The number 22 is called the master builder in numerology. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. There are 22 cards in the Tarot major arcane. 22 caliber weapons are incredibly popular in films and I did not include mention of 22 caliber movies in this study.
The Abyss – Demarco states, “At 9:22 local time this morning, an American nuclear submarine, the USS Montana, with 156 men aboard, went down 22 miles from here.”
The American President – The Defense instructor states, “We’ve got 22 instructors”.
Attica – A dead snitch hanging from a railing in Attica, the prison, is wearing a sports jersey with the number 22.
Avengers – There is red London bus numbered 22.
The Breakfast Club – The clock in the library is 10:22.
Bringing Out the Dead – Dispatcher states, “respond to a 10-22”
Casablanca – A young gambler at Casablanca with sob story that touches Rick is allowed to win three times in a row by playing number 22 on the roulette table. I think the person who decided to use the number 22 probably knew something about numerology.
Catch-22 – The title says it all. There is no way an author picks a number for a title of a novel without doing some research as to the symbolic meaning of the number.
Cloverfield – The stamped date on the video filming the events of the day is May 22. This is driving me crazy. The number is all over the place but the number may just as well have been picked accidentally.
Dark Star – One the characters states “22 minutes to detonation” of a bomb.
Demolition Man – Garcia states, “Is there anything here which doesn’t violate contraband order 22”.
Frequency – A character states, “We are 22,000 miles away in geosynchronous orbit”.
Friday the 13th Part VIII – Sean states, “It’s supposed to be 22 stories tall”.
Ghostbusters – In 1984, Dana Barrett and Louis Tully both lived on the 22nd floor of 55 Central Park West, or Dana’s apartments, sometimes called “Spook Central”, is the super-conductive antenna and portal to our realm, created by the Cult of Gozer to bring forth their “divine” master Gozer himself in his Destructor Form. Dana lived in room number 2206.
Insomnia – Will’s digital clock displays 4:22.
Iron Man – An F-22 is on display in front of Stark Industries.
Kyle XY Season 3, Episode 6 – The License Plate in a room of in Kyle’s house is 52211. The fact I even pick a number within a number shows my desperation.
Last Samurai – July 22, 1876 is the heroes 20th day at sea.
Minority Report – There is an arrest on “April 22”. Hmmmm, two films with Tom Cruise that mention the number 22? What is the Scientology position on numerology?
Pitch Black – “22 hours weeks out”.
Platoon – The radio operator states, “122 wounded and still counting. Estimate 500 Victor Charlie KIA, 22 wounded and still counting”.
Red Planet – A character states “Lock out systems 17, 22 and 40”.
Space Jam – Bill Murray is wearing a number 22 basketball jersey on the court. Why are you teasing me like this Bill?
Star Trek the Motion Picture – “inertial lag will continue 22 point five”, clearly a number used as a number.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – “Coordinates 22/87/4”, another instance of a number just used as a number but second time in Star Trek but then again they use a lot numbers in Star Trek overall.
Suspect Zero – One of the victims is aged 22 and another victim disappeared “3-22-97”. Two 22s in one movie! But this is another dead end.
THX 1138 – A supervisor says some mumbo jumbo, “retract to 220”
Twilight Zone Season 2 Episode – A patient has nightmares about Room 22, the hospital morgue. Rod Serling, the man of all things weird surely knew the significance of 22 and I am adding it to the yes column.
Wall Street – Gekko states, “but don’t pay over $22”
WereVerse Universe Baby!
Dr. Hugh Fox III 
Hey!
Im Ben….well i too have come across the number 22 in like sooo many different situations….it never happened to me before….it all just started happening 2-3 years back, and its like really freaking me out….its become more frequent in the past few weeks, anyways i just want to know who is trying to tell me, rather us, whatever it is we need to know….and i dont look for it….it just simply shows up….my good friend’s birthday is on the 22nd and her parents got married on the 22nd and i didnt even know until a few days ago, anyways take care.
I have my own way explanation about seeing the number 22 and other numerological stuff at:
https://foxhugh.wordpress.com/non-fiction/numerology-and-virtual-reality/
Ghostbusters: Gozer is on floor 22.
Thanks! You are the first and only person to help with this project! No way is Gozer on floor 22 just a coincidence!
Shawn of the Dead: During the title sequence, a kid is kicking a ball against a post numbered 22
Thanks Bicentinal Man! I will add the info you gave me to the more comprehensive work at:
https://foxhugh.wordpress.com/divination/numerology-in-movies-and-television/
Dead Set (Excellent british zombie tv series): the culmination of the zombie attack of the tv studio is at 22:22 (first episode).
You come through again Bicentinal Man. May your quest to become human be successful! Thanks!
