2025 bridged the gap between grand-scale popcorn cinema and intimate portraits of the human experience. This cinematic year delivered spectacular technical feats that entertained movie fans, look no further than Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, but was also films that featured deeply personal, original storytelling, Sorry, Baby and Sentimental Value.
The year opened with a surge of auteur-driven projects; Bong Joon-ho's sci-fi odyssey Mickey 17 and Ryan Coogler's vampire epic Sinners set an early, ambitious bar for genre-blending storytelling. The summer box office saw massive theatrical spectacles, with James Gunn's Superman competing with Matt Shakman's The Fantastic Four: First Steps for comic book superhero dominance, while Joseph Kosinski's F1 dazzled audiences with high-octane thrills. At the same time, Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later and Gareth Edwards' Jurassic World: Rebirth reminded genre movie fans that visceral chills are sometimes best captured on the big screen.
The year culminated with diverse highlights for every cinema-lover. From the technical wizardry of Avatar: Fire and Ash and Guillermo del Toro's love letter to an iconic horror character with Frankenstein to the sprawling comedy-thriller of Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. The 2025 year of film balanced blockbuster energy with intellectual storytelling in creative ways. Here are my personal favorite films of 2025.
12. Die, My Love
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Featuring an emotionally raw performance from Jennifer Lawrence, Die, My Love is a complicated film that details love, loss, and motherhood. Lynne Ramsay's direction brings an emotionally transparent, at times feverish quality to the screen. When you add Robert Pattinson to the mix, this film becomes a beautiful work exploring the messy intersections of relationships, the fragile nature of human connection, and, at its core, the unseen psychological aspects of motherhood. It is a haunting film that still lingers in my brain.
11. The Long Walk
Director: Francis Lawrence
Stephen King adaptations have been a staple of cinema for decades, but The Long Walk stands out as one of the best in the last 10 years, ranking among the top three cinematic adaptations of King's work. Director Francis Lawrence seems tailored for this specific project; his extensive experience with the high-stakes, dystopian tension of The Hunger Games translates perfectly here. He captures the grueling, psychological toll of the source material with a steady, unflinching hand, elevating a simple premise into a devastating character study.
10. Train Dreams
Director: Andrew Haigh
Train Dreams is a quiet film meditation about the trials of life and the persistence of the human spirit. It embraces this quality; regardless of the era, we all feel, suffer, and endure in similar ways. Beautifully shot with a reverence for the natural world, the film features an excellent, grounded performance from Joel Edgerton. It is a story that unfolds at its own pace, using atmosphere to heighten empathy for the characters and situations they endure.
9. Sinners
Director: Ryan Coogler
A horror film that does so much with its familiar vampire genre tropes, Sinners subverts them into truly dazzling visual sensations. Coogler uses the shadows of the past to create powerful connections to modern recurrences of violence, systemic injustice, and historical trauma. It is a rare feat, a popcorn-horror creature feature that possesses a sharp intellect and a visual palette that is both gorgeous and horror-filled.
8. Black Bag
Director: Steven Soderbergh
A slick crime drama that oozes coolness, Black Bag charms with its smart characters while creating an intriguing espionage caper. Director Steven Soderbergh composes the film with his signature rhythmic precision, allowing the narrative to move with a unique energy. The film features a fantastic one-two punch performance from Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, whose on-screen chemistry provides the perfect anchor for this high-stakes game of shadows.
7. Nouvelle Vague
Director: Richard Linklater
A vibrant love letter to filmmaking and the French New Wave classic Breathless. Full of energy and unexpected insight into the process of art and creativity, Linklater captures the restless passion of pursuing what you love—even when you aren't entirely sure what, when, where, or how it might come to be. Nouvelle Vague is a beautiful sentiment, exposed here through a playful narrative that celebrates the chaos of the creative spark.
6. It Was Just An Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
It Was Just An Accident is a thrilling revenge film that offers a nuanced, darkly humorous analysis of trauma and oppression. Director Jafar Panahi, who was imprisoned for his politically charged films yet continues to make movies in his home country despite the constant oppression of his craft, uses personal experience to compose It Was Just An Accident with impressive tension, balancing the weight of its themes, and delivering a genuinely thrilling and thoughtful experience.
5. Sentimental Value
Director: Joachim Trier
A family drama about the collision of the personal lives we love and leave, and the professional passions we pursue. Sentimental Value explores the passion of art alongside the joys and mistakes of family life. Director Joachim Trier expertly navigates the terrain of missteps, faults, past trauma, and present anger, while still leaving room for the hope of an unexpected future. It is a poignant, deeply felt exploration of how we define ourselves through those we love.
4. Sirāt
Director: Óliver Laxe
Sirāt is an unexpected journey that argues the path taken is far more important than the destination it chases. Director Óliver Laxe uses the immersive landscapes of the Moroccan desert to frame a story that feels both extravagant and intensely personal. It is a spiritual, sensory experience that rewards the viewer with beautiful, thoughtful moments of reflection.
3. Marty Supreme
Director: Josh Safdie
How do you balance the emotions of a self-centered, egotistical, and unlikable young man? You get actor Timothée Chalamet to find the humanity in the character and director Josh Safdie to provide the anxious, energetic framing. Marty Supreme is a truly epic journey, both frustrating and endlessly fascinating, documenting the rise to fame of an unexpected contender with unflinching style and cleverness.
2. No Other Choice
Director: Park Chan-wook
The mastery of Park Chan-wook's filmmaking skills is on full display in No Other Choice. Based on the novel The Ax by Donald E. Westlake, this is a funny and engaging thriller, meticulously composed in every frame. Park Chan-wook balances a dark, satirical tone with a genuine sense of desperation, following a man, played excellently by Lee Byung-hun, who takes extreme measures to secure his livelihood. The technical precision—from the editing to the production design—is exceptional, proving that Park Chan-wook is a master of the craft who commands the medium with unparalleled control and a wicked sense of humor.
1. One Battle After Another
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another is unlike the filmmaker's most recent films; moving into modern times, Anderson creates an entertaining comedy-crime thriller with a timely message. Featuring fantastic performances, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro chew up scenery with fun and lively characters, while newcomer Chase Infiniti wows with a standout performance. The film offers a striking commentary that layers numerous ideas into a story about family, fatherhood, freedom, and faith. The narrative feels both sprawling and intimate, capturing the chaotic spirit of the American experience through an impressive cinematic lens
Honorable Mentions
13. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
14. Weapons
15. The Secret Agent
16. 28 Years Later
17. Bugonia
18. Mickey 17
19. Sorry, Baby
20. Frankenstein
21. Together
22. F1: The Movie
23. The Phoenician Scheme
24. I Like Me
25. Predator: Killer of Killers
