This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we feature our 13th annual InSession Film Awards! During Part 1, we discuss the very best that 2025 had to offer in terms of surprises, overlooked movies, the best acting performances and so much more when it comes to the film year. Many of these categories will feel familiar, for those that follow awards season, however some of them are distinct and that’s what makes it fun.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we discuss our Top 10 Movies of 2025.
Want to participate with our Awards show? Click here to download the Awards Category sheet, fill it out with your nominees and winners, and as you listen to the show see how your picks stack up against ours!
2025 was an interesting year for film. It took awhile to get going, but once the fall season arrived, it was one gem after another. Ironically, though, the year gave us some of its very best movies in the first half with Sinners, 28 Years Later, One Battle After Another and Sorry, Baby. However, at least for us, most of the year’s great depth came during the last few months of 2025. With the likes of Sentimental Value, Marty Supreme, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, It Was Just An Accident, No Other Choice, Train Dreams, The Secret Agent, and so many more, it was an avalanche of awesome cinema. 2025 was also a great bounce back for mainstream movies. Warner Bros. and Disney both crushed it at the box office with A Minecraft Movie, Lilo & Stitch, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Superman, Thunderbolts*, Sinners, Zootopia 2, Wicked: For Good and others. Where 2024 was dominated by experimental and innovative filmmaking, 2025 was well rounded with great indies and foreign films, and a better Hollywood buffet. It was a great year for movies and we had the best time talking about why it’s so robust.
Do you agree or disagree with any of our picks? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Many people recognize Amanda Seyfried from roles such as the sweetly clueless Karen Smith whose special talent is to predict the weather through her breasts in Mean Girls, or Sophie the bride-to-be in Mamma Mia! Or perhaps as Needy in Jenniferโs Body. Seyfriedโs career is more eclectic than teen comedies/satires, juke box musicals, or romantic leads.
Nadine Whitney spoke with Amanda about what leads her to pick a role.
Nadine Whitney: Hello Amanda. Your filmography is far more varied and deeper than I think a lot of people would think at first glance. For example, your work with Atom Egoyan (Chloe, Seven Veils), David Lynch (Twin Peaks), Noah Baumbach (While We Were Young), and David Fincher (Mank). What draws you to these less commercial and more challenging roles?
Amanda Seyfried: There are so many reasons. I think, first and foremost, itโs curiosity. I have the privilege of getting to play dress up and make believe as a job, and without consequences. I mean, of course it costs the more emotional and the darker the tone and the context is, for sure.ย And it gets darker as you get older, because you get older and more life happens to you, and more life happens to your characters. And that’s great. It’s therapy. I’m very curious. ย
I know that I learn a lot about myself through the characters. I just love the process of understanding someone else and then being able to take what I know about myself and marry that experience and bring it to life. I feel the more deliberate you are with balancing out what people know you to do allows for people to lose themselves quicker when they watch you.
I couldn’t have played Elizabeth Holmes (The Dropout) if people just saw me. But because I feel like the choices and the opportunities โ I won’t say it’s always been a choice. Like Mamma Mia! wasn’t a choice. We all went out for it, and I got it. People know me for that. When I play people who are so separate from me or real people, I think I still have that privilege of being able to hide. I hope it continues to happen because I don’t want people to see me. ย
I feel like that all comes down to the things that I’ve been able to lose myself in. So, that’s always the plan. You know, like after playing Ann Lee, I’m developing a comedy because I desperately need it, and because there’s some levity that I didn’t necessarily get the whole time from Ann Lee. Although I will say The Testament of Ann Lee is very funny at times and absurd, and we lived in that levity.
Youโve got to just break it up. You don’t want it to be the same. I just don’t want to constantly play myself, although I am in every character. It’s just sometimes 30 percent, or sometimes 80 percent.
Director:Johannes Roberts Writers:Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera Stars: Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, Troy Kotsur
Synopsis:Home from college, Lucy reunites with family including pet chimp Ben. Ben contracts rabies during a pool party and turns aggressive. Lucy and friends barricade in pool, devising ways to survive the vicious chimp.
