Another year in film has passed, and what a year it has been for the pictures. Many will debate up and down just how good a year it was for movies, both financially and qualitatively, but in terms of the latter, I am always of the belief that there never really is such a thing as a bad year for movies, and this year is no different. There truly are so many I loved this year, so before I count them down, here are some honorable mentions that are just outside the ten.
20. Wake Up Dead Man
19. Bugonia
18. Blue Moon
17. Sentimental Value
16. Weapons
15. Avatar: Fire and Ash
14. Black Bag
13. Put Your Soul On Your Hands and Walk
12. The Testament of Ann Lee
11. Train Dreams
10. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Mary Bronstein blew the doors off with this one, an unrelenting and visceral experience that shows motherhood as an experience of anxiety pushing through waves that seem utterly endless. Rose Byrne remains my pick for the best performance by a lead actress this year, just an incredible performance from her.
9. The Secret Agent
A two-hour slow burn that unleashes thrills throughout its last act, The Secret Agent is probably the most surprising I’ve seen in my top ten this year. A film that breathes life into all walks of life in the past, present, and future of its story. Every moment I think about it, I just love Wagner Moura’s performance more and more. Kleber Mendonça Filho made such an incredible film.
8. Sorry, Baby
Eva Victor’s directorial and writing debut is so eloquently written that it’s pretty astonishing that the film is a debut at all. They do such excellent work to convey the film’s swaying tones of uncontrollable laughter and dark subject matter of loneliness amidst the most painful thing to happen to you. It’s simply exceptional, and I can’t wait to see whatever Victor does next.
7. No Other Choice
Despite that, yes, this film is bleak as hell, and its essentially “we’re all doomed” ending would seem to indicate the opposite, but No Other Choice might be 2025’s most rewatchable film. So darkly funny, and there simply is no other director working at Park Chan-wook’s level visually. His framing of shots and transition work remains unmatched, making No Other Choice a technical masterclass on one front and a sharply witty dark satire on the other. Just all around one of the finest crafted films put out this year from one of our masters.
6. Resurrection
Speaking of films that are on another level in terms of craft, I simply don’t think I will ever have a cinematic experience like Resurrection again in my lifetime. At times, its splitting of stories can maybe be a bit too big for all that it’s holding, but Bi Gan made a film that both honors virtually all walks of cinematic history while showcasing all of it simultaneously through the most messy and beautiful lens you could ever witness. As a lover of cinema, flaws and all, I could help but be won over by it. It truly is magnificent to behold.
5. Marty Supreme
An electric rollercoaster ride of stress-induced chaos, all bolstered by a great lead performance by maybe one of the last true movie star draws we have left, Marty Supreme is yet another winner from director Josh Safdie. Following an asshole character through what he believes is the true top of the American dream, only to feel reality slap him in the face constantly so that he has to keep lowering the heights of his dream, is truly inane to witness. It really feels like the culmination of every other directorial piece Safdie has gathered throughout his previous directorial efforts, a great picture.
4. It Was Just An Accident
Even from the most basic of outlooks, it was just an accident that works so well as a tight thriller exploring the moral quandaries of a difficult situation, but every frame of it manages to be so much more than that as well. Jafar Panahi’s rage of corruption and humanity rings loudly throughout the film, all while maintaining a stillness of tension that never lets up. All topped off by the year’s most impactful ending, It Was Just an Accident is simply sublime.
3. Sinners
Just one of the most unique experiences of the year, Sinners is our first look at pure originality from director Ryan Coogler, and it’s wondrous. A cast full of standouts, some of the year’s most gorgeous cinematography, and a blend of so many different genre elements create a sprawling, ambitious masterpiece that will be timeless. So much has been said about Sinners, and yet there’s so much more that there is to talk about with it that will exist for years to come.
2. One Battle After Another
PTA’s jump to the blockbuster space is one of retaining all the hallmarks of why so many love him as a filmmaker, while also showcasing a clear talent at working within an even larger scale. It’s a timely sprawling epic full of riveting car chases, shootouts, and hilarious jokes, of course, but at the end of the day, it’s the story of a father and daughter, and they hope the new generation makes a better world than the older one could not. Clearly, yet again drawing inspiration throughout his own life experiences with his daughter, PTA makes One Battle after Another a pure masterclass, and yet while it technically might be better than my number one, there’s just one film I like more.
1. 28 Years Later
It’s funny, for a while I did have OBAA as my number one, but 28 Years Later really has impacted me in a way no other film has this year. 28 Years Later was one of my most anticipated films of 2025, and for a film so divisive, it more than anything exceeded my expectations with how emotional it was and what it had to say about loss of life in the midst of a time where infected kill people left and right. Danny Boyle and Anthony Dod Mantle create otherworldly cinematography and imagery with their iPhone rigs, Ralph Fiennes is the most underrated supporting performance of the year, Alex Garland is finally locked in for what is possibly his best screenplay, and this will forever be a true horror classic for me that does so much more than legacy sequelize an undead franchise. Life-changing. And when it comes down to it, the film I will think about the most from 2025.
Memento amoris – remember you must love
