The Most Underrated Movie Gems of 2022 – Den of Geek
At the same time, the reasons why Harvey Weinstein was able to systematically use his power as one of Hollywood’s most feared and influential producers to sexually harass and assault countless numbers of women over decades is still going on. I had reservations over that latter issue, since as a person who works in media I’ve been seeing this drama unfold over years now. Did I want to go watch it again in a movie? I also did not want to see a movie glorifying the New York Times. The so-called “paper of record” does not deserve its accolades, even if its individual reporters do.
Yet She Said left me super-impressed and even overwhelmed. It’s driven by tremendous lead performances from Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan as the reporters who break the story, as well as devastating supporting turns from Jennifer Ehle and Samantha Morton as frightened Weinstein victims who finally make a stand. And not only does the movie powerfully convey just how wide-ranging Weinstein’s crimes were (not to mention the many others by so many other male power players that were uncovered in the wake of his), but it once again drives home the strength of pure, precise, and dogged journalism—a message that is just as relevant now as it was when All the President’s Men or Spotlight came out. This is a deeply profound movie about shining a light on the truth, and if that’s “woke,” then sign me up. – Don Kaye
Deadstream
There’s life in the old found footage dog yet! Horror-comedy Deadstream, which was directed, written, produced and edited by husband and wife team of Joseph and Vanessa Winter, certainly managed to squeeze some out of it in 2022, but since the movie ended up being a Shudder exclusive, not enough people have really had a chance to check it out. That’s a shame, because Deadstream is a fast-paced and deliriously silly affair—often just what you want from a low-budget B-movie!
The film stars, you guessed it, Joseph Winter as disgraced YouTuber Shawn, who hopes to win back fans and keep his last remaining sponsor happy by livestreaming a night spent in a haunted house. Shawn is quick-witted and obviously extremely problematic, but as his viewer count rises and the scares hit, you’ll find yourself rooting for him even as you’re praying for his gruesome death. Framed by a clever visual conceit, Winter puts in no-holds-barred performance as a complete tool having the worst night of his life, and the movie cannily invites you to enjoy his fear, even in the midst of your own. – Kirsten Howard
Petite Maman
Spoiler Alert: All ghost stories have sorrow at their center. You will cry during French filmmaker Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman. Not from sadness or for joy, but because of an unidentifiable feeling of precognition. I tear up just watching the trailer. Petite Maman is not a children’s film. It’s something far more haunting: one for kids of all ages. It belongs to the real-life twin leads. As eight-year-old Nelly and her new friend Marion, Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz were born for the roles of grieving granddaughter and friendly ghost. They lose themselves in play in the middle of performance and tumble recklessly through vague forebodings in a fright-free horror movie. The scariest part of the film is how profound it feels as it skirts the irreconcilable realities it presents.
Petite Maman exchanges a grim fairytale for compassionate wish fulfillment. Robbed of a proper farewell, Nelly takes her dead grandmother’s cane as a memento, and it becomes an allegorical teleporter. She ventures into the woods to find a child her own age, with her mother’s name, on a different path in the small forest. Young Marion’s circumstances mirror Nelly’s to disconcerting degrees, and the audience questions which of the two is the apparition. The film blurs ghost story into time-traveling science fiction with the simplest of devices: a shared headphone playing “music of the future.” It is subtle, a small moment done in a very low-key way, but it is as emotionally evocative a scene as Elliott touching fingers with the ET in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.