The 29 most exciting new movies set for release in 2022

Already 2022 is wrapping up. It’s quite wild.

It’s been a good year at the movies, with plenty of theatrical and straight-to-streaming releases that have left a mark on us and kept us entertained. Many studios have kept some of their finest for last. There are many exciting films coming out over the course of the next year.

We’ve got blockbusters, genre fare, likely awards darlings, and so much more. Here are the movies we’re most excited to see before the end of 2022, in the order in which they will be released.

Saloum

Image: Shudder

Senegalese terror thriller about action-horror SaloumA trio of wise-cracking, shrewd mercenaries abduct a drug lord in Guinea-Bissau, and then flee with the gold bricks. They travel to Sine-Saloum (Senegal) to escape until it cools off. The region is home to a mysterious and evil force, which threatens both their safety and their large payday. —Toussaint Egan

Shudder premieres September 8

Barbarian

Image by 20th Century Studios

I’ve heard exactly two things about Barbarian from friends who have seen it: (1) it’s one of the best, funniest, and scariest horror movies of the year, and (2) you’re best served by knowing nothing going in.

Comedian Zach Cregger, perhaps best known as one of the founding members of The Whitest Kids U’ Know, directed this horror movie starring Georgina Campbell (Black Mirror), Bill Skarsgård (the It movies), and Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers). Campbell portrays a lady who arrives at a house she has booked only to discover another roommate. The situation gets a lot more bizarre from this point on! —PV

On Sept. 9, in theatres

You can see how they run

Photo: Parisa Taghizadeh/Searchlight Pictures

The Glass Onion Mystery: Knives Out isn’t the only nouveau whodunnit in the cards this fall. You can see how they runBased on its hilarious trailer, it appears that satires Agatha Christie’s works. The film features a string of murders against the cast and crew. MousetrapLondon 1950s play. Richard Attenborough, a young actor, gets involved. Saoirse Roan, Sam Rockwell and David Oyelowo all look great; TV fans who love British comedy will be happy to know that. Inside Number. 9’s Reece Shearsmith is in it, and the director Tom George made the brilliant rural sitcom This Country. —Oli Welsh

September 16th, in theaters

Rejoice

Photo: Kim Simms/Netflix

The trailer was first released for the Netflix Netflix Dark Comedy. We instantly thought: Heathers. Camila Mendes (RiverdaleMaya Hawke (Stranger ThingsThey will team up and take on those who wronged their families. The colorful trailer is filled with pastel tones and cute outfits — pair that with the charismatic cast, and you have one of Netflix’s most promising original releases of the back half of the year. Directed by Thor: Love and Thunder co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who made her feature debut with 2019’s You are a great person. —PV

Netflix streaming on September 16

The woman is the King

Photo: Ilze Kitshoff/Sony Pictures Entertainment

Gina Prince-BythewoodThe Old Guard, Love & BasketballThis historical epic is about a group of women warriors that defended the West African kingdom, Dahomey (located today in Benin). Viola Davis plays Nanisca the general who has to train new warriors. Lashana Lynch (Captain MarvelJohn Boyega (also co-stars) —PV

September 16th, in theaters

Catherine Called Birdy

Alex Bailey/Prime video.

Fans of Karen Cushman’s 1994 Newbery Honor-receiving middle grade historical fiction novel, rejoice! Now is the time! The movie adaptation is a hit! Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey as the defiant Catherine, a young girl living in the Middle Ages whose father wants to marry her off to the most advantageous match. But Catherine’s determined It is notTo get married, which can lead to antic after another. The original book gave a lot of insight into Middle Ages culture, as well as some pretty detailed descriptions of various martyred saints, since it was written as Catherine’s diary and she made note of all the Saint Days. The word is still out about whether Lena Dunham as the director will add that to her Prime Video adaptation. —Petrana Radulovic

Prime Video Sept. 23 Streaming

Lou

Photo: Liane Hentscher/Netflix

It is rare to find something more satisfying in life than the moment when an actor with a wealth of experience and talent decides to make a career out of acting. Excitingly, it is now Allison Janney’s turn, as she plays a mysterious (and grumpy) older woman who has a special set of skills and uses them to help her neighbor (Jurnee Smollett) after a kidnapping. Anna Foerster, who is also a former cinematographer (who also directed the film), was the director. Underworld: Blood Wars Watch episodes of shows on TV like Jessica JonesAnd WestworldThis trailer shows Daniel Bernhardt, an action star fighting in a fight.Atomic Blonde, Birds of PreyThis star is often seen in such movies because of his appearances. He rules at it, and it’s a good sign this movie is going to be kick all sorts of butt. —PV

