The 13 best movie scenes of 2022

We’ve already gone over our picks for the best new movies of 2022, but now it’s time to zoom in a bit closer and talk about our favorite scenes in this great year of movies. You will find many memorable moments and hilarious gags at the movies, as well as song-and-dance performances, shocking revelations, and other surprising scenes.

Polygon’s staff gathered together to pick our top moments from all of the movies throughout the year. Anything that made us laugh, cry, ponder, or shout out in excitement was eligible, as well as moments we’ve still been turning over in our heads months after watching.

Let’s get into it.

Naatu Naatu, RRR

Right at home alongside tiger fights and epic bridge swinging, the rambunctious dance battle in the middle of S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR plays just as an important role in slicing through the hateful heart of the British Empire as the film’s conclusion, in which our heroes LiterallyCut through the hatredful heart of Britain’s Empire. Rajamouli (Ram Charan), a Crown-worthy actor, opens the scene at a garden party. Raju (Ramcharan) strikes a rhythm on a silverplate as Bheem Jr. NTR prepares for the eradication of a racist twerp by the art and craft of footwork. The duo launching into “Naatu Naatu,” written for the film by composer M.M. Keeravani, is a superheroic feat — their lyrics snap, the drums pound away, and their feet move like Goku’s arms. Raju, Bheem, and all other characters are entranced by the cyclone effect. Everyone, including the racist twerps, wants to dance along. It ends with as many scenes. RRR do, with an act of compassion, a friend aiding a friend live his best life, seals “Naatu Naatu” as using every bit of movie magic to make mind reel. —Matt Patches

Barbarian tape measurer

For being one of the scariest movies of the year, it’s often a little shocking to remember that Barbarian When it’s meant to, humor can often be quite funny. This might be most obvious when Justin Long’s character finds the terrifying torture-video room in the hidden hallway of the Airbnb he owns and immediately starts checking whether or not he can charge extra for the square footage. The bit even calls back to director Zach Cregger’s roots in sketch comedy as it pushes itself way past the point of absurdity, then keeps going only to double back and become twice as funny. By the time the tape measure seems to extend well beyond 100 feet, dragging Long all the way back into the depths of his haunted basement, it’s likely that you’re so doubled over in laughter you didn’t even notice that Cregger threw another joke on top for good measure. —Austen Goslin

First interrogation: Decision to Leave

Enjoy everything! Take the decision to leaveThis scene can be approached from two directions. The first is how Park Chan-wook, the director and writer of the scene, subtly changes the standard interrogation scene format to create a romance scene of mutual seduction. The script gives the perfect amount of room to the two brilliant performances by Park Hae-il and Tang Wei to walk the tightrope that never lets the movie entirely disentangle their romance from the investigation, while also making it clear that they wouldn’t want it any other way, and this interrogation scene is both the starting point for that dynamic and its most clear-eyed and uncomplicated representation.

On the other hand, I could include this one clip from the scene and say that it’s probably the most subtle, emotionally effective, and technically impressive piece of moviemaking all year. The focus sits simultaneously on a face in the reflected background as well as its opposite in the foreground, then switches as the dynamic does, to represent each character’s sliding feelings and emotions as the lines of case and romance start to blur all in one unbroken shot. It’s exactly the kind of thing that most people will notice without realizing and the kind of small moment that turns a great film into a masterpiece. —AG

The perfect shot is Nope

NopeIt’s a variety of different things. It’s a sci-fi movie, a blockbuster adventure movie, and sometimes a horror movie — like when we watch Jean Jacket rain blood down on the Haywood family house. And while it handles all of these moments beautifully, there’s nothing quite as thrilling in the movie as the third act.

OJ, Em, Angel, and grizzled director Holst’s plan of using horses and used-car-lot balloons to lure the alien out in time for a hand-crank shot is among the most fun metaphors for filmmaking of the last two decades, and a wonderfully inventive set-piece that’s unlike any other movie. But most importantly, it’s also a ridiculously fun and thrilling sequence.

The movie’s ending is brilliantly conceived and executed by writer and director Jordan Peele and beautifully shot by master-of-scale cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Dunkirk, Ad Astra, Tenet, InterstellarThe open waters were recast by ). JawsAs the barren plains at Haywood Ranch. The pair turns the valley’s gorgeous vistas into the same threatening emptiness that make Spielberg’s shark movie terrifying, except something could grab you from above instead of below. We know how far OJ has to travel and how lonely Lucky and Jean Jacket will be when he starts the ride. It’s large-scale tension at its most entertaining.

