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.

23 of 25 photo by A24

95 Aftersun

Metacritic's Best Overall Movie of 2022.
Metacritic's Best Directorial Debut of 2022.

(#1) It's a shame that A24's main publicity image features a major character dozing off: Aftersun may certainly be dreamlike, but it's far from sleep-inducing. One of the most stunning directorial debuts in recent memory and the best-reviewed film of 2022 by far, Scottish writer-director Charlotte Wells’ drama stars Paul Mescal as a divorced father who takes his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) on holiday to a Turkish seaside resort. Told without hand-holding in flashback from Sophie’s remembrances 20 years later, Aftersun first began earning raves during its Critics’ Week premiere in Cannes, where reviewers praised the convincing bond between Mescal and Corio as well as Wells’ confident and precise direction. According to critics, it's the rare film that lingers in your mind well beyond the final frame. (And what a final frame it is.)

Not yet available to rent/stream, but can be purchased at digital stores including Prime Video and Apple

“Though any honest summation can't do it justice, Charlotte Wells's tender feature debut is the kind of revelation that movie fans dream of finding: not a wow so much as a guaranteed piece of emotional ravishment.” —Joshua Rothkopf, Entertainment Weekly

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