By 
As we do every year here at Flickchart, earlier this month we published our list of the Top 20 Films of 2023. And, of course, the list is already changing, evolving as our users see more films and rank them against each other, head to head. Given the nature of this process, a year can bring a substantial shift to the list, which is why it’s time to look back at the Top 20 Films of 2022.
You can take a look here at the list as it was published last year. But without further ado, let’s examine the current Top 20 of 2022.
As always, our lists are only accurate up until the time they are published.
20. Pearl
Directed by Ti West
Current Global Rank: #3,651
NEW to the Top 20
Ti West released both horror movie and horror prequel in 2022; while X appeared on our list a year ago, it has since been supplanted by Pearl. He’ll be back with Maxine (or, MaXXXine) to finish up the trilogy, picking up with Mia Goth’s character following the events of X.
Goth continues to reign as cinema’s new scream queen, having starred in director Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool in 2023. In addition to Maxine, she’s set to star with Oscar Isaac, Christopher Waltz and Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi in Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein, currently in pre-production, as well as opposite Mahershala Ali in Marvel’s Blade, expected in 2025.
19. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Directed by Ryan Coogler
Current Global Rank: #3,481
Last Year’s Rank: #10
Last Year’s Global Rank: #3,387
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has floundered since Avengers: Endgame, but while critical reception for their projects in 2022 was mixed at best, there was near-universal praise for Angela Bassett in Wakanda Forever, culminating in her second Oscar nomination. This year, she continues to star in the TV police procedural 9-1-1, entering its seventh season, and will appear alongside Robert De Niro, Lizzy Caplan and Jesse Plemons in the Netflix miniseries Zero Day.
In 2023, Letitia Wright starred in the Western Surrounded, for director Anthony Mandler. Next, she’ll star in the true-life boxing film In the Shadows. Lupita Nyong’o stars in this year’s horror prequel A Quiet Place: Day One, and director Ryan Coogler has a fifth collaboration with Michael B. Jordan upcoming, the drama Wrong Answer.
18. Bullet Train
Directed by David Leitch
Current Global Rank: #3,161
Last Year’s Rank: #14
Last Year’s Global Rank: #4,184
Brad Pitt also appeared in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon in 2022. This year, he’ll reunite with his Ocean’s Eleven co-star, George Clooney, in the thriller Wolves, for Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts.
David Leitch’s next film is The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stuntman and Emily Blunt as his ex, a movie director whose big star has gone missing. It’s due in theaters March 1.
17. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Directed by Sam Raimi
Current Global Rank: #3,103
Last Year’s Rank: #8
Last Year’s Global Rank: #2,629
As Marvel course-corrects, there’s no word on when exactly Doctor Strange will get a third movie. Meanwhile, though, the titular star, Benedict Cumberbatch, has appeared in Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and other Roald Dahl-based shorts for Netflix, as well as The End We Start From opposite Jodie Comer. He reprised Strange in the second season of Marvel’s animated series What If…?, and he’s in The Book of Clarence, opening this month.
Elizabeth Olsen also lent her voice to What If…?, starred in the miniseries Love & Death for HBOMax, and appeared in the family drama His Three Daughters. Multiverse of Madness marked Sam Raimi’s first feature film as a director since 2013’s Oz the Great and Powerful (having directed some television in the interim). His next project, The Kingkiller Chronicle, is in pre-production.
16. Barbarian
Directed by Zack Cregger
Current Global Rank: #3,080
Last Year’s Rank: #11
Last Year’s Global Rank: #3,919
Zach Cregger’s next horror film, Weapons, is currently in pre-production, with Pedro Pascal starring.
Georgina Campbell was in four films in 2023: Chairs, Bird Box: Barcelona, Lovely, Dark, and Deep and T.I.M.. In 2024, she can be seen in The Watchers from director Ishana Shyamalan (daughter of M. Night) and the thriller Cold Storage starring Liam Neeson. Bill Skarsgård starred in John Wick: Chapter 4 and the action thriller Boy Kills World. This year, he’s taking on two iconic roles in remakes: Eric Draven in The Crow, and Count Orlok in Nosferatu. Justin Long also had a busy 2023, with the horror movies Dear David and It’s a Wonderful Knife, the holiday comedy The Christmas Break, and 10 episodes of Goosebumps for Hulu. Next up is another horror movie, Spin the Bottle, opposite Ali Larter.
15. All Quiet on the Western Front
Directed by Edward Berger
Current Global Rank: #3,017
NEW to the Top 20
The second film making its debut in the Top 20 this year took four Oscars at the Academy Awards, including Best International Feature Film.
Director Edward Berger’s next project is Conclave, based on the novel by Robert Harris and starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini.