Like all of Peele’s solo projects so far, Nope It is an extraordinary movie that has so much to offer. It’s deeply curious about Hollywood’s connection with trauma and violence, and how those things only matter if they’re rendered slightly less than real through the lens of a camera; it’s interested in the movie industry’s relationship with race, both historical and current, and even in the inherent violence of the kind of large-scale spectacle movies (including itself) rely on. Perhaps the best thing about the movie is the way Peele seamlessly weaves these points together into the biggest and most entertaining blockbuster. —AG

4*Town, Turning Red

A group of Chinese ladies transform into huge fluffy red pandas to assist their relative who has become a. It is reallyGiant fluffy red pandas. The traditional chant starts to play and the hip-boy band, who was once afraid to speak out, decides to sing their hit song. It’s amazing. It’s a perfect fusion of cultures and symbolically represents our protagonist Mei realizing that she doesn’t have to pick between her Chinese heritage and her love for boy bands. Her unique blend of cultures can be accepted by her. She makes me smile, and is also an amazing banger. 10/10 no notes. —Petrana Radulovic

Fire Island ice cream cone

I don’t think any Pride and Prejudice adaptation has nailed Mr. Darcy’s awkwardness so much as this particular scene. Joel Kim Booster portrays Noah as Elizabeth and teases Will (our Darcy counterpart, Conrad Ricamora), for taking a bite of ice cream. In this scene Will sees Noah approaching him, and Will is just eating an ice cream cone. So he does what any rational anxious person would do — he YouetsThe ice cream cone is hidden in the bush and it just runs away. #relatable! —PR

Why we’re at this cabin, Saloum

Image: Shudder

Saloum doesn’t come across as a film with a lot of twists in store — it hooks you, first and foremost, with Momentum. In no time at all, it introduces you to Bangui’s Hyenas, a group of mercenaries capable of casually strolling through the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau in the middle of a violent coup, extracting a Mexican drug lord, and somehow making it clear that the entire episode would only be a footnote in their legend. Then things go awry, and they’re stranded with their target in a small village in the Senegalese region of Sine-Saloum, where things may not be what they seem. A straightforward thriller is turned into something more sinister and dark when one Hyena tells them that he deliberately left them there to satisfy his grudge. SaloumIt is a film that transcends into evocative, intimate territory. —Joshua Rivera

Orphan: First Kill is the big reveal

Photo: Steve Ackerman/Paramount Pictures

You’d be surprised at how ridiculously long this takes. Orphan from the first killing fools you into thinking it’s just going to retread the 2009 original, exposing a new family to that film’s deranged twist: that (spoilers) the eponymous orphan Esther is actually a 33-year-old woman with a hormone disorder that makes her appear like a child. She’s also murderous. This prequel is 40 minutes long First Kill repeats a lot of those beats with a new family that’s has doomed itself by adopting Esther, only to brilliantly invert itself and reveal that Esther’s adoptive mother in this film knows about her condition, turning the tables on Esther’s deadly plots and taking First KillFrom a simple retread to a clever cat-and mouse thriller. —JR

Revolting children, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical

The source material is what makes a movie musical great. However, a movie musical can only be as good as the author and director who transform it. While composer and lyricist Tim Minchin saw rightful acclaim for his top-tapping Roald Dahl stage show when it hit the West End in 2011, stage-director-turned-filmmaker Matthew Warchus (Pride() found the ideal visual language to translate his adaptation of 2022: MatildaSwirls Kinky BootsBritish comedy of the working class with the color, composition and style of Paddington 2.. Anyone who knows Dahl’s book or the previous film adaptation knows how Matilda’s standoff with the punishing headmistress Miss Trunchbull escalates, but in Warchus’ hands, the payoff is a stomp-filled song-and-dance revolution that would make the kids in Another Brick in the Wall cheer. It’s a big number. —MP

Babylon, the legacy speech

Image by Paramount Pictures

Damien Chazelle’s BabylonThe movie is messy and self-indulgent. Every poignant scene has at least one section that feels unnecessary, redundant, or slightly ridiculous. But when it’s hot, it’s hot. And it’s even better when it’s chilly — as it is during the late-film scene where former cinematic superstar Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) confronts Hollywood gossip columnist Elinor St. John (Jean Smart) about a devastating profile she wrote, suggesting that his career is over. Elinor is brutally gentle about telling him why his star is falling — but then she continues with a downright lyrical speech about the inevitable cycles of Hollywood fame and failure, the mortality of star power, and the immortality of being captured on film. There are many. BabylonThis is all about fame and creation. The legacy speech is about the cold comfort the movies give back — Jack’s chance to connect with future generations and still be beloved decades after his death. He clearly doesn’t find that promise compelling, but for those of us who grew up watching the film stars of the past work the same magic they worked 50 years ago, it’s a beautifully scripted sequence, acted with quiet passion. —Tasha Robinson

