We’ve already gone over our picks for the very best new films of 2022, however now it’s time to zoom in a bit nearer and speak about our favourite scenes on this nice yr of films. With significant moments, hilarious gags, memorable song-and-dance numbers, and surprising reveals, there was loads for everybody to get pleasure from on the films this yr.
So the Polygon workers received collectively and picked our very favourite moments from films by the yr. Something that made us snicker, cry, ponder, or shout out in pleasure was eligible, in addition to moments we’ve nonetheless been turning over in our heads months after watching.
Let’s get into it.
Naatu Naatu, RRR
Proper at residence alongside tiger fights and epic bridge swinging, the rambunctious dance battle in the course of S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR performs simply as an vital function in slicing by the hateful coronary heart of the British Empire because the movie’s conclusion, by which our heroes actually slice by the hateful coronary heart of the British Empire. Set at a Crown-worthy backyard social gathering, Rajamouli begins the scene with a bang, Raju (Ram Charan) hanging a beat on a silver plate as Bheem (Jr. NTR) prepares to obliterate a racist twerp by the artwork of footwork. The duo launching into “Naatu Naatu,” written for the movie by composer M.M. Keeravani, is a superheroic feat — their lyrics snap, the drums pound away, and their ft transfer like Goku’s arms. The cyclone impact of the quantity not solely entrances the viewers, however all of the characters round Raju and Bheem; nobody, not even the racist twerp, can resist getting up and dancing alongside. That ends as many scenes in RRR do, with an act of compassion, a buddy aiding a buddy stay his finest life, seals “Naatu Naatu” as utilizing each little bit of film magic to make thoughts reel. —Matt Patches
The tape measurer, Barbarian
For being one of many scariest films of the yr, it’s typically slightly surprising to keep in mind that Barbarian may be extremely humorous when it needs to be. This may be most blatant when Justin Lengthy’s character finds the terrifying torture-video room within the hidden hallway of the Airbnb he owns and instantly begins checking whether or not or not he can cost further for the sq. footage. The bit even calls again to director Zach Cregger’s roots in sketch comedy because it pushes itself well past the purpose of absurdity, then retains going solely to double again and turn into twice as humorous. By the point the tape measure appears to increase effectively past 100 ft, dragging Lengthy all the best way again into the depths of his haunted basement, it’s possible that you simply’re so doubled over in laughter you didn’t even discover that Cregger threw one other joke on prime for good measure. —Austen Goslin
The primary interrogation, Determination to Depart
Like all the pieces about Determination to Depart, there are two completely different instructions to method this scene from. On the one hand, I might go on about how brilliantly author and director Park Chan-wook works throughout the conventional format of an interrogation scene to subtly shift it right into a romantic scene of mutual seduction. The script offers the proper quantity of room to the 2 good performances by Park Hae-il and Tang Wei to stroll the tightrope that by no means lets the film totally disentangle their romance from the investigation, whereas additionally making it clear that they wouldn’t need it some other approach, and this interrogation scene is each the place to begin for that dynamic and its most clear-eyed and uncomplicated illustration.
However, I might embody this one clip from the scene and say that it’s most likely probably the most delicate, emotionally efficient, and technically spectacular piece of moviemaking all yr. The main focus sits concurrently on a face within the mirrored background in addition to its reverse within the foreground, then switches because the dynamic does, to signify every character’s sliding emotions and feelings because the traces of case and romance begin to blur multi functional unbroken shot. It’s precisely the form of factor that most individuals will discover with out realizing and the form of small second that turns a fantastic movie right into a masterpiece. —AG
Getting the proper shot, Nope
Nope is numerous issues. It’s a sci-fi film, a blockbuster journey film, and generally a horror film — like once we watch Jean Jacket rain blood down on the Haywood household home. And whereas it handles all of those moments fantastically, there’s nothing fairly as thrilling within the film because the third act.
OJ, Em, Angel, and grizzled director Holst’s plan of utilizing horses and used-car-lot balloons to lure the alien out in time for a hand-crank shot is among the many most enjoyable metaphors for filmmaking of the final twenty years, and a splendidly ingenious set-piece that’s in contrast to some other film. However most significantly, it’s additionally a ridiculously enjoyable and thrilling sequence.
The film’s ending is brilliantly conceived and executed by author and director Jordan Peele and fantastically shot by master-of-scale cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Dunkirk, Advert Astra, Tenet, Interstellar), who recast the open waters of Jaws because the empty plains of Haywood Ranch. The pair turns the valley’s attractive vistas into the identical threatening vacancy that make Spielberg’s shark film terrifying, besides one thing might seize you from above as an alternative of beneath. When OJ begins his experience with Jean Jacket on his tail, or seems immediately on the creature to avoid wasting Em, we all know precisely how far he has to go and the way alone he and Fortunate will probably be. It’s large-scale stress at its most entertaining.
