Team Screen’s top films of 2022

In order to be eligible for the list, a film must have had a festival premiere and/or theatrical release in the past 12 months. There are five points for first place; four for second; three for third; two for fourth; and one for fifth, with these scores tallied to produce an overall top five (seen at the bottom).

Matt Mueller (editor)

1. Close, dir. Lukas Dhont

2. The Banshees Of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh

3. TÁR, dir. Todd Field

4. Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells

5. Triangle Of Sadness, dir. Ruben Östlund

Favourite scene: The ‘Naatu Naatu’ dance sequence in RRR. In a film stuffed with bravura filmmaking, this gloriously irrepressible sequence is not just five minutes of pure joy, it underlines the key themes coursing through SS Rajamouli’s Indian blockbuster.

Louise Tutt (deputy editor)

1. Alcarràs, dir. Carla Simon

2. Corsage, dir. Marie Kruetzer

3. Catherine, Called Birdy, dir. Lena Dunham

4. The Quiet Girl, dir. Colm Bairéad

5. The Banshees Of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh

Favourite scene: All the flying ones and the hilariously chaste hugs between Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connolly in Top Gun: Maverick.

Jeremy Kay (Americas editor)

1. TÁR, dir. Todd Field

2. Corsage, dir. Marie Kruetzer

3. Moonage Daydream, dir. Brett Morgen

4. The Fabelmans, dir. Steven Spielberg

5. You Won’t Be Alone, dir. Goran Stolevski

Favourite scene: Tom Cruise breaking ranks in Maverick to fly a test run and prove to his superiors and flight school students that a seemingly impossible mission can be accomplished. Edge-of-your-seat thrills that are best seen in a packed cinema surrounded by strangers.

Orlando Parfitt (senior editor – online)

1. The Banshees Of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh

2. Licorice Pizza, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

3. Top Gun: Maverick, dir. Joseph Kosinski

4. Elvis, dir. Baz Luhrmann

5. The Northman, dir. Robert Eggers

Favourite scene: Tom Cruise piloting the Darkstar jet at the beginning of Top Gun: Maverick.

Charles Gant (awards/box office editor)

1. TÁR, dir. Todd Field

2. Close, dir. Lukas Dhont

3. Living, dir. Oliver Hermanus

4. Triangle Of Sadness, dir. Ruben Östlund

5. She Said, dir. Maria Schrader

Favourite scene: “Balenciaga or H&M” in Triangle Of Sadness.

Michael Rosser (international news editor)

1. RRR, dir. SS Rajamouli

2. The Banshees Of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh

3. Decision To Leave, dir. Park Chan-wook

4. One And Four, dir. Jigme Trinley

5. Top Gun: Maverick, dir. Joseph Kosinski 

Favourite scene: The attack on the palace in RRR, when a menagerie of wild animals is unleashed, is jaw-dropping but what elevates it beyond pure action is the emotional punch as our two heroes learn of each other’s true identity.

Tim Dams (Europe editor)

1. The Worst Person In The World, dir. Joachin Tier

2. Elvis, dir. Baz Luhrmann

3. The Quiet Girl, dir. Colm Bairéad

4. Argentina, 1985, dir. Santiago Mitre

5. Top Gun: Maverick, dir. Joseph Kosinski 

Favourite scene: It’s not so much a scene on the screen, as in the scene of a packed-out theatre at my local cinema watching Top Gun: Maverick – the first time I’d been to a sell-out screening since the pandemic. 

Ben Dalton (international reporter)

1. The Five Devils, dir. Lea Mysius

2. Triangle Of Sadness, dir. Ruben Östlund

3. The Banshees Of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh

4. Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells

5. Living, dir. Oliver Hermanus

Favourite scene: Barry Keoghan is marvellous throughout The Banshees Of Inisherin; never more so than in a heart-breaking exchange with the excellent Kerry Condon: ‘Well, there goes that dream’.

Mona Tabbara (UK reporter)

1. Triangle Of Sadness, dir. Ruben Östlund

2. The Swimmers, dir. Sally El Hosaini

3. Nothing Compares, dir. Kathryn Ferguson

4. My Old School, dir. Jono McLeod

5. Emily, dir. Frances O’Connor

Favourite scene: The final conversation between Charlbi Dean and Dolly De Leon’s characters in Triangle Of Sadness – clever dialogue and impossibly tense. I didn’t breathe until the credits.

