It’s a new year, which means different things depending on your relationship to film. With two months until the Oscars, some people have begun diligently watching the movies most likely to garner nominations, many of which didn’t see wide release in 2022. Others are catching up on summer blockbusters that have finally hit home screens. And most are probably content to a rehashing of a movie they liked before make records at the box office or at a streaming company.

For film fanatics, the next few months — or at least until Hollywood shakes off its winter funk and puts something good in theaters — will be spent combing end-of-year lists for films they missed, hidden gems that were underseen and under-discussed in 2022. Here are 10 (technically 11) that film fans of all stripes might have missed last year.

Kimi

Despite being a key part of the 90s indie cinema boom, helming one of the most popular franchises of all time, and making a pandemic movie that was actually too optimistic about human behavior, Steven Soderbergh feels underrated. Maybe it’s because his last five films have been released directly to streamers with little fanfare. One of the best of these was Kimi, a taut tech thriller set during a very familiar period of social distancing starring Zoë Kravitz. Soderbergh called it a combination of Rear Window, The Conversation and Panic Room, and while it doesn’t reach those lofty heights, it’s a sleek update to The Net that features the best use of “Sabotage” ever.

Where to watch: HBO Max (unless cutting it can save David Zaslav money) (89 min.)

On the Count of Three

Jerrod Carmichael leveled up in 2022, revealing major personal truths and approaching Pryoresque heights in his comedy special Rothaniel. Carmichael also directed his first feature film, On the Count of Three, a blackest-ever-black dramedy about two dead-end friends and a suicide pact. Carmichael co-starred alongside Christopher Abbott — a That Guy who I will watch in anything — and as a director, walked an extremely tightrope and mined real laughs from dark moments of the soul.

Where to watch: Hulu (86 min.)

Petite Maman

The December release of Sight and Sound’s decennial poll of the greatest films of all time did what all good lists do: it pissed people off and started conversations. Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire received more than its share of backlash for its spot on the list, and no matter what side of the debate you’re on, it can’t be denied that the French director has a special gift for telling the stories of women and girls on screen. Petite Maman offers a fantastical spin on the idea of meeting our parents when they were our age, and is devastating in quiet moments of connection and understanding between mother and daughter.

Where to watch: Hulu (73 min.)

Aftersun

Let’s keep the parent-child tearjerkers coming: Charlotte Wells’ feature directorial debut is grounded in realism, especially when it comes to how its preteen protagonist sees the older kids and adults around her, chiefly her father as played by Paul Mescal (Normal People, The Lost Daughter). But the moments where memories and dreams collide are what elevate this beyond observational drama into something heartbreaking, featuring a climactic (if you can call it that) needledrop that will have you rethinking one of the greatest songs of all time. True masochists can make a triple feature out of this, Petite Maman and Joanna Hogg’s Eternal Daughter.

Where to watch: Available to buy on PVOD (101 min.)

Pleasure

With the criminally under-seen Pleasure, Ninja Thyberg did for porn what Requiem For A Dream did for heroin. An unflinching and explicit (but never titillating) look at the modern porn industry through the framework of a wannabe starlet’s hero’s journey, this one made my skin crawl for nearly the entire runtime. The difficulty of watching it makes it tough to recommend, but Thyberg and star Sofia Kappel are ones to watch.

Where to watch: Showtime and available to rent on VOD (108 min.)

Is That Black Enough for You?!?

Despite the proliferation of documentaries in the last few years, my personal bias is towards narrative film. Is That Black Enough for You?!? is a notable exception, perhaps because of how it revisits and recontextualizes so many narrative films, specifically — as the title suggests — the work of African-American cinema. Elvis Mitchell overloads this film essay in the best way, giving viewers homework (time to re/watch The Spook Who Sat By the Door!) and making incisive connections across decades of film. The thesis — that film is not unlike music and fashion in how white creatives borrowed and stole from the fount of Black Cool — will make you rethink Blaxploitation, New Hollywood and everything since.

Where to watch: Netflix (135 min.)

Neptune Frost

Speaking of Black film, Neptune Frost is an Afrofuturist, sci-fi fantasy co-directed by Anisia Uzeyman and multihyphenate Saul Williams. Inventive and impressionistic, the film plays like a mythological tone poem about the intersections of capitalism, gender, race and technology — topics Williams has been talking, writing and rapping about for years. I don’t know if I fully understand Neptune Frost after a single viewing but I didn’t see anything else like it in 2022.

Where to watch: Criterion Channel and Kanopy (110 min.)

The Wonder

Florence Pugh stayed in the conversation this year thanks to whatever the hell happened to “Don’t Worry Darling,” but her performance in The Wonder is the real reminder why she’s one of the brightest young stars we have. Pugh and smart direction by Sbeastián Lelio (a few years removed from his impressive run of A Fantastic Woman, Disobedience, and Gloria Bell) elevate this period piece, a form Pugh already mastered in her breakthrough, the (also little-seen) Lady Macbeth.

Where to watch: Netflix (108 min.)

Catch the Fair One

Here’s a movie I found on a similar list that blew me away: a lean and mean revenge thriller reminiscent of Blue Ruin, but from the perspective of a queer woman of color and with a purpose around human trafficking that elevates it beyond its effective genre thrills. Director Josef Kubota Wladyka has mostly worked in TV (Tokyo Vice, Narcos) but here’s hoping he makes more movies. Same for lead Kali Reis, a real life boxer who is about to co-star in a new season of True Detective opposite Jodie Foster.

Where to watch: Hulu (85 min.)

X / Pearl

Horror had another banner year in 2022, with hits spanning auteurist blockbusters (Nope), clever reboots (Scream) and directorial breakthroughs (Barbarian, Smile). I’ll close this list with a pair of films from Ti West, who returned to directing horror films after a few years in the Peak TV wilderness. X gets the most it can of its premise and pays more than its due in homage, but the real surprise was that prequel Pearl — secretly filmed at the same time as X — would deliver stomach-churning scenes in homage to a completely different genre. In 2023, bring on MaXXXine and more Mia Goth freakouts. 

Where to watch: “X” available on Showtime and to buy on PVOD (105 min.), “Pearl” available to rent on VOD (102 min.)

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