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....!!!

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