dir. Steven Spielberg
151 min

I don’t know, I just get emotional thinking about how lucky we are to be alive at the same time as Steven Spielberg, and how thankful we should be that he’s willing to share something so personal with us. I found this deeply moving.

dir. Todd Field
158 min

Its just like, this is what the medium was made for, you know? TÁR is a beautifully crafted, impeccably acted, masterfully written work of art. Every conversation I have about it provokes a different reaction. People have written wonderful (and terrible) things about it. Quite simply, this is why I love going to the movies.

dir. Luca Guadagnino
131 min

Timothée jerks off a man in a corn field before slitting his throat and eating his corpse. What more could you ask for? Luca has produced another queer allegory that’s both a tender and frightening ode to an analog era where cannibals could roam the countryside and fall in love. I’m quite envious of how easy it used to be to simply disappear.

dir. Lukas Dhont
104 min

I don’t think we’ll see two more nuanced and complicated performances this decade. What Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele do here is nothing short of a miracle. I cried for almost the entire runtime and when I walked out of the theater I felt like the world had ended.

dir. Gaspar Noé
142 min

Another harrowing Noé movie, but this one had me openly sobbing in the theater. Alzheimer's runs in my family and this hit closer to home than I was expecting. It’s also just really sad to see Dario Argento get so old.

dir. Bertrand Mandico
130 min

I brought my boyfriend to see this and he absolutely despised it, but almost six months later he’s still talking about it, so… I win. Mandico’s strain of surrealism isn’t for everybody, and that’s fine, but the fact that this movie even exists is a blessing to us all.

dir. Juho Kuosmanen
106 min

I felt like I, sitting in the theater, was in danger for the entire runtime, and for all my anxiety, nothing bad actually happens in the movie. One of the greatest train movies ever made, perfectly balancing the romance and terror and humor of the situation. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Also Murmansk looks stunning.

dir. Terence Davies
137 min

A somber, scathing look at the life of one of the (arguably) most under-appreciated English poets of the 20th century—though Sassoon has *always* been appreciated by me. It’s kind of overwhelming to watch a movie which feels like it was made just for you, but after seeing this, I fear I have more in common with Terence Davies than I’m willing to admit.

dir. Robert Eggers
137 min

The second year in a row I’ve had a Shakespeare adaptation in my top-10, but this movie just goes SO FUCKING HARD. It immediately became my new favorite adaptation of Hamlet, and it’s the kind of studio movie that I wish got made more often. Very thankful for Robert Eggers and I hope to run into him in Portsmouth soon!!

dir. Damien Chazelle
189 min

So overindulgent, niche, and up its own ass, I honestly don’t know how Chazelle got away with making this. Many choices were made, not all of them the right ones, but you’ve gotta give him credit for getting Paramount to pay for and release this jaw-dropping career-ender. I loved it.

dir. Claire Denis
138 min

The cinema of being hot and dumb. Margaret Qualley is an undeniable talent, even if she is a nepotism baby (but who cares!!) This movie has Joe Alwyn! John C. Reilly! Benny Safdie! It’s Denis’ best movie in years. I’d get sweaty with Margaret Qualley in the streets of Nicaragua if given the opportunity.

dir. David Cronenberg
107 min

To be (human) or not to be (human)… that is the question. Crimes of the Future feels like Cronenberg’s final statement on body horror, and even though this isn’t his last movie (thank god), it sums up everything he’s been working towards over the past fifty years. Also, Kristen Stewart being herself is something so personal to me. I adore her.

dir. Peter Strickland
112 min

Asa Butterfield looks VERY good in full denim. Gross and absurd and also incredibly funny. I think it’s Strickland’s best movie without a doubt and I hope he continues on like this in the future, or at least casts Gwendoline Christie in another killer role like this. What a hysterical performance she gives.

dir. Cristian Mungiu
125 min

The screenplay is so fucking smart, everything is interwoven and connected on multiple layers. And that ending left me just like Rudi—absolutely speechless. The fact that this didn’t win the Palme d’Or is a crime.

