Random Most Underrated Movies Of 2022 (19 items)

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  (#1) Fall

  • Grace Fulton, Ginny Gardner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mason Gooding, Julia Pace Mitchell, Jasper Cole

  If you're even remotely afraid of heights, Fall will have you squirming and gripping the armrest of your chair for 107 minutes. Grace Caroline Curry and Virginia Gardner play adventure-seeking besties who decide to climb an abandoned 2,000-foot-high television tower out in the middle of nowhere. Upon reaching the narrow platform at the top, the ladder breaks, leaving them stranded way up in the air, with no means of getting down. They come up with ways to signal for help, most of which entail dangling from that platform. Fall seemed primed to become a late-summer sleeper hit, but audiences - presumably recognizing the premise was going to be viscerally intense - didn't materialize to any significant degree.

  That's a shame because this is one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences you will ever have. It works for two reasons. First, the illusion that Curry and Gardner are 2,000 feet in the air is totally convincing. You watch in constant fear of their characters plunging to their deaths. The other reason is that the actresses provide the concept with a human element. The friendship between these women is tested during their ordeal, and the stars bring that to life. Fall is such a non-stop nerve-rattler that it's impossible not to breathe a sigh of relief when it's over. 
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  (#2) The Adam Project

  • Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Walker Scobell, Zoe Saldana, Catherine Keener, Alex Mallari, Braxton Bjerken

  Time travel movies are a dime a dozen, but The Adam Project finds a new twist. Ryan Reynolds plays futuristic pilot Adam Reed. He goes back in time to find his missing wife, but ends up in the wrong year. Instead of finding her, he encounters himself as a 12-year-old. Both iterations of Adam work together to get Big Adam back where he needs to be. The Adam Project is a Netflix release, so it's widely available. The big scope of it, which includes multiple extravagant action sequences, would have had a bigger impact theatrically, though. As such, it got some notice, just not as much as it probably would have with a splashy release to cinemas. 

  Reynolds is at his comedic best here, tossing off one-liners like the pro he is. The movie also wrings a lot of laughs from the idea of Adam interacting with his younger self. What really makes it tick, however, is the touching way it dives into who we are as kids versus who we are as adults. Older Adam has a chance to rectify some regrets he has from his past, especially in relation to how he treated his mother (played by Jennifer Garner). With a nice mix of laughs, excitement, and tenderness, The Adam Project is quality mainstream entertainment. 
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  (#3) The Outfit

  • Mark Rylance, Dylan O'Brien, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Simon Russell Beale, Alan Mehdizadeh

  One of 2022's best thrillers came and went from theaters in the blink of an eye. The Outfit stars Mark Rylance as Leonard, a tailor shop proprietor in 1950s Chicago. He finds himself in jeopardy when hotshot young gangster Richie Boyle (Dylan O'Brien) comes in one night, demanding that he stitch up a bullet wound. From there, Leonard is pulled into mob dealings involving rival gangs and incriminating audio tape. Conveying the movie's plot without giving away too much was a challenge, which may have contributed to audience apathy. The ads simply couldn't convey how efficiently the picture works. And despite being an Oscar winner, Mark Rylance is not a box-office draw. 

  The Outfit unfolds entirely within Leonard's shop, yet it never feels claustrophobic or stagey. Quite the opposite, in fact. The plot ticks like a clock, with one complication after another arriving to crank up the danger. Rylance is superb, quietly indicating how Leonard is perpetually thinking two or three steps ahead of the mobsters, while simultaneously preventing them from realizing that he's planning to outsmart them. Everything builds to a powerhouse ending destined to leave your jaw on the floor. Few thrillers in 2022 were as well-constructed as this one. 
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  (#4) Emily the Criminal

  • Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Jonathan Avigdori, Kim Yarbrough, Gina Gershon, Bernardo Badillo, Wesley Han, Brandon Sklenar

  If all you know of Aubrey Plaza is her comedic work, prepare to be blown away by her dramatic turn in Emily the Criminal. She plays Emily, a debt-ridden woman in need of quick cash who agrees to participate in low-level credit card fraud. It turns out that she's really good at the activity, leading the guy she works for (Theo Rossi) to give her increasingly risky tasks. It doesn't take long for her to get in over her head. A smaller company distributed the film, and because they couldn't advertise it as widely as the major studios promote their stuff, it got lost in the shuffle when it was released in August.

