The Associated Press’ Film Writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr’s picks for the best movies of 2022:
JAKE COYLE:
1. “Aftersun”: Rarely does such a delicately crafted tale pack such a wallop. Charlotte Wells’ breathtaking feature debut, starring newcomer Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal as an 11-year-old girl and her father on vacation in Turkey, is such a keenly observed accumulation of detail and feeling that you hardly notice the undertow of heartache that will, in the end, absolutely floor you.
2. “Belle”: Though it was a hit in Japan, it was easy to miss Mamoru Hosoda’s glorious anime back in January, when it arrived in North American theaters. It’s a dazzling blend of “Beauty and the Beast,” a girl’s wrenching battle with grief and self-doubt, and possibly the best movie ever made about the Internet. It’s a lot, maybe too much, but “Belle” reaches the most beautiful of climaxes.
3. “The Banshees of Inisherin”: Martin McDonagh’s latest is a lean fable that throbs with existential conundrum. It plays out between a quizzical Colin Farrell, a doom-laden Brendan Gleeson, an exasperated Kerry Condon and a much-cherished donkey. What else could you possibly need?