We kick off our review of 2022 with the year’s worst films; and by worst films I mean the worst ones I actually bothered to go and see, so some of the truly dreadful stuff may not appear here as it does on other lists – perhaps you can consider this more the disappointments of the year in such a sense!

In terms of ‘quality’ (or lack thereof), the preposterous Roland Emmerich movie ‘Moonfall‘ would likely have topped the list, but it was so ridiculous and nonsensical that it was enjoyable to watch, and isn’t that what it’s all about? That can’t be said for the five contenders below….

5. Summering

A poorly acted, lazy and formulaic movie that borrows so heavily from ‘Stand By Me‘ that it might as well be an official remake, but without the heart or the quality of that movie. Disappointing, as I usually love even the most mediocre of coming of age movies.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/summering

4. Three Thousand Years of Longing

Tilda Swinton. Idris Elba. George Miller. How can a film involving these three individuals be so dreadfully dull, and frankly quite sedate and mundane, when the premise involves fantasy, romance and the mind of the man behind the ‘Mad Max’ films? I’m not sure how, but this film is very forgettable.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/three-thousand-years-of-longing

3. Wendell & Wild

Another disappointment, this time from stop-motion animation master Henry Selick. An attempt to blend the wacky humour of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ with the dark core of ‘Coraline’, ‘Wendell & Wild‘ has an overly convoluted screenplay, contrived humour and it never really worked for me.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/wendell-and-wild

2. Lightyear

It isn’t as if the relationship between Pixar movies and merchandising is new, but it’s never been so shameful in this awful and lazy cash in focusing on the Buzz Lightyear character from the ‘Toy Story‘ series. It has nothing new to say, adds very little to the character or the ‘Toy Story‘ universe, and it feels like the kind of forgettable crap that Disney were churning out 30 years ago with the sole purpose of selling more Happy Meal toys.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/lightyear-2022

1. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

It has been a poor year for Marvel (in quality terms, the movies are still making a ton of money) with the latest sequels to ‘Black Panther‘ and ‘Thor‘ both failing to capture the spirit of their better predecessors, but the absolute nadir was the seriously rubbish ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘, which is a film that goes so far up its own backside and appears to be mainly a showcase for special effects with very little attention given to telling an engaging story. The output of a studio tired and out of ideas.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness

Narrowly avoiding this list: Where the Crawdads Sing, Moonfall