Ellie Calnan (digital content assistant/reporter)

1. The Worst Person In The World, dir. Joachim Trier

2. Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, dir. Sophie Hyde

3. Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, dir. Matthew Warchus

4. Triangle Of Sadness, dir. Ruben Östlund

5. Everything Everywhere All At Once, dir. Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert 

Favourite scene: The transition between the first and second act of Zach Cregger’s Barbarian produced one of the most visceral reactions I’ve ever had to a film. The complete shift in tone is absolutely masterful and I was in awe of Cregger’s total disregard for genre convention.

Mark Salisbury (contributing editor)

1. Licorice Pizza, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson and The Fabelmans, dir. Steven Spielberg

3. Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells

4. Top Gun: Maverick, dir. Joseph Kosinski

5. Decision To Leave, dir. Park Chan-wook

Favourite scene: The Gordy’s Home massacre in Nope.

Wendy Mitchell (contributing editor/Nordics correspondent)

1. Speak No Evil, dir. Christian Tafdrup

2. Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells

3. All The Beauty and the Bloodshed, dir. Laura Poitras

4. Close, dir. Lukas Dhont

5. The Banshees Of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh

Favourite scene: Babylon showing us the frenzy of one day’s shooting at Kinoscope’s outdoor lot. Moviemaking magic then and now.

Silvia Wong (Asia editor)

1. Joyland, dir Saim Sadiq

2. Autobiography, dir Makbul Mubarak

3. Return To Dust, dir Li Ruijun

4. Return To Seoul, dir Davy Chou

5. Blue Island, dir Chan Tze Woon

Favourite scene: In Joyland, two subjugated women on a rare night out get on the rides in Lahore’s oldest amusement park Joyland where they can let their hair down and scream their hearts out.

Jean Noh (Asia editor)

1. Decision to Leave, dir. Park Chan-wook

2. #LookAtMe, dir. Ken Kwek

3. Hunt, dir. Lee Jung-jae

4. Sanaa, dir. Sudhanshu Saria

5. Sewing Sisters (released in Korea 2022), dirs. Lee Hyuk-rae & Kim Jung-young

Favourite scene: The last scene of Decision To Leave. It’s the climax and distillation of the entire film, gorgeous, heartbreaking and chilling all at once. 

Elisabet Cabeza (Spain correspondent)

1. Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells

2. Alcarràs, dir. Carla Simon

3. Decision To Leave, dir. Park Chan-wook

4. Argentina 1985, dir. Santiago Mitre

5. Everything Everywhere All At Once, dir. Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Favourite scene: The closing argument given by public prosecutor Julio Strassera (played by Ricardo Darin) in Argentina 1985. Powerful, contained and avoiding courtroom drama cliches. One of the best performances of the year.

Alina Trabattoni (Italy correspondent)

1. Burning Hearts (Ti Mangio il Cuore), dir. Pippo Mezzapesa

2. Nostalgia, dir. Mario Martone

3. The Strangeness (La Stranezza), dir. Roberto Andò.

4. The Eight Mountains, dirs. Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch

5. Ennio, dir. Giuseppe Tornatore

Favourite scene: In Burning Hearts, tenderness and love burn bright as the two characters dance in front of a semi-abandoned chapel in the Southern Italian countryside, with only the honking of geese by way of accompaniment, in a context of extreme violence, where blood is only washed away by more blood.

Emilio Mayorga (Spain correspondent)

1. EO, dir. Jerzy Skolimowski

2. Everything Everywhere All At Once, dir. Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

3. Decision To Leave, dir. Park Chan-wook

4. Alcarràs, dir. Carla Simón

5. Utama, dir. Alejandro Loayza Grisi

Favourite scene: The father-daughter dance at the end of Aftersun. David Bowie and Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’ merging with some orchestral chords and the disco strobe lights put the rhythm to metaphorically display the profound sense of the film with extreme tenderness and formal brilliance.

Rebecca Leffler (France correspondent)

1. One Fine Morning, dir. Mia Hansen-Løve

2. Paris Memories, dir. Alice Winocour

3. Ride Above, dir. Christian Duguay

4. Other People’s Children, dir. Rebecca Zlotowski

5. Forever Young, dir. Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

Favourite scene: The final racing scene in Ride Above (Tempête) - it manages to blend both big-screen spectacle and intense emotion.

Overall top 5

1. The Banshees Of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh

2. Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells

3. Decision To Leave, dir. Park Chan-wook

4. Triangle Of Sadness, dir. Ruben Ostlund

5. TÁR, dir. Todd Field

• Screen critics’ top films of 2022