Last year I saw a few more films than I did this year, but this year I saw way more TV. 350 odd films plus 70 odd seasons of TV. I remember starting the year and being so excited for so many things, but for the most part, the things that made me excited from the Marvel Studios slate to the return of my favorite show from last year, For All Mankind, were not slam dunks and left me a bit deflated. This year I attended the Cannes Film Festival(!!!!!), attended many advance screenings, and saw films in Minneapolis, LA, NYC, Tampa, Cairo, Cannes.
This was a real year of surprise and discovery. The things I was familiar with didn’t do a lot for me, so I decided to go blind into a lot of unknowns without even watching the trailer, and those are mostly the things that made it onto these lists. Obviously, “best” could be read as “favorite” cause some things are irrationally high and some great things are bafflingly low, but this list is already changing as I write this. I see it as a snapshot of who I was during the year 2022: my tastes, the things I leaned on, and what was important to me.
Enjoy!
Top 10 Films of 2022 (+20 more):
I feel like my top 10/30 really encapsulates me as a person. The lover of spectacle, the hopeless romantic, the laugher, the crier, the existentialist. My top 20 is the top 5% of the films I saw this year so it’s definitely what I consider the peak of the year, but they’re also mostly the only films I’d call GREAT, the other 95% being mostly good/really good.
Everything in the top 10 I saw in theaters, and that extends to the top 30 besides a couple streaming exclusives. The theater experience adds a lot to a film, so I always want to give a film the best circumstances for me to love it. 150+ films in theaters this year, about 42% of everything. A year in film where there was something good to watch most weekends at the theater. Overall, much stronger than 2021.
And here it all is in list form:
30. Coupez! (Final Cut) – Michel Hazanavicius
29. Speak No Evil – Christian Tafdrup
28. Sundown – Michel Franco
27. The Fabelmans – Steven Speilberg
26. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Ryan Coogler
25. God’s Creatures – Anna Rose Holmer, Saela Davis
24. Kimi – Steven Soderbergh
23. The Banshees of Inisherin – Martin McDonagh
22. Boy From Heaven – Tarik Saleh
21. The Eternal Daughter – Joanna Hogg
20. Bodies Bodies Bodies – Halina Reijn
19. Navalny – Daniel Roher
18. The Northman – Robert Eggers
17. The Woman King – Gina Prince-Bythewood
16. All Quiet On The Western Front – Edward Berger
15. Everything Everywhere All At Once – The Daniels
14. Aftersun – Charlotte Wells
13. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Rian Johnson
12. Cha Cha Real Smooth – Cooper Raiff
11. Turning Red – Domee Shi
10. How To Save A Dead Friend
dir. Marusya Syroechkovskaya
9. Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp
8. The Worst Person In The World
dir. Joachim Trier
7. TÁR
dir. Todd Field
6. The Batman
dir. Matt Reeves
5. Bones & All
dir. Luca Guadagnino
4. Avatar: The Way of Water
dir. James Cameron
3. Babylon
dir. Damien Chazelle
2. Top Gun: Maverick
dir. Joseph Kosinski
1. NOPE
dir. Jordan Peele
Follow me on Letterboxd! I watch a lot of films and review them all too! letterboxd.com/abdimalik/
Top 10 TV Series of 2022 (+20 more):
It’s so much harder choosing a top 10 or even 30 favorite shows of this year compared to films. TV is just way healthier than movies right now, there are so many more great shows, and trust me I’ve seen most of the films and TV so I can give that assessment. However, I did miss a couple of very popular shows like Better Call Saul & Barry & Atlanta s4.
This was also the year I made MY television debut on Apple TV+’s Little America! Apple set up a Minneapolis special screening for the episode where we had a red carpet and did a Q&A and took photos and saw MY face on the big screen of one of my favorite theaters I frequent, a screen on which I frequently watch stars. Surreal. I have an IMDB page! Catch me on season 2 episode 4, “Camel On A Stick”! You’ll immediately know which one… cause I’m in the thumbnail! 😜😭🤞🏾
And here it all is in list form:
30. Hacks – S2 (HBO Max)
29. Black Bird – S1 (Apple TV+)
28. Chainsaw Man – S1 (Hulu)
27. Abbott Elementary – S1 & 2 (Hulu)
26. Dangerous Liaisons – S1 (AMC+)
25. Servant – S3 (Apple TV+)
24. We Own This City – S1 (HBO Max)
23. Bridgerton – S2 (Netflix)
22. Bad Sisters – S1 (Apple TV+)
21. The Gilded Age – S1 (HBO Max)
20. LOTR: The Rings of Power – S1 (Prime Video)
19. The Afterparty – S1 (Apple TV+)
18. Winning Time – S1 (HBO Max)
17. Stranger Things – S4 (Netflix)
16. The Bear – S1 (Hulu)
15. Derry Girls – S3 (Netflix)
14. For All Mankind – S3 (Apple TV+)
13. Fleishman Is In Trouble – S1 (Hulu)
12. House of the Dragon – S1 (HBO Max)
11. Tokyo Vice – S1 (HBO Max)
10. Atlanta – S3 (Hulu)
9. The White Lotus – S2 (HBO Max)
7. Slow Horses – S1, S2 (Apple TV+)
8. Industry – S2 (HBO Max)
6. The Rehearsal – S1 (HBO Max)
5. Euphoria – S2 (HBO Max)
4. Severance – S1 (Apple TV+)
3. Reservation Dogs – S2 (Hulu)
2. Pachinko – S1 (Apple TV+)
ABDIMALIK AHMED 