  Plaza's performance alone is worth seeing Emily the Criminal for. The actress thoroughly sheds the “weird” comedic persona that made her a star, effectively playing both the character's desperation and the undeniable thrill she gets from pulling off a scam. Story-wise, the movie builds suspense from the way Emily gets deeper and deeper into the credit card fraud business, putting her in both legal and physical danger. This is a fascinating picture about an aimless woman who finds purpose in life through committing crimes. 
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  (#5) Fresh

  • Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jonica T. Gibbs, Andrea Bang, Dayo Okeniyi, Charlotte Le Bon, Brett Dier, Alina Maris, William Belleau, Lachlan Quarmby

  Fresh starts off seeming like a romantic comedy. Unlucky-in-love Nora (Daisy Edgar-Jones) has a “meet cute” with plastic surgeon Steve (Sebastian Stan) in a grocery store. They begin dating, and he seems like the perfect man. Until she agrees to go on a weekend trip with him, that is. Steve, it turns out, is a total psycho with a rather disturbing meat-selling business on the side. Despite being acquired by Searchlight Pictures right before its Sundance premiere, Fresh wasn't given a theatrical release, getting sent to Hulu instead. Since not everyone has Hulu, a large section of the horror fanbase didn't have access to it.

  Without a doubt, 2022 was a banner year for the horror genre, and Fresh is one of the best entries. A whole lot of crazy, unpredictable things happen in the plot, guaranteeing viewers will be on the edge of their seats the entire time. More importantly, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan give first-rate performances, creating characters whose motivations and actions feel authentic. That has the effect of making everything else even more suspenseful. 
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  (#6) Watcher

  • Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, Burn Gorman, Madalina Anea, Flaviu Crisan, Tudor Petrut, Gabriela Butuc, Daniel Nuta

  It's become a cliché to call thrillers “Hitchcockian,” but old Hitch would almost certainly have given a thumbs-up to Watcher. Maika Monroe plays Julia, a woman who moves to Bucharest with her boyfriend, due to his job. She has trouble assimilating to long days by herself in a strange country. Then Julia notices a strange man staring in their window from the building across the street and following her everywhere she goes. Since there's a serial killer out there cutting off the heads of his female victims, the guy's ubiquitous presence is even more off-putting. IFC Films gave Watcher a relatively wide theatrical release, but with virtually no mainstream promotion, it stalled out with a box-office gross of under $2 million.  

  Thanks to an effective performance from Monroe and atmospheric direction from Chloe Okuno, Watcher provides non-stop tension. A scene where the guy trails Julia into a cinema will especially give you chills. The story goes in directions you don't anticipate, which elevates it above other, similarly-themed thrillers. And as the creepy stalker guy, Burn Gorman radiates genuine menace. By the time Watcher is over, you might not have any fingernails left because you will have bitten them all off. 
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  (#7) I Want You Back

  • Charlie Day, Jenny Slate, Scott Eastwood, Manny Jacinto, Clark Backo, Luke David Blumm, Giselle Torres, Isabel May

  There aren't as many good rom-coms as there used to be, which makes I Want You Back a welcome presence. Charlie Day and Jenny Slate play strangers who meet and commiserate over the fact that they've both been recently dumped. Together, they hatch a plan to destroy their respective exes' new relationships and win them back. The movie was made for Amazon Prime, a service that has seen its TV series break out, but hasn't had the same luck with its original movies. Consequently, this one got a little buried. 

  Two good reasons to see I Want You Back are obvious: Charlie Day and Jenny Slate. They're always funny, and their comic interplay is hilarious. Are there a few predictable plot elements here? Of course, but a smart, witty screenplay gives the stars a lot to work with. An R rating also affords the movie a chance to go a little edgier than most rom-coms, which helps set it apart from the pack. 
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  (#8) Kimi

  • Zoë Kravitz, Byron Bowers, Rita Wilson, Robin Givens, India de Beaufort, Emily Kuroda, Jaime Camil, Alex Dobrenko, Derek DelGaudio, Charles Halford, Jacob Vargas, Erika Christensen, Devin Ratray

  Once upon a time, any new Steven Soderbergh movie would have been a major deal. Kimi, on the other hand, ended up on HBO Max. Consequently, many people didn't even know he had a new work released in 2022. Zoë Kravitz plays Angela Childs, a Seattle tech worker who battles agoraphobia, a fear of going outside. She uncovers evidence of a crime, but in order to do something about it, she will have to leave home. 