And the list goes on and on! Finally I have found some more people who have seen this in films, tv-series and such. It drives me mad and I have a theory that it is a conspiracy between set designers and art directors all oover the western world (haven’t seen it in f ex Asian movies). Furthermore, I have beesn followed by 22 since childhood. thanks for showing me that I am not alone!
Oh no way its a coincidence. My theory is that artistic types will gravitate towards numerology. If you are an artistic type then you will be attracted to number symbolism in general and then find something like numerology even more interesting. Asian, well Chinese more specifically are interested in different numbers because of different cultural traditions. I have lived in Asia for 14 years and if you see an expensive car then you are going to see an 888 license plate most of the time. Thats the big number in Asia not the other ones on my bigger list at: https://foxhugh.wordpress.com/divination/numerology-in-movies-and-television/
However, 22 has a special place in my heart because its not an obvious number like 13 or 888 but you do see it in the movies and TV so its clearly numerological in origina rather than one of those numbers that everyone knows about.
Ditto… the movie list is very lengthy… room numbers, building numbers, transportation #s (trains, planes, cabs, license plates, etc), clocks, etc. Practically all movies at some point. Hopefully we’ll find the answer.
Just yesterday (A Walk in the Woods – hotel room 122)
Thanks for your comment! Haven’t seen A Walk in the Woods but sounds like yet another sighting!
i too find the numbers use in film a bit uncanny. personally the number has ceased to haunt me as it once did, to the point of serious anxiety. perhaps i have just learned to deal with it. for illustrations sake, my social is xxx-22-xxxx. i turned the age 22 on 06/06/06. i became obsessed and for my mental healths sake stopped trying to interperet its every cameo in my life. i must admit it mostly scared me as it would present itself in moments suggestive of death, anguish, anxiety, despair & mostly helpless confusion. but as mentioned i have chosen not to delve in that rabbits hole anymore. nonetheless, i do notice it in film a lot and unless my subconcious just favors noticing it more than other numbers i am lead to believe that some of the major players in hollywood purposefully and even silently plant its inclusion in film, suggesting some insiders club might cryptically & symbolically celebrate their subliminal codings.
but finally, what do i know? only that it is a curious thing.
Illusory correlation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_correlation
is a well documented psychological phenomena which would explain why you and I see numerological patterns all over the place. Another explanations is provided at
Numerology and Virtual Reality
https://foxhugh.wordpress.com/divination/numerology-and-virtual-reality/
In movies and TV shows I am pretty sure it’s just deliberate on the part of the writers! Mostly I buy into the illusory correlation explanation but every now and then I wonder if the second explanation makes more sense. Either way don’t let it bother you too much and try to enjoy the mystery which is life!
I find 22 on so many movies and shows I have lost track, even on movies like (I forget the name) where a PI is investigating Steve Reeves suicide (he was the 1st Superman on TV) he lived in apartment 22.
Even a movie (a so-called Christian movie made by TBN) when asked how many troops they had available he said 22,000.
Another cheap Sy-Fy show a girl asked what the date was and was told it was Feb 22, later in the show someone asked her about her birthday and she said “I was born October 22nd..)
I see this so much I don’t even hardly acknowledge it anymore (which might be the intention). but, it is there for anyone to see and is in almost all movies!
Especially look in the background even older movies like “Cherry 2000” there was a digital clock in the background that showed 22!
Look for it and you will see it even more than you want!
You are very observant! I think you mean George Reeves. Steves Reeves was a body builder and contemporary of George Reeves so confusion is understandable.
Great post. In the last few months ( 2015 ) I made the decision to start documenting the appearances of the number 22 in film and television. Without fail there at least 2 a week, and that’s only in the shows or films I happen to watch. I would love to talk to some screenwriters or script folks and see if they have used it, and if so, was it intentional or random choice? I’m surprised how few media savvy sites ( like TV Tropes which is a lot of fun ) have talked about this. Thanks foxhugh.
I think a lot of the 22 stuff is intentional. I do think artistic types will inevitably find systems like numerology interesting.
Funny aside – for THX-1138, even the number 1138 resolves as 22, if done as 11+3+8=22 🙂
Wow! Good insight about 1138!
I’m from Australia born on 22nd feb
Finally decided to google about this as I see it too, all the time and for years.. I see 22 and 222 in real life more than movies but it still happens in movies heaps. I want share what happened one Monday morning on my way to work in my water truck. I was working in a small town an hour from home.
1st I had to give way to a truck towing a race car with 22 on it, 2nd a half hour down the road motorbike passes me with a backpack with 22 stamped on it. I’m guessing it was the brand. And 3rd, when I got to this town I was heading through past a church to fill up my water truck and on the church billboard it read on the bottom line …… Verse Tim 2.2.. That freaked me out that day..
