15. “RRR” (S.S. Rajamouli)
If you’re going to see only one film from 2022 that features both a motorcycle being swung like a baseball bat and also one of the year’s giddiest bromances, it will be the Telugu action bonanza “RRR” (“Rise Roar Revolt”), directed by S.S. Rajamouli (previously of the two “Baahubali” epics). Everything is grandiose about this movie, which tells of two legendary freedom fighters (played by NTR and Ram Charan Teja) from opposite sides of the colonial conflict in 1920s India later reuniting in a series of massive action sequences that place their superhuman skills on massive canvases painted with fire and water. The spectacle within “RRR”—which includes a handful of blissfully over-the-top action sequences where our heroes soar into the air, punch, do backflips, and stare in close-up, often in slow-motion—is a feast of over-the-top filmmaking. It’s a true celebration, not just of its massive-hearted themes of doing anything for friendship, loyalty to family, and pride about where one comes from. Rather, “RRR” is a testament to how leaping over the typical bounds of filmmaking doesn’t just make for jaw-dropping entertainment—it sets cinema free. – NA (Our review of “RRR”)
14. “Bardo: A False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s much-maligned semi-autobiographical film touched me in unexpected ways. It’s about a documentary filmmaker and journalist, Silverio Gama (Daniel Giménez Cacho), who is soon to accept a prestigious American award. Silverio has several concerns on his mind: The deceased child that he and his wife (Griselda Siciliani) still mourn; assimilation; the weighty responsibility to speak for one’s people; the love for your former home and new home; and the rejection from both places. “Bardo” is at once a uniquely Mexican story and also an aching narrative made for people of color, particularly creatives, who are stuck between being too much of this and not enough of that. It features a wry sense of humor, an interrogation of colonialist history, and the exploitation by artists of vulnerable communities. “Bardo” is sprawling, majestic, existential, heartbreaking, and delicately rendered. It’s often accused of being self-important or vain, but cinema is filled with these very same films made by white filmmakers. It is assuredly Iñárritu’s most personal film—and his very best. – Robert Daniels (Our review of “Bardo: A False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”)
13. “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” (Sophie Hyde)
Some of the most radical and open on-screen conversations about sex unfolded this year within this true Sundance surprise. Sophie Hyde’s “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” revolves mostly around just two people, one of them (Emma Thompson’s Nancy) appreciating a new world of sex-positive possibilities, the other a knowing, comforting host (Daryl McCormack’s Leo Grande) with more than just a couple things to teach her. In each of their encounters in one hotel room, Katy Brand’s thoughtful script orchestrates naturally deep conversations about one woman becoming more comfortable with her desires and makes way for one of Emma Thompson’s best and most vulnerable performances so far (which given her track record, is no small feat). Her co-star Daryl McCormack holds his own too, illuminating a sex worker’s sense of self with his fleshed-out portrayal. “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” is a thoughtful gem, especially for anyone whose ideas of sex can be expanded by what’s on the film’s mind. – NA (Our review of “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”)
12. “Fire of Love” (Sara Dosa)
“Fire of Love” is a gorgeous tribute to another couple’s love story and their red-hot life passion. Sara Dosa’s documentary, which premiered Opening Night at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, wows the viewer with both its focal couple—Maurice Krafft and Katia Krafft—and the footage they captured throughout their excursions as married volcanologists, documenting spews of lava with giddy smiles on their faces. With its brilliant assembly of their footage by her team (including three other writers, Shane Boris, Erin Casper, and Jocelyne Chaput) “Fire of Love” tells a massive-scale saga with equal parts magma and romance. The wonders of this story are treated with even more poetry by a voiceover from Miranda July, her gently delivered words adding to the project’s beauty. Seeing the world through the Kraffts’ eyes—which comes with a sense of humor, and even great shot composition—proves to be a unique way to cherish the formation of our planet and the bizarre miracle of finding other kindred souls to appreciate it. – NA (Our review of “Fire of Love”)
11. “Armageddon Time” (James Gray)
Any director making a movie about their own childhood charts a perilous path between the happy obliviousness of youth and the terrible awareness of adulthood; for James Gray, it’s a rickety rope bridge strung above an infinite chasm of guilt. Hungry for dumplings and enjoying a fledgling friendship with a Black classmate, Gray’s screen-self Paul Graff can’t see the complex social quandary he faces as a third-generation American born to a Jewish family, their imperative for self-preservation in the face of anti-Semitism at irreconcilable odds with solidarity between marginalized peoples. There’s no balancing this delicate equation, and its uncompromisingly bleak conclusion leaves us with the same heavied soul that Gray’s been carrying around since his school days. And as Paul’s imperfect yet loving parents, Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway, recognize and rationalize the hypocrisy they nonetheless impart to their son, his innocence is tarnished forever by the sour taste of privilege and prejudice. – Charles Brameseco (Our review of “Armageddon Time”)
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