Films in 2022

The best movies, documentaries and series in 2022.

Nancy Salzman in The Vow Part Two

TÁR: I remember being seriously disturbed and amazed by Little Children, Todd Field's previous film released in 2006. He finally returns with a brilliant, timely study of power - and how it is wielded within institutions - told through the story of a composer/conductor's fall from grace. The only appropriate word I can find for it is Masterpiece. I can't remember the last time a character this fully formed hit the screen; Cate Blanchett is outstanding. The script is an intellectual feast and the final shot has got to be the most confounding and brilliant of the year.

THE VOW PART II: This is difficult, stomach-churning viewing but is one of the most intimate and revealing documents of human behavior control ever filmed; it explores the manipulative sociopathy of a megalomaniac misogynist and the (NLP based) systems developed to exploit vulnerable minds. Part I was an excellent overview of the NXIVM cult and it's adherents but Part II is on a whole other level - more access to key people and a much deeper dive as it unfolds over 6 hours. The footage of Raniere’s brainwashed minions dancing outside his jail cell is unbelievable, the ‘NXIVM 5’ are truly camera ready lost souls for modern times. Nancy Salzman is the most fascinating character of 2022 and her brutally honest, soul-searching testimony - and the tragic ending sequence - will stay with me for years to come. On HBO.

THE NORTHMAN: Robert Eggers' viking epic takes you to another world. A brutally realistic revenge movie dealing with ritual/sorcery/mysticism in AD890 Iceland - this is wild, visionary filmmaking. If you get the chance see it on a big screen, do it.

RESURRECTION: An unbelievably twisted movie about extreme psychological abuse and control; an unsettlingly imaginative, very well written script is brought to life with a restrained Haneke-esque coldness and anchored by a bravado woman-in-crisis performance from Rebecca Hall. Writer/director Andrew Seamans is one to watch.

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS: Once again Ruben Östlund wages class war in the most entertaining and engaging way possible, this time by humanizing and degrading models and oligarchs on a cruise. Totally relevant comedy.

Eddie Redmayne as Charles Cullen in The Good Nurse

THE GOOD NURSE: I was never an Eddie Redmayne fan until I watched this - now I think he may be the best actor of his generation. He is downright revelatory in the English language debut from Danish master Tobias Lindholm. Very dark subject matter handled with grace and care. On Netflix.

THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER: Joanna Hogg deploys rigorous form in the service of a severely moody and stunningly shot ghost story. I haven't seen a haunting this convincing since Personal Shopper; it must have been mind blowing to see in a theater.

TWO SHALLOW GRAVES: There were a lot of good true crime documentaries this year (Sins of Our Mother, Murdaugh Murders, Raincoat Killer) but this documentary on the McStay family murder case airing on Discovery+ is exceptional. Once the mysteries of the crime are laid out in detail in the first few episodes, it moves into an all access courtroom drama that almost plays like a mini Staircase. Much like that classic, truth is elusive, motives are unknown and nothing is set in stone. The audacious Brady violations and assumptive leaps in logic from the prosecutors were alarming. The brother and the mom cleaning the crime scene is extremely shady. Merritt probably did it but an unjust outcome nonetheless.

NITRAM: There is something sinister about the way Justin Kurzel portraits the undereducated Australian underbelly. This return to his realist crime roots is a masterful five alarm fire about how we treat behavioral issues and mental illness, and the consequences of our collective ignorance. Caleb Landry Jones is absolutely phenomenal as Martin Bryant.

SECRETS OF PLAYBOY: This powerful ten part documentary series completely rewrites the company's history and exposes the woman-hating rapist ‘Hef’ and his co-conspirators as misogynist monsters, all while methodically breaking down his sex trafficking organization that destroyed lives for decades. A surprisingly harrowing watch. Available on A&E and Hulu.

Dolly De Leon steps up in Triangle Of Sadness

Also worth mentioning are James Gray's super soulful autobiographical tale ARMAGEDDON TIME, Australian arthouse crime thriller THE STRANGER, master dramatist Joachim Trier's heavy stunner THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, the beautifully observant second season of LAST CHANCE U BASKETBALL, Nathan's hysterically insane meta commentary THE REHEARSAL and the unforgettable, searing unclassified images in CHERNOBYL THE LOST TAPES.

Sacrificial lambs step into the abyss in Chernobyl The Lost Tapes