But it hasn’t stopped, I don’t mind, I believe it’s a reminder when I see it that everything will be alright! Thanks never told anyone bout that
Thanks for sharing Tim! 22 is of course a good number in numerology!
“Speed” intro, escalators going up, you see 22 passing on the metal doors.
OK new rules if its mentioned in the comments then its part of the article! Or at least until there are a bunch of comments and then I will incorporate them into the article. Thanks for the info Malena and all of you there happy sightings!
The number 22 has haunted me for years. Not only is it my birthday and do I notice it in almost every film I watch, (most recently The Darjeeling Limited and The Angels’ Share, but It seems nearly every time I look at the time it’s 22 minutes past the hour. It goes on and on and on and is quite freaky. What I’ve list above can be put off to chance but the number seem to pop up in every address I live at, every document, bill, license plates I drive behind, bee’s that build a house outside my home have 22 tenants this year etc etc. I’ve gotten to where I just told myself I must be going out of my way to find it but even after actively ignoring it for months on end the number jumps in my face and forces me to acknowledge it. I’m not a nutter by any stretch and I have a 150 IQ so it’s not a simpleton issue either. Really makes me wonder about the whole hologram theory and if we are not an experiment. I won’t exhaust my welcome but I wanted to chime in and lend the support. Odd world we are in or odd minds we have and perhaps both. Too bad it doesn’t lend itself to prediction. That’s an entirely different subject 🙂
It could be totally psychological. Our brains are designed to see patterns. Seeing patterns gave us a Darwinian survival pattern. Part of seeing patterns is seeing patterns when there are none. However, I do think the world is more numerological it should be given the current scientific world view. Check out:
https://foxhugh.com/divination/numerology-and-virtual-reality/
Moonrise kingdom uses the number 22
I was born to a woman who was born on that day. Eerily, my sister who was born after me also had this same birthday. When I was 22, I found my first love who happened to have been born on Sept. 22 as well. When we broke up, I fell in love with someone whose mother had the same birthday. The number 22 appears as part of news headlines around the world be it good or bad. I believe this is God’s way of showing us that He/She is over and above our mundane concerns here on Earth. I also would like to point out that 911 symbolizes death while 922 for me represents life.
Great story!
Yes, I start to see those patterns more and more lately, No coincidence, it’s like a communicating or massages is some way. More than 5-10 just movies title had 22 in it, in the last 5 years. After some research (offline), I found the numbers 11,22,33,44,55,66,77…etc has to do with Demonization and magic.
I learned from the Biblical study of numbers in the Bible (not the book of Numbers, that’a a different thing), but Gamatria, the Greek and I guess Hebrew, where each letter has a number value, not like the English alphabet with its silly numerology. Anyway, number 2 has a double meaning in the Bible. It means divorce, like a two-edged sword dividing asunder. But it also means marriage and harmony as in the two become one flesh in marriage. So it depends on the context which meaning applies. If people who make movies and TV shows are using the number I doubt if it’s Biblical. But if things happen outside in your reality with instances of the number 2, maybe God is showing you something, Biblically. I recommend prayer and Bible study.
I was not familiar with the Biblical side of numerology. Your comment is extremely interesting. I think probably Hollywood types are using numerology at a much more simplistic level than you are.
Wow! I’ve been adding to my 22s in movies list for a LONG time. This conversation was really helpful… both in motivation and adding some new ones. I’m making what I hope will be the definitive video on this subject… seeing them all back to back is really startling to say the least. I hope to have it done by mid November. Is there a way that those of you like mlrts could get your lists to me? For the time being my contribution is this: Two of the biggest movies on earth, the last two from the MCU begin with 22s: We are 22 jump points from Asgard in “Infinity War” and “What day is it; 21, no 22” in Endgame. These are there before the films really even begin! It must be important to someone to have them in there! Thanks all!
Creative types that make movies are also numerological types! Good luck with your list!
Here ya go folks! This may be the most extensive list of movie 22s you’ll find. Depending on how you count, there may be 80-100 here. Would love your thoughts! This is one of three.. the conclusion is still in work. Thanks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ79cwLMLN0
Fantastic!
Thanks!!!
My pleasure!
Good morning,
I just finished rewatching the movie (The Power of One) and I must say there are a few 22s in it both in symbolic and historical. I will leave it at that, let me know if you can catch on to it.
good to hear from a fellow numerologist
In the 1957 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (The Glass Eye), the subject of the episode lives in apartment 22.
I consider comments addendum to the text so I will not add this tidbit to the main text. For sure a guy like Hitchcock knew the basics of numerology and 22 is pretty basic.
my favorite one: gone girl – amy dunne is staying at the cabin number 22 (shows around 1h35). insane!!!!