The 46 Best Movies of 2022

2022 was a great year for film, and a better year for movies. From movies that will hit you with you an emotional punch that could stick with you for years to giant blockbusters and everything in between, there was something for truly everyone. And we mean everyone: from horror to comedy to superheroes to action, a lot of really innovative movies from talented filmmakers hit the screen. Seriously—from stuff like the majestic-looking Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery to The Fabelmans and Tár, we got the full smorgasboard of movies. And, hell, we're a bit more than halfway through the year, and already have tons of movies that have entertained us, made us think, and downright awed us.

Last year's version of this list was a little screwy—we ended up counting movies like Promising Young Woman, Nomadland, and Judas and the Black Messiah, all of which were technically 2021 releases but were also nominated for last year's Oscars (due to Covid-19, the deadline was pushed back). It was an odd situation where "Oscar-contending" films were released in the early part of the year. This year, we're sticking just to the films that are in the 2022 cycle (so, for example, movies like Nightmare Alley and Licorice Pizza were included also on last year's list).

A little weird! But mostly just semantics. Anyway, here are the movies we've loved in 2022 (though we haven't seen everything, and this list can always change)—and more that we're still super eager to check out.