As various critics groups and awards bodies dole out their top films of the year, it can be hard to parse which ones are actually worth paying attention to. One such list has arrived today with Film Comment’s annual end-of-year survey. Revealed at a special live talk last night, in an unexpected but welcome surprise, David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future topped the list, which also included Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO, Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun, two by Hong Sangsoo, and more. They also revealed their top undistributed films list, which included David Easteal’s The Plains, Bertrand Bonello’s Coma, and Laura Citarella’s Trenque Lauquen.
“That the winner of this year’s poll is a strange, gory, apocalyptic film about a future where art and humanity are both on the precipice of extinction is a striking reflection of what we’re seeking from cinema in 2022,” said Film Comment’s Co-Deputy Editor Devika Girish. “And it’s exciting to see so many first and second features in the top 20—that’s an invigorating prognosis for the art form!”
“This year’s list is satisfyingly eclectic, reflecting the varying sensibilities of our contributors as well as the wide range of quality films released in 2022,” said Film Comment’s Co-Deputy Editor Clinton Krute. “The same is true of our best undistributed list, which features a remarkable selection of films from around the world that we hope more people are able to see in the future.”
See the lists below.
Film Comment’s Top 20 Films Released in 2022
- Crimes of The Future David Cronenberg, Canada/France/Greece/United Kingdom
- EO Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/Italy
- Aftersun Charlotte Wells, U.K.
- Saint Omer Alice Diop, France
- The Eternal Daughter Joanna Hogg, U.K.
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Laura Poitras, U.S.
- In Front of Your Face Hong Sangsoo, South Korea
- Nope Jordan Peele, U.S.
- The Novelist’s Film Hong Sangsoo, South Korea
- The Cathedral Ricky D’Ambrose, U.S.
- TÁR Todd Field, U.S.
- Decision to Leave Park Chan-wook, South Korea
- The Girl and The Spider Ramon and Silvan Zürcher, Switzerland
- The Fabelmans Steven Spielberg, U.S.
- One Fine Morning Mia Hansen-Løve, France
- A Night of Knowing Nothing Payal Kapadia, India
- Stars at Noon Claire Denis, France
- Il Buco Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy
- Armageddon Time James Gray, U.S.
- *TIE: We’re All Going to The World’s Fair & Benediction Jane Schoenbrun, U.S. & Terence Davies, U.K.
Film Comment’s Top 10 Undistributed Films of 2022
- The Plains David Easteal, Australia
- Coma Bertrand Bonello, France
- Trenque Lauquen Laura Citarella, Argentina
- Queens of the Qing Dynasty Ashley McKenzie, Canada
- Mutzenbacher Ruth Beckermann, Austria
- The Adventures of Gigi the Law Alessandro Comodin, Italy/France/Belgium
- The United States of America James Benning, U.S.
- Afterwater Dane Komljen, Germany/South Korea/Spain/Serbia
- It Is Night in America Ana Vaz, Brazil
- A Woman Escapes Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, and Blake Williams, Canada/Turkey
One can also listen to Girish and Krute, alongside Bilge Ebiri, Alissa Wilkinson, and Inney Prakash discuss the selections live below.
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