Star Felix Kammerer will appear in director Ron Howard’s thriller Eden, starring Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas and Jude Law.
14. Prey
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Current Global Rank: #2,987
Last Year’s Rank: #9
Last Year’s Global Rank: #3,061
Dan Trachtenberg has helmed an episode of the forthcoming Stranger Things 5, but while he has a few projects in development, there’s no firm word on his next film.
Prey’s breakout star, Amber Midthunder, starred in the family-oriented horse drama Centurion XII in 2023, as well as appearing in Dream Scenario starring Nicolas Cage. This February she’s part of the cast of Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series.
13. Avatar: The Way of Water
Directed by James Cameron
Current Global Rank: #2,969
Last Year’s Rank: #15
Last Year’s Global Rank: #4,267
James Cameron continues to expand the universe of Avatar, with the third, fourth, and fifth films currently slated for 2025, 2029 and 2031. Those are very sci-fi-seeming dates as it is, and who knows how much further they could get pushed back?
Sam Worthington had a couple of action roles in 2023, Transfusion and Simulant, and can next be seen opposite Kevin Hart in director F. Gary Gray’s Lift, hitting Netflix this month. Zoe Saldana bid farewell to the MCU in 2023 with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as well as starring in Keyhole Garden, Good Burger 2, and eight episodes of Special Ops: Lioness for Paramount+. Next up is the crime comedy Emilia Perez for director Jacques Audiard. Sigourney Weaver starred in the Amazon Prime miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Heart. Her next two films, The Gorge, with Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller, and Dust Bunny, opposite Mads Mikkelsen, are both in post-production.
12. The Northman
Directed by Robert Eggers
Current Global Rank: #2,330
Last Year’s Rank: #7
Last Year’s Global Rank: #2,591
Robert Eggers’ next project is a remake of Nosferatu, starring the likes of Willem Dafoe, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bill Skarsgård as the iconic Count Orlok. It’s eyeing a Christmas Day release.
Alexander Skarsgård appeared in the final season of Succession, and the Brandon Cronenberg-directed Infinity Pool in 2023. He’s currently in pre-production on his feature film directorial debut, The Pack, in which he’s set to star opposite Florence Pugh. Nicole Kidman was in the final DCEU movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and appeared in three television series in 2023: Special Ops: Lioness for Paramount+, Faraway Downs for Hulu, and Expats for Amazon Prime. She’s got several movie and TV projects in various stages of production, including a couple due on Netflix this year: A Family Affair, with Zac Efron, and the animated Spellbound, from Shrek co-director Vicky Jenson. In 2023, Ethan Hawke starred in Leave the World Behind with Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali. He’s set to star in a sequel to the 2021 horror hit The Black Phone, slated for a 2025 release.
11. Tár
Directed by Todd Field
Current Global Rank: #2,327
NEW to the Top 20
Tár was director Todd Field’s first film since Little Children, way back in 2006. It was a Best Picture nominee at the Academy Awards, and it brought the formidable Cate Blanchett her eighth acting Oscar nomination. According to IMDb, Field has two projects in development, but who knows how long it might be before we see his next film?
Blanchett, meanwhile, starred in The New Boy and lent her voice to Marvel’s What If…? in 2023. This year, she can be seen in the miniseries Disclaimer from Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón, and Borderlands, based on the video game and expected in August from director Eli Roth.
10. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Directed by Joel Crawford
Co-directed by Januel Mercado
Current Global Rank: #2,281
NEW to the Top 20
Despite 12 years passing since the previous Puss in Boots film, this sequel was extremely well received by audiences and critics, as its high placement on this list can attest, even garnering an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.
Next up for DreamWorks Animation is Kung Fu Panda 4, dropping in March.
09. The Fabelmans
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Current Global Rank: #2,231
NEW to the Top 20
Leave it to the great Steven Spielberg to have the highest-placed new entry to this list. The Fabelmans garnered seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Actress (Michelle Williams) and Supporting Actor (Judd Hirsch). Spielberg has a few projects in development, including a sequel (reboot?) of the Steve McQueen action vehicle Bullitt, with Bradley Cooper attached to star.
Williams is currently attached to star in Fever, a biopic of Peggy Lee from director Todd Haynes. Paul Dano starred in Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Money in 2023, and will next be seen opposite Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan in Spaceman, coming to Netflix March 1. Hirsch’s next films, currently in production, are the family-oriented baseball drama Rally Caps, and The December Cross for director Todd Turner.
08. RRR
Directed by S.S. Rajamouli
Current Global Rank: #2,170
Last Year’s Rank: #12
Last Year’s Global Rank: #4,016
RRR took the world by storm in 2022. The most expensive Indian film ever produced, it became the third highest-grossing Indian film of all time (second highest in the Telugu language). It also took home the Oscar for Best Original Song, becoming the first Asian film to win the award.
