2022 is set to be another film-filled year as cinema gets back up to speed. Let us guide you through some of the biggest cinematic releases 2022 has to offer...

Parallel Mothers (28th January)

¡Nuevo Pedro! (That’s Spanish for “new Pedro”). After giving Antonio Banderas the role of a lifetime in Pain and Glory, the Spanish auteur links up with his other muse, Penelope Cruz, for Parallel Mothers – a classic Almodóvar melodrama about coincidence and the power of female friendship. It had rave reviews out of Venice, and, well, it’s Pedro Almodóvar. Who’s going to pass up the chance to see nuevo Pedro (again, that’s Spanish for “new Pedro”)?

The Souvenir: Part II (4th February)

How much autofiction is too much autofiction? Joanna Hogg aims to answer that question with her follow-up to 2019’s critically-acclaimed The Souvenir. If you thought that part one, an autobiographical tale of young Hogg’s travails as a film student in love with an emotionally unavailable and drug-addicted older man, was meta, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Part two sees Hogg’s protagonist Julie reframe her relationship trauma by crafting it into a student film titled – you guessed it – The Souvenir. Now that’s what I call autofiction.

The Batman (2nd March)

It’s true that we seem to be somewhat inundated by Batmen in film and TV at the moment, but it’s been a surprisingly long time since someone has told a standalone tale of Gotham City. Enter The Batman, which reboots Ben Affleck’s incarnation into an extra-gritty, neon-infused crime drama starring former heartthrob and newly-crowned indie king Robert Pattinson. Villains on deck include Paul Dano’s creepy serial killer Riddler and Colin Farrell drenched in prosthetics as the Penguin. Batman looks really, really angry in this one, you guys.

The Northman (22nd April)

With The Witch and The Lighthouse, Robert Eggers became a champion of sicko cinema. The premise for his new, equally-simply-titled film seems simpler – a basic revenge tale with a side dish of Oedipal subtext, with Vikings – but don’t be fooled, this is Robert Eggers we are talking about. The Northman, boasting a cast of faces old (Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson) and new (Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman… Björk?!) to the Eggers stable, looks like it’ll be drenched in Viking blood and mystical weirdness, just the way it should be.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (22nd April)

Generations have waged war and debate over the question of whether Nicolas Cage is a good actor (he is), but perhaps it doesn’t matter: he is who he is, and we should celebrate him for that. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a film which seems to get that, as indicated by its bonkers-perfect premise of having Cage play himself in an adventure worthy of the most over the top Nicolas Cage movie possible.

Nope (22nd July)

Jordan Peele set the cinematic world alight with his first two films, Get Out and Us, and after a quick pandemic-induced break, he’s back this summer with another original chiller, simply titled Nope. Get Out lead Daniel Kaluuya is back, alongside Steven Yeun, Keke Palmer and Barbie Ferreira. All we have to go on here for the story is a foreboding poster of a very foreboding cloud. Ordinarily that wouldn’t mean much, but it’s Jordan Peele. All I’m saying is, beware that cloud.

Salem's Lot (9th September)

Stephen King adaptations are, notoriously, a big old lottery in terms of quality, so I’m biting my nails for this one. Still, this new film from Gary Dauberman, is working from one of King’s very best novels, a chilling refraction of the Dracula legend through the lens of leafy small-town America. Will it set the blood pumping, or drain it from our veins? The stakes are high, so time will tell if we’ll say fangs to Dauberman for the effort or feel cross on the way out of the cinema.

Don't Worry Darling (23rd September)

Now here’s one for film Twitter. Olivia Wilde impressed with her debut film Booksmart back in 2019, and she’s back now with a decidedly more intense follow-up, Don’t Worry Darling, a thriller worming its way into the heart of supposedly idyllic 1950s-suburbia. It’s highly likely that you’ll have a crush on someone in the cast, which includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde herself, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan and Kiki Layne.

Mission: Impossible 7 (30th September)

Tom Cruise’s unstoppable quest to spite death itself continues in the seventh instalment of the espionage franchise, which has become one of the most reliable action-movie staples out there. MI7 is part one of an apparent two-part spectacular, with old faces joined by the like of Cary Elwes, Hayley Atwell and Shea Whigham. Insane stunts this time include a very real train crash off a cliff, and Cruise motorbiking off a giant ramp in the sky before parachuting to the ground. Classic.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) (7th October)

Expectations are high, it’s safe to say, for the follow-up to the enormously successful and plain brilliant Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, especially considering the recent announcement that this sequel story is big enough to split into two films. From the looks of it, the return of Miles Morales will see more colourfully bonkers animation as the story hops across universes – and, probably, more Spider-Men. A new face we know for certain is Spider-Man 2099, introduced in the post-credits of the last film, voiced by Oscar Isaac.

Avatar 2 (16th December)

Endlessly delayed and memed to oblivion, it’s almost surreal that James Cameron has actually made his Avatar sequel. Thirteen years after the original broke box office records and made those awful 3D glasses cool for a moment, Cameron returns to Pandora for the first of four (yes, you heard that right) sequels. This first follow-up will apparently get wet and explore the marine life of Pandora, as captured by a bunch of aquatic motion-capture technology that looks mind-bogglingly complicated. Will it be good? Unclear. Will it be interesting? Hell yes.

Disappointment Blvd. (TBA)

Hereditary and Midsommar were, to put it mildly, pretty full-on cinematic debuts from Ari Aster. While it’s still unclear if the acclaimed director is feeling okay, his latest effort looks set to be just a mite calmer. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Disappointment Blvd. takes in decades of the life of a fictional American entrepreneur, and will apparently find the time for both comedy and horror in a story that doesn’t seem set to accommodate either. Fingers crossed this one’s a break for Aster. He needs it.

Killers of the Flower Moon (TBA)

Martin Scorsese is nearing 80, but he’s never been painting on a wider canvas. After the enormous epic that was The Irishman, certified king and Marvel movie hater Scorsese has convinced another streaming service – this time, Apple – to drop $200 million on a new movie. This time, Scorsese is adapting the book Killers of the Flower Moon, exploring the FBI’s investigation of murders of the Native Osage tribe in the 1920s. Jesse Plemons is in the lead alongside Scorsese staples Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro and newcomer Lily Gladstone. Expect it to be four hours and really awesome.

Knives Out 2 (TBA)

A lot of people really loved Rian Johnson’s murder-mystery Knives Out, but no-one more than Netflix, who stumped up almost $500 million for the rights to two sequels, the first of which is set for 2022. Naturally, Daniel Craig and his stunning accent are back, and Johnson has corralled another fascinating cast including Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Ethan Hawke and Leslie Odom Jr. The sequel is set to take things to warmer climes, with time spent filming in sunny Greece and New York. There will be murder.