Drama Movies 2022 List

With Josh Enck

Tells the inspiring true story behind the beloved Christmas carol and its author, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Known as America’s Poet, Henry leads an idyllic life – until the day his world is shattered by tragedy. With a nation divided by Civil War and his family torn apart, Henry puts down his pen, silenced by grief. But it’s the sound of Christmas morning that reignites the poet’s lost voice as he discovers the resounding hope of rekindled faith. 

With Jim Parsons • David Marshall Grant • Michael Showalter • Bill Irwin • Jordana Mollick • Sally Field • Todd Spiewak • Michael Ausiello • Ben Aldridge • Eric Norsoph • Jeffery Self • Jason Sokoloff • Alison Mo Massey • Dan Savage

Based on Michael Ausiello’s best-selling memoir “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies,” the film is a heartwarming, funny and life-affirming story of how Michael and Kit’s relationship is transformed and deepened when one of them falls ill.

With Kellan Lutz • Nathan Scoggins • Stelio Savante • Cress Williams • Marcus Gladney Jr

Marshall Shepherd has spent five years living with the grief and loss of his wife, and the estrangement that has come from his son Samuel because he chose to forgive the man who killed her. But when Troy, the convict, returns to town, and Troy and Marshall begin an unlikely friendship, Samuel's rage is put to the test, while the town Sheriff investigates a murder that may be related.

With Will Smith • Antoine Fuqua • James Lassiter • Ben Foster • Joey McFarland • Steven Ogg • Todd Black • Grant Harvey • Mustafa Shakir • Heather Washington • Jabbar Lewis • Michael Luwoye • Aaron Moten • Jon Mone • Chris Brigham • Glen Basner • Jayson Warner Smith • William N. Collage • Gilbert Owuor • Scott Greenberg • Charmaine Bingwa • Ronnie Gene Bivens • Imani Pullum • Cliff Roberts

Emancipation tells the triumphant story of Peter (Smith), a man who escapes from slavery, relying on his wits, unwavering faith, and deep love for his family to evade cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on his quest for freedom. The film is inspired by the 1863 photos of “Whipped Peter,” taken during a Union Army medical examination, that first appeared in Harper’s Weekly. One image, known as “The Scourged Back,” which shows Peter’s bare back mutilated by a whipping delivered by his enslavers, ultimately contributed to growing public opposition to slavery.

With Peter Stormare • Marie Richardson • Annika Appelin • Ida Engvoll • Anna Fredriksson

A sudden change forces Karin to re-evaluate her life. With the help of friends, food and passion, she refuses to accept that life has an expiration date and takes the second chance she is given.

With Brad Pitt • Jessie Buckley • Ben Whishaw • Sarah Polley • Rooney Mara • Michelle McLeod • Dede Gardner • Frances McDormand • Jeremy Kleiner • Claire Foy • Kate Hallett • Lyn Lucibello Brancatella • Sheila McCarthy • Judith Ivey • August Winter • Liv McNeil • Emily Jade Foley

A group of women in an isolated religious colony struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men.

With Bhavesh Shrimali • Rahul Koli • Richa Meena • Dipen Raval • Pan Nalin • Bhavin Rabari • Alpesh Tank • Paresh Mehta • Vikas Bata • Vijay Mer • Kishan Parmar • Shoban Makwa

Samay, a 9-year-old boy living with his family in a remote village in India discovers films for the first time and is absolutely mesmerized. Against his father’s wishes, he returns to the cinema day after day to watch more films, and even befriends the projectionist, who, in exchange for his lunch box, lets him watch movies for free. He quickly figures out that stories become light, light becomes films, and films become dreams. Samay and his wild gang of friends move heaven and earth to catch and project light to achieve a 35mm film projection. But little do they know that soon they’ll be forced to make heartbreaking choices as an era is approaching to annihilate everything they love about their 35mm dreams…

With Janet Suzman • Peter Greenaway • Anthony Higgins • Anne Louise Lambert • Neil Cunningham • Hugh Fraser

Set in a richly exaggerated 17th-century England, Peter Greenaway’s witty, stylised, erotic country house murder mystery catapulted him to the forefront of international art cinema. Adorned with intricate wordplay, extravagant costumes and opulent photography, Greenaway’s first narrative feature weaves a labyrinthine mystery around the maxim “draw what you see, not what you know.” An aristocratic wife (Janet Suzman) commissions a young, cocksure draughtsman (Anthony Higgins) to sketch her husband’s property while he is away—in exchange for a fee, room and board, and one sexual favor for each of the twelve drawings. As the draughtsman becomes more entrenched in the devious schemings in this seemingly idyllic country home, curious details emerge in his drawings that may reveal a murder.

