A little over halfway through 2022, the film year has already been an intriguing one, with one of the highest-rated releases at the box office yet. That would be Top Gun: Maverick. But if you’ve already seen it and want to catch up on other strong films, I asked the Times’ co-chief critics AO Scott and Manohla Dargis for their favorites. Here they are, in no particular order. – Stephanie Gutman

“Everything everywhere at once”

The history: A laundromat owner (Michelle Yeoh) is stressed. Her husband files for divorce. Her daughter is depressed and angry at her. And to top it off, the IRS audits them. As she faces off against the auditors, her encounter with an indomitable bureaucrat triggers a multiverse that reveals the lives she could have lived (and the hot-dog fingers she could have had) and, more importantly, different avenues for their relationships .

AO Scott’s attitude: “Ancient wisdom serves a sincere and generous heart,” wrote our reviewer of the film, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, working under the Daniels name. “Yes, the film is a metaphysical multiverse galaxy brain-mind journey, but deep down – and right on the surface too – it’s a bittersweet domestic drama, a marital comedy, a tale of immigrant aspirations, and a harrowing ballad about… Mother-daughter love.”

Read the review and interviews with Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, who plays her husband. You may remember Quan, who started out as a child actor, as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Watch: It can still be seen in some cinemas, or you can buy it on major digital platforms. Also see an anatomy of a scene with the directors.

‘Occurrence’

The history: Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei) is a 23-year-old student in south-west France in the early 1960s who hopes to become a writer. But when she becomes pregnant, her efforts to obtain an abortion, which was newly criminalized at the time, come to a desperate end. The film is based on the memoirs of French writer Annie Ernaux.

Manohla Dargis attitude: “Director Audrey Diwan’s gaze remains clear, direct and fearless,” wrote our reviewer. “She shows you a part of life that the movies rarely show. By that I mean she shows you a woman who wants to learn, to have sex, to have children on her terms, to be sovereign – a woman who, in choosing her life, risks becoming a criminal and dares to be free. ”

Read the review and an article on how the film fed into a larger debate in France.

Rent or buy it on Amazon Prime and other major digital platforms.

‘Flux Gourmet’

The history: In the world of writer-director Peter Strickland, culinary delights can also be musical, and groups perform by squeezing puree on a blender or dropping food into hot oil. In a mansion where players and followers have gathered, egos and entrenched principles heat up the tension. (Who could resist?)

AO Scott’s attitude: “The film is less an allegory or fantasy than a witty philosophical speculation on basic human problems,” Scott wrote. “We are animals driven by lust, hunger and aggression, but also delicate beings who love beauty and abstraction. These two sides of our nature collide in unexpected, infinitely variable ways.”

The history: The pandemic may be receding, but Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz) continues to work from her attic, perhaps out of agoraphobia, on a job that involves troubleshooting KIMI, a Siri-like digital assistant. While working on one of these bugs, she thinks she’s hearing about a violent crime. Her efforts to keep going put her in jeopardy.

Manohla Dargis attitude: The thriller “confidently draws on a range of cinematic references,” including Rear Window, wrote our reviewer. But director Steven Soderbergh “pulls out all his tricks and is clearly having a blast.” Even as the plot grows more menacing, “he maintains a lightness and a visual playfulness that keeps the film safe in the realm of pop fun.”

Read the review.

Stream it on HBO Max.

‘Neptune Frost’

The history: In this Afrofuturistic vision from American multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams and Rwandan filmmaker Anisia Uzeyman, a Burundian miner (Kaya Free) and an intersex runaway (Cheryl Isheja and Elvis Ngabo) meet in an African community dedicated to imagination and solidarity.

AO Scott’s attitude: The plot is “loose and suggestive,” he wrote, describing the film as “a collage of vivid images, sounds and words that hit on the film’s themes like hashtags.” Williams and Uzeyman fuse anarchist politics with anarchist aesthetics, creating something that feels both handmade and high-tech, digital and analogue, poetic and punk rock.”

Read the review.

watch it in theaters.

‘Lingui, the Sacred Bindings’

The history: In N’Djamena, Chad, 15-year-old Maria (Rihane Khalil Alio) was expelled from school because she is pregnant. Her single mother, the enterprising Amina (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane), earns her living by selling coal stoves that she makes from salvaged tires. So both women have an interest in their quest for a safe abortion.

Manohla Dargis attitude: Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun “shows you women in motion and in revolt, on the run and on the run, and sometimes slyly and cheerfully circling around the men in their lives,” the critic wrote. “And if you watch the credits, you’ll also hear women laughing – a divine and triumphant coda.”

Read the review and an interview with the director and a star of the film.

Watch: Stream it on Mubi; Rent or buy it on major digital platforms.

