The 50 Best Movies of 2022

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – January 4, 2023

Here is Metacritic's final list of the 50 best-reviewed movies of 2022, ranked by Metascore. This list only includes films receiving at least 7 reviews from professional critics.

All films released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 in at least one U.S. theater or directly to streaming or VOD/digital services were eligible for inclusion. Short films and reissues are excluded. Titles are ranked by Metascore (a weighted average of scores from top professional critics) prior to rounding based on scores as of January 1, 2023.

Additional content by Keith Kimbell.

14 of 25 photo by Sony Pictures Classics

88 Return to Seoul

(#10) Another "2022" film that won't really reach American audiences until 2023, Cambodia's official 2022 Oscar submission for best international film (and it did make last month's shortlist) comes from French-Cambodian director Davy Chou (Golden Slumbers). Spanning eight years in total, the drama centers on 25-year-old French adoptee Freddie (Ji-Min Park) who impulsively decides to head to South Korea to track down her biological parents. Traveling in a country she knows very little about and hasn't been to since she was an infant, Freddie finds her life (and the film around her) heading in unexpected directions.

Return to Seoul will begin its regular North American theatrical rollout in LA and NY on February 17, 2023 following a one-week theatrical qualifying run in early December.

“A staggering masterwork that reveals itself unhurriedly, one permutation at a time, Chou’s third feature is perhaps the only film this year in which every single scene and every line of dialogue within them feel absolutely indispensable. The richness in every detail, and their unexpected ramifications over time, make for a one-of-a-kind character study.” —Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times

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