dir. Isabelle Stever
105 min

A movie for perverts and sickos—I loved everything about it, but especially Emil von Schönfels’ devastating performance. It’s very much in conversation with Malle’s Murmur of the Heart (1971), Bertolucci’s Luna (1979), and Varda’s Kung-Fu Master! I need to write an essay about this fucked up quartet.

dir. Kogonada
96 min

This exists somewhere between Spielberg’s AI: Artificial Intelligence and Jonze’s Her. It has the emotional heft of the former and the pure beauty of the latter. Kogonada’s movies are like if poems had (or were) music videos. A stunner.

dir. Owen Kline
87 min

A disgusting little cringe comedy and my new favorite Christmas movie. Owen Kline is gonna have one hell of a directorial career and I am HERE FOR IT.

dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu
160 min

Ostentatious and self indulgent? Absolutely. But brilliant nonetheless. Some career-best work from Darius Khondji here. I’m kind of in awe this isn’t universally beloved.

dir. Ali Abbasi
118 min

Terror in conviction. Anger through god. The sound design here is truly overwhelming.

dir. Darren Aronofsky
117 min

I’m never not going to be moved by Aronofsky struggling with faith, especially when it’s tied in to something like Moby Dick. I gasped at the final shot. Sorry to all the haters out there, but you’re simply wrong!!

dir. Noah Baumbach
135 min

A movie that shouldn’t work (and it kind of doesn’t), but I’m happy it exists. In an interview, Baumbach said he felt obligated to tackle Delillo’s novel because “how many other people were gonna have the chance to take Netflix’s blank check to do a project like this?” He’s a real one for that.

dir. François Ozon
85 min

Overwhelming capricorn energy—it’s literally just me every time I fall in love with a twink and he ends up hurting my feelings. I was also very in love with Stefan Crepon‘s eyes! What a performance.

dir. Vincent Le Port
102 min

A movie about the insatiable need to spread your seed. It’s horny and dangerous and thrilling. Dimitri Doré could murder me if he wanted and I’d say thank you, sir.

dir. Marie Kreutzer
114 min

A decadent mood piece about telling people to go fuck themselves. Vicky Krieps gives a god-tier performance here and lays it all on the table. Incredible stuff.

dir. Scott McGehee, David Siegel
113 min

Went in with low expectations but was blown away by how nuanced this was and how it doesn’t fall into any of the expected tropes. I also demand to know why Haley Lu Richardson isn’t Florence-Pugh-level famous yet!

dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp
90 min

You know, it’s nice to go to the movies and feel happy every once in a while. Jenny Slate as Marcel just breaks my heart (but in the best way possible).

dir. Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
117 min

A movie about the passage of time—my greatest fear. Life is nothing but pain.

dir. Mia Hansen-Løve
112 min

Admittedly not my favorite of Mia Hansen-Løve’s movies (but that’s a very high bar), though I was so moved by this, in large part because of Léa Seydoux’s performance, and seeing Pascal Greggory in such a delicate role immediately after having binged almost all of Éric Rohmer’s filmography. French cinema always gets me going.

dir. Amanda Kramer
95 min

If all the queers were out in high school, this would be the drama department's spring production. I could watch Harry Melling and Karl Glusman make out all day. Also a big FUCK YES to whatever Cole Escola was doing in this—I'm all in.

dir. Alex Garland
100 min

Contains some of the most disturbing imagery I’ve seen at the movies in a long, long time. The third act cyclical birthing sequence is something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Truly fucked.

dir. Jonas Carpignano
121 min

Another entry in Carpignano’s saga about this Calabrian town and I’m starting to feel at home here. This one is about a fifteen-year-old girl who discovers family ties to the mafia and the criminal underworld and has to go on the run—and it’s still the most reserved of the trilogy. Swamy Rotolo is incredible.

dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
129 min

Rich, layered, complex, and so deeply empathetic. All of Kore-eda’s movies about found family are queer in my eyes.