Many are aware that, in many cases, January is a month of slim pickings when it comes to horror film releases. In quite a few cases, however, there can be quite the surprise found amidst the dump, and while Primate isnโt exactly a refreshing change of pace from some genre trappings its contemporaries tend to fall into, the film is a very sturdy case of โgetting the job done.โ Director Johannes Roberts clearly wants to lean into a cheeky B-movie nature that isn’t quite as present in his past features. The film mostly works when it leans into the campy and knowing nature of what is essentially a creature feature, and less so when it tries to take itself seriously. However, Roberts is surprisingly able to handle scenes of hair-raising suspense and loony absurdity quite effectively. One could wish that Primate did a bit better job refining its tonal inflections to make it a more memorable experience overall, but the film does what it says on the tin: a chimpanzee brutally kills some annoying teenagers gloriously, and it’s hard not to be satisfied.
The filmโs setup is as simple as they come, following Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) and her friends Hannah (Jess Alexander) and Kate (Victoria Wayant) as they travel back to Lucyโs home of Hawaii for vacation. Lucy has been away from home for a while due to her college studies, now feeling a bit adrift with her father, who is a famed author, Adam (Troy Kotsur), and her sister Erin (Gia Hunter). While Lucy has been away, Erin has only been kept company by their only family pet, Ben the chimpanzee, who only seems to gain more knowledge by the day. It seems like everyone is all set for a day of fun until a mysterious bite on Benโs arm is discovered, leading to what seems virtually impossible in Hawaii: Ben contracting rabies. The chimpโs aggression slowly grows throughout the night after Adam leaves to sign more of his best-selling books, leading to a standoff for survival for these teenagers against a monkey gone wild.
The bloody chaos of Primateโs premise is, of course, where most of the fun will be found, but Robertsโ ingenuity amidst the filmโs probable low budget is also admirable. In the film, Ben canโt swim, so a large portion of the filmโs runtime takes place within the one location of Lucyโs huge home and the pool that sits at the back of it. Itโs impressive just how much creativity is brought out of crafting scenes where the teens must sneak and avoid loud noises amidst Benโs peril, and while yes, the film is incredibly silly, it makes use of its limited resources and can save the bloody and pulpy kills for its main course, which are a delight for any horror fan to witness.
While the tonal balances of the Primate create small issues that mostly persist in the filmโs introductory scenes, the inherent silliness of the film is also used in clever ways. There’s almost a cat-and-mouse-like playfulness to many scenes of the chimp seeming to outwit many of the attempts from the teenagers to escape, in particular, the scene of Ben using car keys to open a car to brutally bash another victim is a fun sequence. Whatโs also present here that tends to be more of a hindrance in other horror films is the implementation of annoying characters. The film knows its audience wants to see those characters go out in the most ridiculous of ways, and Ben delivers on some insane carnage at multiple points.
What keeps Primate from being better is its implementation of way too many instances of taking itself way too seriously within this narrative. Obviously, yes, there needs to be at least a bit of a foundation within the characters we meet before we get to what we paid to see, but there’s a lot more expository dumps about the familial troubles of the main trio of Lucy, Erin, and Adam than I would like. It doesnโt help that it’s done through the most boring dialogue imaginable, and sometimes youโll be wondering, “where’s the killer chimp in this killer chimp movie?โ but luckily, it never ends up a deal breaker for the film on the whole.ย
Primate isnโt going to blow horror fans’ minds or stick out as one of the more memorable genre pictures of the year, but it’s a good example of doing a solid job at providing what was advertised: a chimpanzee essentially acting as Michael Myers and killing teenagers one by one. It has its occasional shortcomings and at times struggles to balance its silly and serious moments, but the film’s synth-heavy score and bloody mayhem provide a fun way to kill 80 or so minutes, even though that’s about all the film has to offer.
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 Iโd 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 Mouraโs performance more and more. Kleber Mendonรงa Filho made such an incredible film.
