The Associated Press today debuted the inaugural AP Top 25 Movies ranking, an honor roll of films that premiered over the past year.
Movies with unique and original storylines, female-focused films, and theatrical-first releases earned top rankings, with Martin McDonagh’s Irish dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin,” a Searchlight Pictures film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, taking the top spot on the list. A24’s sci-fi film, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” with Michelle Yeoh, came in second, followed by Todd Field’s contemporary drama, “Tár,” a Focus Features release starring Cate Blanchett.
The complete list is available on APNews.com.
The lineup was determined by a diverse panel of over two dozen expert film writers, reporters and critics from AP-affiliated news outlets around the country.
The Top 25 Movies ranking is adapted from the storied AP Top 25 sports polls, an ongoing tradition since 1936, which ranks the top college football and basketball teams during the regular season.
In contrast to the weekly sports tally, the AP Top 25 Movies ranking is a single definitive list reflecting the entire 2022 calendar year.
“The Associated Press has a unique ability to pool a representative group of the country’s smartest voices on film coverage through our vast network of customers,” said AP Global Entertainment Editor Anthony McCartney. “We have a long history of leading the conversation around top sports teams, and we are thrilled to now extend this tradition to the entertainment space.”
The panel comprises a variety of film journalists across all formats and from a mix of platforms and audiences. Each panelist submitted their own list ranking 25 movies released in 2022 and was encouraged to exercise their own interpretation of “best films,” which did not need to align with predictions for awards.
The lists yielded 176 different movies. The individual rankings were then combined to produce the national ranking, in which a first-place vote was worth 25 points, a second-place vote was worth 24 points, and so on. Ties were allowed and happened twice among the Top 25. The panelists’ identities and full ballots are publicly available.
Contact
Nicole Meir
Media Relations Manager
The Associated Press
212-621-7536
nmeir@ap.org
