This year, almost all of ILT’s top 10 came direct from the big screen.

A friendly reminder that the cinema’s a banger and you should visit more often.
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10. The Woman King

Dir: Gina Prince-Bythewood

It might be time to start studying the superhuman evolution of Viola Davis, who at 57 embraces the role of action hero in a manner befitting the seasoned greats of the genre. Leading the Agoije, an all-female West African army in a fictionalized version of 19th century Dahomey, Davis’ General Nanisca is a machete-wielding warrior you simply do not want to fuck with. It’s an inspired turn in a by-the-numbers period piece, elevated significantly by its performances and set pieces. Fellow fighter Lashana Lynch is lights out, driving a strong supporting cast to deliver the emotional payoff needed for the action to thrive. The fight choreography is impressive, though its lack of commitment to the violent final blow following each raw, crescendo-building battle stifles the satisfaction somewhat. Sure, it secured a PG-13 rating, but in reality we all wanted to see these women taking dudes’ heads off.
Watch the trailer here…

9. Soviet Bus Stops

Dir: Kristoffer Hegnsvad

A niche exploration of creativity from adversity, Soviet Bus Stops is a quickfire yet satisfying historical document featuring Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig, a man of dedication and astounding patience. Scattered across the former Soviet Union, from Chernobyl to the edge of Mongolia, local bus stops were a triumph of expressionism amidst a period of brutal systematic architecture and a firm discouragement of artistic endeavours that did not directly benefit the state. Herwig, relentless in his search for each distinctive structure (and if he’s lucky, its designer), is our charming guide to a curious bygone era, spanning 10,000 miles of mostly rural, often desolate highway. A triumph of lost history.
Watch the trailer here…

8. Babylon

Dir: Damien Chazelle

If ever a director has earned the freedom to make whatever he wants, with whomever he wants, with the budget he wants, it is Damien Chazelle. With two stone cold masterpieces and a musical success no-one thought possible under his belt, Chazelle was given a blank cheque to continue the trend of high profile filmmakers making unasked for odes to old Hollywood (in this case the late-1920s transition from silent film to talkies). Babylon is without question Chazelle’s attempted magnum opus; his Boogie Nights (a picture it shares structure, themes, and even sequences with). It is flawed, exhilarating, frustrating, and exhausting, but ultimately so ambitious and impressive in technical execution (notably the cinematography and score) that it commands attention, like it or not. At north of three hours, you need to be locked in. See it on the big screen.
Watch the trailer here…

7. Barbarian

Dir: Zach Cregger

Barbarian was made for the movie theatre. It is difficult to remember a creeping, well-constructed nightmare switching tones so quickly, jarringly, and successfully as Zach Cregger’s debut feature manages to do at the end of its first act. The audience laughs not only because it is supposed to, but because it has no idea what the fuck just happened to its collective senses. Soon, it is plunged back into the horror from which it came, but now it’s strapped in and ready for the twisted insanity to come. Or not. That’s how ridiculous Barbarian is; an original thrill ride that is so much fun you simply have to watch it with at least one other person.
Watch the trailer here…

6. Jackass Forever

Dir: Jeff Tremaine

The ultimate dose of serotonin-soaked millennial nostalgia, Jackass Forever dropping at the start of the year was a post-Omicron godsend. As Johnny Knoxville fell from the sky dressed as an Ancient Greek legend, Steve-O (whom it’s great just to see alive and well) whipped his cock out for the bees, and Ehren McGhehey took a heavyweight hook to the nuts beneath that oh-so-familiar guitar twang, you simply couldn’t peel the audience off the floor. Masks be damned as the latest wave receded, people were thrilled to be back together, and no-one gets a party started quite like the Jackass crew. The mix of old and new faces works surprisingly well, with back to school and end of term feels hitting simultaneously, and a chap called Poopies all but dying for our sins in the name of laughter.
Watch the trailer here…

5. The Banshees of Inisherin

Dir: Martin McDonagh

Few directors have perfected the art of dark humour quite like Martin McDonagh, who returns to the big screen to give us the torturous breakup of two lifelong friends in 1920s Inisherin. One friend, you see, now finds the other boring. That’s it, that’s the plot. Yet McDonagh earns his pound of flesh with the hilarious unravelling of Colin Farrell’s Pádraic and Brendan Gleeson’s Colm, with one threatening to shear off his own fingers if the other does not leave him alone, despite the fact that his former friend cannot fathom why he has been given the cold shoulder. Set against the stunning backdrop of County Galaway, and featuring a stellar cast, The Banshees of Inisherin is a beautifully crafted downward spiral through the bitter whispers of small town gossip, society’s desperate, unrelenting resistance to change, and the depths of grappling with one’s own mortality.
Watch the trailer here…

4. Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone

Dir: Adam Curtis

Whatever you think of controversial BBC filmmaker Adam Curtis, his work presents an outlook on society that is unique within the landscape of modern mainstream media. Since the turn of the century, and particularly 2015’s Bitter Lake, he has become the voice of alternative societal deconstruction, focusing on the system of power and the individual’s powerlessness to do anything about it. The stark reality of his latest film, TraumaZone is what makes it so compelling. Russia’s decade-long descent into greed and hopelessness under the guise of reform is as mesmerising as it is terrifying because there is no overarching narrative to the madness, no structure to the destruction. To the average Russian, the country flew by the seat of its pants from Gorbachev to Putin, and that’s what TraumaZone, without the need for Curtis’ trademark narration or needle drops, captures so perfectly.
Watch part one of the film here…

3. Top Gun: Maverick

Dir: Joseph Kosinski

“The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is heading for extinction”. Maybe so, Ed Harris, but not today. Tom Cruise must have loved that exchange. Whenever we think he’s done as the world’s greatest action star, the man just keeps coming back, better than ever. His outright refusal to release Top Gun: Maverick anywhere but theatres, despite it being in the can almost three years ago, is a testament to his commitment to both his craft and the future of cinema. Everything should be real, no corners should be cut, and the audience should get the full Cruise experience. And boy, did his gamble pay off. Top Gun: Maverick is the definition of an cinematic banger in its purest form; a straight up action flick with just the right balance of speed, cheese, and overly manipulative heartstring-tugging emotion. And Val fucking Iceman Kilmer. Love it, give me more, and please don’t die shooting Mission: Impossible.
Watch the trailer here…

2. Tár

Dir: Todd Field

It is difficult for a mere paragraph to do Tár justice. The trailer reveals little of note, not to be secretive, but because it simply cannot condense Todd Field’s fame-dissecting 150-minute juggernaut into a coherent 150 seconds. The only way to describe it is that it feels real. Frighteningly real at times, as Cate Blanchett’s Lydia Tár, considered one of the greatest composer-conductors of the modern age, slowly melts down from the height of success to the delusional, self-destructive depths of lost fame’s hellscape. Field’s script is unbelievable, bettered only by his execution, while Blanchett embodies her maestro with a career-defining energy, laced with equal amounts chilling grace and cataclysmic force.
Watch the trailer here…

1. Bones and All

Dir: Luca Guadagnino

When Call Me by Your Name collaborators Luca Guadagnino and Timothée Chalamet announced they were working on a cannibal drama together, no-one knew what to expect. Aside from Armie Hammer being absolutely gutted of course. The result was Bones and All, a low-key powerhouse that uses cannibalism as the platform for a well-layered and unexpectedly poignant romance. As Chalamet dominates the frame like the Gen-Z heartthrob he is, Taylor Russell nails the fish-out-of-water flesh-eater whose journey takes us around the very edge of society. The more her character evolves, the more her view makes sense, and the more distant and disorientating the real world becomes. It’s a cool choice by Guadagnino and writer David Kajganich that drives the dreamlike tone. Trent Reznor’s distinctive baritones drifting over the credits confirms that he and Atticus Ross delivered the beautiful, stripped back score, while Guadagnino gives us probably the best use of a KISS track ever seen on film. Entirely unafraid to spin off into 80’s-style horror and incorporate societal metaphors ranging from on-the-nose (society eating itself) to deep and probing (the struggles of addiction, race, class, and LGTBQ+), Bones and All charges and challenges its audience from minute one. It’s a film that stays with you, haunts you, and feeds you just enough hope to convince yourself that things might turn out all right.
Watch the trailer here…

Best of the Rest

Five more flicks to suit every mood (follow the link to see the trailer):

Ambulance (Dir: Michael Bay) – We need drones, lots of drones

Everything Everywhere All at Once (Dir: The Daniels) – Dr. Daniels and the multiverse of Yeoh

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Dir: Rian Johnson) – Mona Lisa Fire

Nope (Dir: Jordan Peele) – Yep

RRR (Dir: S. S. Rajamouli) – Never been happier to see the English take a pasting

Looking for recommendations from the past decade? ILT can help…
ILT’s Top 10 Films of 2021!
ILT’s Top 10 Films of 2020!
ILT’s Top 10 Films of 2019!
ILT’s Top 10 Films of 2018!
ILT’s Top 10 Films of 2017!
ILT’s Top 10 Films of 2016!
ILT’s Top 10 Films of 2015!

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