Avalon's Picks: Best Films Of 2022

We're almost at the end of the year, and you know what that means - it's time for my list of Best Films of 2022. Now I always say art is subjective, so some of you may like my choices. Some of you may not. But one thing was certain - 2022 was a great year for cinema, and based on what's to come, 2023 is going to be even better.

Now without further ado, let's get into my favorite films of 2022 below...

1. The Batman - Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman, striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high‐profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens. When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman, Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin, Carmine Falcone, and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.

2. Top Gun: Maverick - After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.” Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.

3. Everything Everywhere All At Once - When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

4. Scream - Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a terrifying new killer resurrects the Ghostface mask. As the deaths mount, Woodsboro's new targets must seek help from the survivors of the original Ghostface attacks. Now, only Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), former sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) can find a way to stop the killer when everyone is a suspect.

5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M'Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with Nakia and Everett Ross to forge a new path for their beloved kingdom.

6. Bullet Train - Ladybug (Brad Pitt) is an unlucky assassin who's determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs has gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans as his latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe -- all with connected yet conflicting objectives -- on the world's fastest train.

7. Prey - A skilled Comanche warrior protects her tribe from a highly evolved alien predator that hunts humans for sport, fighting against wilderness, dangerous colonisers and this mysterious creature to keep her people safe.

8. Terrifier 2 - After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County where he targets a teenage girl and her younger brother on Halloween night.

9. Fire Island - Set in the iconic Pines, Andrew Ahn's FIRE ISLAND is an unapologetic, modern day rom-com showcasing a diverse, multicultural examination of queerness and romance. Inspired by the timeless pursuits from Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice, the story centers around two best friends (Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang) who set out to have a legendary summer adventure with the help of cheap rosé and their cadre of eclectic friends.

10. The Black Phone - Finney Shaw is a shy but clever 13-year-old boy who's being held in a soundproof basement by a sadistic, masked killer. When a disconnected phone on the wall starts to ring, he soon discovers that he can hear the voices of the murderer's previous victims -- and they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney.

11. Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul - Proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) carries immense responsibility on her shoulders. After a scandal involving her husband, Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), the church is forced to close temporarily, leaving Trinitie struggling to manage the aftermath. Now Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must rebuild their congregation and reconcile their faith by all means necessary to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.

12. The Menu - A couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises. Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Ralph Fiennes, John Leguizamo, Judith Light, Hong Chau

13. The Inspection - Based on an incredible true story. A young, gay Black man with few options for his future decides to join the Marines, willing to do whatever it takes to prove himself to his estranged mother and triumph in a system that would otherwise cast him aside. But even as he battles deep-seated prejudice and the grueling rigor of basic training, he finds unexpected camaraderie, strength, and support in this new community, giving him a hard-won sense of belonging that will shape his identity and forever change his life.

14. The Contractor - Chris Pine stars in the action-packed thriller as Special Forces Sergeant James Harper, who is involuntarily discharged from the Army and cut-off from his pension. In debt, out of options and desperate to provide for his family, Harper contracts with a private underground military force. When the very first assignment goes awry, the elite soldier finds himself hunted and on the run, caught in a dangerous conspiracy and fighting to stay alive long enough to get home and uncover the true motives of those who betrayed him. Also starring Kiefer Sutherland, Ben Foster, Gillian Jacobs and Eddie Marsan.

15. The Gray Man - THE GRAY MAN is CIA operative Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling), aka, Sierra Six. Plucked from a federal penitentiary and recruited by his handler, Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), Gentry was once a highly-skilled, Agency-sanctioned merchant of death. But now the tables have turned and Six is the target, hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a former cohort at the CIA, who will stop at nothing to take him out. Agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) has his back. He’ll need it.

16. Hellraiser - In “Hellraiser,” a young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension. The ensemble cast includes Odessa A’zion (“Fam,” “Grand Army”), Jamie Clayton (“The L Word: Generation Q,” “Sense8”), Adam Faison (“Everything’s Gonna Be Okay,” “Yes Day”), Drew Starkey (“Outer Banks,” “The Devil All the Time”), Brandon Flynn (“Ratched,” “13 Reasons Why”), Aoife Hinds (“The Long Call,” “Normal People”), Jason Liles (“Stereoscope,” “Rampage”), Yinka Olorunnife (“The Transporter”), Selina Lo (“Boss Level,” “Q8 Unleashed”), Zachary Hing (“Halo”), Kit Clarke (“Leonardo”), with Goran Visnjic (“The Boys,” “Timeless”) and Hiam Abbass (“Succession,” “Blade Runner 2049”).

