AP Top 25 Movies, ranking 2022's best: What made the cut?

With hundreds of new movies released each year, many of us depend on the expertise of film critics to help curate our own watching — a thoroughly communal yet deeply personal experience.

To honor the supporting role that entertainment journalism can play in this beloved pastime, The Associated Press on Thursday unveiled its inaugural AP Top 25 Movies list.

The AP Top 25 Movies ranking is a distinctive honor roll of films released in 2022, as determined by a truly representative panel of 26 of the U.S.' smartest movie experts working for AP-affiliated news outlets.

Here, we explain what it is a...