Netflix streaming on September 23

Blonde

Image courtesy of Netflix

Its NC-17 rating is a combination of the shocking fictions in its source novel Joyce Carol Oates and the bold pronouncements made by Andrew Dominik, its director.Robert Ford and the Coward Jesse James assassinate Jesse James), and its blazing hot but admittedly not very American-accented star Ana de Armas, Netflix’s Marilyn Monroe pic is this year’s controversy magnet. It might shock or confuse, but given Dominik’s track record it’s bound to be a thoughtful piece of work, too. Meanwhile, check out the trailer; the dedication to getting the lighting, framing, color, and texture of some of Monroe’s most iconic imagery exactly right is beyond belief, and could well be one of the year’s great labors of love. (The cinematographer, Chayse Irvin, shot Beyoncé’s Lemonade.) —OW

Netflix streaming starting Sept. 28

Bros

Universal Pictures

Billy Eichner wrote and stars in the rom-com by Nicholas Stoller.Forgetting Sarah MarshallThe Neighbors movie. This cast includes almost all LGBTQ+ actors. They include Jim Rash and Bowen Yang, fresh off the award-winning gay romance movie. Fire Island), Guillermo Díaz, Dot-Marie Jones, and many more.

It’s being promoted as the first major studio gay rom-com, but could it become the latest addition to the great history of excellent LGBTQ comedies? The hilarious trailer is promising, but we’ll have to wait and see. —PV

On Sept. 30, in theaters

Vesper

Image: IFC Films

There’s something particularly compelling about the first looks at the sci-fi indie Vesper. Maybe it’s that it looks like a joint jam session of practically every culty, memorable science fiction movie or show that’s caught our eye over the past few years. Maybe it’s the ambitious plot description, about a 13-year-old girl navigating a broken world until the chance to ally with a stranger offers her a way into the Citadel, a high-tech enclave for the powerful elite. Maybe it’s just the way practically every frame of the trailer has something visually interesting or compelling going on. Whatever it is, we’re hooked. —Tasha Robinson

On Sept. 30, in theaters

Smile

Image: Paramount Pictures

It is so frighteningly tempting that the trailer was shown before Nope, my theater companion turned to me and said, “I don’t know if I can handle this,” speaking purely about the trailer. I’ve been let down by many a well-edited trailer before, but my greatest hope for SmileThe truth is, it’s only one: Interesting. It doesn’t really matter to me if this film is good or not. I care more about its compelling strangeness and if it scares me. I don’t know if SmileThat is what the trailer promises. But with the general state of unease the previews suggest and the trailer’s final stinger swinging around in my brain, I’m certainly willing to find out. —Zosha Millman

On Sept. 30, in theaters

Till

Image by United Artists Releasing

Chinonye Chukwu’s 2022 biographical drama stars Danielle Deadwyler (The harder they fall, the more difficult.() Mamie Till-Mobley was the mother to Emmett Till. She was visiting her family in Mississippi in 1955 when she was lynched. Beyond the horror of her son’s murder, TillThis is the story about how grief and love can shape the future of the world. —TE

Available in cinemas Oct. 7.

Hellraiser

Image by RLJ Entertainment

Hulu’s latest straight-to-streaming revival of a legendary horror franchise hopes to follow in the footsteps of the excellent PreyPinhead will now be available for a whole new generation of horror-lovers. Jamie Clayton plays Pinhead this time.Sense8The movie was directed by David Bruckner.Night House) and adapted from Clive Barker’s The Hellbound Heart Bruckner collaborators Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski and David Goyer will be telling the story. The teaser dropped in late August, giving us mostly spooky vibes (but also a first glimpse at Pinhead’s new look). —PV

Streaming on Hulu on Oct. 7

Decent to Leave

CJ Entertainment

Park Chan-wookOldboyThis contemporary Korean thriller was awarded Best Director at Cannes. Its logline sounds like pure crime cliche: “A detective falls for a mysterious widow after she becomes the prime suspect in his latest murder investigation.” But nothing in Park Chan-wook’s world is ever quite as it seems, while the trailer is stuffed with his seductive, swoonsome, darkly romantic imagery. —OW

Available in cinemas Oct. 14.

Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday

Image: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Scott Adkins is a legendary action actor who co-wrote 2018 comedy Accident Man With his friend Stu, adapted from a comic strip Adkins was reading as a teenager. Accident Man The series centers on a hitman, whose signature approach to murders is making them look like accidental accidents. This makes it closer to Hitman. adaptation rather than the Hitman movies.

Jesse V. Johnson was a regular collaborator with Adkins and directed this first movie. This is one of the many post-John Wick memorable action movies. The scene when Adkins takes on Ray Park and Michael Jai White features great choreography.

Hitman’s HolidayJohnson takes over the director duties, while Harry Kirby and George Kirby take the sibling roles. Adkins and Small continue to write the story. Ray Stevenson plays the same role as in the first film. —PV

On demand Oct. 14

Black Adam

Warner Bros. Pictures

Warner Bros. went through major changes after the ownership change. The result? Only one DC movie is coming out this year. It would be Dwayne John’s movie. Black AdamHe plays Shazam, the comic-book antagonist in this solo film. Black Adam Jaume Colllet-Serra is the director. He’s a skilled director, and he first worked as a horror filmmaker.Orphan, House of Wax,The Shallows) and “Liam Neeson” (The Commuter, Non-Stop Run All Night) genres, and recently made his move to big blockbusters (and working with Johnson) with Disney’s Jungle Cruise. Black Adam Also, we will get our first glimpse of the Justice Society. Pierce Brosnan is expected to play Doctor Fate. —PV

Available in cinemas Oct. 21

The Banshees from Inisherin

Photo: Jonathan Hession/Searchlight Pictures

It’s enough to know that this film reunites Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, and writer-director Martin McDonagh 14 years on from their magnificent tragicomedy about sad hitmen, In Bruges. The pitch this time is more obscure, yet potentially equally as absurd and rueful. In rural Ireland, two friends’ lives are upended when one of them abruptly and without reason decides to end their friendship. Farrell draws on his natural talent of looking helplessly lost, while Gleeson taps into the same talent of gnomic stubbornness. —OW

Available in cinemas Oct. 21

Wendell & Wild

Image courtesy of Netflix

Henry Selick, a legendary stop-motion animator (Christmas Nightmare) returns for his first feature film in over a decade (2009’s CoralineThis was his final one. This alone should be enough to grab our attention. Jordan Peele also co-wrote the screenplay. the fact that Peele and his old pal and collaborator Keegan-Michael Key will be playing, per Netflix’s official description, “demon brothers who enlist the aid of a tough teen with a load of guilt to summon them to the Land of the Living.” Yes, please! —PV

Netflix Oct. 28 Streaming

Armageddon Time

Focus Features Image

James GrayThe Immigrant, Ad Astra is one of my favorite directors working today, and his latest is a coming-of-age story based in part on Gray’s own childhood in Queens. Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain star as Anthony Hopkins, with Oscar-nominated Cinematographer Darius Khondji as the cinematographer (Uncut GemsThe movie was shot by ). —PV

On Oct. 28, in theaters

Lost Bullet 2: More

Photo: Julien Goldstein/Netflix

First Lost Bullet, a white-knuckle thriller about a man framed for a crime he didn’t commit, is one of the best action movies on Netflix. Former stuntman Alban Lenoir returns as director and star, while Guillaume Pierret is back as the director. —PV

Netflix on Nov. 10, 2018

Wakanda for Ever: Black Panther

Image: Marvel Studios

Ryan Coogler’s follow-up to 2018’s Black Panther follows the leaders of Wakanda who, in the wake of the untimely passing of King T’Challa, must defend their nation from a new threat in the form of the underwater nation of Talocan and their ruler Namor (Tenoch Huerta). The real-life death of former star Chadwick Boseman has resulted in the elevation of former supporting actors Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, and Danai Gurira to starring roles, while the film will also feature the on-screen debut of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), aka Ironheart. Will the Black Panther’s legacy be passed on to the next generation? We’ll have to wait until Wakanda for Ever: Black Panther premieres in November to find out, but no matter what happens, everything’s gonna be all right. —TE

November 11th, in theatres

Menu

Photo: Eric Zachanowich/Searchlight Pictures

“Yes, chef!” This is a satirical, blackly comic horror about a young couple (Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy) traveling to a remote island to eat at the exclusive restaurant of a frighteningly intense chef, played by Ralph Fiennes. Once the hand-picked diners are at chef’s mercy, things take a dark turn. According to the script, it is a real cracker. Director: SuccessionMark Mylod is a regular, as well as one of Menu’s screenwriters worked on the show, too; expect the world of privilege and pretension to be ruthlessly and sadistically skewered. —OW

