I read somewhere that 2022 was an excellent year for filmmaking. After all, the pandemic has become endemic (learn to live with it, no matter what). And previous virus constraints have now evaporated. Back to 2019, so to speak. Almost. 
Maybe I am slowing down or something, but I have to disagree with such a blanket statement. In fact, I could make a strong case in the opposite direction. I did not see any WOW films in 2022. Moreover, for the first time in many years, I saw less than 100 during the 12 months of 2022. I am sure I missed a few but not say 50. I would not have been able to sleep well if that was the case.
Anyways, below is my list of favorite films, sorted by date seen in ascending order. Some films were listed in the 2021 top lists, but I only saw them in 2022 – Memoria being the best example here.
- A Hero – Asghar Farhadi (2021, France, Iran)
- Parallel Mothers – Pedro Almodóvar (2021, Spain)
- Fabian: Going to the Dogs – Dominik Graf (2021, Germany)
- Happening – Audrey Diwan (2021, France)
- Memoria – Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2021, Colombia, Thailand, France, Germany, Mexico, Qatar, UK, China, Switzerland)
- Decision to Leave – Park Chan-wook (2022, South Korea)
- Hold Me Tight – Mathieu Amalric (2021, France)
- Lingui: The Sacred Bonds – Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (2021, Chad, France, Belgium, Germany)
- Both Sides of the Blade – Claire Denis (2022, France)
- The Banshees of Inisherin – Martin McDonagh (2022, Ireland, UK, USA)
- The Hole – Michelangelo Frammartino (2021, Italy, France, Germany)
My short list of recommendations to see includes
- What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? – Aleksandre Koberidze (2021, Germany, Georgia)
- Freies Land – Christian Alvart (2019, Germany)
- The Worst Person in the World – Joachim Trier (2021, Norway, France, Sweden, Denmark)
- The Last Execution – Franziska Stünkel (2021, Germany)
- RRR – S.S. Rajamouli (2022, India)
- The Good Boss – Fernando León de Aranoa (2021, Spain)
- Vortex – Gaspar Noé (2021, France, Belgium, Monaco)
- No One’s with the Calves – Sabrina Sarabi (2021, Germany)
Cheers, Raúl