Like all of Peele’s solo initiatives thus far, Nope is a film with an unbelievable quantity on its thoughts. It’s deeply interested in Hollywood’s reference to trauma and violence, and the way these issues solely matter in the event that they’re rendered barely lower than actual by the lens of a digital camera; it’s within the film trade’s relationship with race, each historic and present, and even within the inherent violence of the form of large-scale spectacle films (together with itself) depend on. However maybe probably the most spectacular ingredient of the film is how seamlessly Peele weaves all of those factors into probably the most enjoyable and entertaining blockbuster of the yr. —AG
4*City, Turning Crimson
This scene includes a bunch of Chinese language ladies who’ve changed into large fluffy purple pandas uniting to assist their member of the family, who has changed into a actually large fluffy purple panda. As a standard chant begins to play, the hip boy band that was beforehand cowering in worry decides to assist and begin singing their infectious hit tune. It’s wonderful. It’s an ideal fusion of cultures and symbolically represents our protagonist Mei realizing that she doesn’t have to choose between her Chinese language heritage and her love for boy bands. She will embrace her distinctive hybrid of cultures! Makes me cry, whereas additionally being an absolute banger. 10/10 no notes. —Petrana Radulovic
The ice cream cone, Hearth Island
I don’t suppose any Satisfaction and Prejudice adaptation has nailed Mr. Darcy’s awkwardness a lot as this explicit scene. Earlier on within the film, Noah (our Elizabeth character, performed by Joel Kim Booster) teases Will (our Darcy equal, performed by Conrad Ricamora) for consuming slightly ice cream cone. After which on this scene, Will spots Noah coming his approach, whereas Will simply occurs to be consuming slightly ice cream cone. So he does what any rational anxious individual would do — he yeets the ice cream cone within the bushes and simply bolts away. #relatable! —PR
Why we’re at this cabin, Saloum
Saloum doesn’t come throughout as a movie with numerous twists in retailer — it hooks you, before everything, with momentum. Very quickly in any respect, it introduces you to Bangui’s Hyenas, a bunch of mercenaries able to casually strolling by the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau in the course of a violent coup, extracting a Mexican drug lord, and someway making it clear that your entire episode would solely be a footnote of their legend. Then issues go awry, they usually’re stranded with their goal in a small village within the Senegalese area of Sine-Saloum, the place issues is probably not what they appear. However then an easy thriller turns into one thing meaner and darker when one of many Hyenas reveals that he stranded them right here on objective, to fulfill a grudge that takes Saloum into searing, private territory that makes it one of the crucial indelible movies of the yr. —Joshua Rivera
The large reveal, Orphan: First Kill
It’s downright hilarious how lengthy Orphan: First Kill fools you into pondering it’s simply going to retread the 2009 authentic, exposing a brand new household to that movie’s deranged twist: that (spoilers) the eponymous orphan Esther is definitely a 33-year-old lady with a hormone dysfunction that makes her seem like a toddler. She’s additionally murderous. For 40 minutes, the prequel First Kill repeats numerous these beats with a brand new household that’s has doomed itself by adopting Esther, solely to brilliantly invert itself and reveal that Esther’s adoptive mom on this movie is aware of about her situation, turning the tables on Esther’s lethal plots and taking First Kill from a retread to an ingenious cat-and-mouse thriller. —JR
Revolting kids, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical
A film musical is simply nearly as good as its supply materials, however a film musical is simply nice if the author and director remodel the supply materials. Whereas composer and lyricist Tim Minchin noticed rightful popularity of his top-tapping Roald Dahl stage present when it hit the West Finish in 2011, stage-director-turned-filmmaker Matthew Warchus (Satisfaction) discovered the proper visible language for his 2022 adaptation: Matilda swirls the Kinky Boots-esque British working class comedy with the colour and composition of Paddington 2. Anybody who is aware of Dahl’s guide or the earlier movie adaptation is aware of how Matilda’s standoff with the punishing headmistress Miss Trunchbull escalates, however in Warchus’ palms, the payoff is a stomp-filled song-and-dance revolution that might make the children in One other Brick within the Wall cheer. The quantity rocks. —MP
The legacy speech, Babylon
Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is a messy, self-indulgent film that matches each poignant, important scene with a minimum of one sequence that feels extreme, redundant, or faintly ridiculous. However when it’s sizzling, it’s sizzling. And it’s even higher when it’s chilly — as it’s through the late-film scene the place former cinematic celebrity Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) confronts Hollywood gossip columnist Elinor St. John (Jean Good) a couple of devastating profile she wrote, suggesting that his profession is over. Elinor is brutally light about telling him why his star is falling — however then she continues with a downright lyrical speech concerning the inevitable cycles of Hollywood fame and failure, the mortality of star energy, and the immortality of being captured on movie. Loads of Babylon is concerning the thrill of fame and the fervour of creation. The legacy speech is concerning the chilly consolation the flicks give again — Jack’s likelihood to attach with future generations and nonetheless be beloved a long time after his dying. He clearly doesn’t discover that promise compelling, however for these of us who grew up watching the movie stars of the previous work the identical magic they labored 50 years in the past, it’s a fantastically scripted sequence, acted with quiet ardour. —Tasha Robinson
The “They Dwell” second at promenade, The Fabelmans
Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story has many memorable moments, many involving folks transfixed and reworked by the ability of photographs. The screening for Sammy’s boy scout troop! Michelle Williams’ life altering due to Sammy’s photographs! David Lynch as a cigar-toting John Ford!