‘Future’

The history: In a project begun before the pandemic and completed during the pandemic, directors Pietro Marcello (“Martin Eden”), Francesco Munzi (“Black Souls”) and Alice Rohrwacher (“Happy as Lazzaro”) toured Italy interviewing young people People to everything from their lives career hopes to the sense of happiness.

AO Scott’s attitude: “It would be a mistake to impose too much coherence on such a kaleidoscopic, open-ended collective portrait,” he wrote. Still, the film is “an affirmation of the durability of an approach to filmmaking grounded in curiosity, democratic principles, and the idea that people can speak for themselves.”

The history: Young Nelly has moved to the French countryside with her mother and father to clear out the house of her recently deceased grandmother. In the forest, Nelly makes friends with another girl who, like Nelly’s mother, is building a hut. As the two resembling children grow closer (played by twins Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz), their enigmatic connection hints at deeper bonds.

Manohla Dargis attitude: “Part of the mystery is that it’s unclear what kind of story this is and where it—with its charming child and reserved melancholy—could lead,” our reviewer wrote. In withholding information, director Celine Sciamma encourages “you to look at this place and this story with the open eyes of a child, which means putting aside your expectations of how movies work.”

Read the review.

Rent or buy it on major digital platforms.

‘Mister. Bachmann and his class”

The history: In her quirky documentary, shot in the 2016/17 school year, Maria Speth follows the title character, a charismatic sixth-grader with a penchant for counterculture, and his mostly immigrant students in a German village north of Frankfurt.

AO Scott’s attitude: While we don’t learn much about the subjects’ lives outside of school, “some students come into focus, almost dwarfing their teacher and adding to the emotional richness of the film,” our reviewer wrote. “This is not some heroic teacher drama about idealism in the face of adversity. It’s a recognition of the hard work of learning and the magic of simple decency.”

The history: A young Swede with the stage name Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel) has just arrived in Los Angeles and is determined to become a star in the porn industry. As she performs in extreme scenes and tries to push her own limits, she observes how the work affects the humanity of the performers, male and female.

Manohla Dargis attitude: “It’s a smart, bold, totally unexpected film that is, at its core, a dated tale about an ambitious nerd who pushes the odds to become another American success story,” wrote the critic. Director Ninja Thyberg “knows the horrors, as one haunting scene underscores. But women do porn and women watch it for different reasons, one of which is because they like it. Because it’s her choice.”

Read the review.

Rent or buy it on major digital platforms.

A little over halfway through 2022, the film year has already been an intriguing one, with one of the highest-rated releases at the box office yet. That would be Top Gun: Maverick. But if you’ve already seen it and want to catch up on other strong films, I asked the Times’ co-chief critics AO Scott and Manohla Dargis for their favorites. Here they are, in no particular order. – Stephanie Gutman

“Everything everywhere at once”

The history: A laundromat owner (Michelle Yeoh) is stressed. Her husband files for divorce. Her daughter is depressed and angry at her. And to top it off, the IRS audits them. As she faces off against the auditors, her encounter with an indomitable bureaucrat triggers a multiverse that reveals the lives she could have lived (and the hot-dog fingers she could have had) and, more importantly, different avenues for their relationships .

AO Scott’s attitude: “Ancient wisdom serves a sincere and generous heart,” wrote our reviewer of the film, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, working under the Daniels name. “Yes, the film is a metaphysical multiverse galaxy brain-mind journey, but deep down – and right on the surface too – it’s a bittersweet domestic drama, a marital comedy, a tale of immigrant aspirations, and a harrowing ballad about… Mother-daughter love.”

Read the review and interviews with Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, who plays her husband. You may remember Quan, who started out as a child actor, as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Watch: It can still be seen in some cinemas, or you can buy it on major digital platforms. Also see an anatomy of a scene with the directors.

‘Occurrence’

The history: Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei) is a 23-year-old student in south-west France in the early 1960s who hopes to become a writer. But when she becomes pregnant, her efforts to obtain an abortion, which was newly criminalized at the time, come to a desperate end. The film is based on the memoirs of French writer Annie Ernaux.

Manohla Dargis attitude: “Director Audrey Diwan’s gaze remains clear, direct and fearless,” wrote our reviewer. “She shows you a part of life that the movies rarely show. By that I mean she shows you a woman who wants to learn, to have sex, to have children on her terms, to be sovereign – a woman who, in choosing her life, risks becoming a criminal and dares to be free. ”

Read the review and an article on how the film fed into a larger debate in France.

Rent or buy it on Amazon Prime and other major digital platforms.

‘Flux Gourmet’

The history: In the world of writer-director Peter Strickland, culinary delights can also be musical, and groups perform by squeezing puree on a blender or dropping food into hot oil. In a mansion where players and followers have gathered, egos and entrenched principles heat up the tension. (Who could resist?)