17. The Woman King - Inspired by true events, this is the remarkable, action-packed story about the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Follow the epic and intense journey of General Nanisca (Oscar® winner VIOLA DAVIS; 2016, Best Supporting Actress, Fences) as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life.

18. RRR - A tale of two legendary revolutionaries and their journey far away from home. After their journey they return home to start fighting back against British colonialists in the 1920s.

19. Nanny - In this psychological fable of horror, Aisha (Anna Diop), a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal, is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector) living in New York City. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind, Aisha hopes her new job will afford her the chance to bring him to the U.S., but becomes increasingly unsettled by the family’s volatile home life. As his arrival approaches, a violent presence begins to invade both her dreams and her reality, threatening the American dream she is painstakingly piecing together.

20. Troll - When an explosion in the Norwegian mountains awakens an ancient troll, officials appoint a fearless palaeontologist to stop it from wreaking deadly havoc. This fantasy-action film stars Ine Marie Wilmann ("War Sailor") and was directed by Roar Uthaug ("Tomb Raider" and “The Wave”).

21. X - A group of actors set out to make an adult film in rural Texas under the noses of their reclusive hosts-an elderly couple with a farm and boarding house for rent. But when the couple catches their young guests in the act, the cast finds themselves in a desperate fight for their lives in this tantalizing slasher from writer-director Ti West.

22. The Northman - From visionary director Robert Eggers comes THE NORTHMAN, an action-filled epic that follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s murder. With an all-star cast that includes Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe.

23. Watcher - As a serial killer stalks the city, Julia – a young actress who just moved to town with her boyfriend – notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street in this terrifying thriller.

24. Mad God - Follow The Assassin through a forbidding world of tortured souls, decrepit bunkers, and wretched monstrosities forged from the most primordial horrors of the subconscious mind. Directed by Phil Tippett (Star Wars, Jurassic Park), the world's pre-eminent stop motion animator, every set, creature, and effigy in this macabre masterpiece is hand-crafted and painstakingly animated using traditional stop-motion techniques.

25. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story - You’re invited to put the pieces together. In the follow-up to Rian Johnson's Knives Out, Detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery involving a new cast of colorful suspects. Starring Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline with Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista.

26. My Fake Boyfriend - Andrew has a major problem: he can't stay away from the toxic boyfriend who just dumped him. His meddling friends decide to help him by creating Cristiano, a perfect fake boyfriend on social media. However, things soon spiral out of control when Andrew meets his real-life dream guy and Cristiano becomes a worldwide sensation.

27. Barbarian - A young woman discovers the rental home she booked is already occupied by a stranger. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the night but soon discovers there's a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.

28. The Innocents - During the bright Nordic summer, a group of children reveal mysterious powers. But what starts out innocent soon takes a dark and violent turn in this gripping supernatural thriller.

29. Slash/Back - In a small village near the Arctic Circle, a few friends must fight off an alien invasion using makeshift weapons and their horror movie knowledge.

30. Violent Night - An elite team of mercenaries breaks into a family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone hostage inside. However, they aren't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he's about to show why this Nick is no saint.

31. Deadstream - In this audacious box of horrors, an internet personality tries to win back followers by livestreaming himself in a haunted house.

32. B Boy Blues - Mitchell Crawford, a young and idealistic journalist, surrounds himself with friends and celebrities yet still feels alone in the city. A roughneck named Raheim walks through the door, forever changing Mitchell's life.

33. Nope - A man and his sister discover something sinister in the skies above their California horse ranch, while the owner of a nearby theme park tries to profit from the mysterious, otherworldly phenomenon.

34. Firebird - Firebird follows a handsome, soulful young soldier who embarks on a clandestine sexual affair with a charismatic fighter pilot on a Soviet Air Force Base at the height of 1970's Communist rule.

35. Fresh - The horrors of modern dating are seen through the eyes of a young woman who is battling to survive her new boyfriend's unusual appetites.