The 15 Best Movies Of 2022 (So Far)

Director and animator Mamoru Hosoda creates magic with Belle, an anime film inspired by Beauty and the Beast. It received a 14-minute standing ovation at its Cannes Film Festival premiere in 2021, and it’s easy to see why: It’s definitely one of the year’s most visually stunning films.

Disney-Pixar has perfected the formula for children’s movies that are equally beloved by adults, and this one is no different. Turning Red follows Mei, a 13-year-old who’s thrown for a loop when an ancient family curse causes her to transform into an enormous (and fluffy!) red panda whenever she gets emotional. Funny, heartwarming, and sprinkled with innuendo only grown-ups will understand, Turning Red will leave you tickled pink.

Director Matt Reeves’ noir-inspired The Batman defies expectations for a superhero movie, turning Gotham City’s elusive crimefighter — previously best-known as a wealthy playboy — into an angsty recluse. But it works. Robert Pattinson fits the mood perfectly as the title character, and Zoë Kravitz’s über-sexy Catwoman adds a touch of sunlight to the pitch-dark mood.

Director Koganda flips the sentient robot trope on its head in After Yang, delivering a film that’s as much a family drama as it is a movie about artificial intelligence (as Koganada says, “the existential crisis is the human being”). The film about a set of parents (played by Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith) trying to fix their broken robot nanny is, well, strange — but in the best way possible.

This slasher flick starring Mia Goth pays homage to the bloody psycho-biddies of the ’70s and ’80s, like Dario Argento’s Suspiria, or even Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Rarely is a new release hailed as a classic when it comes out, but that’s exactly what X is — “a modern classic.”

The Michelle Yeoh renaissance is upon us. The 59-year-old actress shines in Everything Everywhere All at Once as harried mother Evelyn Wang — one of her first leading roles in an English-language film. As the trippy multiverse movie switches helter-skelter between alternate worlds, it introduces a wide variety of alternate Evelyns, giving Yeoh a chance to showcase her range. Here’s hoping she’ll stay everywhere, all at once, for a while longer.

This Old Norse epic with an all-star cast (Nicole Kidman! Willem Defoe! BJÖRK!!) had people talking before it even came out. Good thing it didn’t disappoint. The Northman triumphs with otherworldly action sequences and fantastical characters. That being said, it’s excruciatingly violent, so it’s best to skip this one if you’re easily squeamish.

Hatching follows a young girl who raises a bird-like creature — one that (spoiler alert!) eventually becomes her doppelgänger and wreaks havoc on her family’s staid, Finnish life. The film is deranged in a way that Ari Aster fans will relish, but also features an attention to aesthetics akin to, well, Hitchcock’s The Birds.

When Audrey Diwan’s Happening premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival, American critics probably couldn’t have guessed how timely it would become. The story of a talented young student seeking an abortion in ‘60s-era France is, at times, difficult to watch — especially now. But that’s exactly what makes it important.

In this feature-length adaptation of the popular animated series, the Belchers once again find themselves caught up in some serious hijinks — this time, though, it’s a murder mystery that threatens to bankrupt their struggling burger joint. The Bob’s Burgers Movie is a musical, a thriller, and a coming-of-age slapstick tale all at once.

More than 30 years after the original Top Gun premiered, Tom Cruise returns as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in one of the best-reviewed movies of the year — the rare sequel that supersedes the original. Combining old-school action sequences with present-day swag, Top Gun: Maverick does the impossible, delivering a heady dose of nostalgia while steering clear of oversentimentality and staleness.

Crimes of the Future explores issues of bodily autonomy while making not-so-subtle hints about the dangers of the climate crisis — themes that make the film’s dystopic future feel uncomfortably close. Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart give electrifying performances, lending this film the tenacity it needs to live in audiences’ minds rent-free, for better or worse.

Based on the life of WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon, Terence Davies’ Benediction is an anti-war, queer love story that’ll tug at the heartstrings (despite all the graphic war violence). But it’s not just another sentimental military movie — rather, it’s story about the sincerity of failure: how others fails us, and how we fail ourselves.

Jenny Slate’s beloved internet character receives the silver screen treatment in Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, a heartwarming mockumentary that follows the minuscule mollusk as he and his Grandma Connie (Isabella Rossellini, in a scene-stealing role) search for their missing family. You’ll laugh, but you’ll also cry.

Baz Luhrmann, the industry’s gaudiest director (no shade), returns to the big screen after nearly a decade with Elvis. Austin Butler’s portrayal of The King — complete with some of his own vocals — makes the movie, but Luhrmann’s topsy-turvy vision will keep you watching.