However one second stands out to me, and it jogged my memory of considered one of my favourite films of all time.
At Sammy’s highschool promenade, he screens the film he made about his class’s “Skip Day” journey to the seashore. It’s a fascinating sequence that attracts in the entire room, however is particularly notable for the best way he depicts Logan (Sam Rechner), his bully. On the display screen, Logan seems one thing like a golden god, shimmering within the California solar whereas he dominates his classmates in volleyball. The room erupts in cheers for him, as you may see his classmates’ conception of him change in actual time.
However the true magic occurs subsequent. Logan confronts a despondent Sam (recent off a rejected, hasty marriage proposal) within the hallway in a scene harking back to Roddy Piper and Keith David’s well-known alleyway struggle in They Dwell.
Logan and Sam might not struggle immediately, however the battle comes from the identical place — a violent resistance to one thing you don’t wish to settle for (besides as an alternative of aliens, it’s the ability of cinema). Logan merely can’t perceive why Sam would depict him, somebody who has been nothing however merciless to Sam, on this approach. Sam doesn’t know both — was it as a result of he simply wished Logan to be good to him, or as a result of it might make the film higher?
But it surely’s not simply Sam’s resolution that troubles Logan. Logan is shaken by seeing himself this manner. He sees it as a model of himself he can by no means stay as much as, an not possible commonplace that the true Logan can by no means meet. It’s a robust second in a film full of them, and it will get proper to the center of Spielberg’s story of the plain energy of photographs and the accountability of those that wield them. —Pete Volk
Blood rain, Nope
In a yr filled with scary films with memorable imagery, nothing in horror felt fairly as heavy because the second in Jordan Peele’s Nope the place a still-unknown, still-mysterious drive haunting a California horse ranch all of the sudden strikes in above the ranch home and rains blood on it. And never simply blood, both — a complete choice of grisly, grotesque reminders of the entity’s final encounter with humanity. The folks in the home do not know what’s occurring, cease it, or what’s about to occur to them. And Peele shoots the sequence as if a second evening is falling over them — a blood-red evening that makes the home seem like the contents of an alien abdomen. It’s scary. It’s eerie. It’s straight out of a nightmare. And it’s rad as hell. —TR
The rocks, Every part All over the place All at As soon as
Amid all of the frenetic multiverse shifting and wild martial arts battles within the Daniels’ epic action-comedy Every part All over the place All at As soon as, annoyed mother Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) and her depressing daughter, Pleasure (Stephanie Hsu), snag a startling second of peace in an alternate timeline the place life by no means developed on Earth and each ladies take the type of rocks. It’s actually only a sequence of photographs of two rocks with subtitles, as the 2 ladies attempt to discover frequent floor. And it’s an ideal second. Like so many EEAAO sequences, it turns between feelings on a dime. However the quiet of the second is important. Out of context, it’s simply an odd second between rocks. However throughout the context of the movie, it’s a breather the viewers and characters each desperately want, and the feelings are so heightened that simply the sight of rock-Pleasure and rock-Evelyn sharing a companionable snicker is remarkably heartening and hilarious. —TR
Field-opening montage, Glass Onion
Rian Johnson’s bubbly follow-up to 2019’s Knives Out packs a ton of character introduction into the early sequence the place 4 smug “disruptors” (performed by Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, and Leslie Odom Jr.) every get a ridiculously elaborate puzzle field from their billionaire tech-mogul buddy, Miles (Edward Norton), and convention name with one another to unravel the field’s thriller. It’s a energetic, frantic state of affairs, because the field retains altering and the main target retains shifting — every of the foursome (and in some circumstances, their hangers-on) leans in with some luck or information that strikes the puzzle ahead, instructing the viewers who they’re and what they’re good at within the course of. As they transfer nearer and nearer to completion, the tempo ramps up, the strain builds, and the sequence will get virtually alarmingly frantic. Then Johnson cuts to an estranged, indignant buddy (performed by Janelle Monáe), who punctures all that stress with a superbly timed resolution of her personal. It’s a stunning little bit of writing and visible legerdemain, all ramping as much as a easy visible joke — one which says as a lot about Monáe’s character as all of the previous nonsense mentioned about everybody else’s. —TR