While only scratching the surface of what kept viewers entertained over the past 12 months, this year’s “best of” list highlights some of the most moving, transportive and conversation-worthy content of the year. In top 10 films, the selections include the elusive psychological thriller “Tár" and various coming-of-age romances — featuring Finnish teens, time travelers, cannibals and more. In TV, the top 10 list ranges from the indefinable second season of “The White Lotus” to laugh-out-loud comedies and smoldering fantasy shows.
Keep reading to find out what made the list of best queer-inclusive films and TV series of 2022, in order of their release date.
‘Euphoria’ (season 2)
This year, HBO’s runaway hit series “Euphoria” faced the difficult job of following up its groundbreaking first season. But it proved equal to the task, delivering an unexpected and often gut-wrenching sophomore season that focused heavily on Rue (Zendaya) and her struggle to get sober, as well as her complicated romance with Jules (Hunter Schafer). It also showed off an experimental streak with episodes that showcased Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and Cal (Eric Dane) having unforgettable breakdowns and Lexi (Maude Apatow) exacting one of the most complex revenge plots ever to hit a high school theater stage.
“Euphoria” season two is available on HBO Max.
‘Somebody Somewhere’ (season 1)
The heartfelt comedy series “Somebody Somewhere” stars comedian and singer Bridget Everett as Sam Miller, a Kansan struggling to find acceptance and belonging in her hometown. In the seven-episode series, co-created and inspired by the comedian and Kansas native’s life, Everett, alongside co-stars Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill, leverages her talents as a performer to tell the story of a woman who finds her voice and builds up her small town queer community in the process.
“Somebody Somewhere” is available on HBO Max.
‘Catch the Fair One’
World-champion boxer Kali Reis stars in the gritty sex-trafficking thriller about an Indigenous fighter whose life has taken a difficult turn following the disappearance of her younger sister, Weeta, and a career-ending injury. With little to lose, Kaylee (Reis) gets a tip about Weeta’s whereabouts and decides to embed herself in a trafficking ring, in hopes of finding her sister.
“Catch the Fair One” is available on Hulu and various video-on-demand platforms.
‘The Andy Warhol Diaries’
The Ryan Murphy-backed docuseries “The Andy Warhol Diaries” takes a different approach to the infamous pop-art master Andy Warhol — by way of his love life. The six-part limited series is based on and takes its name from Warhol’s dictated memoirs, which were published posthumously in 1989. Through the entries and interviews with a cadre of Warhol contemporaries and acolytes, the series argues that the artist’s claims that he was asexual had more to do with his artistic ambitions than actual proclivities.
“The Andy Warhol Diaries” is available on Netflix.
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’
Michelle Yeoh is at the center of the multiverse in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the much-loved, kung fu flick about a worn-out laundromat operator who is drowning in tax paperwork and familial dysfunction. Things change at dizzying speeds for Evelyn (Yeoh) when she’s enlisted to fight an evil force who bears a striking resemblance to her daughter (Stephanie Hsu) and is causing chaos across the universes. As she traverses world after world, Evelyn just may learn to appreciate her once-boring life.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is available on various streaming and video-on-demand platforms.
‘Paris, 13th District’
Director Jacques Audiard’s latest film revolves around a digital-age-inflected love quadrangle. In the film, adapted from the graphic short story collection “Killing and Dying,” the four Parisians — Émilie (Lucie Zhang), Nora (Noémie Merlant), Amber (Jehnny Beth) and Camille (Makita Samba) — navigate being friends and lovers in the age of limitless options.
“Paris, 13th District” is available on Amazon Prime Video and various video-on-demand platforms.
‘Petite Maman’
Filmmaker Celine Sciamma’s surrealist feature about mother-daughter dynamics is both incisive and bewildering — and at just 72-minutes long. In the film, which stars twin sisters Joséphine Sanz and Gabrielle Sanz, Sciamma invents an enchanting world in which time-travel brings a family closer in fantastical ways. There, mothers and daughters play together as girls, and granddaughters get a second chance to say goodbye.
“Petite Maman” is available on Hulu and various video-on-demand platforms.
‘The Baby’
The British comedy-horror series “The Baby” — about an adorable, yet demonic, newborn — is a prescient reminder of how terrifying life can be as a woman of reproductive age. Inspired by classics like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Omen,” the eight-part limited series explores motherhood through a queer, female-centric lens and a post-Jordan Peele sensibility. Leading the cast, Michelle de Swarte and Amber Grappy play Natasha and Bobbi, two sisters trapped in the lethal newborn’s web.
“The Baby” is available on HBO Max.
‘Benediction’
In “Benediction,” filmmaker Terrence Davies delivers existential suffering with a portrayal of the British war poet Siegfried Sassoon. The film charts the life of the poet (played on two timelines by Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi) through his defining relationships with men and reels of archival images from the war, accompanied by readings of his poetry. Through a combination of surrealism and realism, Davies paints a picture of a life stunted by war and closeted love affairs.
“Benediction” is available on Hulu and various video-on-demand platforms.
‘A League of Their Own’ (season 1)
There may be no crying in baseball, but in “A League of Their Own,” there’s a whole lot of kissing. In the series adaptation of Penny Marshall’s 1992 film, a largely queer cast puts a decidedly modern, romantic spin on the World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Led by Chanté Adams, D’Arcy Carden and co-creator Abbi Jacobson, the actors tell the stories of people who battled homophobia and racism to carve out happiness — on and off the field — in 1940s America.
