Aftersun — Features — Cinema As We Know It

Kevin's Top Ten Films of 2022

Without fail, every passing year is a good year for movies filled with stories worth your time. Showcasing what’s possible on the silver screen, 2022 produced an array of dazzling images, the very same ones I assume Nicole Kidman still speaks of to this day. But like always, the quiet innovations in storytelling between the lines and on the pages were a rush to see too. Talking more about what stories stole our hearts and stuck in our minds is always a highlight of my year. So without further ado…

FeaturesKevin ConnerJanuary 19, 2023Top10s, Best of, Best of 2022, 2022, Kevin Conner, Top Ten of 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, We're All Going to the World's Fair, Decision to Leave, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Aftersun, RRR, Fire of Love, Nope, TAR

Cynthia’s Top Ten Films of 2022

If 2021 was the year that brought the return of cinemas, then 2022 was the return of cinemas being a social experience, at least for me. I found myself less alone in the theater, with more packed screenings and livelier audiences, to the point where I finally experienced sitting in the overflow balcony of my local theater for an exciting screening of Chunking Express. If 2022 was just a preview of the electricity that could be felt in the theater again as a social experience, then bring on 2023!

FeaturesCynthia LiJanuary 17, 2023Top10s, Best of, 2022, Top Ten of 2022, Best of 2022, Cynthia Li, Irma Vep, One Fine Morning, Top Gun Maverick, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Showing Up, The Eternal Daughter, TAR, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Decision to Leave, Women Talking, Aftersun

Theo’s Top Ten Films of 2022

If you’re anything like me, you might have slight list fatigue; 2022 ended with Sight and Sound magazine’s once-in-a-decade poll of the best films of all time, which meant months and months of film writers getting philosophical about lists followed by fierce online debate about whether its winner was a worthy one. (New Year’s resolution: spend less time on Twitter.) Only time will tell if any of the films I’ve chosen below have what it takes to crack a future version of the Sight and Sound list, but for now it’s enough for me that I loved them all.

FeaturesTheo RollasonJanuary 11, 2023Top10s, Best of, Theo Rollason, Aftersun, Triangle of Sadness, Fire of Love, The Banshees of Inisherin, RRR, Nope, Piaffe, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Decision to Leave, Saint Omer, 2022, Best of 2022, Top Ten of 2022

Greg’s Top Ten Films of 2022

In 2022, I saw fewer new releases than any previous year I’ve made a top ten. How or why this year was different could be any number of things, but truth be told, I just think 2022 was just an okay year for new releases. It might be heresy to say, but I found greater enjoyment from the loud brass of the big screen spectacle than the vast majority of quieter award contenders (and even some festival favorites). This is usually never the case, but credit where credit is due, the blockbuster, and the adjacent $100 million passion project, were frequently among my favorite films of the year.

FeaturesGreg AriettaJanuary 9, 2023Top10s, Best of, Greg Arietta, Top Gun Maverick, Nope, Aftersun, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, X, Ambulance, White Noise, RRR, Decision to Leave, 2022, Best of 2022, Top Ten of 2022