8. Sorry, Baby
Eva Victorโs directorial and writing debut is so eloquently written that itโs pretty astonishing that the film is a debut at all. They do such excellent work to convey the filmโs swaying tones of uncontrollable laughter and dark subject matter of loneliness amidst the most painful thing to happen to you. Itโs 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 โwe’re all doomedโ 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-wookโs 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 Panahiโs 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
PTAโs 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.
Frankly, as a film year overall, 2025 has been full of underwhelming disappointments. However, when films did hit, they landed big, leaving their mark. It was the year of the foreign film and the mainstream American instant classic. These films found their artistic footing, feeling urgent, personal, and filled with conviction. Meanwhile, mainstream cinema with a message took risks with bold ambition, making these filmsโ themes feel unmistakably alive, current, and ripped from the headlines.
With that, please take a moment to read my list of the top ten films of 2025!
10. The Materialists/Superman
On the surface, you might think Celine Song is following up her exquisite Past Lives by blowing the dust off a script she had stuck in her desk that was inspired by a love of Julia Roberts or Meg Ryan from the golden age of โ90s romantic comedies. However, beneath the sheen and shine of glamorous New York City socialite life, you’re treated to a thoughtful, mature, and at times beautiful exploration of the leap of faith that is unrequited love and cynicism. Song is unafraid to tackle real-life issues and essential questions, including identity, self-awareness, and reflection. The Materialistsโ tone never wavers, offering a stunningly mature, thoughtful, and humorous take on the modern-day rom-com and setting a new standard for years to come.
Then, you have James Gunnโs take on the Man of Steel, Big Blue, and The Last Son of Krypton, which excels in two areas that previous films in the franchise have failed to achieve. First, the world-building around Clark Kentโs alter ego is a walk on the wild side. Superman is weird, funky, and offbeat, fueled by candy-coated chaos and populated by oddballs and misfits unlike anything weโve ever seen in a Superman film. Second, and Iโll make this as plain as possible about Gunnโs DCEU rebirth: Gunn brought the fun, while layering themes that we see in our backyard.
9. One Battle After Another
Iโm not going to lie: when I first saw One Battle After Another, having missed my critics screening, I took the leap and caught it in a 4DX presentation, spraying air, water, and whatever airborne pathogen the world has concocted directly into my face, while the seat jerked so violently I thought Terence Fletcher had given me whiplash. It completely pulled me out of the cinematic ride. On a second viewing, however, I found myself fully immersed in the Paul Thomas Anderson experience. The film is steeped in moral exhaustion, visceral cycles of violence, and characters trapped in their own personal prisons, projecting onto others what they refuse to confront in themselves. Where PTAโs other films are about emotional connections that bleed into one another, One Battle After Another connects its characters, themes, and powerful subtext through endless cyclical conflict, consequences, and moral attrition.
8. Train Dreams
In Train Dreams, moments linger, some shocking, some tranquil, others innocuous, even breathtaking. That is precisely the point of this gorgeous, contemplative film from writer-director Clint Bentley. The stunningly evocative and beautiful film has moments of joy or heartbreak, euphoria or trauma, and the people who enter our lives as quickly as they leave, shaping us the way water constantly shapes rocks along a riverbed. Joel Edgertonโs performance is meditative and thoughtful; one can easily imagine Sรธren Kierkegaard describing Train Dreams as the dizziness of freedom. Edgertonโs Robertโs existential crisis isnโt short-term. No, for the characters on screen, it is baked into their very existence.
7. Black Bag
Stylish and remarkably self-assured, Steven SoderberghโsBlack Bagis a brilliant piece of filmmaking that never forgets to entertain while still allowing the viewer to ponder bigger, existential questions. This is a masterful genre film that delivers both thrills and thought-provoking moments, offering an intoxicating case of immersion through its look, vibe, and music, all of which showcase how this filmmaker immerses his audience in an experience only he can craft. A delicious chess match of a whodunnit that never lets up from start to finish, resulting in the yearโs smartest thriller.
