The Oscar nominations are out and official. You felt the sadness (possibly triangles of it) and joy that comes with the nominations, of pleasant surprises (Paul Mescal sneaking in for Aftersun) and egregious snubs (movies about women, Decision to Leave). Over the course of the coming weeks, various award shows will provide clarity about who is likely to win the Oscars, and then will come to the actual awards where we will sit with our fingers crossed that they don’t make Will Smith jokes (knowing full well that people will).
But this post isn’t about the Oscars. It’s a post about who I would nominate for various awards if I had the power and ability to do so. You may have read my post of top movies from 2022, but this is quite a bit different than that. For one, I’ve seen several good films since then, but also because there are many films I didn’t get to address in my top 15 that have excellent performances or cinematography or what have you. This is a chance to honor those films and try one last time to get more people to watch them before they pass into relative obscurity.
Also, though I counted Drive My Car and Petite Maman as 2022 films for my best of list, I accept that they had their chance in the previous awards cycle and so they won’t be eligible here. Films in bold are ones I have in common with Oscar contenders in similar categories.
Best Picture
This isn’t a rehash of my top films of the year though there is some overlap. When I think of Best Picture, I like to think not only of technical film excellence but also of how the film reflects the year in which it was made. In many ways, this award is a statement about 2022 in film, a movie that represents everything great about 2022 film (while also being a great movie). The nominees are:
- Aftersun
- Babylon
- The Banshees of Inisherin
- Decision to Leave
- The Eternal Daughter
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
- The Fabelmans
- Tár
- White Noise
- Women Talking
It’s a great crop of movies that are aggressively skewed toward the first part of the alphabet (that’s just a random observation). There’s really no movie that captures the essence of the year, so I just have to go with my gut and say Aftersun or Decision to Leave. It’s basically a coin flip between them. If I had to pick, I’d pick Aftersun. There was something deeply moving about it as a film, a perfect blend of subject and cinematic execution.
Best Director
When I think of Best Director, I tend to think of who executed their vision the best while also making a really good movie. There are times when a director can shine in a less-than-spectacular film, but for this award, I’m looking for a clear artistic vision executed on film. I also might take into account if it feels like no one else could have made the film.
- Todd Field, Tár
- Joanna Hogg, The Eternal Daughter
- Park Chan-wook, Decision to Leave
- Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
- Charlotte Wells, Aftersun
This is a two-horse race between Hogg and Wells, both films that lean heavily on the subtle style of their directors. The atmosphere of Hogg’s film, coupled with the acting of Tilda Swinton, is pretty much the whole essence of the film, but I have to go with Aftersun. It’s been probably since Lady Bird (Gerwig, 2017) that I’ve been so fully captivated by the vision of a debut feature. It’s such a personal film that also stretches into a wide range of childhood experiences. Whatever Wells does next, I’m first in line.
Best Lead Actors
The gender binary is a stupid way to organize the world, so rather than give you the best “actor” and “actress” (in quotes because everyone is an actor!), here are my picks for the 10 best lead performances of the year, and then the three top performances that I would name as winners. What I consider lead versus supporting is totally arbitrary, so look at the supporting nominees, too, before raging at my egregious omissions.
- Cate Blanchett, Tár
- Austin Butler, Elvis
- Frankie Corio, Aftersun
- Danielle Deadwyler, Till
- Adam Driver, White Noise
- Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
- Mia Goth, Pearl
- Zoe Kazan, She Said
- Bella Ramsay, Catherine Called Birdy
- Tilda Swinton, The Eternal Daughter
The academy and I are significantly at odds this year, and that’s fine. It was an incredibly strong year for performances, usually by women, anchoring movies. This crop of nominees doesn’t even mention performances from Barbarian, Smile, or Watcher, which I thought were really good. Now for my picks. First, I’m going with Tilda Swinton in The Eternal Daughter. This film is about 95% Swinton’s performance as both mother and daughter, but there’s more than just that as it’s entirely possible one or both of them are dead or exist only in the mind. This incredible liminal space and constant unease are conveyed almost completely through Swinton and the subtle direction. But if it were anyone other than her (and prior to this I wouldn’t have called myself a fan of hers!) the movie might have collapsed completely.
Second, I have to give it to Mia Goth in Pearl. I know this performance isn’t for everyone, but it really worked for me in the way a lot of Nic Cage performances work for me. It’s another film that works on the strength of its lead acting, but she really delivers a mix of a fine blend of sympathy and psychopathy. There were a LOT of great horror performances this year, but this one stands out to me.
Finally, just barely edging out Blanchett is Adam Driver for White Noise. When I read that book (which is a good one), Driver was very far from how I pictured Jack Gladney, but he is so unreasonably good as an actor that this discrepancy is forgotten almost immediately. He captures the dark comedy and the pathos that makes the film work, turning in yet another awards-worthy performance (If I had done these awards in the past, he would have won a 2019 award for Marriage Story and a 2021 award for Annette, making 3 wins in 4 years).
