Every December, I compile a list of my favorite movies of the year. I open Wikipedia and quickly skim through the list of releases, knowing I’ve only seen a dozen or so of the hundreds featured.
But this year was the first year I wrote down every movie I saw. So, for the first time, here are my favorite movies I watched this year. Not necessarily 2022 movies but movies I watched in 2022. As a result, this list is much longer than past lists. Maybe next year I'll join Letterboxd to better keep track of all this.
If my calculations are correct, I watched 77 movies this year. Here are 26 I feel deserve attention, 19 of which were released in the last 3 years.
Deerskin
[2019]
Sometimes it’s all about obtaining a cool coat. Sometimes it’s all about being cool. Being liked. Since late last year, I’ve been immersed in the films of French auteur Quentin Dupieux (aka Mr. Oizo). Blending the surreal with the comedic and the absurd, his prolific outpouring of films (9 in the last 12 years) all seem to exist in the same off-kilter universe. I discovered his work thanks to a recommendation from visual artist Phib and spent the majority of this year tracking down his movies. While you’ll find a handful of other Dupieux films on this list, I’d also like to give a nod to 2014’s Reality (my favorite of his, which I watched last November) as well as 2012’s Wrong and 2018’s Keep An Eye Out, all of which I watched before the start of 2022.
Greener Grass
[2019]
Similar to Quentin Dupieux in regards to blending the funny with the strange, this 2019 dark comedy provides that perfect mixture of surrealism and humor. Feeling like a Russell Edson prose poem with a saturated color palette. John Waters meets The Stepford Wives. Directors Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe provide one hell of a debut film and I can’t wait to see what they do next. To hold us over, they both recently directed this music video and have two short films available at Short of the Week. One about clothing a cow, and another from twisted suburbia that feels like a sibling of Greener Grass.
Mother!
[2017]
I know 2017’s Mother! is a polarizing film because I entertain myself by reading scathing reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Aren’t all of Aronofsky’s films met with mixed opinions? I’m one of 20 people who enjoyed The Fountain, for example, and I also loved Mother!, an allegorical minimalist piece that never leaves the house (sound familiar?). I’ve been writing a lot of fables and fairy tales and this film used the effect of abstract flatness I often try to capture. Watching this felt like constantly waking up from a disorienting nightmare.
Flux Gourmet
[2022]
Fact: if Makis Papadimitriou is part of the cast (Pity, L, Chevalier), the film will be strong. Flux Gourmet is no exception. The film takes one hell of a unique concept and runs with it, allowing for anything and everything to seem normal and logical. A genius feature meshing the avant-garde with stomach problems and cuisine. This suspenseful film led to me watching director Peter Strickland’s 2012 film Berberian Sound Studio (featured below).
Petrov's Flu
[2021]
This 2.5 hour Russian film took me two weeks to watch. It felt like I had a fever every time I pressed play. I loved the librarian vigilante, loved the coffins and the buses and the abrupt violences. Loved the freeflowing madness of it all. I have to check out more of the films by director Kirill Serebrennikov (this is my first) but 2006’s Playing the Victim also sounds really interesting.
Strawberry Mansion
[2021]
I may or may not be working on an ekphrastic project with writer Jay Besemer revolving around this hallucinatory and bubblegum-fueled daydream of a film. As a result, it’s one of only a few movies I’ve watched twice in the last few years. In every shot, you can feel the passion and the interest of the process between frequent collaborators Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley. For fans of Charlie Kaufman and Terry Gilliam and Alice in Wonderland and ice cream.
Athena
[2022]
From the moment I pressed play until the very end, I was on the edge of my seat. Filmed largely in a single-take structure, Athena felt like watching chaos unfold in real time. It’s a fast-paced adrenaline rush and it makes perfect sense that director Romain Gavras has directed music videos for M.I.A., Justice, Kanye West, and Jamie xx. The energy is hypnotizing. Plan to watch this one in one sitting.
Tale of Tales
[2015]
What more do you need other than this picture of Salma Hayak eating a sea monster’s heart? This film by Italian director Matteo Garrone is smack dab in the middle of his impressive ten year run, beginning with the gritty Gomorrah in 2008 and ending most recently with the moving live-action Pinocchio in 2019. With Dogman and Reality released during this time as well, it proved Garrone as an artistic force, and finally caught the attention of those outside his country. Tale of Tales is the only one in the bunch that’s in English and it combines a series of fairytales for a truly mesmerizing experience. Big budget and dazzling (and with John C. Reilly?), I wish more knew about this one.
Triangle of Sadness
[2022]
One of a handful of films I watched in the last week so as to complete my list. Triangle of Sadness completes a trifecta of Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund’s recent run, which includes 2017’s The Square and 2014’s Force Majeure. I really enjoyed the beautifully absurd three part structure of Triangle of Sadness, the middle act being a particular favorite. But also, the restaurant. And also, the donkey. There’s a reason this film (along with The Square) won the Palm d’Or.
Incredible But True
[2022]
Another Quentin Dupieux film! Have you read enough about him already? Well, he’s featured two more times below. Well, here’s another entry. It’s the French auteur’s first (of two) films released in 2022 and it tells the story of a couple who buy a house that has a secret door. Or a portal. Or a time machine. That’s all you need to know. It’s great. It tastes like ants.
On the Count of Three
[2022]
If you read the premise, you’ll know this is a dark one. If you know about Jerrod Carmichael, you’ll know this is a funny one but also an emotionally devastating one. I remember watching a stand-up set by him, and rather than laughing, I just kept saying, “Damn, that’s real.” His directorial debut On the Count of Three is a movie that deserves more attention. I can’t think of many other American films that talk about suicide so openly and (un)comfortably.
