If you’re tapped into the world of Film Twitter, you probably noticed that social media exploded recently when Sight & Sound updated its Best Films of All Time list. People were debating for weeks about what films would end up getting booted out of the top 100, which would have huge leaps in popularity, etc… It was a whole thing. Now, the outlet has released its annual Top 20, and I’m sad to say, the picks are pretty on point, and thus, the discourse on Film Twitter will likely be kinda boring.
All of the usual suspects are here representing the Best Films of 2022. Sight & Sound has “Aftersun” at #1 (not a crazy pick, at all), followed by “Saint Omer” (another critical darling and awards favorite), “Decision to Leave” (obviously), and “The Banshees of Inisherin” (which is quickly becoming the favorite to win the Oscar, huh?).
READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2022
The fifth pick is when things get a little spicy, with Sight & Sound choosing “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.” Sure, that’s a definite critical darling and the frontrunner for Best Doc at the Oscars, but a #5 showing seems pretty high. Then again, you can’t fault the outlet for putting it there. It does deserve it.
As for any surprises, there’s “One Fine Morning” from Mia Hansen-Løve at #7, which is a film that seems to be largely overlooked by many Best Of lists. The same goes for “EO” (#8 on the list), “Corsage” (#11), “Pacifiction” (#12), and “Showing Up” (#13). Each of these films is worthy of being on any Best Of list, but don’t seem to be getting the same amount of love as some of the others.
And if you’re asking yourself where “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” is on the list, you’ll find it relatively low, at #18. This is clearly the fan-favorite moving into awards season, as it was not only a critical success but also a box office winner. Plus, the Daniels film is just really fucking good.
You can see Sight & Sound’s Top 20 below (via The Film Stage):
1. AFTERSUN (Dir Charlotte Wells, UK/USA)
2. SAINT OMER (Dir. Alice Diop, France)
3. DECISION TO LEAVE (Dir. Park Chan-wook, South Korea)
4. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (Dir. Martin McDonagh, Ireland/UK/USA)
5. ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED (Dir. Laura Poitras, USA)
6. NOPE (Dir. Jordan Peele, USA)
7. ONE FINE MORNING (Dir. Mia Hansen-Løve, France/Germany)
8. EO (Dir. Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/Italy)
9. RRR (RISE ROAR REVOLT) (Dir. S.S. Rajamouli, India)
10. TÁR (Dir. Todd Field, USA)
11. CORSAGE (Marie Kreutzer, Austria/Luxembourg/Germany/France
12. PACIFICTION (Albert Serra, France/Spain/Germany/Portugal)
13. SHOWING UP (Kelly Reichardt, USA)
14. CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (David Cronenberg, Canada/Greece/UK)
15. THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER (Joanna Hogg, UK/USA)
16. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (Ruben Östlund, Sweden/Germany/France/UK)
17. ELVIS (Baz Luhrmann, USA/Australia)
18. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, USA)
19. FIRE OF LOVE (Sara Dosa, USA)
20. THE FABELMANS (Steven Spielberg, USA)
