The Menu is a 2022 American dark comedy horror film directed by Mark Mylod. It features an ensemble cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Reed Birney, Judith Light, and John Leguizamo. The film focuses on a group of diners at an exclusive restaurant who discover the celebrity chef owner intends to kill them all before the night is over.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a 2022 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Johnson and Ram Bergman. It is the sequel to the 2019 film Knives Out, with Daniel Craig reprising his role as master detective Benoit Blanc as he takes on a new case. The ensemble cast includes Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista. (Wikipedia)
Violent Night is a 2022 American Christmas action comedy film starring David Harbour as Santa Claus, who fights mercenaries who have taken a wealthy family hostage in their home. It is directed by Tommy Wirkola, written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, and also starring John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Cam Gigandet, Leah Brady, and Beverly D’Angelo.
Emancipation is a 2022 American historical action film directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Will Smith as an enslaved man in Louisiana in the 1860s who escapes his plantation. The film, written by William N. Collage, is loosely based on the real-life story of Gordon (named “Peter” in the film), a former slave, and the photographs of his bare back, heavily scourged from an overseer’s whippings, that were published worldwide in 1863, giving the abolitionist movement proof of the cruelty of slavery. The film also stars Ben Foster and Charmaine Bingwa. (Wikipedia)
The Banshees of Inisherin is a 2022 black comedy drama film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. The film follows lifelong friends (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship; Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan also star.
The Fabelmans is a 2022 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and written and produced by Tony Kushner and Spielberg. It is a semi-autobiographical story loosely based on Spielberg’s adolescence and first years as a filmmaker, told through an original story of the fictional Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring filmmaker himself who explores how the power of films can help him see the truth about his dysfunctional family and those around him.
Till is a 2022 American biographical drama film directed by Chinonye Chukwu and written by Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp, and Chukwu, and produced by Beauchamp, Reilly, and Whoopi Goldberg. It is based on the true story of Mamie Till-Bradley, an educator and activist who pursued justice after the murder of her 14-year-old son Emmett in 1955. The film stars Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till-Bradley, with Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Haley Bennett, and Goldberg in supporting roles.
The Whale is a 2022 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Brendan Fraser. The film is based on a screenplay by Samuel D. Hunter adapting Hunter’s 2012 play of the same name. The film also stars Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. (Wikipedia)
Troll is a 2022 Norwegian monster film directed by Roar Uthaug. Starring Ine Marie Wilmann, Kim Falck, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Gard B. Eidsvold, Pål Richard Lunderby, and Eric Vorenholt, it follows a ragtag group of people who must come together to stop an ancient troll that was awakened in a Norwegian mountain and prevent it from wreaking havoc.
She Said is a 2022 American biographical drama film directed by Maria Schrader and written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the 2019 book by reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. The film stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as Twohey and Kantor, respectively, and follows their New York Times investigation that exposed Harvey Weinstein’s history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women. Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, and Samantha Morton co-star, with Ashley Judd appearing as herself. (Wikipedia)
Pearl (subtitled An X-traordinary Origin Story) is a 2022 slasher horror film directed by Ti West, co-written by West and Mia Goth, who reprises her role as the title character, and featuring David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, and Emma Jenkins-Purro in supporting roles. A prequel to X (2022), and second instalment overall in the X film series, it serves as an origin story for the title villain whose fervent aspiration to become a movie star led her to committing violent acts on her family’s Texas homestead in 1918.
