Best movies 2022: Tatler’s definitive top 10
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures1/10Elvis
Released in June, this Baz Luhrmann film was a box-office sensation, largely thanks to its leading man (the easy-on-the-eye Austin Butler) and its suitably catching soundtrack. Combining the kinetic musical madness of Moulin Rouge! with the turbo-charged irreverence of The Great Gatsby and the Shakespearian tragedy of Romeo+Juliet, Elvis wowed critics and audiences alike. Thank you, thank you very much.
20TH CENTURY STUDIOS/MOVIESTORE COLLECTION2/10Death on the Nile
Sir Kenneth Branagh returns to screens as inspector Hercule Poirot in this follow up to The Murder on the Orient Express. The luxury steamer, on which the film is set, becomes the scene of a heinous crime as it carries the characters up the breadth of the Egyptian river. The A-list cast (think Gal Gadot, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders) parade along its elegant interiors in satin gowns and diamond brooches but champagne fuelled parties soon evaporate into tense accusations as the mystery unfolds. Imbued with 1940s elegance, this retelling of the famous ‘who dunnit’ is a treat for Christie enthusiasts.
TriStar Productions /Alamy3/10The Woman King
In the 1800s, a group of all-female warriors protects the African kingdom of Dahomey. Faced with a new threat, General Nanisca (played by Viola Davis) trains the next generation of recruits to fight against a foreign enemy that's determined to destroy their way of life. Described as a ‘warrior epic’, The Woman King is a groundbreaking endeavour in both representation and cinematic storytelling. Viola Davis stars as Nanisca, the general of the all-female military unit in the Kingdom of Dahomey, a powerful state of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Aidan Monaghan/Netflix4/10The Wonder
After much anticipation, The Wonder arrived on Netflix in November. The film stars Florence Pugh, one of the buzziest actresses of the moment, as Lib Wright, a 19th-century English nurse who is sent to the Irish Midlands to observe Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy), a deeply religious 11-year-old girl who claims she hasn’t eaten in four months and subsists solely on ‘manna from heaven’. Based on the chilling true story of the 19th century ‘fasting girls’, this is one to watch over the winter months.
Parisa Taghizadeh/Netflix5/10Lady Chatterly’s Lover
They dazzled as Diana in Netflix’s The Crown, but soon Emma Corrin (who identifies as non-binary) will light up the screen in romping period drama Lady Chatterley’s Lover, opposite Jack O’Connell. Originally published in Italy in 1928, and in France the following year, D.H. Lawrence’s book was deemed so scandalous that an unexpurgated edition wasn’t widely published in the UK until 1960. The plot follows the story of an unhappily married aristocrat, who begins a torrid affair with the gamekeeper on her husband's country estate. It's set to hit Netflix in November.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures6/10Don't Worry Darling
Harry Styles stars alongside Florence Pugh in Olivia Wilde’s thriller (she previously directed coming-of-age tale, Booksmart). The pair play a married couple living in an experimental utopian community in 1950s America. Nominated for the People's Choice Awards, and winner of the Venice Film Festival's ‘Garafetta d'Oro for Best Film’, if you haven't watched this already, this is one to sit down with over the Christmas break.
Focus Features/Alamy7/10Downton Abbey: A New Era
The original cast (including Hugh Bonneville and Dame Maggie Smith) return to Highclere Castle for a luxurious two hours of aristocratic escapism. However, much to the excitement of religious Downtown followers, the spin-off from the series follows the Crawley family’s escapades in the South of France. Now, it's available to watch from the comfort of your own home.
Michael Wharley/Warner Bros. Pictures8/10Emily
Emma Mackey, the 26-year-old actress who rose to fame in Netflix’s Sex Education, is now flexing her talents in the realm of period drama. Mackey stars in Emily, a biopic about the celebrated author, Emily Brontë, best known for the romantic novel, Wuthering Heights. Inspired by her own tumultuous love stories, the film follows the tale of Brontë's life in Victorian England, set against a backdrop of the sweeping Yorkshire Moors.
Parisa Taghizadeh/AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC9/10My Policeman
Timeless, evocative and complex, My Policeman is based on Bethan Roberts’ 2012 novel. The film focuses on a complex love affair between three characters, weaving an emotionally fraught story between Marion Taylor (Emma Corrin), her policeman husband, Tom Burgess (Harry Styles) and museum curator Patrick Hazelwood (David Dawson), with whom Burgess pursues an affair. The film has a remarkably striking parallel with the life of the novelist, EM Forster.
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures10/10Where The Crawdads Sing
A modern classic, the novel was adapted for screen by Hollywood star and producer Reese Witherspoon who has previously gained recognition with projects Little Fires Everywhere and Big Little Lies. The film explores Kya’s (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones) early life on the marshland in the Deep South of America. Isolated and uneducated; she develops a moving connection to nature. The tale evolves into one centred around the mysterious murder of her ex-boyfriend, Chase. Tatler recommends you read the book first, before enjoying its visual reincarnation.
