it’s traditionally a pretty paltry time for taking stock of new movies. January and February in particular used to be infamous dumping grounds for studio movies that were expected to underperform, and that weren’t worth promoting. But the streaming era has changed that calculus — a novelty-hungry home-viewing audience doesn’t care as much about the season, and more and more release houses are finding it’s worth slipping interesting movies onto VOD or even bringing them to theaters during a season when they’ll face less competition.

So even though it’s still early in the year, it’s worth beginning the survey of which 2022 releases have excited us most, from big action-adventures to small indie genre movies. Even this early in the year, we’ve seen some standouts.

All entries are in reverse order of release: The most recent releases are first, so it’ll be easy to see the newest additions to this list. We’ll be updating it throughout 2022.

The Turning of the Red

Image: Pixar

It’s hard to look back fondly at the painfully awkward middle-school years, but Pixar’s The Turning of the RedWithout flinching and with incredible amount of love, she considers early adolescence’s turbulent ups and downs without fear and with humor. Domee Shi, who directed 2018’s Pixar short BaoThis one-of-a kind movie features a unique combination of cultural speciality and quirky magic. It also showcases a love for young girls in all their messy glory.

Thirteen-year-old Mei discovers that she turns into a gigantic red panda when she’s overwhelmed by strong emotion — a quirk all the women of her family have been burdened with since ancient times. Mei has to manage the panda like her other relatives, but Mei also begins to find her identity and embrace it. The giant-red-panda-sized emotions she feels at the cusp of adulthood translate into giant emotions for the audience, who can look back on that pivotal time of their lives where everything felt like so much all at once. The Turning of the Red balances those deep emotions with some charming humor and genuine sweetness, and it’s one of the best and most unique films in Pixar’s canon. —Petrana Radulovic

The Turning of the Red Disney Plus, March 11, will show the video.

Batman

Photo by Jonathan Olley/Warner Bros.

Matt Reeves’ reboot of the Dark Knight isn’t as bold as it might be, but it sure is stylish. A long, slow-burning mystery in the vein of David Fincher’s Seven, Batman infuses a familiar story with darkly beautiful imagery and magnetic performances from stars Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz. When it isn’t too enamored with ideas already explored in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, BatmanThe movie laid the groundwork for something more, and a stranger Batman movie. This sequel will hopefully come out. —Joshua Rivera

Batman In theaters on March 4,

Yang after Yang

Photo: Sundance Institute

Latest from Columbus director Kogonada, Yang after YangIt is an eerie, melancholy sci-fi movie. The film balances questions about the way we ought to view artificial life and the intriguing one about what it should think of us. Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith star as adoptive parents raising a young Chinese girl, with the help of a “technosapien” — an android programmed as her language tutor, cultural advisor, and big brother. When his systems fail, the family goes through exactly what they’d experience at the death of any family member, with the added question of what his death tells them about their lives and relationships. It’s a small, quiet, meditative film, but it’s visually rich and packed with ideas about prejudice and assumptions, cultural assimilation, and the way everyone is navigating an inner life that would astonish everyone around them. —Tasha Robinson

Yang after Yang In theaters on March 4,

He was a simple man

Image: Talk Tree

August at Akiko’s Christopher Makoto Yogi transforms this ghost story into an introspective meditation about death, memory and the future. As the elderly patriarch of a fragmented family (Steve Iwamoto, excellent in his first lead feature role) nears the end of his life, he’s visited by family in the present and ghosts from the past, including his long-deceased wife (Constance Wu). Intergenerational tensions arise as the ghosts of past conflicts return, too — squabbles and fights between family members long estranged, and historical conflicts around Hawaii’s path to statehood.

He was a simple manWe are taken on an emotional journey that spans different time periods, using dream aesthetics and surrealism. A beautiful movie filled with stunning images of Hawaii’s gorgeous landscapes and rich textures, it won the Made in Hawaii Award for Best Feature at the 2021 Hawaii International Film Festival. He was a simple man It is an incredible experience, which captures the last days of one human life. —Pete Volk

He was a simple man The Criterion Channel will have it available for viewing March 3rd.

Cyrano

Peter Mountain/MGM

Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac Many times this film has been adaptioned for film, such as in the Steve Martin/Daryl Hannah romantic comedy Roxanne in 1987, and the Toshirô Mifune action-drama Samurai Saga 1959. As with Shakespeare’s Romeo and JulietThe story’s message about unrequited romance (and, perhaps, complete romantic cowardice), resonates with all ages and can be shared across many cultures. But there’s never been a production quite like this lavish movie adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s musical version of the play. Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage stars as Cyrano, a French soldier and poet in love with his childhood friend Roxanne (Swallow star Haley Bennett), but afraid to tell her because he’s certain she’ll reject him. Christian falls in love with her.Luce’s Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a handsome newcomer in Cyrano’s regiment, Cyrano agrees to ghost-write Christian’s love letters to her, mostly so he can finally, fully express himself, even if she doesn’t know it’s him.