On Nov. 18, in theaters

Strange World

Image: Disney

Disney’s newest upcoming film is an homage to old science fiction movies — and feels like another swing at the quirky action-adventure flicks that dominated animation in the early 2000s. New movie is about a group of scientists who discover a new alien planet. They must work together to find the best way for everyone. Do you have family stories to tell? Sci-fi adventures? Jaboukie Young White, Twitter star and voice actor for one of these characters. I’m signed up. —PR

On Nov. 23, in theaters

Bones & All

Photo: Yannis Drakoulidis/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

You can call me by your name duo Timothée Chalamet and director Luca Guadagnino team up again for a story of teen romance and obsession with an extraordinarily dark twist. Alongside Chalamet, the movie will also star Taylor Russell as the other half of the movie’s teen couple, who share a secret that drives them to the edges of civilized society. —Austen Goslin

On Nov. 23, in theaters

The Fabelmans

Photo: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for TCM

Steven Spielberg explores his childhood through this fictionalized story about a Midwestern Jewish boy who struggles to keep his secrets. These auteur memory pieces are all the rage; think Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, or Sam Mendes’ Empire of LightAlso coming in the fall is, None of those directors can claim Spielberg’s legendary status, though, or an origin story that’s already stuff of cinematic myth. You can see it in West Side StoryHis talent and craft for image-making is unsurpassed, and he has a great deal of respect. The Fabelmans he’s making a rare foray into the personal material that gave his heyday classics Get in touch with your fellow travelers E.T. such raw emotive power. This is a truly special show. The grown-up cast includes Michelle Williams, Paul Dano and Seth Rogen. —OW

On Nov. 23, in theaters

Pinocchio

Image courtesy of Netflix

What is the reason there are three Pinnocchio films out by 2022, with a new game coming next year? Is anyone aware? It’s not like the book just entered the public domain or anything. According to the Zeitgeist, the puppet has become a real boy. But we’re pretty certain that Guillermo del Toro’s version of the wooden puppet will be the best one yet. After all, this is a passion project that the acclaimed director has been working on for years, and it’s rendered in absolutely gorgeous stop-motion animation, which already makes it stand out from the rest. —PR

Netflix Dec. 9 Streaming

Empire of Light

Image: Searchlight Pictures

1917Director Sam Mendes will be returning to this December Empire of LightOlivia Colman is the star of a new romance drama, called “The Love Story.”The Lost Daughter) and Micheal Ward (The Old Guard). Although details are not available at the moment the trailer suggests that the film will focus on a relationship between two people who fell in love with cinema together, and it is set along the South Coast of England. —TE

On Dec. 9, in theaters

The Way of Water Avatar

Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios

For every “Do people still care about Avatar?” remark over the last 13 years, made as development, production, and post persisted on a sequel to the epic science fiction film, a wise voice has piped in to say: “Do you doubt James Cameron?” Folks, the righteous do not. The impossible has been overcome by films such as Terminator 2And Titanic, the renegade filmmaker has more than earned the right to cover A-list actors in ping pong balls, plunge them into pools, and reenter the world of Pandora for a sequel that people aren’t clamoring for like they might a Marvel sequel. It doesn’t matter. Cameron has a vision, a wet one, and when he picks back up with the adventures of Jake Sully, Neytiri, and their wee little Na’vi kids this winter, the promise to audiences is uncompromised imagination in 3D. It doesn’t matter if it is good or bad. The Way of Water AvatarIt will be one-of-a-kind. —Matt Patches

December 16th in theaters

The Glass Onion Mystery: Knives Out

Photo: John Wilson/Netflix

Few things are more important to me than my imagination. Knives Out 2 (formerly known as The Glass Onion Mystery: Knives OutI will be offered. “Basic” is a term that can be weaponized these days, but I think that Knives out is on the knife’s edge of the double meaning: Sure, it’s popular and “basic” in the pejorative sense. Rian Johnson is the only one who does it this way. Rian Johnson is a master at writing tight and upending expectations as well as playing into them. With a sprawling cast taking to the high seas in a (probable) homage to one of Johnson’s favorite mysteries and all-timer whodunnits Sheila dies (and yeah, sure, Death on the Nile, but who’s gonna top Agatha Christie in this life, huh?) — well, all I can say is: anchors aweigh! —ZM

Netflix streaming Dec. 23