dir. Zach Cregger
103 min

The movie that actually scared me this year (which doesn’t happen very often). It’s an absurd story and after a certain point it becomes laughable, but I haven’t had a more fun experience in the theater all year.

dir. Cooper Raiff
108 min

Cooper Raiff said it’s okay to be emotional, and you know what y'all, I think he’s right. He can make as many movies as he wants about how much he loves his mom. I’ll watch them all.

dir. João Pedro Rodrigues
67 min

A 67-minute gay musical fantasia about Portuguese firefighters. Let it be known that I want to eat Prince Alfredo’s ass.

dir. S. S. Rajamouli
187 min

Truly did not expect to like this as much as I did—and called my brother as soon as I left the theater, begging him to go se it. I apologize for doubting everybody on Twitter who was hyping this up. It must be seen to be believed.

dir. Baz Luhrmann
159 min

Even Bech Næsheim’s favorite movie of 2022. Austin Butler absolutely disappears, and I know people complain about transformative performances like this, but Butler is still doing the Elvis voice. That’s true dedication.

dir. Michael Bay
136 min

The most exiting drone photography I’ve ever seen (shot by 19-year-old Alex Vanover). Bay deserves more credit for making this 40-million-dollar movie look like something triple its budget. Jake Gyllenhaal unhinged.

dir. Matt Reeves
177 min

A really great movie elevated by Greig Fraser’s cinematography and Michael Giacchino’s score. If all superhero movies were like this I’d be a Marvel/DC stan.

dir. Ruben Östlund
147 min

It’s not even my favorite Östlund movie, but Harris Dickinson is just SO HOT I can’t stand it. If I were stranded on an island, I too would make him my sex slave.

dir. Kirill Serebrennikov
145 min

Just as weird as you’d expect from Serebrennikov by now with some truly stunning cinematography by Vladislav Opelyants. This one didn’t get enough attention out of Cannes imo (probably because of the war, but still). I highly recommend seeking this one out.

dir. Andrew Ahn
106 min

More 👏 Jane 👏 Austen 👏 adaptations 👏 like 👏 this 👏 please

dir. Ti West
102 min

We’ve known for a while that Mia Goth is a fucking star, but the monologue at the end of this film would be recognized with an Oscar in a just world. She was incredible in X, and I can’t wait to see what she does with MaXXXine. One of our greatest.

dir. Michel Franco
82 min

I don’t actually know why I liked this one so much. It’s kind of about Tim Roth doing absolutely nothing for 82 minutes, but I think about it often and it’s bizarrely haunting. And then the third act kind of comes out of nowhere? Strange movie.

dir. Panah Panahi
94 min

A movie that, not unlike the repeating birth sequence at the end of Men, continues changing in a kaleidoscopic way. It’s funny, but you’re laughing because there’s so much tension and you know things are going to go well (and they don’t) — but context makes all the difference.

dir. Xavier Giannoli
149 min

Kind of a who's who of contemporary French twinks and twunks. Need I say more?

dir. Damien Leone
138 min

Some of the most insane VFX work I’ve seen in a long fucking time. This is a terrific sequel which far surpasses the original. I truly can’t wait for the next one.

dir. Ninja Thyberg
108 min

Bella Cherry feels like a character pulled out of SKAM (Norway), but this is more visceral and gets much darker than I was expecting. Whenever I’m watching porn, I always find myself thinking about the actors instead of the characters, imagining what they did the day of the shoot, the life they return to afterwards. This is a movie about that.

dir. Ricky D’Ambrose
87 min

I don’t even know how to describe this one, it’s so focused on the unexceptional, commonplace details that make up a life—and a specific time period—but it does it in a way that feels so personal. Ricky D’Ambrose cares about space and rooms and time and that means a lot to me.

dir. Hong Sang-soo
92 min

A movie about writers talking about how hard it is to write and how it’s kind of unpleasant being a writer at all, but even so, it’s still the only thing they really know how to talk about, and they’re still coming up with ideas for new projects anyways—and subsequently forgetting them—because that’s just what writers do. Kinda hard not to love this.