After two-plus years floundering in the pandemic, it seems that the film industry is finally regaining its legs. This year, Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water blasted off, the Daniels’ multiverse-hopping stunner Everything Everywhere All at Once was the sleeper hit of the year, and old masters in their late eras such as Steven Spielberg and David Cronenberg returned in top form. It might have been harder than ever to whittle down a top ten in 2022, but it was an absolute delight to journey through the year’s cinema. Here are my 10 favorite movies of 2022, along with some honorable mentions:

Body is reality. Surgery is the new sex. David Cronenberg’s first feature in eight long years acts as a furtive peek into a carefully crafted, crumbling dystopia. In a world where graphic surgeries are the only form of entertainment remaining, Crimes of the Future explores — with a demure thoughtfulness — the complexities of art and performance in an increasingly uninhabitable society. Come for Cronenberg’s body horror resurgent, stay for the perfect weirdo performances from Viggo Mortenson, Lea Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart. Minor spoilers ahead…