87 critics voted on the best films of the movie mid-year. No surprise, A24’s surprise indie hit “Everything Everywhere All At Once” finished at the top of the heap with 34 list mentions.
Another box-office hit, this one on a more colossal scale, finished tied for third. Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick” garnered 24 list mentions— the action blockbuster has already racked up more than $650 million worldwide.
On a much more intimate scale, Audrey Diwan’s “Happening” garnered the runner-up spot. The Golden Lion winner was released in the early months of 2022 and has gained particular relevance due to the political climate in the United States with the abortion debate being reignited.
David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future” did very well. The film clearly has its ardent supporters, despite a polarizing score of 65 on Metacritic. This is Cronenberg’s cinematic comeback, after an 8-year semi-retirement, and as the film continues to be seen, one can imagine it having done much better in the poll if it was conducted a week or two after the fact.
However, Gaspar Noe’s “Vortex” was the real surprise, finishing in seventh place. The French film, recounting the final days of an elderly couple in Paris, did very well under the circumstances, having just been released in just 39 theaters across the country. The film racked up just $145,000 in its brief 3 weeks of release at the domestic box-office.
All in all, the movie year is looking much more fruitful than in previous years, with a mix of both big and small movies winning critics’ hearts and minds. Even India got into the action with their surprise 3-hour action movie musical “RRR,” a film that has been amassing a hefty following online. Its ten votes were good enough for the 12th spot on the poll.
IndieWire used to conduct a mid-year poll, but then they just stopped doing it. I stepped in and took over in 2016. The first few editions were in tandem with Sasha Stone’s Awards Daily and then in 2019 it was exclusively a World of Reel thing. This is the 7th year for the poll.
Lists compiled feature five titles (unranked) of the best films released in US theatres, between the months of January and June.
RESULTS:
Everything Everywhere All At Once — 34 votes
Happening — 25
Crimes of the Future — 24
Top Gun: Maverick — 24
The Northman — 23
After Yang — 21
Vortex — 18
Apollo 10 1/2 — 13
Petite Maman — 13
The Batman — 12
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent — 11
RRR — 10
Great Freedom — 8
Cha Cha Real Smooth — 8
Hit the Road — 7
The Girl and the Spider — 6
Turning Red — 6
Watcher — 6
We're All Going to the World's Fair — 6
Benediction — 6
Brady Corbet's “The Origin of the World,” his X-Rated epic about "Northern California’s economy" in the 1970s epic, has now started production in South Africa under the working title “SALT FLATS.”