With Davy Chou • Park Ji-Min • Oh Kwang-Rok • Guka Han • Kim Sun-Young

After an impulsive travel decision to visit friends, Freddie, 25, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. Freddie suddenly finds herself embarking on (an unexpected) journey in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

With Jack O’Connell • Emma Corrin • Joely Richardson • Graham Broadbent • Faye Marsay • David Magee • Elizabeth Gabler • Ella Hunt • Laurence Mark • Pete Czernin • Nikki Cooper • Matthew Duckett

Based on the classic D.H. Lawrence novel, a story well ahead of its time, we follow the life of Lady Chatterley, a woman born to a life of wealth and privilege, who soon finds herself married to a man that she eventually falls out of love with. Lady Chatterley engages in a torrid affair with a gamekeeper on their English estate, discovering more desire and intimacy than she thought possible. When she realizes that she has fallen heart and soul, she breaks all traditions of the day and seeks happiness with the man she loves.

With Auli’i Cravalho • Wayne Knight • Asher Angel • Eddie Rubin • Derek Luke • Silas Howard • Tony Danza • Wenonah Wilms • Riele Downs • Becca Greene • Chosen Jacobs • Michele Weisler • Mac Hendrickson

After suffering a near-death experience as a young girl, Darby Harper (Downs) gains the ability to see dead people. As a result, she becomes introverted and shut off from her high school peers and prefers to spend time counseling lonely spirits who have unfinished business on earth. But all that changes when Capri (Cravalho), the Queen Bee of the school’s most exclusive clique, unexpectedly dies in a freak hair straightening accident, resulting in the obvious cancellation of her upcoming “Sweet 17.” Capri, however, pleads with Darby from the other side to intervene and convince Capri’s friends to proceed with the party as planned. In order to appease the wrath of the undead diva, Darby must emerge from her self-imposed exile and reinvent herself — which along the way allows her to find new joy back in the land of the living.

A century after the disaster of Smyrna comes to life the critically acclaimed and moving drama about an elderly Greek American woman whose family diary recounts the 1922 burning of the cosmopolitan city of Smyrna where Greeks, Turks, Jews, Armenians, and Levantines once lived together harmoniously.

With Sadie Sink • Brendan Fraser • Darren Aronofsky • Jeremy Dawson • Hong Chau

Story involves a 600-pound man who can’t leave his apartment and is estranged from his teenage daughter, but wants to reconnect.

With Olivia Colman • Colin Firth • Sam Mendes • Toby Jones • Micheal Ward • Tom Brooke • Crystal Clarke • Pippa Harris • Tanya Moodie • Hannah Onslow

Set in an English seaside town in the early 1980s, EMPIRE OF LIGHT is a powerful and poignant story about human connection and the magic of cinema.

With Mel Gibson • Mark Wahlberg • Stephen Levinson • Rosalind Ross • Jacki Weaver • Miky Lee • Colleen Camp • Teresa Ruiz • Jordan Foss • Patrick Peach • Tony Grazia

Based on a true story, Father Stu is an unflinchingly honest, funny and ultimately uplifting drama about a lost soul who finds his purpose in a most unexpected place. When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to L.A. dreaming of stardom. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Catholic Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. But surviving a terrible motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others find their way, leading to the surprising realization that he is meant to be a Catholic priest. Stu pursues his vocation with courage and compassion, inspiring not only those closest to him but countless others along the way.

With Léa Seydoux • Melvil Poupaud • Pascal Greggory • Philippe Martin • David Thion • Mia Hansen-Løve’

Sandra (Léa Seydoux) is a widowed young mother raising her daughter on her own, while also caring for her sick father (Pascal Greggory). She’s dealing with the loss of the relationship she once had with her father, while she and her mother and sister fight to get him the care he requires. At the same time, Sandra reconnects with Clément (Melvil Poupaud), a friend she hasn’t seen in a while and, although he’s married, their friendship soon blossoms into a passionate affair.