“A League of Their Own” season one is available on Amazon Prime Video.
‘Girl Picture’
This poignant, Finnish coming-of-age story stars Aamu Milonoff, Linnea Leino and Eleonoora Kauhanen as teens searching for fulfillment and encountering some very adult-sized obstacles along the way. Rönkkö (Kauhanen) struggles to overcome and then understand her apathy toward physical intimacy. And the free-spirited Mimmi (Milonoff) and disciplined figure skater Emma (Leino) try to find wholeness through a relationship complicated by abandonment issues and burnout.
“Girl Picture” is available on various video-on-demand platforms.
‘House of the Dragon’ (season 1)
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel series, “House of the Dragon,” set 200 years before the events of the original, focuses on the Seven Kingdoms’ most influential and incestuous family: the Targaryens. At the center of the story is Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy), who ignites a fierce battle for succession when she’s named the first female heir to the Iron Throne. As alliances are drawn, the series looks at how men achieve power by pitting women against one another.
“House of the Dragon” season one is available on HBO Max.
‘Peter von Kant’
Director François Ozon’s stylish, gender-swapped remake of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant” centers on a hard-partying filmmaker modeled after the German auteur and played by Denis Ménochet. As in Fassbinder’s original, “Peter Von Kant” takes place in the rooms of the title character, and the action is driven by the figures who come and go from them — or, in the case of Peter’s slavishly devoted assistant, don’t seem to be able to leave at all.
“Peter Von Kant” is available on various video-on-demand platforms.
‘Interview With the Vampire’ (season 1)
Gothic writer Anne Rice’s most famous novel, “Interview With the Vampire,” returns to the screen in a lavish AMC series starring Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid as the dashing vampiric duo, Louis and Lestat. Positioned as a continuation of Neil Jordan’s film adaptation of the novel, the small-screen production delivers the steamy, complicated romance that fans have longed for since Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise glared suggestively at each other in the atmospheric 1994 flick.
“Interview With the Vampire” season one is available on AMC+.
“Tár”
Filmmaker Todd Field makes a triumphant return to cinema with “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss and Noémie Merlant. The film’s titular character, Lydia Tár (Blanchett), is a fictional, world-renowned orchestra conductor with a penchant for power trips and younger women. When the film begins, her hard-won success has helped her evade any serious repercussions for these morally questionable habits. But, as the exquisitely suited, elegantly coiffed conductor soon finds out, all good things must come to an end — and always at the most inopportune times.
“Tár” is available on various video-on-demand platforms.
‘The White Lotus’ (season 2)
In season two of creator Mike White’s Emmy-winning dark-comedy series, “The White Lotus,” a new set of privileged guests heads to the eponymous hotel’s Sicilian outpost for seven days of fun in the Italian sun. Of course, not everyone will be making it out tanned and alive, as the series’ new chapter starts off with the discovery of what seems to be a few hotel guests floating facedown off the shore of the hotel’s beach club. As the mystery unravels, the guests and locals alike answer Sicily’s seductive call, proving that passion and looming disaster make perfect bedmates.
“The White Lotus” season two is available on HBO Max.
‘The Big Brunch’ (season 1)
In “The Big Brunch,” series creator and producer Dan Levy, chef Sohla El-Waylly and restaurateur Will Guidara have the envious job of handing out a whopping $300,000 to one of the show’s talented culinary competitors based on their best brunch dishes — all while being plied with craft cocktails by an in-house bartender. Whether it’s the judges’ impressive alcohol tolerance or the contestants genuine charm, Levy’s series, as might be expected, is one of the most entertaining and wholesome reality shows of the year.
“The Big Brunch” season one is available on HBO Max.
‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’
Laura Poitras’ latest documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” traces the artist and activist Nan Goldin’s work as an advocate during the HIV/AIDS epidemic to her recent opposition to the Sackler family, whom she has publicly criticized for its part in the opioid crisis. The film also looks back on her troubled family life and early career, during which she found success photographing New York’s queer and transgender communities.
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is currently showing in theaters.
‘Bones and All’
Luca Guadagnino continues his collaboration with actor Timothée Chalamet in the cannibal-themed romance “Bones and All.” In the film, Chalamet stars opposite Canadian actor Taylor Russell as young lovers who share a taste for human flesh and a road trip across 1980s America in search of self-discovery. Based on a young adult novel by Camille DeAngelis, Guadagnino’s film adaptation combines his talent for coming-of-age stories and body horror.
“Bones and All” is currently showing in theaters.
‘Sort Of’ (season 2)
In season two of the Peabody Award-winning series “Sort Of,” creator Bilal Baig once again delivers well-written, thought-provoking content that doesn’t compromise on the laughs. After trying to figure out where they stood on work, family and romance last season, protagonist Sabi (Baig), who uses gender-neutral pronouns, enters the show’s new chapter determined to put what they’ve learned about themselves to use, which includes standing up to their conservative father, setting boundaries with employers and potential love interests and finding purpose in their passion for Toronto’s queer community.
“Sort Of” season two is available in the U.S. on HBO Max.