It can take time for a movie to find its audience. This is one reason why the very concept of a cult film exists - certain movies come out, and are met with either a collective shrug from the public at large or a mixed to negative response from critics. It happens every year, but at the same time, as the years go by, more and more films are re-evaluated and come to be seen in a different light.
Predicting with 100% certainty what will become more beloved in time is impossible, but it's interesting to think about regardless. The following movies were all released in 2022 and got a mixed critical reception, significantly underperformed at the box office, or both. Without a doubt, it's easy to imagine that at least some of these are ahead of their time, and could well fare better with viewers watching them years - or even decades - into the future.
10 'Skinamarink'
Skinamarink is by no means the first experimental horror movie to become fairly popular in horror circles, but it might be one of the most experimental. Its plot is minimal and highly interpretable, and at its core, seems to be about a family that's been locked inside their house for unknown reasons, with the film focusing on two children who are just as alone and lost as the viewers watching will feel.
Time will likely be kind to Skinamarink, as it feels like it's ahead of its time, and possibly presenting a new direction for low-budget horror movies to go in. If it is influential, that will obviously make it even more admirable in hindsight. Additionally, future viewers will also be able to read more about the film and the theories people have about it, leading to a richer - and potentially clearer - experience for those attempting to piece together what it is they've just seen.
9 'Clerks III'
Scoring a perfectly divided 50% from critics on Metacritic, Clerks III is the long-awaited - and surprising - conclusion to Kevin Smith's Clerks trilogy. It sees Dante and Randal still working the same sorts of jobs they've always had, but they're well into being middle-aged by this point and facing all the challenges that come with growing older.
The Clerks series is no stranger to having some emotional moments here and there, but Clerks III pushes things further than ever before when it comes to drama. It makes Clerks III a jarring, mostly admirable, and sometimes moving film, but given it's a lot to process emotionally, maybe it'll take some time before it has a chance of being regarded as equal to its predecessors.
8 'Hellraiser'
Since the original film in 1987, there have been a surprising number of Hellraiser movies - 11, to be exact. The most recent of those was simply called Hellraiser, and was released in 2022 to a decent amount of praise from professional critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but slightly less enthusiasm from general viewers.
It was an interesting step forward for the series, keeping some familiar aspects with regard to its Cenobites vs. humans storyline, but taking certain risks in other areas that paid off for some, but not others. When a genre movie has a divided reaction of sorts, it has a decent chance of being viewed differently as the years go by, so this could happen for 2022's Hellraiser.
7 'Ambulance'
Ambulance is another action movie from director Michael Bay, this time focusing on a bank heist involving over $30 million. It's something of a return to form for the director, given he was becoming fairly synonymous with the Transformers film series, and they haven't exactly been consistently great...
It wouldn't be surprising to see Ambulance's reputation grow as the years go by. After all, two of Bay's films - Armageddon and The Rock - found themselves in the Criterion Collection years after release, indicating that Bay's action films tend to age well and find themselves appreciated by future audiences.
6 'Men'
When it comes to movies written by Alex Garland, most can agree that his first two - 2015's Ex Machina and 2018's Annihilation - were very good. Ex Machina was predominantly a science-fiction movie, Annihilation blended sci-fi with horror, and then his third movie - 2022's Men - embraced the horror genre almost exclusively.
It tells the story of a young woman who goes on a getaway to heal emotionally after a particularly grisly personal tragedy. The horror elements reveal themselves slowly and then get very strange in the film's bizarre and over-the-top final act. It's undeniably daring, even if it pushes things a little far in some regards, and perhaps those risks will be better received by future horror fans looking to unearth a slept-on cult classic.
5 'Blonde'
It's fair to say that Blonde was one of the most divisive movies released in 2022. Dropping on Netflix in late September, it instantly caused a stir among viewers, and proved especially alarming to those who were expecting a more traditional biopic about the tragically short life and career of Marilyn Monroe.
When viewed as a condemnation of Hollywood and the misogyny inherent in it, it's easier to admire. It's less a biopic and more a pointed, ferociously angry attack on the film industry and its sexist attitudes, both in the past and to the present day. It's fair to say that telling such a story through a real-life figure may be crossing a line when it comes to morality, but future viewers coming to Blonde knowing it's not a true biopic may find themselves responding to it more positively in any event.
4 'White Noise'
Before 2022's White Noise, Noah Baumbach wrote and directed the emotionally heavy but accessible divorce drama Marriage Story (2019). White Noise may also center on a family facing challenges with Adam Driver once again playing a father, but otherwise, it's a completely different beast from Marriage Story.
That may be one reason why White Noise feels so perplexing to present-day viewers. Additionally, it's a very strange mix of genres, being something of a satirical comedy, horror movie, family drama and disaster movie all in one. There's a lot (maybe too much) going on under White Noise's surface, and future viewers may be more easily able to dissect the film and work it all out.
3 'Three Thousand Years of Longing'
George Miller is a consistently interesting director, and often gets the recognition he deserves for his most well-known series, Mad Max, as he's directed all four of them. Three Thousand Years of Longing was an interesting change of pace for the filmmaker, however, being a strange and compelling fantasy/romance movie that primarily centered on a storytelling genie and a woman who unleashes him, with the two falling for each other.
It may have sounded too unusual for most viewers, leading to the film regrettably underperforming at the box office. For the wonderful visuals and great central performances by Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, however, it's one film about love that deserves more love, and hopefully future generations can provide it with just that.
2 'Babylon'
With a runtime of over three hours, extreme/shocking content, and a mixed response from critics, it's not the most surprising thing in the world to see Babylon underperforming. It charts the rise and fall of several key figures throughout the late 1920s and the early 1930s, which was a time in Hollywood history when silent films were on the way out and talkies were becoming the hot new thing.
Not only is Babylon about the past, but it's also about humanity's current - and future - relationship with cinema, what the art form means to viewers, and the human cost of making great art. It's a complex movie that's about a lot of things, and when that's coupled with the fast pacing and huge runtime, it can be overwhelming. Repeat viewings and audiences being more ready for what they're in for could well lead to Babylon getting viewed more favorably in the future.
1 'The Whale'
Darren Aronofsky might be one of the most challenging directors who's also a household name. His films often deal with subject matter that's confronting and/or tragic, and his latest movie, The Whale, fits in with what's come before from Aronofsky, being about a severely overweight man trying to reconnect with his daughter.
It's unanimously agreed that Brendan Fraser is great in the lead role, but other aspects of the film have proven more divisive, and this may be a reason why it sits at an 8.0/10 from IMDb users, but a 60/100 from critics on Metacritic. It will be interesting to see what the consensus is once the current discourse surrounding the film dies down.