With Alice Diop

The film follows the novelist Rama (Kayije Kagame) as she attends the trial of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanga), a young woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter by abandoning her to the rising tide on a beach in northern France. As the trial continues, the words of the accused and witness testimonies will shake Rama’s convictions and call into question our own judgment.

With Will Smith • Antoine Fuqua • James Lassiter • Ben Foster • Joey McFarland • Steven Ogg • Todd Black • Grant Harvey • Mustafa Shakir • Heather Washington • Jabbar Lewis • Michael Luwoye • Aaron Moten • Jon Mone • Chris Brigham • Glen Basner • Jayson Warner Smith • William N. Collage • Gilbert Owuor • Scott Greenberg • Charmaine Bingwa • Ronnie Gene Bivens • Imani Pullum • Cliff Roberts

Emancipation tells the triumphant story of Peter (Smith), a man who escapes from slavery, relying on his wits, unwavering faith, and deep love for his family to evade cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on his quest for freedom. The film is inspired by the 1863 photos of “Whipped Peter,” taken during a Union Army medical examination, that first appeared in Harper’s Weekly. One image, known as “The Scourged Back,” which shows Peter’s bare back mutilated by a whipping delivered by his enslavers, ultimately contributed to growing public opposition to slavery.

With Kim Myers • Anna Camp • Rob Mayes • Amin Matalqa • Carson Minniear • Matthew Antonelli • Larry Postel

Inspired by a remarkable true story, when her husband has a mental breakdown and goes missing, a determined woman and her young son set out to find him on the streets, sparking a movement of compassion towards those in need and inspiring a city.

With Kim Myers • Anna Camp • Rob Mayes • Amin Matalqa • Carson Minniear • Matthew Antonelli • Larry Postel

Inspired by a remarkable true story, when her husband has a mental breakdown and goes missing, a determined woman and her young son set out to find him on the streets, sparking a movement of compassion towards those in need and inspiring a city.

With Jim Parsons • David Marshall Grant • Michael Showalter • Bill Irwin • Jordana Mollick • Sally Field • Todd Spiewak • Michael Ausiello • Ben Aldridge • Eric Norsoph • Jeffery Self • Jason Sokoloff • Alison Mo Massey • Dan Savage

Based on Michael Ausiello’s best-selling memoir “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies,” the film is a heartwarming, funny and life-affirming story of how Michael and Kit’s relationship is transformed and deepened when one of them falls ill.

With Tom Sternberg • Rebel Wilson • Trine Dyrholm • Celyn Jones • y Andy Evans • Kaite O’Reilly • Charlotte Gainsbourg • Meera Syal • Sean Marley • Alex Ashworth

For Gwen (Trine Dyrholm), it’s always 1999. The face in the mirror is unfamiliar and her partner, Toni (Charlotte Gainsbourg), isn’t recognisable to her despite waking up together every day. For Joe (Celyn Jones), his past is coming undone and his partner, Sarah (Rebel Wilson), fears she will be forgotten. A doctor refuses to give up on them, determined not to let them all unravel.

With Ben Affleck • Nick Offerman • Rachel Weisz • Amy Locane • Rose McGowan • Lesley Ann Warren • Jill Clayburgh • Jeremy Davies • Mark Pellington • Dan Wakefield

Mark Pelllngton’s adaptation of Dan Wakefield’s seminal novel about a young man coming of age in the 1950s is a timeless story of freedom and repression, friendship and family, sex and love, and the psychological and spiritual struggle to be true to one’s self even if it means going against society’s expectations.

With Catherine Clinch • Joan Sheehy • Carrie Crowley • Colm Bairéad • Cleona Ní Chrualaoi • Andrew Bennett • Michael Patric • Kate Nic Chonaonaigh

Rural Ireland. 1981. Nine-year-old Cait is sent away from her overcrowded, dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer. Quietly struggling at school and at home, she has learned to hide in plain sight from those around her. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one painful truth.

