Blockbusters, indies, and everything in-between round out the best films of 2025. With such a large, all-encompassing crop of movies, some went unseen, others bounced hard, and some must-see films did not make the list. These titles are strongly recommended in addition to the top ten: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Black Bag, Die My Love, Eddington, Hamnet, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, The Phoenician Scheme, The Smashing Machine, Wake Up Dead Man, and Weapons.
With the honorable mentions out of the way, now dive into the boldest, most thrilling, and spectacular gems of this year in cinema.
10. ‘On Becoming a Guinea Fowl’ dir. Rungano Nyoni
A family in Zambia falls apart after a young woman finds her uncle’s body on a road in Nyoni’s sophomore feature. Guinea Fowl is set against the backdrop of traditional funeral proceedings in Zambian culture, with a plot driven by family squabbles over inheritance, and many of the young women sharing buried truths about the uncle’s past. Guinea Fowl addresses difficult subject matter with vulnerability and honesty. Nyoni’s directorial approach is mesmerizing, as the themes of the film gradually click into place after the fantastic opening sequence. The haunting score and sound design are standouts.
9. ‘Mickey 17’ dir. Bong Joon Ho
It was a tall order for Bong to follow up the success of Parasite in 2019, but everything about Mickey 17 indicates that he was purely interested in following his heart, not chasing accolades. The satirical bend is unafraid to be messy and on-the-nose, often making for great comedy, and the romance between Robert Pattinson and Naomi Ackie, Mickey 17 makes for a futuristic spin on Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Modern Times’ that has heart and humor in spades.
8. ‘Sorry, Baby’ dir. Eva Victor
Victor’s directorial debut, which they also wrote and starred in, follows a professor coping with the fallout of a sexual assault perpetrated by an academic mentor. Victor excels at exploring difficult subject matter with a light, disarmingly funny touch that emphasizes the awkward nature in which people try to make sense of personal trauma. Naomi Ackie joins Victor for an endlessly charming on-screen pairing. When Sorry, Baby takes on a more serious tone, there is a steady, confident hand on the page and behind the camera.
7. ‘Sentimental Value’ dir. Joachim Trier
Trier reunites with Renate Reinsve to tell a story about two sisters, Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, struggling to reconcile with their absent father, a renowned filmmaker played by Stellan Skasgaard, as his next great movie throws a young American star, portrayed by Elle Fanning, into the murky waters of their fractured family. Every performance is pitch perfect, the use of music is incredible, and it has some of the most cutting dialogue of any movie this year.
6. ‘The Mastermind’ dir. Kelly Reichardt
Methodically paced and artfully composed, Reichardt’s The Mastermind is an exploration of a listlessly arrogant male psyche, where Josh O’Connor plays the 1970s version of the type of guy who sits on the couch and thinks to himself, “I could pull that off” while watching a heist movie. The period setting is steeped in a political landscape which the final scene skillfully capitalized on in an ironic, remarkably satisfying way. The Mastermind is a heist film in a completely new rhythm.
5. ‘Sinners’ dir. Ryan Coogler
Coogler cashes his blank check in for an expansive genre picture, blending horror, romance, and musicality into one of the most original studio movies in years. Coogler constructs thrilling sequences in which vampirism stands in for a kind of cultural parasite that wishes to exploit both culture and community. With a stellar cast, including Delroy Lindo doing fantastic work, Sinners transports us to another time and place, destined to be poured over for many years to come.
4. ‘28 Years Later’ dir. Danny Boyle
28 Years Later goes the distance showing how digital cinematography, even on an iPhone, can be remarkable with effort and a strong vision. Vibrant and stylish throughout every sequence, terrifying in one instant and tearful in another.
Three distinct acts bring lessons of life and death to a young boy inhabiting a broken world. The father teaches the value of killing. The mother teaches the value of living. And a doctor teaches the value of dying. Boyle delivers a knockout with this sequel that ditches fan service in favor of a thematically rich story that overflows with humanity.
3. ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’ dir. Mary Bronstein
No movie this year has been as suffocating, vulnerable, or intimate as Bronstein’s exploration of a woman at the end of her rope, juggling a daughter with a mysterious illness, an absent husband, and a crumbling professional life. Rose Byrne delivers the strongest performance of the year. Bronstein’s use of claustrophobic camera work and sickening sound design builds into a sensory nightmare about a woman screaming into a void where no one cares to listen.
2. ‘One Battle After Another’ dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
An expansive, urgent story with superb craftsmanship on display. One Battle is the movie event of the year. The political framework provides a sturdy foundation for a film about raising the next generation to fight for a better world than the one before, culminating in a cut to credits that leaves you brimming with hope for a future far brighter than our present and certain that this film is nothing short of a masterpiece.
– Full review of One Battle After Another
1. ‘Marty Supreme’ dir. Josh Safdie
Safdie and Timothée Chalamet combine for a frenetic whirlwind of a sports drama, set in 1950s New York and following a young man with huge ambition who will stop at nothing to achieve his dream. Through its barrage of quick-cut, close-up visuals and cosmically-oriented synth soundtrack, Marty Supreme is a work of technical wizardry wrapped around an exhilarating story. Chalamet evolves to another level of stardom with his performance as Marty Mauser, his best performance yet and one that should be remembered for all time.
– Full review of Marty Supreme
This article appears in Dec. 1-31, 2025.