The “They Live” moment at prom, The Fabelmans

Amblin Entertainment

Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story has many memorable moments, many involving people transfixed and transformed by the power of images. The screening for Sammy’s boy scout troop! Michelle Williams’ life changing because of Sammy’s images! David Lynch is a John Ford cigar-toting John Ford

One moment stood out for me and reminded me about one of my all-time favorite films.

At Sammy’s high school prom, he screens the movie he made about his class’s “Skip Day” trip to the beach. It’s a captivating sequence that draws in the whole room, but is especially notable for the way he depicts Logan (Sam Rechner), his bully. Logan, who is glowing in California sunlight while dominating his teammates in volleyball, appears almost like a god on the screen. The room erupts in cheers for him, as you can see his classmates’ conception of him change in real time.

The real magic is what happens next. Logan confronts a despondent Sam (fresh off a rejected, hasty marriage proposal) in the hallway in a scene reminiscent of Roddy Piper and Keith David’s famous alleyway fight in They are alive.

Logan and Sam may not fight directly, but the conflict comes from the same place — a violent resistance to something you don’t want to accept (except instead of aliens, it’s the power of cinema). Logan is unable to understand how Sam could portray him in such a cruel way. Sam doesn’t know either — was it because he just wanted Logan to be nice to him, or because it would make the movie better?

But it’s not just Sam’s decision that troubles Logan. Logan feels shaken when he sees himself in this light. Logan is shaken by this image of himself. It’s a vision of Logan that he sees as something he will never be able to live up too, an unrealistic standard Logan cannot reach. It’s a powerful moment in a movie filled with them, and it gets right to the heart of Spielberg’s story of the undeniable power of images and the responsibility of those who wield them. —Pete Volk

Blood Rain, Nope

In a year packed with scary movies with memorable imagery, nothing in horror felt quite as heavy as the moment in Jordan Peele’s Nope A mysterious, yet unknown force that haunts a California horse ranch has suddenly moved in and invaded the ranch house. Not only that, but Simply blood, either — a whole selection of grisly, gruesome reminders of the entity’s last encounter with humanity. The people in the house have no idea what’s happening, how to stop it, or what’s about to happen to them. And Peele shoots the sequence as if a second night is falling over them — a blood-red night that makes the house look like the contents of an alien stomach. It’s scary. It’s eerie. It’s straight out of a nightmare. And it’s rad as hell. —TR

You can find everything at once in the rocks

Amid all the frenetic multiverse shifting and wild martial arts battles in the Daniels’ epic action-comedy Everything at OnceEvelyn Wang, a frustrated mother, and Joy, her unhappy daughter (Stephanie Hsu), find a moment of calm in an alternate timeline, where both the women and life on Earth have never existed. It’s literally just a series of shots of two rocks with subtitles, as the two women try to find common ground. And it’s a perfect moment. As so many others. EEAAOIt can change between emotion on a dime, and it happens in a series of sequences. It is important to be in the present moment. Out of context, it’s just an odd moment between rocks. But within the context of the film, it’s a breather the audience and characters both desperately need, and the emotions are so heightened that just the sight of rock-Joy and rock-Evelyn sharing a companionable laugh is remarkably heartening and hilarious. —TR

Glass Onion, Box-opening Montage

Rian Johnson’s bubbly follow-up to 2019’s Knives out packs a ton of character introduction into the early sequence where four smug “disruptors” (played by Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, and Leslie Odom Jr.) each get a ridiculously elaborate puzzle box from their billionaire tech-mogul friend, Miles (Edward Norton), and conference call with each other to solve the box’s mystery. It’s a lively, frantic scenario, as the box keeps changing and the focus keeps shifting — each of the foursome (and in some cases, their hangers-on) leans in with some luck or knowledge that moves the puzzle forward, teaching the audience who they are and what they’re good at in the process. They get closer and closer together, but the pace increases and tension builds. It becomes almost frighteningly fast. Then Johnson cuts to an estranged, angry friend (played by Janelle Monáe), who punctures all that tension with a perfectly timed solution of her own. It’s a dazzling bit of writing and visual legerdemain, all ramping up to a simple visual joke — one which says as much about Monáe’s character as all the preceding nonsense said about everyone else’s. —TR