AO Scott’s attitude: “The film is less an allegory or fantasy than a witty philosophical speculation on basic human problems,” Scott wrote. “We are animals driven by lust, hunger and aggression, but also delicate beings who love beauty and abstraction. These two sides of our nature collide in unexpected, infinitely variable ways.”

The history: The pandemic may be receding, but Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz) continues to work from her attic, perhaps out of agoraphobia, on a job that involves troubleshooting KIMI, a Siri-like digital assistant. While working on one of these bugs, she thinks she’s hearing about a violent crime. Her efforts to keep going put her in jeopardy.

Manohla Dargis attitude: The thriller “confidently draws on a range of cinematic references,” including Rear Window, wrote our reviewer. But director Steven Soderbergh “pulls out all his tricks and is clearly having a blast.” Even as the plot grows more menacing, “he maintains a lightness and a visual playfulness that keeps the film safe in the realm of pop fun.”

Read the review.

Stream it on HBO Max.

‘Neptune Frost’

The history: In this Afrofuturistic vision from American multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams and Rwandan filmmaker Anisia Uzeyman, a Burundian miner (Kaya Free) and an intersex runaway (Cheryl Isheja and Elvis Ngabo) meet in an African community dedicated to imagination and solidarity.

AO Scott’s attitude: The plot is “loose and suggestive,” he wrote, describing the film as “a collage of vivid images, sounds and words that hit on the film’s themes like hashtags.” Williams and Uzeyman fuse anarchist politics with anarchist aesthetics, creating something that feels both handmade and high-tech, digital and analogue, poetic and punk rock.”

Read the review.

watch it in theaters.

‘Lingui, the Sacred Bindings’

The history: In N’Djamena, Chad, 15-year-old Maria (Rihane Khalil Alio) was expelled from school because she is pregnant. Her single mother, the enterprising Amina (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane), earns her living by selling coal stoves that she makes from salvaged tires. So both women have an interest in their quest for a safe abortion.

Manohla Dargis attitude: Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun “shows you women in motion and in revolt, on the run and on the run, and sometimes slyly and cheerfully circling around the men in their lives,” the critic wrote. “And if you watch the credits, you’ll also hear women laughing – a divine and triumphant coda.”

Read the review and an interview with the director and a star of the film.

Watch: Stream it on Mubi; Rent or buy it on major digital platforms.

‘Future’

The history: In a project begun before the pandemic and completed during the pandemic, directors Pietro Marcello (“Martin Eden”), Francesco Munzi (“Black Souls”) and Alice Rohrwacher (“Happy as Lazzaro”) toured Italy interviewing young people People to everything from their lives career hopes to the sense of happiness.

AO Scott’s attitude: “It would be a mistake to impose too much coherence on such a kaleidoscopic, open-ended collective portrait,” he wrote. Still, the film is “an affirmation of the durability of an approach to filmmaking grounded in curiosity, democratic principles, and the idea that people can speak for themselves.”

The history: Young Nelly has moved to the French countryside with her mother and father to clear out the house of her recently deceased grandmother. In the forest, Nelly makes friends with another girl who, like Nelly’s mother, is building a hut. As the two resembling children grow closer (played by twins Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz), their enigmatic connection hints at deeper bonds.

Manohla Dargis attitude: “Part of the mystery is that it’s unclear what kind of story this is and where it—with its charming child and reserved melancholy—could lead,” our reviewer wrote. In withholding information, director Celine Sciamma encourages “you to look at this place and this story with the open eyes of a child, which means putting aside your expectations of how movies work.”

Read the review.

Rent or buy it on major digital platforms.

‘Mister. Bachmann and his class”

The history: In her quirky documentary, shot in the 2016/17 school year, Maria Speth follows the title character, a charismatic sixth-grader with a penchant for counterculture, and his mostly immigrant students in a German village north of Frankfurt.

AO Scott’s attitude: While we don’t learn much about the subjects’ lives outside of school, “some students come into focus, almost dwarfing their teacher and adding to the emotional richness of the film,” our reviewer wrote. “This is not some heroic teacher drama about idealism in the face of adversity. It’s a recognition of the hard work of learning and the magic of simple decency.”

The history: A young Swede with the stage name Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel) has just arrived in Los Angeles and is determined to become a star in the porn industry. As she performs in extreme scenes and tries to push her own limits, she observes how the work affects the humanity of the performers, male and female.

Manohla Dargis attitude: “It’s a smart, bold, totally unexpected film that is, at its core, a dated tale about an ambitious nerd who pushes the odds to become another American success story,” wrote the critic. Director Ninja Thyberg “knows the horrors, as one haunting scene underscores. But women do porn and women watch it for different reasons, one of which is because they like it. Because it’s her choice.”

Read the review.

Rent or buy it on major digital platforms.