Best of 2022 - End of Year Report

Sayonara 2022, it's been a pretty good year for film. This top ten list comes from a neat 100 films (80 first time viewings) and 55 trips to the cinema. It's down a touch from last year but it was harder to complete, with some fine films missing out. So here are my favourite 10 films seen in 2022:

[Click on the titles for links to full reviews]

10. Paris, 13th District (2021)

Jacques Audiard's monochrome ode to the multicultural 13th arrondissement of Paris is light on story but heavy on atmosphere. Lucie Zhang is fantastic in her breakout film - she's one to watch - and Noémie Merlant is top drawer as well. This tale of young Frenchies aimlessly searching connection is probably the most joyously optimistic film on the list.

9. Belfast (2021)

Here's a film I figured would be sentimental and a bit dull, but I was happy to be proven wrong. Kenneth Branagh wrote and directed this autobiographical story from the point of view of young Ken/Buddy, played by newcomer Jude Hill. It tells of his family living in Belfast through The Troubles and the choices they must make. Ma (Caitríona Balfe) and Pa (Jamie Dornan) are amazing, and the whole film hums with spirit. A film that eschews cynicism and dares the audience to care, successfully for my money.

8. The Innocents (2021)

A Norwegian unsettler, the innocents of the title are presumably the kids that are left to their own devices on a quiet high-rise estate. But are they so very innocent? You be the judge, I'll only say that events take a bit of a turn when they begin to realise they have certain special powers that might be fun to mess about with. Creepy, awkward and unpredictable - not the best traits in a baby-sitter but perfect for a psychological drama like this.

7. Nope (2022)

A fine hat-trick of features for Jordan Peele, this coming on the heels of Get Out and Us. Nope is hard to classify - part thriller, part social commentary, part horror, part comedy.... but all mint. The lensing, by Hoyte Van Hoytema, is gorgeous, be it dusty vistas or creepy night skies and the cast are note perfect - Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yuen, all tear it up. The Jaws riff is great fun too.

6. The Forgiven (2021) / The Menu (2022)

This is unprecedented, but I couldn't settle on the top ten, so I've sneakily lumped these two excellent
Ralph Fiennes starrers together at number six. The former sees Lord Voldy as a bigoted snob taking a trip to North Africa for a bacchanalian party, but a car accident on the way scuppers plans a bit. Great cast here (Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Caleb Landry Jones, Saïd Taghmaoui) and a nicely askew view of classism, plus a top notch arc for Fiennes. Quite taut and tense in parts as well.

The latter film is a class-based satire mixed with foodie culture that actually has the bollocks to commit to its final resting point. Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult are more than able support (Taylor-Joy is more the lead, in fact) and the dialogue is first rate. Blood, haute cuisine, shocks and comic timing all play a part in The Menu. Fiennes is terrific in both of these, though in wildly different roles.

5. You Won't Be Alone (2022)

Here's a ripping folk/horror tale from Macedonian/Aussie Goran Stolevski, starring Sara Klimoska, Anamaria Marinca and Noomi Rapace. It tells the story of Old Maid Maria, a child-thieving witch who, in fairness, has had a tough old time of it in patriarchal 19th Century Macedonia. It's lovely to look at, shot by Mathew Chuang, and the editing (Luca Cappelli) gives us the sense of a lazy kind of foreboding, something's not quite right here. All the viscera and heavy themes notwithstanding, there's a feeling of calm hope to this fine debut feature.

4. Sundown (2021)

Tim Roth shines in this mysterious, sundrenched resort drama about a man who seems to be excelling at doing bugger all. Quite shocking events occur on his periphery, even involving him, yet he has a happy knack of shrugging it all off. Why? What the fuck is going on here? I'm not about to tell you, but I will say that Charlotte Gainsbourg is in it (also excellent) and the unpicking of the whys and wtfs is one of the joys of the film.

3. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Martin McDonagh is on song with this tale of 1920s Irish island life, specifically the relationship between Colin Farrell's Pádraic and Brendan Gleeson's Colm, as well as Pádraic's sister, Siobhán, played by Kerry Condon. The three leads are amazing, the dialogue dances out of their mouths and the scenery of the island (west cost of Ireland) is gob-smacking. The McDonaghs have two film in this list (brother John Michael directed The Forgiven), and like Audiard, they're 'hooks' for me - a new film by any of that lot, and I'm in.

2. The Quiet Girl (2022)

This film was a sublime knockout, so quietly affecting that the key moments have stuck with me for months now. The story is simple - a young girl in 1980s rural Ireland, neglected by her family, goes to live with some elderly relatives for the holidays. What director Colm Bairéad does with this rudimentary outline is not much short of magical. Everything clicks into gear with The Quiet Girl. The lead, Cáit, is played by newcomer Catherine Clinch and she's a special find. The rest of the cast are equally fantastic, the editing is spot on, blimey, nothing here is found wanting. Wonderful filmmaking.