With Daniel Gimenez Cacho • Nicolas Giacobone • Ximena Lamadrid • Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu • Griselda Siciliani • Iker Solano

The story of a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker, who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships, the folly of his memories as well as the past of his country. He seeks answers in his past to reconcile who he is in the present.

With Michelle Monaghan • Morgan Spector • Leslie Uggams • Anna Diop • Nikyatu Jusu • Sinqua Walls • Rose Decker • Zephani Idoko

In this psychological horror fable of displacement, Aisha (Anna Diop), a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal, is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector) living in New York City. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind, Aisha hopes her new job will afford her the chance to bring him to the U.S., but becomes increasingly unsettled by the family’s volatile home life. As his arrival approaches, a violent presence begins to invade both her dreams and her reality, threatening the American dream she is painstakingly piecing together.

With Stephen Moyer • Andrew Tiernan • Alec Newman • Ben Mole • Luke Baily

1960s London. Hemlines are up, The Beatles are on the radio and crime is at the highest level on record. Extortion, robbery and murder are rife through the capital. Everyone knows the gangsters responsible, but no one will go on the record. Detective Nipper Read is tasked with the impossible mission of bringing the city back to the rule of law. As he faces bent cops, political backstabbing, and terrified witnesses, he becomes increasingly obsessed with breaking the code of silence. He will push the rules, his moral compass, and his own sense of who he is, to breaking point. The true story of the price paid by the man who caught the notorious Kray twins.

With Brad Pitt • Margot Robbie • Olivia Wilde • Marc Platt • Damien Chazelle • Samara Weaving • Tobey Maguire • Katherine Waterston • Max Minghella • Lukas Haas • Ethan Suplee • Eric Roberts • Li Jun Li • Rory Scovel • Chloe Fineman • Jeff Garlin • Jean Smart • Flea • Adam Siegel • Helen Estabrook • P.J. Byrne • Jovan Adepo • Olivia Hamilton • Matt Plouffe • Damon Gupton • Diego Calva • Troy Metcalf

BABYLON is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

With Stanley Tucci • Anthony McCarten • Ashton Sanders • Denis O’Sullivan • Nafessa Williams • Clarke Peters • Tamara Tunie • Naomi Ackie • Larry Mestel • Clive Davis • Pat Houston • Moses Ingram

From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on an inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before. Don’t you wanna dance?

With Jean-Christophe Reymond • Vicky Krieps • Marie Kreutzer • Erno Mesterhazy • Johanna Scherz • Jani Thiltges • Colin Morgan • Alexander Glehr • Tamás Lengyel • Maren Ade • Jonas Dornbach • Janine Jackowski • Andras Muhi • Finnegan Oldfield • Alma Hasun

Empress Elisabeth of Austria is known for her beauty and fashion trends. But in 1877, she celebrates her 40th birthday and must fight to maintain her public image. With a future of only ceremonial duties in front of her, she rebels against her public image and comes up with a plan to protect her legacy.

With Christian Bale • Gillian Anderson • Robert Duvall • Scott Cooper • Timothy Spall • Fred Hechinger • Toby Jones • Charlie Tahan • Harry Melling • Peter Chernin • Tyler Thompson • Simon McBurney • John Lesher • Charlotte Gainsbourg • Lucy Boynton • Hadley Robinson • Joey Brooks • Harry Lawtey • Brennan Keel Cook • Gideon Glick • Matt Helm • Steven Maier

West Point, 1830. In the early hours of a gray winter morning, a cadet is found dead. But after the body arrives at the morgue, tragedy becomes savagery when it’s discovered that the young man’s heart has been skillfully removed. Fearing irreparable damage to the fledgling military academy, its leaders turn to a local detective, Augustus Landor (Christian Bale), to solve the murder. Stymied by the cadets’ code of silence, Landor enlists the help of one of their own to pursue the case, an eccentric cadet with a disdain for the rigors of the military and a penchant for poetry — a young man named Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling).

