Great 2022 Movies Available To Stream Now
Plus: The best of what's new to streaming in July!
Since we’re at the halfway mark of 2022 it’s a good time to glance back at some of the best movies to come out this year so far. Fortunately, many of them are already available on streaming platforms. No, you can’t watch Top Gun: Maverick at home yet, but there’s plenty of great stuff from this year to check out. After we recommend 2022 movies, we run down the best of what’s new to streaming in July for you. Read, like, subscribe, and tell a friend about our little newsletter!
Drew recommends…
Kimi
How do you make a good movie about life during COVID? In February of this year, about two years after the pandemic changed our world forever, director Steven Soderbergh unceremoniously dropped a terrific little paranoid thriller onto HBO Max that showed everyone how it’s done. Kimi follows Angela (Zoe Kravitz), an agoraphobic woman that works from home monitoring audio recordings for Kimi, an Amazon Alexa-style smart speaker. While on the job, she hears audio of what sounds like an assault and possible murder, which sets her off on an investigation into its origins.
Kimi got very little fanfare upon release – there’s a decent chance you didn’t know it existed until now – but it’s a perfect COVID era film for a few reasons. Soderbergh has spent the last several years of his career making quick and affordable films for streamers like Netflix and HBO Max. They have definitely been hit or miss (I loved No Sudden Move and didn’t care for Let Them All Talk, for example), but Soderbergh has designed them for at-home viewing, which marries Kimi’s style with its subject matter.
Kimi is a modern, modest take on classic thrillers like Rear Window and Blow Out, which means that not only is it inspired by their genre and story elements, but that it’s also a character study first and foremost. Angela has suffered physical trauma in her past, which has been exacerbated by the effects of COVID on daily life. She stays shut up in her apartment all day, terrified at the notion of stepping out into the world. This makes her a fascinating (and potentially relatable) character to watch navigate her anxieties amid a possible crime that she’s getting to the bottom of. It’s a really smart angle to take if you’re introducing COVID into your story.
This being a Soderbergh joint, Kimi also features some social commentary that’s on the surface but not overly preachy, this time on the dangers of Big Tech. And it adds a weightier dimension to an otherwise swift little streaming movie. Soderbergh and Kravitz turn out to be a well-matched duo when it comes to reflecting our times back to us inside a classic paranoid thriller setup.
Streaming on HBO Max
Billy recommends…
Cha Cha Real Smooth
It is a blast to see a young director lean into the anxiety-filled sweetness of life. Cooper Raiff directs, writes, and stars in this film. All the success or failure is on his shoulders with Cha Cha Real Smooth. After a home run of a debut with his Sundance hit Shithouse we get an oddly titled follow-up that is centered on a young man striking up a relationship with a mother he meets at a Bar Mitzvah. Has the sweet temperament of this young director already worn off!? Thankfully no. It seems that this could be Raiff’s lane. Anxiety-filled stories at a very specific stage of life with a lead who constantly has the best intentions and just doesn’t know where to direct it.
Our lead character is Andrew who is freshly off of graduating from college and is at his childhood home trying to figure out his next steps. Despite the uncertainty he is not shy to give his younger 13-year-old brother David advice on any myriad aspect of life. This leads the pair to a Bar Mitzvah where Andrew begins coaxing every aspect of the party into an absolute banger. Well… as much of a banger a Bar Mitzvah can be (*Christian high school boy and I have never been to a Bar Mitzvah. Very sad about it). The room begins to notice. The teenagers love him, the parents love him, and an autistic girl named Lola opens up to him. Lola is the daughter of Domino (Dakota Johnson) and the trio of Andrew, Lola, and Domino is the driving force behind the sweetness of this movie.
Raiff navigates the complicated waters of single motherhood and dealing with someone with autism really well. He leans in authentically rather than immediate curiosity. Builds the relationship and the hardships of both topics come out organically and the trust is there so that he can respond appropriately. And when he doesn’t there is more room for growth. Like any young director his focus can be aimless at times, but there are so many ideas he wants to explore and I am here for this journey. Cooper Raiff is the first director since Jeff Nichols that I have been this excited about. Different directors, but both came out of the gate super hot with high expectations. Nichols seems to be buried a little bit in the industry and I hope it doesn’t happen to Raiff. So please go watch Cha Cha Real Smooth this weekend.
Streaming on Apple TV+
New To Streaming In July 2022
Netflix
Big Daddy
Boogie Nights
Catch Me If You Can
Deliverance
GoodFellas
I Am Legend
Mean Girls
Old School
Seven
Snatch
The Dark Knight Rises
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Zero Dark Thirty
Leave No Trace (July 4)
Amazon Prime
Ali
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Clueless
Hot Fuzz
Jennifer’s Body
Lincoln
Raging Bull
Revolutionary Road
Rosemary’s Baby
Speed
House of Gucci (July 2)
Hulu
127 Hours
Any Given Sunday
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Descendants
The Expendables
Independence Day
Jumanji
Main in Manhattan
Rachel Getting Married
Sorry to Bother You
Step Up
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
HBO and HBO Max
Angels in the Outfield
Godzilla
Last Night in Soho
Lone Survivor
Sleepless in Seattle
Spy Kids
Warrior
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
Mad Max: Fury Road (July 9)