With Summer 2022 already halfway over, there are some clear contenders for film of the summer. Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis have each had major box-office success, while Minions: The Rise of Gru struck a surprising nerve with Gen Z.

From sci-fi thrillers to classic superhero movies, we’ve picked our nine nominees for film of the summer:

Top Gun: Maverick 

Picking up 30 years after the original Top Gun, Tom Cruise’s Maverick is back training Navy pilots for his risky missions. One such pilot: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, a.k.a Miles Teller. Teller and his now-iconic mustache led the film to stellar ratings and an even more stellar box-office performance, with the film quickly becoming the ninth-highest grossing domestic release in history.

Hustle

This Netflix drama has everything you could want out of a sports film: it’s inspiring, funny, and at times, gut-wrenching. “Gut-wrenching” is not a word commonly used to describe Adam Sandler films, but his performance as struggling NBA scout Stanley Sugerman is one of his best ever. The many cameos from NBA legends make this movie feel hyper-realistic.

Spiderhead

Chris Hemsworth nails his role as a pharmaceutical genius controlling the minds of his subjects, all while stuck in prison. Spiderhead is based off the New Yorker short story by George Saunders, “Escape from Spiderhead.” The film also stars Miles Teller, who is clearly having a moment this summer.

Elvis

Austin Butler delivered a career-making performance as the king of rock and roll himself in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic. Butler’s preformance has already garnered Oscar’s buzz, while the film itself generated a huge $100 million in domestic box office sales. The highlight of the film comes in Elvis’s final performance, which switched from Butler’s Elvis to real archival footage of The King so subtly, it’s hard to know when the transition was actually made.

Minions: The Rise of Gru

The latest TikTok trend saw hoards of teenagers flocking to their local theaters for Minions: The Rise of Gru in their best suits, to properly enjoy the films’ chaos and nostalgia. The film takes a look back at how Gru (Steve Carell) turned into the supervillain that he was in the original film, Despicable Me. Thanks to Gen Z, Rise of Gru has had huge box-office success.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Another Chris Hemsworth addition. Thor: Love and Thunder finds the Avenger searching for inner peace following the crazy events in Avengers: Endgame. Of course, his early retirement doesn’t quite go to plan, setting up a series of adventures.

Where the Crawdads Sing

Daisy Edgar-Jones plays the marsh girl, a recluse living in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. Based on the controversial yet best-selling book by Delia Owens of the same title, Where the Crawdads Sing has critics divided.

Nope

Jordan Peele and his Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya reuined for Nope, an awe-inspiring sci-fi thriller. Fans of Peele can watch the film starting today, after months of cryptic clues and  trailers.

Bodies Bodies Bodies

A friendly party turns into something much more sinister in the upcoming A24 film Bodies Bodies Bodies. Starring Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson, the film has plenty of classic vibey A24 moments and Gen Z humor.