1. Hatching (2022)

Hanna Bergholm's debut feature about a young Finnish girl with a domineering, 'influencer' mother is a stupendously satisfying little gem. It's a satirical body-horror, not too many of them around. Sophia Heikkilä and Siiri Solalinna play the mother/daughter dichotomy at the centre of the film, but on the periphery is the crux - an egg with something inside that may or may not be malevolent. Everything is leading to a resolution of sorts and it certainly delivers on its promise. An immensely watchable film about family pressures and the horrors of growing up. Great stuff.

The odd spoiler or two within this podcast....!!!

Comments

The Quiet Girl

This is a great film, especially in the way that it manages to create something interesting out of a reasonably mundane synopsis. A young girl is sent away to a relative's house for the summer where she is treated better than at home. Sounds like it could have a bit of Rohmer-style youthful awakenings? Or maybe some gritty Loach-ian societal comment? Even perhaps a revenge tinged 'fear the youth' theme? Well, it's none of the above, and more power to its style. The Quiet Girl herself (Cáit) is a newcomer, Catherine Clinch, and she was apparently found via an Irish language school call out. She's incredible - meek, direct, no airs nor graces whatsoever, with a clear-eyed awkwardness. She's almost like a little female Bowie in The Quiet Girl Who Fell to Earth (no, not a film but I thought I'd italicise anyway). There are orbiting performances that complement her perfectly. Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennet play Eibhlín and Seán Cinnsealach, the couple who tak...

Arco (Me) (Kid)

This is the first feature length film from French writer/director Ugo Bienvenu. It tells the story of futuristic kid, Arco, voiced by Juliano Crue Valdi in the English dub, and Oscar Tresanini in the French original - here I'll explain that I saw the preview of this with the English voice cast, so I'll mention them from now, unless I spy a notable Frenchy. Anyway, Arco is too young to fly to the past like his family do, but like any young ding-a-ling, he decides to chance his arm, and ends up in 2075. This is a more recognisable future for us than Arco's time, as we see climate change writ large on society. In this time-zone, Arco meets Iris (Margot Ringard Oldra) and her domestic robot, Mikki (voiced by a strange combination of Iris's parents, Natalie Portman and Mark Ruffalo). Iris wants to help Arco return to his time, but they're thwarted by a missing jewel that he needs in order to travel, as well as a trio of bumbling goons (Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg and Flea...

Ainbo: Amazon Princess

A young Amazonian girl bounding around on a tree like Mowgli in The Jungle Book opens this Peruvian/Dutch/German co-production. We soon discover that this is the Ainbo of the title, and that her best friend, Zumi, is about to be crowned leader of their tribe. A relatively quick whip- round of characters introduces us to the two leads; a smarmy village thug called Atok; Zumi’s father and current tribal chief, Huarinka; Ainbo’s foster mother, Chuni; as well as two ‘loopy’ spirit guides, Dillo and Vaca (a bespectacled armadillo and a clumsy tapir). The environmental theme is also introduced early on, in the form of dying fish and disease in the village, attributed to a curse but, as we find out later, the result of something more real, and more troubling. Ainbo is convinced by her spirit guides to embark on a trek to find a magical root that will save the village. On her journey she must deal with various perils, ranging from a pursuing Atok, and a gigantic sloth in his volcano home, t...

Two Prosecutors

This Stalinist 'thriller' sets out its stall early, with a snowy prison yard holding our attention (or not) for a good few minutes. Prisoners are herded in, most very old and on the verge of pegging it. One such geezer is tasked with burning hundreds of letters to Josef himself, pleading with him to hear their case. The old guy saves a letter written in blood and so begins the story. The note is from an ex-academic, party member and proud Bolshevik, asking to see someone from the prosecutors office. Enter Kornev (Alexander Kuznetsov), newly appointed and eager. His meeting with the ancient political prisoner, Stepniak (Alexsandr Filippenko) opens his eyes to the creeping dread of the times. Kornev makes the trek to Moscow to see the Procurator General (Anatoliy Beliy) to make his case against NKVD corruption brough to his attention by Stepniak. It's not an easy mission. The bureaucracy and interminable fucking waiting throughout the first two acts of the film would make Kaf...

The Rivals of Amziah King

This final film at the Lotterywest Film Season for the Perth Festival is a surprising gem. It combines a great musical opening scene with a fine entrance from Matthew McConaughey. Writer/director Andrew Patterson knows who he's got on his hands here. McConaughey has fun with this role of Amziah King, his first real starring part since The Gentleman in 2019, and in fairness, the film probably wouldn't have been made without him. The story goes thus: a honey maker (or beekeeper, apiarist, professor of bees, call him what you will) is coopted into helping the police identify a stolen batch of honey barrels. After a frankly incredible (in the good sense of the word) honey heating procedure that goes off the rails, Amziah finds himself at cafe, where he bumps into Kateri, a young woman who used to foster with him when she was a kid. A star is unearthed here in Angelina LookingGlass (what a name!), in her debut film role, and the rest of the cast is fittingly grubby and grungy. Kur...