  That premise obviously sets up two levels of tension. On one, she's got to do something about this crime. On the other, her mental illness could foil her efforts at any time. Soderbergh gets maximum mileage from that dual idea, while also providing Kimi with a tight pace. (It's only 89 minutes long.) Kravitz continues her streak of interesting, edgy performances, earning our empathy right off the bat and holding it throughout. The next time you're in the mood for a taut, punchy thriller, Kimi is a good bet. 
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  (#9) Studio 666

  • Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman, Will Forte, Jenna Ortega, Jeff Garlin

  Studio 666 is an unusual horror-comedy, in that it doesn't star professional actors. Instead, it stars rock band Foo Fighters, whose members play themselves. That uniqueness makes it fun, but it also made the movie a difficult sell. There was a misconception that it was only for Foo Fighters fans, not for the general horror crowd. If you're familiar with the band, it's even more fun, although it can easily be enjoyed by anyone who likes that mixture of gore and humor. 

  The Foos rent out a “haunted” house to record their latest album. While there, leader Dave Grohl becomes possessed by a demon and begins murdering his bandmates. The plot is as simple as that. As actors, the musicians acquit themselves nicely. Studio 666 has plenty of awesomely gory kills that any horror buff will be impressed by. They make you laugh and squirm simultaneously. Grohl's situation additionally allows the movie to mock the rock star ego and excess. Even if you couldn't name a single Foo Fighters song, Studio 666 is a horror-comedy that delivers both halves of that equation in hard-rocking, fist-pumping style.
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  (#10) After Yang

  • Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Haley Lu Richardson, Sarita Choudhury, Clifton Collins, Eve Lindley, Brett Dier, Orlagh Cassidy, Ritchie Coster

  After Yang earned rave reviews following screenings at the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. The film is the story of a family, left adrift when their “techno-sapien” helper Yang (Justin H. Min) suddenly breaks down. Dad Jake (Colin Farrell) goes to great lengths to have him repaired, only to learn his internal processors contain memories and information previously unknown to the family. Despite those positive notices, the distributor only gave the movie a token theatrical release that coincided with a debut on Showtime.

  Science fiction is always best when tackling big ideas. After Yang is no exception. It's a poignant story about life, loss, and connection. Even though not technically human, Yang is like a son to Jake and his wife, and like a brother to their daughter. His malfunction is therefore akin to a death. Rather than being depressing, the film has a distinct uplifting quality, as Jake's quest reveals how much of life's beauty Yang has absorbed. 
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  (#11) Ambulance

  • Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Eiza González, Moses Ingram, Jackson White, Cedric Sanders, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O'Donnell, A Martinez, Devan Chandler Long, Colin Woodell

  Michael Bay is known for his high-octane action movies. He is not, however, known for telling deep stories. Ambulance is therefore a perfect project for him. It's more of a premise than an outright story, and the characters are in constant motion. Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is an unemployed veteran who can't afford the life-saving operation his cancer-stricken wife needs. He therefore agrees to take part in a supposedly simple bank heist with his adoptive brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal). Things go wrong, and the two end up fleeing from police in an ambulance - with a nurse (Eiza Gonzalez) and a wounded patient in the back. Universal Pictures weirdly chose to release Ambulance in April, opposite the highly-anticipated sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It's the kind of frenetic action picture that would have slayed during summer, when audiences are primed for this sort of thing.

  Bay pulls out all the stops, delivering a movie that puts the pedal to the floor early on and doesn't let up. He and his stunt team devise thrilling chase sequences that keep you alert for the duration of the 136-minute running time. Amid the vehicular mayhem, Gyllenhaal and Abdul-Mateen create a strong chemistry that makes us care about what happens to their characters. Ambulance is easily one of Bay's best films. It deserved better than it got during its theatrical release. 
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  (#12) Honor Society

  • Angourie Rice, Gaten Matarazzo, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Armani Jackson, Avery Konrad, Kerry Butler, Miku Patricia Martineau, Valin Shinyei, Kelcey Mawema

  If you subscribe to a streaming service, getting exclusive original content is one of the big draws. But for movies that debut on streamers, there's a downside. Honor Society debuted on Paramount+, a fine streamer that nevertheless is still in its relative infancy, and therefore nowhere near as ubiquitous as Netflix. That meant only a small percentage of people who might have enjoyed the movie were able to see it. Angourie Rice plays Honor, a high school student obsessed with getting into Harvard. This quest will be greatly aided by receiving a recommendation from the guidance counselor. But Honor has three rivals, so she plots to take them down. When she falls in love with one of them, her troubles really start.

