resonant films of 2022

there is only what stays with you.

The western obsession with competition dictates everything must be pitted against everything else. But ranking art feels like an act of treachery against the art itself. When there are no universal metrics for appreciation, there is only what resonates with you and what doesn’t. There is only what stays with you. In that spirit, I’ve put together a collection of films, available on streaming or forthcoming, that have stuck with me through 2022.

Photo Courtesy of Shudder/Prime Video

“Saloum”
Directed by: Jean Luc Herbulot
Written by: Jean Luc Herbulot, Pamela Diop
Stream: Amazon Prime via Shudder 🇺🇸/🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

A high-octane thriller? A haunting mystery? A Jollof western? Saloum kaleidoscopes through genres with a fascinating collection of characters who tether the story together, the most compelling being the ‘Bangui Hyenas’ – our protagonistic trio of legendary mercenaries who find themselves stranded in the remote region of Senegal’s Sine-Saloum. They ooze a killer cool, move in rhythmic harmony and share a tender brotherhood that keeps the heart of Jean Luc Herbulot’s gonzo extravaganza pumping fiercely. The best thing about this film is how it offers an edge-of-your-seat spectacle where whiteness doesn’t feel like it’s looming overhead or lurking in a corner somewhere. Saloum simply engulfs you in its world and, in the process, cements itself as an exhilarating addition to the grand canon of Senegalese cinema.

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

“Nope”
Directed & written by: Jordan Peele
Stream: Peacock Premium 🇺🇸

How can we talk of spectacle without mentioning Jordan Peele’s third endeavour? Nope philosophises on the economy of spectacle with a poetic precision that can only be mined by someone who intimately knows comedy’s inner machinations. If I could describe Nope in one word it would be “assured”. It presents these seemingly unconnected stories and characters and threads them together with ingenious, metaphorical stitching. It twists without arrogance. It is terrifying without gore. Nope gets better with every watch and reveals more of itself every time.

Photo Courtesy of Netflix

“The Sea Beast”
Directed by: Chris Wiliams
Written by: Chris Williams, Nell Benjamin
Stream: Netflix 🇺🇸/ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

The Sea Beast is the most gargantuan hidden gem of 2022. Chris Williams’ debonair fantasy confronts the mature, social theme of resisting historical revisionism within the confines of a children’s adventure. The 115-minute runtime is layered with swashbuckling action sequences, majestic cinematography and the tear-jerking hero’s journey of an adorable and tenacious Black girl. The Sea Beast may spin a lot of plates but it makes balancing them all look effortlessly fun.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

“The Banshees of Inisherin”
Directed & written by: Martin McDonagh
Stream: HBO Max 🇺🇸/ Disney+ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

On a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, one man decides he doesn’t want to be friends with another man anymore. What follows is a masterclass in screenwriting. The Banshees of Inisherin could pass as horror if its drear wasn’t so punctuated with hand-over-the-mouth humour. Not quite a comedic fable and not quite a dramatic tragedy, it’s in the gloomy sigh between these genres that Martin McDonagh crafts a timeless classic. The Banshees of Inisherin is a deeply absurd yet strangely moving film that explores the mechanisms of masculine relationships, close-knit communities, the pursuit of personal growth and the tariffs of forging a legacy.

Photo courtesy of Prime Video

“Hawa”
Directed by: Maïmouna Doucouré
Written by: Maïmouna Doucouré, Alain-Michel Blanc, Zangro, David Elkaim
Stream: Amazon Prime 🇺🇸/ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Maïmouna Doucouré is a cinematic archeologist. Her terrain is Black girlhood in France and she excavates it with intention and gentleness. Hawa follows the eponymous pre-teen, a spitfire of a girl with albinism who is determined to make Michelle Obama her adopted mother. You can’t help but notice Doucouré’s instinct for capturing the vulnerable keenness of youth–of how children observe a world far less heavy and less tangled than their stiffer and older caretakers. To them, warning tapes are just stripey colours and bravery is the only currency that matters. Hawa is such a simple tale, so unvarnished and true, that you are compelled to appreciate its minutiae–because all the magic resides in the small things.

