Hollywood’s Ryans dominated Netflix movies in 2022. The streaming giant has released their Top Ten movies of the year, and The Gray Man starring Ryan Gosling, and The Adam Project starring Ryan Reynolds were the top two. Gosling and Reynolds are both Canadian, and were born four years apart – so they’ve had something of a friendly rivalry in their Hollywood careers.
Elsewhere in the Top Ten – there was romance movie Purple Hearts, the documentary The Tinder Swindler, animated movie The Sea Beast, Enola Holmes 2 (starring Henry Cavill and Millie Bobby Brown), and vampire action comedy Day Shift (starring Jamie Foxx). Netflix stalwart Adam Sandler – who has a long-term relationship with the streamer – also appears in the Top Ten. His basketball drama Hustle is up there too.
Action is a genre that does surprisingly well on Netflix, considering it’s a small-screen experience. Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction did well in 2020 and is getting a sequel. Surprisingly, Red Notice, which also stars Ryan Reynolds, did not make the Top Ten – despite Netflix touting it as a giant ratings hit when it was released.
The Adam Project is a science fiction family movie which sees Ryan Reynolds having to visit his younger self to save the world. The Gray Man was directed by the Russo Brothers (best known for the MCU) and starred Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. A sequel has already been greenlit.
Ryan Gosling had four years away from making movies, between 2018’s First Man and 2022’s The Gray Man. He is making up for it by having several upcoming projects on his slate – including Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (in which he plays Ken), David Leitch’s The Fall Guy, and Derek Cianfrance’s Wolfman.
Ryan Reynolds has just starred in Christmas movie Spirited with Will Ferrell. He also made the documentary series Welcome to Wrexham in 2022, which covered his takeover of Wrexham AFC with Rob McElhenney. His big upcoming project is, of course, Deadpool 3 – which will see the return of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.
Check out our guide to the best Netflix movies.