2022 Was the Year That Horror Movies Became Prom Queen

Maybe it’s the pandemic, or maybe the selection’s just been really good lately, but horror is so hot right now. From blockbusters like Jordan Peele’s Nope to surprise stunners like Smile and Terrifier 2, the little genre that could has once again been overperforming at the box office. This year, however, it feels like the trend has gotten even more pronounced. Ti West sprang the existence of two secret X sequels on us (the first of which has already debuted), and we got a new David Cronenberg movie on top of all that? 2022 might just be the year that horror went from being the surprisingly popular weirdo at school to actually stealing the prom queen crown.

Nope and Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future were both expected hits for this year, and both found their directors in peak form; in the former, Jordan Peele embraces his inner Steven Spielberg, and the latter is both Cronenberg’s first film in eight years and an elegiac return to form. Both seem bound to stand the test of time (especially if Gordy has anything to say about it), but even more gratifying have been the pulpy surprises.

Even though James Wan debuted Malignant last fall, and even though it technically flopped at the box office, the film, in retrospect, set the tone for our year in horror to come. Given its director, Malignant was never going to be an underdog. But the unabashed silliness of its final act—which would be criminal to spoil but involves a secret evil twin and an extremely hilarious fight scene—was evidently too much for some folks to stomach. And yet, look at what’s dominated the conversation this year: films like Barbarian, a deliciously preposterous AirBnb horror that ends with one of the most shameless needle drops of the century. Whatever you thought of Alex Garland’s Men, its show-stopping ending will sear itself into your mind. We also got Orphan: First Kill, a genuinely bananas film that dares to ask, “Can a 30-year-old woman credibly pass as her child self?” (The answer is “definitely not,” but the results are too entertaining to deny.)

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