  If you liked the Reese Witherspoon comedy Election, you'll probably like Honor Society, as well. Both movies are filled with sharp, observant humor dealing with what it means to be a teenager working overtime - and stepping on more than a few toes - in order to fulfill their ambitions. Rice, who practically stole The Nice Guys out from under Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, hits just the right balance in the lead role. We don't always approve of what the character does, but she's charming enough that we still care about her. Honor Society earned positive critical reviews for being a teen comedy that's above-average in intelligence. 
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  (#13) Confess, Fletch

  • Jon Hamm, Kyle MacLachlan, Marcia Gay Harden, Roy Wood, Annie Mumolo, Lorenza Izzo, John Slattery, Kenneth Kimmins, Robert Picardo, John Behlmann, Lucy Punch, Ayden Mayeri, Anna Osceola

  Did you even know a third Fletch movie had been made? Many people didn't, because the studio didn't go out of its way to advertise Confess, Fletch. Instead, the movie was dropped quietly into a few hundred theaters, with a simultaneous VOD release. The move had critics, whose reviews were mostly positive, scratching their heads, wondering why the reboot of a popular series wasn't afforded a more high-profile debut. Chevy Chase is nowhere to be found this time. Instead, Jon Hamm steps into the character's shoes, attempting to prove his innocence after a dead woman's body is found in the townhouse he's renting. 

  Confess, Fletch is not as broad a comedy as the Chase versions from the '80s. Adapting the second of Gregory McDonald's novels, director/co-writer Greg Mottola chooses to stick much closer to the author's vision of the character. Fletch is still a wise-acre who occasionally uses a fake name, but there are none of the wacky disguises that Chase relied on. That helps it stay true to the character while still carving out an identity separate from the films that came before. Hamm is surprisingly good, capturing the “I'm smarter than you” attitude at the core of Fletch's personality. The movie contains many huge laughs, along with hilarious supporting performances from Roy Wood, Jr. as the cop investigating Fletch and Annie Mumolo as his wacky stoner neighbor. Confess, Fletch is so good that you'll want Mottola and Hamm to adapt more of the books. 
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  (#14) A Love Song

  • Dale Dickey, Wes Studi, Michelle Wilson, Benja K. Thomas, John Way, Marty Grace Dennis, Sam Engbring, Scout Engbring, Gregory Hope, Jesse Hope

  You may not know their names, but you've seen Dale Dickey and Wes Studi in lots of movies. The veteran character actors come front and center in A Love Song, one of the most touching screen romances of 2022. They play Faye and Lito, long-ago lovers who reunite at a campground after reconnecting online. They have no clue whether the old magic can be recaptured, but they do have memories and hope - a combination potent enough to make it worth trying. Older adults have been more reluctant to return to theater-going in the wake of COVID-19. Since this is a picture aimed squarely at that demographic, A Love Song couldn't find any traction at the box office. In pre-COVID times, it probably would have been an arthouse hit, though. 

  The beauty of the story is in its subtlety. There's no formal plot here. We just watch these two people feel each other out as they try to reignite an old spark. Dickey and Studi give touching, deeply nuanced performances that create drama from the scenario. The stars make it clear what's at stake for the characters they play. Faye and Lito are older and, in their own ways, wounded. This could be their last shot at finding love. Everything builds to a finale guaranteed to give you all the feels. A Love Song lets two very good actors dive deep into their characters, and it's incredibly satisfying. 
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  (#15) Montana Story

  • Haley Lu Richardson, Owen Teague, Gilbert Owuor

  Montana Story earned a shockingly low $292,915 at the domestic box office. It wasn't for lack of quality. This family drama leans toward the arthouse side, and therefore needed to build strong word of mouth in limited release in order to break out. That didn't happen, in part due to strong competition from other adult-oriented films that were playing at the same time. Owen Teague plays Cal, a young man who returns to his family's Montana home when his father begins hospice care. His estranged sister Erin (Haley Lu Richardson) shows up, too, with a gigantic chip on her shoulder. Over the course of a few days, the siblings feud, rediscover common ground, and eventually address the painful incident from their past that drove them apart. 

