Here are two dozen films that competed in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2022 and their scores on Metacritic (the largest aggregator site that collects reviews of movies, games and series). This is not a top in the usual sense; rather, a cross-section that demonstrates the preferences not of individuals, but of global film critics as a whole.
How we've grouped data:
- all films are placed from top to bottom and left to right, from highest to lowest and in alphabetical order;
- the data is current as of mid-September 2022. As more reviews appear, the scores of movies and, as a result, their placement may change slightly;
- films that do not yet have a Metacritic score are listed in alphabetical order;
- we also recommend that you read the results of Berlin and Cannes film festivals in 2022.
Saint Omer — 94 points (dir. Alice Diop)
Award: Grand Jury Prize
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: writer Rama is following the trial of a woman who allegedly killed her 15-month-old daughter by leaving her on the beach at high tide.
Tar — 92 points (dir. Todd Field)
Award: Best Actress
Genre: drama, music
What is remarkable: Lydia Tar, a talented conductor and composer, becomes the first woman to be trusted to conduct the Berlin Orchestra.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed — 90 points (dir. Laura Poitras)
Award: Golden Lion
Genre: documentary
What is remarkable: the confrontation between artist and activist Nan Goldin and the Sackler family, who had a hand in the opioid epidemic in the United States.
The Banshees of Inisherin — 89 points (dir. Martin McDonagh)
Awards: Best Screenplay, Best Actor
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: two obstinate Irish men who have been friends for many years suddenly become irreconcilable enemies.
Argentina, 1985 — 80 points (dir. Santiago Mitre)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: in the mid-1980s, a group of brave lawyers sue the heads of a military junta that has been robbing and torturing ordinary Argentines for years.
Bones and All — 76 points (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Award: Silver Lion
Genre: horror, drama, romance
What is remarkable: a frightening love story of a marginal couple traveling across the United States at the height of the 1980s.
Athena — 74 points (dir. Romain Gavras)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: the tragic and mysterious death of a teenager at the hands of the police plunges the lives of his loved ones into chaos, which later spreads throughout the entire city district.
The Eternal Daughter — 73 points (dir. Joanna Hogg)
Award: -
Genre: drama, detective
What is remarkable: the daughter and her mother return to their home, but find a hotel in its place and a heap of dusty secrets.
Love Life — 72 points (dir. Koji Fukada)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: Taeko leads the life of a simple housewife, raising a son and getting along well with her husband. But one day, her life is invaded by the boy's missing father, now deaf and homeless.
White Noise — 68 points (dir. Noah Baumbach)
Award: -
Genre: drama, comedy
What is remarkable: at university, Professor Jack Gladney studies Adolf Hitler, and at home he tries to find a common language with the children and come to terms with his wife's infidelity.
A Couple — 66 points (dir. Frederick Wiseman)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: a drug between a man and a woman that stands out from the crowd due to the main characters — Leo and Sofia Tolstoy.
The Whale — 65 points (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: Charlie left his family for a lover a long time ago, but now he is obese and is trying to improve relations with his almost adult daughter.
Blonde — 64 points (dir. Andrew Dominik)
Award: -
Genre: biography, drama
What is remarkable: an artistic collage of the most striking twists and turns in Marilyn Monroe's life.
The Son — 61 points (dir. Florian Zeller)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: Peter is experiencing difficulties in his current relationship, but the situation is exacerbated when he has to make contact with a troubled son from a previous marriage.
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths — 51 points (dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
Award: -
Genre: comedy, drama
What is remarkable: the journalist and documentary director returns to his native Mexico to succumb to nostalgia and be horrified by the transience of life.
No Bears — Score unavailable (dir. Jafar Panahi)
Award: Special Jury Prize
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: two independent love stories, above which public stereotypes and the state of power rise.
Other People's Children — Score unavailable (dir. Rebecca Zlotowski)
Award: -
Genre: drama, comedy
What is remarkable: Rachel who has no children of her own, becomes attached to her boyfriend's daughter. But love for other people's children is extremely risky.
Beyond the Wall — Score unavailable (dir. Vahid Jalilvand)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: the life of a blind man who almost committed suicide finally breaks apart at the seams when a female criminal appears in it.
Chiara — Score unavailable (dir. Susanna Nicchiarelli)
Award: -
Genre: biography, drama
What is remarkable: biography of Chiara Offeduccio, who left her wealthy family in the early 13th century to join the Catholic Order of Francis of Assisi.
Monica — Score unavailable (dir. Andrea Pallaoro)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: a transgender woman is meeting her family for the first time since her teens all to care for a dying mother.
Our Ties — Score unavailable (dir. Roschdy Zem)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: Musa, reliable and kind, used to be a family favorite. But after brain damage, he lost the ability to lie, which quickly ruins his measured life.
L'immensità — Score unavailable (dir. Emanuele Crialese)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: in Rome in the 1970s, when TV shows were black and white, a 12-year-old girl decides to become boys and her parents' marriage is about to collapse.
Il signore delle formiche — Score unavailable (dir. Gianni Amelio)
Award: -
Genre: drama
What is remarkable: in the late 1960s, poet and playwright Aldo Braibanti is sent to prison for homosexuality.
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