Every 100% Fresh Rotten Tomatoes Movie of 2022

Fewer than 10 films have scored 100% fresh from critics on Rotten Tomatoes from 2022, and most of them are hit documentaries.

Eight films from 2022 have earned spots in Rotten Tomatoes' 100% Fresh club. It's not easy attracting all the critics, which is why a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes is so coveted. While a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes doesn't always indicate a film's groundbreaking, well-loved, or high quality, the score is still a useful indicator that it received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Fewer than 20 movies in 2021 are 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, showing just how easy it is to lose that title as more and more critics see these movies and write reviews.

All but two of the 100% Fresh movies on Rotten Tomatoes in 2022 are documentaries. Rotten Tomatoes has announced that the best-reviewed film of 2022 is Irish film The Quiet Girl, though the narrative film misses out on a perfect 99%. Likewise, the critically acclaimed Best Picture Oscar contenders for narrative films all fell below 100%, such as The Banshee of Inishering (97%), Top Gun: Maverick (96%) and Everything at the Same Time (95%). While there are strong 2022 movies rated 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, it should be noted that A handful are not certified fresh, which means they don't have at least 40 reviews, 5 of which are from top critics.

8/8 Saint Omer

As of this writing, one of two narrative films with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes is the French legal drama Saint-Omer. The film is already up for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and has won the Grand Jury Prize for 2022. Saint-Omer, directed by Alice Diop, follows novelist and literature professor Lamar as she travels to Saint-Omer to observe the trial and write about the case of Laurence Coly. The Senegalese defendant is accused of leaving her 15-month-old baby on a beach to be swept away by the tide. Feeling connected to Kohli, Rama adapted the story as a retelling of the Greek tragedy Medea.

Saint Omer's 100% Fresh rating is based on a composite of 37 positive reviews from critics. According to the film's unanimous review on Rotten Tomatoes, St. Omer is "a poignant reflection on a woman's immigrant experience. St. Omer puts a mother in the stands and audiences in the jury box in an attempt to win the Humanity is found in humanity."

7/8 No Bears

No Bears is a 2022 Iranian romantic drama with 100% ratings Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score based on 52 reviews. The film parallels two love stories in which the lovers face the ordeal of hidden obstacles, superstitions and power. According to the critics' consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, "No Bears bears witness to Jafar Panahi's razor-sharp filmmaking while urging viewers to examine the complex layers of a deceptively simple story: a story of a country People who oppress and repress."

Jafar Panahi is the director and screenwriter of the critically acclaimed film No Bears. The same year the film was released, Panahi was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison for propagandizing against Iran. Panahi was nominated for the coveted Golden Lion after the filmmaker's arrest, while "No Bears" won the Special Jury Prize at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

6/8 Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down

The acclaimed documentary Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down is 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The film follows former Arizona congresswoman Gabi Giffords in the aftermath of the 2011 Tucson shooting, when the politician was shot dead along with 18 others during a constitutional convention in a supermarket parking lot. Gabby Giffords' documentary explores her recovery from a 2011 assassination attempt and the aftermath of the tragedy that left her The congresswoman is partially paralyzed by speech impediment aphasia.

Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down from RBG (2018) directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West. From 46 reviews, the film has an entirely positive critical reception on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews on review aggregator sites agreed, "Inspiring and unabashedly political, Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down pays homage to its gritty subject."

5/8 The Pez Outlaw

Another 2022 documentary at Rotten Tomatoes With a 100% fresh review score on , is The Pez Outlaw, the eccentric story of Steve Glew, a small-town Michigan man who flies to Eastern Europe shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Glew struggles to find a secret factory that holds the keys to the valuable Pez candy dispenser that will allow him to get his family out of debt and quit his job after 25 years. The documentary's hero makes millions by smuggling rare commodities into America, until his rival "The Pezident" decides to take him down. A consensus of 24 positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes suggests the film will be a treat for "stranger-than-fiction" documentary fans.

4/8 Descendant

Descendants comes to Netflix in October 2022 as a 100% certified documentary Rotten Tomatoes fresh score. The film follows filmmaker Margaret Brown as she returns to her hometown in Mobile, Alabama to document the discovery of the Clotilda, the last known ship to illegally transport enslaved Africans to the United States vessel. Following the discovery of the boat in 2019, Africatown's descendant community advocated to preserve their heritage while addressing today's injustices. The Netflix documentary has a 100% Fresh rating from 63 critic reviews praising the convincing historical makeover, but The Descendants has an audience rating of just 58% on Rotten Tomatoes.

3/8 Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues, a 2022 documentary about the life of the seminal figure who changed the world of music, pays homage to the subject of the title. Much like Best Documentary winner Summer of Soul (2021), this 2022 film is a documentary honoring the legacy and cultural importance of black musicians in the civil rights movement. Directed by Sacha Jenkins, the Apple TV+ documentary features archival footage, never-before-seen home recordings, and personal conversations with jazz musician Louis Armstrong. Based on 50 critic reviews, Louis Armstrong's "Black and Blues" has a 100% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience rating of 91%.

2/8 The Janes

Debuted on HBO shortly before its US release The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, The Janes, a documentary about the seven Chicago women who were arrested in the spring of 1972 for providing underground services to women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions. These women use code names and blindfolds to protect their identities and jobs, using the name Jane within their secret network. Released in June, the HBO documentary "The Janes," which has a 100% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, has received critical acclaim for its timeliness and persuasiveness.

1/8 Aftershock

Topping the list of 100% Fresh Rotten Tomatoes Movies for 2022 is Hulu's documentary Aftershock. This documentary tells the story of two fathers whose partners died from preventable complications of childbirth. The two inspired doctors, midwives and activists to speak out on pressing issues about America's maternal health crisis. "Aftershock," directed and produced by Tonya Lewis Lee, has 28 overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, but an audience score of just 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised the 2022 documentary for its sober focus on America's public health crisis and the heartbreaking tragedy that has ensued.