Writer/director S.S. Rajamouli initially claimed to have no interest in turning RRR into a franchise, but a sequel script is in early stages of development. Rajamouli is in pre-production on his next film, currently under the title SS Rajamouli’s #SSMB29, with a script from RRR story writer Vijayendra Prasad.
07. The Menu
Directed by Mark Mylod
Current Global Rank: #2,149
Last Year’s Rank: #13
Last Year’s Global Rank: #4,144
Mark Mylod was an executive producer of Succession, which just won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series for its final season. No word yet on what his next feature film project might be.
Anya Taylor-Joy was the voice of Princess Peach in The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023. Next, she’s set to ignite the screen as the title character in Furiosa, the prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, which starred… Nicholas Hoult. He played the title character opposite Nicolas Cage’s Dracula in Renfield. He’s next giving voice to Jon Arbuckle alongside Chris Pratt’s titular feline in The Garfield Movie. Then he’s back to dealing with vampires in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake. Ralph Fiennes reunited with Wes Anderson for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and Anderson’s other Roald Dahl shorts. His next films, in various stages of production, include The Return with Juliette Binoche, Conclave with Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, and Farnsworth House with Elizabeth Debicki.
06. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Directed by Rian Johnson
Current Global Rank: #1,889
Last Year’s Rank: #4
Last Year’s Global Rank: #1,798
Rian Johnson directed three episodes of Poker Face for Peacock in 2023. A third Benoit Blanc mystery is reportedly in development.
Daniel Craig can next be seen in Queer for Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino, and is set to star opposite Charlize Theron in Justin Lin’s Two for the Money, currently in pre-production. Edward Norton was part of the big-name ensemble cast of Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, and is next lending his voice to Foodtopia, a miniseries spinoff of the animated gross-out comedy Sausage Party.
05. Nope
Directed by Jordan Peele
Current Global Rank: #1,849
Last Year’s Rank: #5
Last Year’s Global Rank: #2,029
Aside from a little voiceover work (Big Mouth, Abruptio), Jordan Peele laid pretty low for 2023. Reportedly, however, he has a gem of an idea he’s developing for his fourth feature film.
Daniel Kaluuya was part of the voice cast of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its currently-delayed sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse. He’s attached to star in the sci-fi adventure film The Upper World, currently in pre-production. Keke Palmer is part of the voice cast of The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, an animated sci-fi series premiering February 23 on Amazon Prime, and is currently in production on Being Mortal, co-starring Seth Rogen and Bill Murray and directed by Aziz Ansari. Steven Yeun starred opposite Ali Wong in the hit miniseries Beef, and can next be seen in two science fiction films: Love Me with Kristen Stewart, drops this month, and Mickey 17, directed by Bong Joon-ho, is expected later this year (though it was recently postponed from its intended March release date due to post-strike delays).
04. The Banshees of Inisherin
Directed by Martin McDonagh
Current Global Rank: #1,099
Last Year’s Rank: #6
Last Year’s Global Rank: #2,511
Banshees was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and all four major acting awards, but, alas, won none of them. Martin McDonagh will be back, though; his next project is in development, but details are scarce at this point.
Fresh off his first Oscar nomination, Colin Farrell is turning to television, for the AppleTV+ miniseries Sugar, and the HBOMax series The Penguin, based on his character from the next film on this list. Brendan Gleeson lent his voice to the animated film A Greyhound of a Girl in 2023, and is part of the cast of director Todd Phillips’ upcoming sequel, Joker: Folie À Deux. Kerry Condon co-starred opposite Liam Neeson in In the Land of Saints and Sinners and Night Swim, which opened January 5. She’s next heading to a galaxy far, far away on Disney+, opposite Jude Law in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. Barry Keoghan has been turning heads with his lead role in Saltburn, director Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to Promising Young Woman. He’ll next be taking to the skies with fellow Oscar nominee Austin Butler in Masters of the Air, a miniseries on AppleTV+ from executive producers of Band of Brothers.
03. The Batman
Directed by Matt Reeves
Current Global Rank: #783
Last Year’s Rank: #2
Last Year’s Global Rank: #723
With the DCEU coming to an end, and James Gunn taking charge of a new DC universe, the future has been uncertain, but nonetheless Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II is expected in 2025. Before that happens, Colin Farrell is taking The Penguin to the small screen in an HBOMax miniseries. Robert Pattinson lent his voice to the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, and can next be seen in Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17. Jeffrey Wright is currently earning critical raves and potential Oscar buzz for his lead role in American Fiction, while Zoë Kravitz is set to star with Thomasin McKenzie in the horror film Self-Portrait, currently in pre-production.