The Goya Murders

The machinations of the serial killer have long been fertile ground for filmmakers but the quality of the final product can vary greatly. For every Zodiac or Se7en there’s one like this. The Goya Murders (or El Asesino de los Caprichos ) starts with a reasonably sound premise – a killer is poisoning his (usually well off) victims and recreating scenes from Goya prints as deathly exhibits. Imagine the murders scenes in Se7en but with less gore and more artistry. Investigating these are Madrid detectives, Carmen Cobos and Eva González, played by Maribal Verdú and Aura Garrido, and though the actors are fine, they have the writing to overcome. Their characters are broadly painted, there’s not a lot of light and shade here. Carmen immediately takes against her younger partner for no apparent reason. Eva is a fun-loving, karaoke singing, happy mother-of-two, while Carmen drinks from a hip flask and drives erratically. At one point a fellow officer tells Carmen that her ‘bad cop’ routine ...

The Voice of Hind Rajab

The Voice of Hind Rajab is a very confronting film that uses real emergency recordings to tell the story of Hind Rajab, a 6 year old Palestinian girl trapped under siege in northern Gaza in early 2024. Tunisian writer/director Kaouther Ben Hania apparently paused work on another film when she heard the audio of the calls between Hind and the Palestine Red Crescent Society in order to get this film made. And it's a timely reminder of the crimes of this current Israeli government. The film starts in the offices of the Red Crescent, a West Bank based rescue agency, when Omar (Motaz Malhees) gets a call from a man in Germany explaining that his family are stuck in a car that's been attacked. Omar contacts a young woman in the car but is cut off by the sounds of gunfire. When the call is reconnected, it's soon discovered that the only person still alive in the car is a 6 year old girl, Hind. The sole way to save her is to coordinate with the Israeli army, via the Red Cross to a...

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

I'm really getting into the 28UoTLCU (28 'Unit of Time' Later Cinematic Universe). This edition is directed by Nia DaCosta, and she picks up the reins from Danny Boyle and slots right into the landscape. The biggest takeaway from The Bone Temple is that Father Figure transference is rife, throughout both of these '28 Years' films, actually. If we choose the obvious link, Spike (Alfie Williams) is passed from parents, Isla (Jodie Comer) and Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in the first film, onto two polar opposites, Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) and Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) in this one, and presumably to a certain returnee in the third installment. But there are also other relationships in the film(s) that explore the nature of dependency, and we have to assume writer Alex Garland, DaCosta, and godfather Boyle, have other, real-world settings in mind, not purely in the zombie genre. This manifests in the rapprochement of Dr. Kelson towards the 'infected', s...

We Bury the Dead

I went along to Luna Outdoor last Friday to see a preview of local lad, Zac Hilditch's Albany shot, Tassie set zombie drama, We Bury the Dead . The premise goes that the US government has accidentally detonated an experimental pulse weapon close to the east coast of Tasmania, killing more than 500,000 people. A side note to this disaster is that some of the dead are rebooting. Daisy Ridley plays Ava, an American physical therapist looking for her husband, who was in Tassie on a work retreat. She volunteers to be part of a body retrieval unit but is told she must not leave Hobart. She meets Clay (Brenton Thwaites) and they manage to cadge a motorbike and hit the road south. On the way, among the rebooted, they run into soldier Riley (Mark Coles Smith), who has his own reasons for being out of the capital. In a Q&A after the film with The Curb's Andrew F. Peirce, Hilditch mentioned that the film started out as a pure grief drama, and zombies were added to the script later. Th...

Nope

Jordan Peele really doesn't flinch from a stoush. His first film, Get Out , took an excoriating swipe at racism and white privilege in the US. His second film, Us , delved into class divides and human rights. His latest film, Nope , takes aim at man's subjugation of nature, primarily for profit. The marketing of this film suggests a creepy, sci-fi alien invasion film, and while this is all accurate, there's more going on here too. Daniel Kaluuya, returning for a second Peele film (after Get Out ), plays OJ Haywood, a trainer of horses that appear in films or TV. His father, Otis senior (Keith David), is killed early doors in a freak accident....or is it? Well, no obviously, it isn't, but life moves on for 6 months before more manure flies. OJ is joined by his sister, Emerald (Keke Palmer), as the Haywood Hollywood Horses business, bereft of the old man's guidance and experience perhaps, begins to flounder. OJ has been selling some of the horses to Steven Yuen's ...

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