Joe Wright’s production is lushAnd glowing, with a soft visual warmth courtesy of his longtime collaborator Seamus McGarvey, cinematographer on his Atonement and Anna KareninaYou can also see it as. Dinklage’s singing isn’t very strong, but he still feels like he was born to play this pained, passionate swashbuckler, and the central trio all deliver fantastic performances that make this an authentic tearjerker. It’s a big-hearted project, full of outsized emotions that hit home powerfully. Don’t watch this right after a breakup, or after someone you’ve secretly longed for marries someone else. —TR

CyranoAvailable in select theatres or for rent starting at $19.99 Spectrum.

Hellbender

Photo: Christine Ramage/Shudder

Hellbender tells the story of Izzy, a teenager who lives isolated in the woods with only her mother, who says Izzy has a debilitating disease and can’t be around other people. That isn’t quite true. The movie delicately balances Izzy’s perspective and her mother’s, working as a movie both about the struggles of adolescence and about the inherent terror of trying to raise a child well. Despite all its virtues, it is not without faults. Hellbender’s greatest feat is how gorgeous it looks.

The film was created by a family of filmmakers who direct and produce the films. Hellbender is an early contender for 2022’s most visually striking horror film. Directors John and Zelda Adams and Toby Poser use forests, and the movie’s many mystic visions, for both serene beauty and creeping terror, swapping effortlessly between the two to match their characters’ fears and discoveries. —Austen Goslin

Hellbender It is possible to view it Shake.

Kimi

Photo: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.

The protagonist of Steven Soderbergh’s tech-crime thriller Kimi moves through the world like she’s tapped directly into a power line, and is desperate to burn off all the excess energy. It operates with the same speed and intensity as Hitchcock’s film. Essentially an internet-age take on Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear window by way of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation Brian De Palma’s Blossom Out Among many other filmic touchstones, KimiThe story follows a Seattle technology worker who discovers evidence of crime. She tries to report the incident but is met with danger. Soderbergh Panic Room David Koepp is a screenwriter who strips down the story and takes you along for the ride in an amazingly tight and elegant 89 minutes. The plot is simple and the ethos is go-go-go, which makes the film’s verve contagious and the action breathless. It isn’t deep, but it sure is fun. —TR

Kimi It is possible to view it HBO Max.

The Hero

Photo: Amir Hossein Shojaei/Amazon Studios

Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian film director who won an Oscar, returns to us with another masterpiece. He paints a beautifully nuanced portrait of a man facing crisis. Amir Jadidi plays Rahim brilliantly. He is a charismatic man who can’t get his life in order, regardless of how much his family and friends love him. When his girlfriend finds an abandoned handbag with gold coins inside, Rahim considers using the money to pay off his debt while out on a brief furlough from debtor’s prison. But after a series of events leads him to return the bag and money to a woman who says she’s the original owner, he becomes the subject of a local media frenzy for his charitable act.

An inspiring, difficult story about how to make the right decision in an unfair world. The HeroIt is also an example of the difficulty in determining objective truth or clear motives, particularly when faced with a narrative masked by personal and organizational agendas. Sometimes it can be very difficult to find the truth regarding your actions and motives. Is it really for navigation around the globe? The HeroThis is an unforgettable, stirring work you should not miss. —PV

The Hero It is possible to view it Amazon Prime Video.

Belle

GKIDS Image

Just when you might think Disney’s permanently locked up the coveted title of “Best Animated Musical Rendition of the Beauty and the Beast Story,” along comes Mamoru Hosada’s Belle, which gives the “tale as old as time” a thrilling futurist spin. From the director Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Girl Who Leapt Through TimesPlease see the following: Mirai re-imagines the classic fable as a conflict in a virtual-reality wonderland, where everyone’s digital avatars reflect their innermost selves. When withdrawn, mourning high-schooler Suzu enters the VR world, she becomes a beloved pop star, center of an energetic fandom — and equally energetic dismissal and criticism. After becoming obsessed with the avatar of a mysterious user who is powerful and monstrous, she begins trying to discover his secrets.

This is a dizzying story that sometimes overreaches — Hosada is trying to take in everything from the addictive but destructive nature of online life to the importance of individual human connection, and there are so many threads (and romances, and secrets) that they aren’t all fully fleshed out. But it’s a heartfelt film full of big emotional beats and stunning animated sequences, and even if it doesn’t answer all the questions it raises, it at least seems determined to bring a familiar story to a bolder, brighter, more ambitious stage. —TR

Belle Digital platforms will make it available May 3rd