Barack Obama names his favourite films of 2022
Over the years, US President Barack Obama has regularly shared annual lists of his favourite new music, TV shows, books and films. This year is no different, with Obama recently posting his favourite films of 2022 on his Instagram account.
If you haven’t kept up with some of the new releases this year, Obama’s list is the perfect place to start. It has something for everyone, including high-profile American blockbusters such as Top Gun: Maverick, as well as essential world cinema picks like Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman.
There are many similarities between Obama’s list and our selection of the 50 best movies of 2022, especially the inclusion of Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun. One of the most remarkable cinematic achievements of this decade so far, Aftersun is an intimate and powerful chronicle of joy, grief, loss and the coming-of-age experience.
The inclusion of Audrey Diwan’s Happening is also significant, especially after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The film perfectly captures the horror of navigating a system where women don’t have access to basic reproductive rights. For anyone who wants to learn more about the history of abortion, it’s an essential cinematic work.
Obama is also a fan of high-concept sci-fi, evident in his inclusion of Everything Everywhere All At Once and After Yang. While the former got a lot of attention this year, After Yang is also a special directorial effort by the talented Kogonada, who constructs a surreal exploration of the post-human condition.
Check out the full list below.
Barack Obama’s favourite films of 2022:
- The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)
- Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)
- The Woman King (Gina Prince-Bythewood)
- Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
- Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford)
- Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma)
- Descendant (Margaret Brown)
- Happening (Audrey Diwan)
- Till (Chinonye Chukwu)
- Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert)
- Top Gun: Maverick (Joseph Kosinski)
- The Good Boss (Fernando León de Aranoa)
- Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
- A Hero (Asghar Farhadi)
- Hit the Road (Panah Panahi)
- Tár (Todd Field)
- After Yang (Kogonada)
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