The top of the best films of 2022 according to the editors of Just Focus

As at the beginning of each year, the editorial staff of Just Focus looks back on the films that marked the previous year. Blockbusters, independent films, horror, animation, here are the cinematic works of 2022 that will be a landmark for us. Here are the opinions of some of the editors:

Ewen Linet

His top 5: 5. Licorice Pizza by Paul Thomas Anderson 4. In the West, nothing new from Edward Berger 3. The Batman by Matt Reeves 2. Vesper Chronicles by Kristina Buozyte & Bruno Samper 1. Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson: Master of fantasy and influential producer, Guillermo del Toro defies the myth of the wooden man with the complicity of veteran animator Mark Gustafson. Heartbreaking not to have discovered this miracle of animation in volume in the rooms. Pinocchio is an unspeakable stroke of brilliance. Guillermo del Toro has proved, during his rich career, that he knows better than anyone how to get the best out of his teams. His first animated film is no exception to the rule, his technical proposal being bold and breathtaking. At the same time, the filmmaker evokes the memory of Ray Harryhausen in a political narrative, fabulously human and spiritual. His version of Carlo Collodi's tale becomes a contemporary fable about the creative act, mourning and the fascist ogre.

Louis Verdoux

His top 5: 5. Top Gun: Maverick by Joseph Kosinski 4. Full-time Eric Gravel 3. Bruno Reidal, confession of a murderer by Vincent Le Port 2. A World of Laura Wandel 1. Pacifiction – Torment on the islands of Albert Serra As a great craftsman of texture, Albert Serra composes an opera of vanities where, for 2h45, confronts the harshness of characters in ideological split and the delicacy of a paradisiacal landscape palpable on every corner of the screen. In this masterpiece, it is men who are tormented, through their voracious, cannibalistic thoughts. Perhaps the greatest proposal for French-language cinema of the last 10 years, without a doubt, the most monstrous.

Tristan Lawarée

His top 5: 5. Bones and all by Luca Guadagnino 4. Inexorable by Fabrice Du Welz 3. My appointments with Leo by Sophie Hyde 2. The Banshees of Inisherin by Martin McDonagh 1. Vortex by Gaspar Noé From the most Boeotian is born a form of grandeur in a chastened and dazzling realization that often divides the screen in two, it, on one side, him, on the other. What may be confusing at first turns out to be a dazzling stylistic elegance. We see all the monotony and slowness of an old couple. A poignant film about the end of life quite far from the usual provocation of its director. Gaspar Noé films the farce that is old age with a touching simplicity capturing the fading between claustration, fear, ladrerie and affliction of living in sorry expectation of death. In short, demoralizing.

Ines Tir

His top 5: 5. Puss in Boots 2: The Last Quest of Januel P. Mercado and Joel Crawford 4. Living by Oliver Hermanus 3. The Batman by Matt Reeves 2. I'm Your Man by Maria Schrader 1. Everything Everywhere all at once by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan A story full of existentialism and intellectual beauty in a world where everything is possible, with a door wide open to the imagination and all its wildest delusions; not to mention the phenomenal technical mastery and exceptional performance of the actors. Touching, funny, impressive, daring.

Alexandre Chadha

His top 5: 5. Fire Of Love by Sara Dosa. 4. The Oath of Pamfir by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk 3. EO by Jerzy Skolimowski 2. Everything Everywhere All At Once by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan 1. Chronicle of a passing liaison by Emmanuel Mouret This year, it is Emmanuel Mouret's last film that wins my ranking. With a cast that saws wonderfully to his paw (Vincent Macaigne and Sandrine Kiberlain), the Marseille director signs his most accomplished work while proving, even after the very successful Les Choses qu'on Dit, Les Choses qu'on Fait (2020) and Mademoiselle de Joncquières (2018), that he continues to progress with each new feature film. A definitely subjective choice to make my favorite contemporary director shine in the field of romance. A little thought also for Our Children's Souls and My Brothers and Me, two incredibly beautiful and tender films, as well as Athena, the technical feat of the year.

Genki

His top 5: 5. Heaven: To the Land of Happiness by Im Sang-so 4. Hunt by Jung-jae Lee 3. Midnight Silence by Oh-Seung Kwon 2. Alienoid by Choi Dong-hoon 1. Decision to leave by Park-Chan Wook If Park-Chan Wook received the Best Director Award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in May for Decision to Leave, it is thanks to an amalgam of elements that the film rises to the status of a masterpiece. It confirms the ability of some directors to explore new styles, to appropriate them, to consolidate drafts that other directors have already treated timidly, without really going to the end. Decision to Leave is a love story. An extraordinary and innovative film, which will make us want to see it again. To better digest it? To deepen it? For pure pleasure? It's up to you.

Aubin Bouillé

His top 5: 5. November by Cédric Jimenez 4. Nope by Jordan Peele 3. Full-time Eric Gravel 2. The Batman by Matt Reeves 1. Everything Everywhere All at Once by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan Everything Everywhere All At Once is one of the biggest slaps I've taken in recent years. It's ultra creative, funny, touching, impressive. It is an amazing cocktail of balance and generosity. The Daniels offer a generous and impressive staging, which borrows from animation, silent cinema, black and white, musical comedy, and other genres. The creativity is overflowing, and thus takes the audience into splendid worlds. And then emerges a work that takes a brilliant look at the concept of parallel lives. A pure crazy, the feature film is afraid of nothing, doubts nothing, and transports its audience on a hallucinated journey that will make laugh, cry and above all impress.