  Montana Story is driven by phenomenal performances from Teague and Richardson. The strained dynamic they create between Cal and Erin is riveting. Both actors gradually reveal new layers to the characters, so that our impression of them deepens as the story progresses. The movie also has themes many viewers will relate to, as it deals with familial strife, abuse, and conflict. A naturalistic feel serves to pull you in, and the emotional ending packs a punch.
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  (#16) Crimes of the Future

  • Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Scott Speedman, Welket Bungué, Don McKellar, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Tanaya Beatty, Nadia Litz, Lihi Kornowski, Denise Capezza

  David Cronenberg got famous making “body horror” movies like Videodrome and Scanners. Crimes of the Future marked his return to that subgenre after many years away. The film's incessant weirdness and icky visuals were made quite clear by the advertising, likely driving away viewers who didn't know what to make of something so outside-the-box. Viggo Mortensen plays Saul, a performance artist whose body grows unnecessary internal organs, and Lea Seydoux is his partner, who surgically removes them onstage. Kristen Stewart is also here, playing a bureaucrat whose job is to keep tabs on people with such organ-developing abilities. 

  Crimes of the Future proves Cronenberg hasn't lost his touch. There are many wonderfully squirm-inducing moments in the film, one of which involves an erotic encounter between a woman and the gaping wound on Saul's abdomen. It's not all gross-out stuff, either. The movie has a wickedly dark sense of humor that it uses to satirize performance art and explore themes related to the evolution of the human body. It's a unique, eccentric work from a master filmmaker.
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  (#17) Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

  • Jack Black, Bill Wise, Lee Eddy, Milo Coy, Natalie L'Amoreaux, Josh Wiggins, Sam Chipman, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Danielle Guilbot, Zachary Levi, Glen Powell, Mona Lee Fultz, Samuel Davis, Brian Villalobos, Nick Stevenson

  Apollo 10 ½ : A Space Age Childhood faced some definite challenges in getting noticed. It's an animated feature, but not a traditionally-animated one. It's fine for the whole family, yet not aimed primarily at kids. Those factors seemed to limit its ability to break out, no matter how hard critics praised it. The 1969 moon landing is the subject, and it's told, in large part, from the POV of a young boy from Texas who dreams of someday becoming an astronaut.

  Director Richard Linklater returned to the groundbreaking “rotoscope” form of animation that he successfully used in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. Several years of additional developments have made it look even cooler now than it did then. Apollo 10 ½ is also a great portrait of childhood wonder, and of the ability of kids to feel inspired by amazing things happening in the world. Linklater based the film on his own childhood experiences, and that personal touch comes across meaningfully.
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  (#18) Athena

  • Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon

  Athena is a foreign-language film, and those are always tough sells to a domestic audience. A portion of moviegoers simply doesn't like to read subtitles. Even without that issue, Netflix released the film with no advance fanfare, more or less letting people simply discover that it exists. It's tough for a film to survive like that, as the streamer is flooded with other movies and TV shows. Set in a French suburb, the story depicts what happens when an Algerian boy named Idir is murdered by white men wearing police uniforms, and his three brothers, outraged at the crime, become activists for justice. 

  Countries around the world have grappled with racism and police violence. Athena dives fearlessly into those subjects. It has a sense of outrage that comes across. Director Romain Gavras shoots the film in a you-are-there style that adds immediacy and urgency. The result feels like more than watching a movie, it feels like having a full-fledged experience that's emotional, visceral, and intellectual. The hard-hitting way Gavras tackles the themes leaves you with a lot to think about afterward. 
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  (#19) Bros

  • Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane, Guy Branum, Lawrence Washington, Ts Madison, Dot Marie Jones, Jim Rash, Eve Lindley, Monica Raymund, Guillermo Díaz, Jai Rodriguez, Amanda Bearse, Harvey Fierstein, Bowen Yang, Symone, Peter Kim, Justin Covington, Becca Blackwell, Brock Ciarlelli

  Comedian Billy Eichner achieved fame via his TV show Billy on the Street, on which he accosts random New Yorkers with absurd trivia questions, and humorously screams at them if their answers displease him. Bros allowed him to show a totally different side of his talents. He plays Bobby, a gay podcaster who strikes up a pseudo-relationship with Aaron (Luke Macfarlane), a guy he can't stop thinking is out of his league. Their respective issues threaten to prevent the friendship from turning into full-on love. Bros is the first same-sex romantic comedy to be released by a major studio. Multiple box-office pundits blamed the advertising, which focused on that groundbreaking fact more than on the comedy, as the reason for its box-office failure. 

  The fact is that Bros is a terrific rom-com that just happens to be about two men. Anybody who wants to laugh hysterically and see a sweet romance can enjoy it. Aside from sharp dialogue and shrewd observances about dating, the movie has several uproarious celebrity cameos and an inspired running gag about the Hallmark Channel. Eichner is terrific in the lead role, showing a softer side than audiences of his TV show got to see. The humor does get raunchy at times, but never to the point where it detracts from the meaning of the Bobby/Aaron relationship.

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