Ten Films of 2022 to look forward to!

TEN FILMS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2022 FOR THE FILM BUFF

Lets face it, Christopher Nolan did not in fact save cinema with the hotly anticipated release of his latest feature Tenet in 2020. However, I beg to ask, did Cinema even need saving in the first place? What with new structures and platforms for distribution and consumption, perhaps the way to save cinema was to just release as many diverse and original titles to as many people as possible through whatever platform they could easily access.

Streaming really has democratized access to once rare feature films

Streaming really has democratized access to once rare feature films and while my personal preference is a packed theatre with hundreds of other fans completely engrossed in the world captured on screen. I am willing to settle for watching a film on my crappy phone screen if it means I get to see the latest Park Chan-Wook masterpiece. Speaking of which, below is a small list of films I expect to possibly make 2022 one of the best and diverse years in Cinema history. With the Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All At Once, one of if not the greatest achievement in the visual medium already released we are certainly due for a historic calendar year in Cinema.

We Begin with the aforementioned Park Chan-Wook’s

Decision To Leave

Director: Park Chan-Wook

Park Chan-Wook is a director who I fell in love with after seeing his previous film, The Handmaiden. Known for his raw, yet poetic storylines and characterisations. This film, which is labelled as a mystery/thriller is infact a slow and melancholic romance adventure. If you want to see what a visualistion of the emotional depths characters can go through on screen I strongly recommend his previous films and this one once its available.

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

From the winner of back-to-back Best Directing Oscars (Birdman and The Revenant) and multiple other Producing and Writing Awards AGI (Im just gonna call him AGI coz cmon now) is back with a film that’s set in his homeland of Mexico. I expect this to be a somewhat contemplative film with the Director wrestling with the stature he has attained and how he got there.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Director: Martin Scorsese

Martins back and this time he’s brought back Brendan Fraser and added some Jesse Plemons for some extra spice. Look its Marty, If you’re reading this and are not instantly driven to watch the next Marty film then this list is certainly not for you.

Poor Things

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Yorgos Lanthimos is a master of absurdist and camp cinema (The Lobster, The Favourite, the Killing of a Scared Deer) which is why I am infinitely excited and anticipating his adaptation of the book Poor Things. With a stellar cast consisting of his staple and muse Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe. We are certainly in for a treat. Heck even the synopsis alone is a piece of absurdist poetry.

“Victoria McCandless is a free-spirited, highly sensual woman who drowns herself to escape her abusive husband. In the aftermath, she is brought back to life by an eccentric scientist named Godwin Baxter. He replaces her brain with the brain of her unborn child and changes Victoria’s name to Belle Baxter. Godwin finds his scientific dreams fulfilled through Belle, but must deal with the complications of her jealous husband learning about her existence.”

What’s not to love?

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Director: George Miller

From the acclaimed and Oscar winning Director that brought us Babe: Pig In the City, Happy Feet and Mad Max Fury Road comes a fantasy romantic adventure about a Djinn that just wants Tilda Swinton to make up her mind about the wished she desires. I would commit many a felon to take a peek into the mind of George Miler and every fil release keeps me away from prison. Also do Watch Babe: Pig In The City it is a piece of cinematic history!

Broker

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

What I love the most about auteurs is how they are constantly going back to themes they have tackled and finding new lenses with which to inspect and digest them. Hirokazu Koreeda is fascinated with the machinations and the constituents of the concept of “family.” His previous films, Like Father Like Son and Palm D’or winner Shoplifters both tackled this subject matter and I can not wait to see him take this one apart once again. He decided to film and cast South Korean actors, which seemed to have worked well as most of the main cast is touted for individual awards based on their performances.

Crimes of the Future

Director: David Cronenberg

Quite possibly the most polarizing directors of the modern era, Cronenbergs new film which stars Academy Award Nominee Kristen Stewart, Lea Seydoux as well as Viggo Mortensen was apparently so shocking some critics were walking out of the theatre. I think most of us of a certain age all saw The Fly on ZNBC so we know what to expect from David when it comes to body horror. Can’t wait to celebrate Kristen getting nominated for another Oscar.

The Whale

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Aronofsky is adapting a play about an obese man trying to reconnect with his daughter. In the titular role, Aronofsky has the one and only Brendan Fraser at his disposal, in the midst of making a whirlwind of a comeback. Stranger Things Season 4 standout star, Sadie Sink also has a major role in the film as the daughter and this could be her big break into the big screen. I am still digesting literally all of Aronofsky’s films (mother, Black Swan, The Wrestler) to this day and I am certain I will be attempting to fully digest The Whale decades from now.

Cha Cha Real Smooth

Director: Cooper Raif

Coming RED HOT off of Sundance with glowing reviews and a very positive audience rating winning the much coveted Audience Award. Cha Cha Real Smooth was picked up by Apple TV+ for about $15 million. Cooper Raif is known for directing feel good coming of age films and Dakota Johnson apparently has a performance of her lifetime in this. If you are getting ahint of dejavu then dear reader let me put you at ease, this is the exact formula that Apple TV used last year to get CODA that Best Picture win and it is not out of the realm of possibility once again.

Triangle of Sadness

Director: Ruben Östlund

A satirical look at the lifestyle of the ultra rich in an attempt to portray just how ridiculous late stage capitalism is by placing the setting on a Yacht with vapid self centred patrons people and a Marxist Sea Captain yelling at them is cause enough for me to place this as my most anticipated film on this list and yet theres more! Woody Harrelson plays the Captain in what critics are calling one of his best roles in recent memory and the film just recently won the Palme D’or at Cannes.

There are a whole lot more to add to the list but we shall leave it at ten for now. What films are you looking forward to seeing in 2022?

written by

Dennis "TheKidd" Banda

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