Photo Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

“Prey”
Directed & written by: Dan Trachtenberg
Stream: Hulu 🇺🇸/ Disney+ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Set 300 years before the Predator (1987) franchise begins, Prey pits a member of the extra-terrestrial hunter race against a Comanche warrior-woman, Naru, who uses determination, innovation and environmentally-aware guerilla tactics to confront a threat more powerful than her people have ever faced. Baked around some truly breathtaking shots of exterior cinematography is an irresistible story about indigenous womanhood, where our protagonist must use every trial and tribulation she faces through the film as teachable moments to best her enemy. Dan Trachtenberg takes cues from Rogue One (2016) to unearth a hidden corner of a popular franchise–a risky experiment that elevates Prey into a rare prequel status: nobody asked for it but it’ll blow you away regardless. 

Photo Courtesy of Marvel Studios

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Written by: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole
Stream: Disney+ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿/🇺🇸 (Forthcoming)

How to Sabotage a Black Utopia elucidates my discomfort, but that discomfort doesn’t disregard Black Panther 2’s impact. Wakanda Forever holds in its jaws a constant thrum of sadness as if grief itself is singed into the very strips of the film. In that omnipresence of loss is towering beauty, arresting cinematography, sleek styling choices and a script that conquers truly treacherous circumstances. Ryan Coogler’s sequel is the most cinematically beautiful film Marvel has ever had the honour to produce.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

“Glass Onion”
Directed & written by: Rian Johnson
Stream: Netflix 🌍

The unofficial sequel to Knives Out (2019) expands the Benoit Blanc cinematic universe with a brand new batch of megalomaniacs. This is a quintessential whodunnit for the coronavirus era and a scathing indictment of the super-rich whose wealth isn’t sustained by skill, talent or intelligence but by mean-spiritedness and incompetence. Glass Onion is a mesmerising tale with whip-smart dialogue and a cast of colourful characters that shimmer off the screen. Janelle Monáe stands peerless with a career-best performance. And Rian Johnson’s cinematic prowess is truly displayed in the film’s final act. The film has an immensely satisfying conclusion that foregoes accepting justice through “the proper channels” and instead compels our protagonist to take retribution into their own hands.

Photo Courtesy of Prime Video

“Nanny”
Directed & written by: Nikyatu Jusu
Stream: Amazon Prime 🇺🇸/ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Nanny feels like a sibling piece to Maïmouna Doucouré’s French film Mignonnes (2020) and Remi Weekes’ British film His House (2020) in its powerful contemplation of an African migrating into western environs. There’s a lot to love about the movie: the skilful camerawork helps puppet an unsettling atmosphere, the submersion of African folklore adds an emotional density to the surface storyline and Anna Diop’s exceptional performance makes for a promising debut by Nikyatu Jusu.

Photo Courtesy of HBO

“Rothaniel”
Performed by: Jerrod Carmichael
Directed by: Bo Burnham
Stream: HBO Max 🇺🇸

Putting a stand-up special onto a film list might be unheard of… But, damn–Jerrod Carmichael’s Rothaniel is unheard of. I’ve found myself thinking about Rothaniel periodically as the year has passed. Carmichael speaks with refreshing honesty, seamlessly switching between hilarity and melancholy. His performance feels, all at once, as natural as a weary soul airing out their deepest sentiments and as crafted as a poet’s dissertation. If the relationship between celebrity and fan is parasocially barricaded, Carmichael drills into the thick wall to whisper his truth through the hole. Rothaniel concludes like a soothing balm– a comedy performance with the soul of a heartfelt town hall or a breakthrough therapy session, wholly transcendent of its medium and unlike any stand-up I’ve ever seen.

Honourable mentions:

TAR: Todd Field orchestrates a structurally impressive film despite adding to the groan-worthy canon of “but white women can be assholes, too!”.

RRR: S.S Rajamouli’s Telugu epic indulges some of the most bombastic, physics-defying action sequences I have ever seen. RRR suffers from some questionable politics but this is a film that knows it's a film and never tries to shy from that knowledge.

The Woman King: Suffered many controversies. I found the inaccessibility and erasure of the African history that the film is based on–made this film difficult to enjoy. Still, The Woman King deserves praise for its spirited performances–with the standout coming from Lashana Lynch.

Strange World: Despite being robbed of wider cinematic success due to marketing mismanagement, Strange World is a captivating and smart fantasy with a lovingly insightful social commentary that makes it one of the best children’s films of the last few years.