Smile is a 2022 American psychological horror film written and directed by Parker Finn in his feature directorial debut, based on his 2020 short film Laura Hasn’t Slept. It stars Sosie Bacon as a therapist named Rose Cotter, who, after witnessing the bizarre suicide of a patient, goes through increasingly disturbing and daunting experiences, leading her to believe what she is experiencing is supernatural. It also stars Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Robin Weigert, Kal Penn, and Rob Morgan, as well as Caitlin Stasey playing the same character she played in the short film. (Wikipedia)
Barbarian is a 2022 American horror-mystery film written and directed by Zach Cregger (in his solo directorial debut). It is produced by Arnon Milchan, Roy Lee, Raphael Margules, and J.D. Lifshitz. The film stars Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, and Justin Long. The plot sees a woman find out that the rental house she reserved has been accidentally double-booked with a man, while not knowing of a dark secret within the dwelling. (Wikipedia)
All Quiet on the Western Front (German: Im Westen nichts Neues) is a 2022 German epic anti-war film based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque. Directed by Edward Berger, it stars Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic and Devid Striesow. Set in the closing days of World War I, it follows the life of German soldier Paul Bäumer, who, after enlisting in the German Army with his friends, finds himself exposed to the realities of war, shattering his early hopes of becoming a hero. (Wikipedia)
Wakanda Forever is the final film in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a phase which was disappointing and under-whelming both critically and commercially. The good years of 2018 and 2019 have been followed by three years of steady decline, which of course was also partly due to the devastating global pandemic. This Black Panther sequel is emblematic of all the problems facing the MCU.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a 2022 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Black Panther. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Black Panther (2018) and the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, the film stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Angela Bassett. In the film, the leaders of Wakanda fight to protect their nation in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. (Wikipedia)
Causeway is a 2022 American psychological drama film directed by Lila Neugebauer from a screenplay by Ottessa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel, and Elizabeth Sanders. The film follows a soldier who suffers a traumatic brain injury while deployed in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home. It stars Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry, alongside Linda Emond, Jayne Houdyshell, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Russell Harvard in supporting roles.
Don’t Worry Darling is a 2022 American psychological scifi thriller film directed by Olivia Wilde from a screenplay by Katie Silberman. The film stars Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. The film follows an idyllic housewife living in a company town who begins to suspect a sinister secret being kept from its residents by the man who runs it. (Wikipedia)
X is a 2022 slasher film written, directed, produced and edited by Ti West. It stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi. The film’s plot is set in 1979 and follows a cast and crew who gather to make a pornographic film on an elderly couple’s rural Texas property, but find themselves threatened by an unlikely killer.
Black Adam is a 2022 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, Seven Bucks Productions, and FlynnPictureCo., it is a spin-off from Shazam! (2019) and the 11th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani, the film stars Dwayne Johnson as the titular character alongside Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, and Pierce Brosnan.
Hellraiser is a 2022 American supernatural horror film directed by David Bruckner, with a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, from a screen story they co-wrote with David S. Goyer. Despite sharing the title of Clive Barker’s original 1987 film Hellraiser, the film features a new story and is not a direct remake or a new adaptation of his 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart. It is a reboot of the titular franchise and the eleventh installment overall. A co-production between Spyglass Media Group and Phantom Four Films, the film stars Odessa A’zion, Jamie Clayton, Brandon Flynn, Goran Višnjić, Drew Starkey, Adam Faison, Aoife Hinds, Selina Lo and Hiam Abbass. (Wikipedia)
Moonage Daydream is a 2022 documentary film about English singer-songwriter David Bowie. Written, directed, produced and edited by Brett Morgen, the film uses previously unreleased footage from Bowie’s personal archives, including live concert footage. It is the first film to be officially authorized by Bowie’s estate, and takes its title from the 1971 Bowie song of the same name. (Wikipedia)
Three Thousand Years of Longing is a 2022 fantasy romantic drama film directed by George Miller and starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. Miller wrote the screenplay with Augusta Gore, adapting the 1994 short story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” by A. S. Byatt.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is an epic fantasy movie drama series directed by Peter Jackson, based on the classic J.R.R. Tolkien novels viz. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King. The trilogy was released from 2001 – 2003 and was critically acclaimed and a smash hit at the box office (almost $3 billion), with the final movie sweeping the Academy Awards in 2004.
With the prequel series, The Rings of Power being – like most modern-day adaptations – highly divisive, it is probably instructional to analyse the reasons why The Lord of the Rings trilogy works in a way that seems to have eluded the folks behind The Rings of Power series. Thus, although almost everybody in the civilised world has probably seen these films, a spoiler warning is still necessary.
Nope is an American scifi horror film drama, written and directed by Jordan Peele. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, and Brandon Perea. The film has been generally well-received and has grossed over $148 million worldwide with a production cost of about $68 million.