With Olivia Colman • Olwen Fouéré • Emer Reynolds • Charlie Reid • Lochlann O Mearáin

Follows 12-year-old Mully (Reid), who, after fleeing his father, steals a taxi and is shocked to find a woman, Joy (Colman), in the back seat with a baby. Joy has decided to give her child away to a friend, and Mully needs some distance from his debt-ridden dad, who’s after the cash Mully has with him. And so two lovable rogues – a complicated middle-aged mother and a troubled adolescent – go on a journey across Ireland, gradually finding in each other the friendship, love and learning they never knew they needed.

With Kazuo Ishiguro • Oliver Hermanus • Tom Burke • Bill Nighy • Alex Sharp • Aimee Lou Wood • Akira Kurosawa

1953. A London shattered by WWII is still recovering. Williams (Bill Nighy), a veteran civil servant, is an impotent cog within the city’s bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild. Buried under paperwork at the office, lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a shattering medical diagnosis forces him to take stock – and to try and grasp fulfilment before it goes beyond reach.

With Edward Norton • Kate Hudson • Dave Bautista • Daniel Craig • Kathryn Hahn • Madelyn Cline • Rian Johnson • Jessica Henwick • Janelle Monae • Tom Karnowski • Leslie Odom Jr. • Ram Bergman

You’re invited to put the pieces together. In the follow-up to Rian Johnson's Knives Out, Detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery involving a new cast of colorful suspects.

With Hero Fiennes Tiffin • Rob Estes • Josephine Langford • Carter Jenkins • Kiana Madeira • Louise Lombard • Castille Landon • Sharon Soboli

The final chapter in the AFTER franchise finds Tessa and Hardin at a crossroads: Does Tessa continue trying to save him and their relationship, or is it time to save herself? While Hardin remains in London after his mother’s wedding and sinks deeper into darkness, Tessa returns to Seattle and endures a tragedy. If they want their love to survive, they’ll need to work on themselves first. But will their paths lead them back to each other?

With Doona Bae • Lee Ji Eun • Hirokazu Kore-eda • Song Kang Ho • Gang Dong Won • Lee Joo Young

The film follows two brokers who sell orphaned infants, circumventing the bureaucracy of legal adoption, to affluent couples who can’t have children of their own. After an infant’s mother surprises the duo by returning to ensure her child finds a good home, the three embark on a journey to find the right couple, building an unlikely family of their own.

With Nate Hapke • Mackenzie Breeden • Allie Leonard

TWO DASH ONE ONE tells the story of what happens when two young lovers -- after being torn apart by a tragic accident -- are forced to reexamine their relationship when they are reunited in the afterlife. Marnie and April are happily in love, until a tragic accident tears them apart. Reunited in the afterlife, they’re given a second chance at their happily ever after, but there are still challenges to face. Stuck in an eternal and unchanging version of their beloved vacation cabin, the women struggle to find life amidst the monotony, but they have to face some hard truths to find their happily ever after.

With Doona Bae • Lee Ji Eun • Hirokazu Kore-eda • Song Kang Ho • Gang Dong Won • Lee Joo Young

The film follows two brokers who sell orphaned infants, circumventing the bureaucracy of legal adoption, to affluent couples who can’t have children of their own. After an infant’s mother surprises the duo by returning to ensure her child finds a good home, the three embark on a journey to find the right couple, building an unlikely family of their own.

With Tom Hanks • Marc Forster • Louise Rosner • Mariana Treviño • Rita Wilson • David Magee • Steven Shareshian • Celia Costas • Manuel Garcia-Rulfo • Gary Goetzman • Renée Wolfe • Fredrik Wikstrom Nicastro • Rachel Keller • Michael Porseryd • Tim King • Sudie Smyth • Neda Backman • Tor Jonasson

An ill-tempered, isolated retiree, who spends his days enforcing block association rules and visiting his wife's grave, has finally given up on life just as an unlikely friendship develops with his boisterous new neighbors.

With Adam Driver • Greta Gerwig • Noah Baumbach • David Heyman • Don Cheadle • Andre Benjamin • Jodie Turner-Smith • Uri Singer • Raffey Cassidy • Lars Eidinger • Sam Nivola • May Nivola

Jack Gladney is the world expert on Hitler Studies. He is afraid of death. His wife Babette is also afraid of death. In this black comedy, Jack must deal with death, air born toxic events, mysterious pills and the strange complexities that make up life.