02. Top Gun: Maverick
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Current Global Rank: #724
Last Year’s Rank: #3
Last Year’s Global Rank: #804
Tom Cruise just won’t stop. The seventh Mission: Impossible film, Dead Reckoning Part One, performed below expectations the box office, and Part Two has been pushed back to 2025. But in the meantime, he and director Doug Liman are working on actually filming a movie in space, and there’s rumblings of Live Die Repeat and Repeat, a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow.
Jennifer Connelly starred in Bad Behaviour in 2023, and her series Snowpiercer will be ending with its fourth season this year. Miles Teller leads the voice cast of this year’s animated The Ark and the Aardvark, and will next be seen opposite Anya Taylor-Joy and Sigourney Weaver in Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge, currently in post-production.
Joseph Kosinski also directed Teller in Spiderhead in 2022 and is currently in production on the Formula One racing film Apex, starring Brad Pitt, Kerry Condon and Javier Bardem.
01. Everything Everywhere All at Once
Directed by Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Current Global Rank: #350
Last Year’s Rank: #1
Last Year’s Global Rank: #452
The phenomenon of Everything Everywhere All at Once just didn’t stop all year, culminating in 11 Oscar nominations and seven wins, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Directors for The Daniels, and acting awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. All this means it was pretty easy for it to hold onto the #1 spot on this list; no other 2022 release is even close to its spot in the global Top 350.
The Daniels have directed an episode of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew for Disney+.
Yeoh couldn’t be more in demand now. Having added her voice to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and starred in Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice in 2023, 2024 sees her starring in the Netflix series The Brothers Sun (January 4), Wicked (expected in November), and doing more voice work in The Tiger’s Apprentice and Ark: The Animated Series. Fantasy film The Legend of Ne Zha is currently in post-production, and Star Trek: Section 31, a direct-to-Paramount+ film reprising Yeoh’s role from the series Star Trek: Discovery, will be shooting soon. She’s also part of the cast of James Cameron’s next three Avatar films.
Quan was in American Born Chinese (again with Yeoh) and season two of Loki on Disney+. Next, he’s joined the voice cast of Kung Fu Panda 4, coming March 29. Curtis starred in Halloween Ends, two episodes of Hulu’s The Bear, and Disney’s Haunted Mansion. Next she’s part of the cast of Eli Roth’s video game adaptation Borderlands. Her fellow Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee, Stephanie Hsu, can next be seen on March 1, alongside Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in The Fall Guy.
The Fallen
These are the movies that appeared on this list last January, but have since fallen out of favor, or been displaced by up-and-comers.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Directed by Tom Gormican
Was: #19
Now: #22
Current Global Rank: #3,897
Last Year’s Global Rank: #4,915
X
Directed by Ti West
Was: #20
Now: #24
Current Global Rank: #4,417
Last Year’s Global Rank: #5,338
Elvis
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Was: #17
Now: #27
Current Global Rank: #4,472
Last Year’s Global Rank: #4,785
Turning Red
Directed by Domee Shi
Was: #18
Now: #28
Current Global Rank: #4,763
Last Year’s Global Rank: #4,879
Thor: Love and Thunder
Directed by Taika Waititi
Was: #16
Now: #33
Current Global Rank: #5,687
Last Year’s Global Rank: #4,451
The Best of the Rest
GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO
To round out the list, here is the rest of Flickchart’s current Top 40 for 2022:
21. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (directed by Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson)
22. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (directed by Tom Gormican)
23. Aftersun (directed by Charlotte Wells)
24. X (directed by Ti West)
25. Triangle of Sadness (directed by Ruben Östlund)
26. Babylon (directed by Damien Chazelle)
27. Elvis (directed by Baz Luhrmann)
28. Turning Red (directed by Domee Shi)
29. The Whale (directed by Darren Aronofsky)
30. Scream (directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett)
31. Decision to Leave (directed by Chan-wook Park)
32. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (directed by Eric Appel)
33. Thor: Love and Thunder (directed by Taika Waititi)
34. Talk to Me (directed by Danny & Michael Philippou)
35. Hustle (directed by Jeremiah Zagar)
36. Moon Knight (miniseries) (directed by Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead)
37. Three Thousand Years of Longing (directed by George Miller)
38. Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (directed by Akiva Schaffer)
39. Women Talking (directed by Sarah Polley)
40. The Bob’s Burgers Movie (directed by Loren Bouchard & Bernard Derriman)
Most information for this article was taken from the Internet Movie Database, with additional details from Wikipedia.