Best Supporting Actors
- Paul Dano, The Fabelmans
- Ralph Fiennes, The Menu
- Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
- Rooney Mara, Women Talking
- Paul Mescal, Aftersun (but as lead actor)
- Carey Mulligan, She Said
- Keke Palmer, Nope
- Saoirse Ronan, See How They Run
- Sadie Sink, The Whale
- Tang Wei, Decision to Leave
There were a lot of amazing supporting performances this year, and most of them have gone unrecognized by the major awards circuits. I understand why Mescal is usually considered a lead actor, but I have him in support because of the way he functions opposite Corio. It’s very subjective.
So who are my winners? One award has to go to Keke Palmer for Nope. She carries a large chunk of the thematic material of that movie and, crucially, keeps the atmosphere fun and bubbly. Key to Peele’s (that was unintentional) films is the balance of humor and horror, and in Nope, that mostly falls on Palmer. I’m also giving an award to Saoirse Ronan. This is certainly a pick with some bias, but she gave the performance this year that entertained me the most. As she typically does, she elevated just about every bit of her screentime to new levels. It’s practically an 8-way tie between the other nominees, but I’ll go with Ralph Fiennes for the last award. He really made The Menu into one of my favorites of last year with his odd blend of restraint and menace. I think it’s a career-best performance from him and a perfect example of how the right supporting work can elevate the film.
Best Original Screenplay
I’m not an expert on screenplays and make my determinations of original or adapted based on my gut feelings and prior knowledge. When I think of screenplay, I think of movies with a really great story. It was a strong year for stories, so it’s hard to narrow it down, but here are my picks.
- Barbarian
- Decision to Leave
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
- Tár
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
These are all amazing stories that kept me enthralled and intrigued. I want to mention specifically the excellence of Puss in Boots, which told an incredibly layered story about death and belonging that pretty much obliterated any other “kids” movie in the last 4 years. Part of me would love to pick Barbarian which has a Get Out (Peele, 2017) level of pleasure in rewatching as the puzzle pieces come together. But I’m going with Decision to Leave. My word, what an amazing, interconnected narrative of mystery and romance.
Best Adapted Screenplay
- The Black Phone
- Catherine Called Birdy
- She Said
- White Noise
- Women Talking
I haven’t read all these books, but these are movies where you could tell they were adapting books, in the best way. Women Talking is an easy adaptation, well executed to be sure. So my pick, and I’m frankly disgusted this wasn’t nominated for an Oscar, is White Noise. Noah Baumbach and company took what for 40 years was an infamously un-adaptable book and made an incredible film. Nearly all of the dialogue of the first half is direct from the book, layered and shoved together to make it more lifelike. Similarly, the changes the film makes to the end of the story are smart changes that make for a stronger movie and a richer ending.
Best Animated Feature
- The Bad Guys
- Marcel the Shell with Shoes On* (I’ve only seen part of this)
- Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
- Turning Red
It was a really great year for animation, so good that I can’t pick. Turning Red and Puss in Boots both finished top TEN of the year in my final rankings. Like of all the great movies, those two are top 10 up there with all the other movies mentioned often throughout this list and ahead of many others like The Banshees of Inisherin. It’s a tie between them.
Best International Film
I have not yet been able to see Corsage, The Quiet Girl, Murina, Happening, Close, or EO. From what I have seen, an honorable mention goes to Neptune Frost, but pretty resoundingly my pick is Decision to Leave. There’s a chance The Quiet Girl could challenge it, but doubtful. Decision to Leave is just too good.
Best Documentary
I have not yet been able to see All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the likely Oscar winner and likely my pick for best Documentary. In leu of that, I’ll shout out Sr., We Need to Talk About Cosby and Lucy and Desi. Fire of Love is also really good, but my pick, based on what I’ve seen, is Is That Black Enough For You? A sprawling look at the history of Black cinema that is essential viewing for any and all movie fans, and the perfect watch for Black History Month (it’s on Netflix).
Two last awards without full category write-ups. I would give Best Cinematography to Aftersun and Best Editing to The Fabelmans. Among the many strengths of those movies, those features stand out as especially powerful and worthy of mention (the Oscars snubbed both).
A full recap of all the awards
- Best Picture: Aftersun
- Best Director: Charlotte Wells, Aftersun
- Lead Actors: Tilda Swinton (The Eternal Daughter), Mia Goth (Pearl), Adam Driver (White Noise)
- Supporting Actors: Keke Palmer (Nope), Saoirse Ronan (See How They Run), Ralph Fiennes (The Menu)
- Original Screenplay: Decision to Leave
- Adapted Screenplay: White Noise
- Animated Feature (TIE): Turning Red and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
- International Film: Decision to Leave* (with caveats)
- Documentary: Is That Black Enough For You?*
- Cinematography: Aftersun
- Editing: The Fabelmans
That’s 15 awards given out to 12 different movies, an apt reflection of the variety and excellence on display this year. I recommend all these movies without reservation (while my regard for Oscar nominees Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Triangle of Sadness is minimal).
I think that about does it for 2022 unless I see something that slipped past me and demands further attention. Sundance is the moment when it always starts to feel to me like the new year of movies, so bring on 2023 and whatever it has in store!