Favola
[2017]
I found this movie by Italian director Sebastiano Maurion on accident and I’m so glad I did. I was on a big Matteo Garrone kick this year, and couldn’t think of the name of his fairytale movie Tale of Tales (listed above), so I searched “Italian movie fairytale” and this 2017 dreamwave vintage Favola came into my life. Minimalist in its scope (the camera never leaves the house) yet technicolor in its presentation of 1950s America (from the wallpaper to the dresses to the decor), it’s a humorous and lonely and moving one-person show.
I'm No Longer Here
[2019]
To be kind, to try to be kind, only to have the darkness still find you. To dance then flee then dance then flee only to return again, only to dance again, only for everything to be a bit quieter. Tidier. More space for the song to breathe. It’s all so beautiful and sad at the same exact time.
L
[2012]
A story about a man who lives in his car. To say anything more would be to give it away. Written by Efthymis Filippou (Dogtooth, The Lobster) and directed by Babis Makridis (Pity), it’s another great example of the deadpan Greek cinema that’s constantly stealing my attention.
Kill List
[2011]
I love going into a movie with completely wrong expectations. I thought this one would be a heist or assassin-type film, and while it starts out like that, it takes many turns toward something much more menacing and evil. This one will stir you and discomfort you and haunt you. A+.
Apples
[2020]
I watched this one earlier this week so it’s fresh in my head. The world is suffering from sudden amnesia, so doctors draft up an experimental process to return struggling patients back to civilization. Director by Greek artist Christos Nikou, who assisted with Dogtooth, so you already know the dramatic vibes. Strange, melancholic, sobering, and uniquely odd. Apparently Jason Schwartzman is working with Nikou on an English-speaking television adaptation of this movie. Let’s see.
Pinocchio
[2019]
Everyone is talking about Pinocchio because of the two releases this year: Disney’s Pinnochio (currently with a 27% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinnochio (currently with a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes). While I haven’t seen either (I plan to watch both), I did enjoy Matteo Garrone’s live-action version released in 2019. A fantastical sequel of sorts to his 2015 film Tale of Tales (listed above), Pinnochio features a giant snail, multiple tricksters, the belly of a beast, and a memorable red hat.
Berbarian Sound Studio
[2012]
Elevator pitch: a horror film studio demands a sound professional to soundtrack the slaughter. This may or may not cause said professional to lose his mind. I love the idea of a film being made inside of a film and this 2012 feature (set in 1970s Italy) conceptualizes this horror-within-a-horror with perfect results. From the same director as Flux Gourmet (featured above), Strickland continues to approach cinema with a fresh set of eyes, and, most dominantly, ears.
Rubber
[2010]
One of Quentin Dupieux’s first films (did I mention he’s released 9 in the last 12?) and his first in English, Rubber is one you think you’ve seen before - it will feel so familiar and so typical for horror despite the added joke — yet as the story progresses (and you continue to dive deeper), you will understand less and less and be turned upside down more and more. Break the fourth wall. Explode into mush.
Nr. 10
[2021]
It’s tricky to pinpoint this one. At once a thespian-driven tale of faithfulness and honesty quickly takes a turn for something both cosmic and (anti)religious. It’s one for the true van Warmerdam fans, a writer/director/actor who remains near the top of my list of favorite living artists. Please watch spectacles like The Northerners and Borgman. While Nr. 10 might be his most out there yet, it’s another notch on the auteur’s weird and abstract belt.
Air Conditioner
[2020]
Air conditioners start falling from the sky and killing people. That’s all you need to know before pressing play on this Angolan slow burn of a film. It’s electric and meditative and prophetic. The sweaty, jazzy soundtrack only adds to the feverish effect of this daydream.
The Booksellers
[2019]
I watched this documentary about booksellers and instantly wanted to buy a rare book and expand my collection. I think the most I’ve spent on a book is around $40, but as my collection expands, I secretly want to track down some difficult to find first editions (I see you, Richard Brautigan).
Three Thousand Years of Longing
[2022]
I didn’t know anything about this movie, other than seeing the psychedelic poster and knowing it was the first film from George Miller since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. With fantastical elements and magic abound, this film is an epic romance, one that masterfully held my attention through simple and effective storytelling.
Mandibles
[2020]
Quentin Dupieux has released three movies in the last three years, including two this calendar year. His 2020 film Mandibles is an over-the-top surrealist romp through strangeland, where everyone is either screaming or sleeping on the beach or being eaten by a fly. This one’s for the true Dupieux heads, a group of which I’m happy to call myself a member.
Saloum
[2021]
Badass and original and clever from start to finish. The trailer for this Senegalese film was one I watched more than twice before properly tracking down a copy. Mixing the spaghetti Western with fantasy and horror, it’s a film that switches genres with ease and nothing is ever exactly as its seams. Typo intended. Try to keep up.
Barefoot: The Mark Baumer Story
[2019]
I can’t think of anyone who has more rapidly inspired me, given me new life, restored my faith in humanity than Mark Baumer. This documentary is a poetic and deeply moving watch, one that will make you want to chase your dreams and work on your passion project, and speak up more, and yet despite the uplift and the contagious energy Baumer brings to the table, we all know how his story ends. Heartbreaking and harrowing to see one of the good ones leave so early, yet this film will be sure to motivate the hate out of your heart.