6. The Perfect Neighbor
Director Geeta Gandbhirโs The Perfect Neighbor takes raw footage from police body-worn cameras and dash cams, using them to draw a heartbreaking portrait of systemic and intergenerational racismโa toxic combination of socially inherited issues that is built into state (and soon, probably federal) law. In this case, the suspect, a woman named Susan Lorincz, an older adult Caucasian woman, used the police to enforce control over a friendly neighborhood community, swinging a hammer of fear.The Perfect Neighbor places you in the middle of an impossible-to-escape nightmare, using emotional manipulation to drop the viewer into the case and allow them to make their own judgments, exposing more racist attitudes lurking in the shadows than we could know.
5. Sinners
If you love movies, you dirty, filthy cinephiles, you have to love the genre picture. Yes, that dreaded label some snooty film buffs turn their noses up at, yet cannot tell you the difference between film noir and the black-and-white filter setting on their Instagram profile. However, sometimes a movie comes along that transcends that entertainment art form, goes deeper, is meaner and darker, and leaves far more marks on our hearts than the body count on screen. That is Sinners, a movie that evokes rage (and tears) for its characters, with themes that boil down to a thoughtful, even poignant and gripping, conclusion. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, featuring an unheralded performance from its star, Michael B. Jordan, and countless memorable supporting turns, including a scene-stealing performance from Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners is a film of the moment and a story as old as time.
4. It Was Just an Accident
Perhaps no filmโs final scene will stick with you quite like Jafar Panahiโs It Was Just an Accident (Yek tasadof-e sadeh). A film that layers white-knuckle tension with profound moral dilemmas, it is a socially conscious thriller that sneaks up on youโand one youโll be thinking about long after the credits have rolled. Featuring two standout performances, Vahid Mobasseriโs scenes ignite with moments of truth that act like narrative gasoline. At the same time, his pairing with Ebrahim Azizi leads to a slow-burn reckoning that is as electrifying as it is cathartic. Viscerally charged and impossible to look away from, Panahi firmly puts his stamp on the political revenge thriller.
3. Sentimental Value
As the Sentimental Valueunfolds, you canโt help but feel the tension quietly mounting. Beneath it all lies a hidden theme of pain and trauma. Yet, director Joachim Trier uses the movie-within-a-movie trope to transform that collective suffering into something resembling closure. Itโs that quiet strength and the unspoken truth within that are impossible to ignore. The script evolves into something achingly human and beautifully tragic. It isnโt a film about the art of filmmaking, but rather one that uses art itself as a means to heal, repair, and find closure. Funny and endlessly moving, and filled with terrific performances, Trier once again proves himself a cinematic observer of human behavior at its most fragile and profound.
2. No Other Choice
Has any filmmaker found a way to exquisitely combine precision, menace, and elegance like Park Chan-wook? His Decision to Leave is one of the best films of the decade; Oldboy remains one of the best films of the century; and now No Other Choicearrives as a movie experience that isnโt so much a slow burn as a slow poison. The experience builds over time, with a delayed impact that leaves a cinematic psychological aftertaste hard to shake. The themes of moral unease linger and become overwhelming at times. The renowned writer-directorโs steady hand is controlled, restrained, and emotionally cold, with damage that isnโt explosive but incremental, chipping away slowly over the filmโs 139 minutes. Just sit back and let Park Chan-wook slowly tighten the screws to see where you come out on the other side.
1. Marty Supreme
In a year full of underwhelming disappointments, A24โs Marty Supremeis here to save the day. Josh Safdieโs seventh directorial feature, only his second time helming a film solo, and the first since his debut, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, is a slice of cinema unlike anything youโve ever seen. An exhilarating sports epic that transports you to another time and place, the film strips away the noir-soaked urban sheen of the period, replacing it with hard-boiled comedy, bustling claustrophobia, and overwhelming anxiety. The experience is wild, kinetic, and deliriously enjoyable, a movie destined to become a classic because no one is making films like this today.
Timothee Chalamet delivers something entirely different here. Simply put, this is the best performance of his career. Previously nominated for Call Me by Your Name and launched into superstardom by the Dune franchise, Chalamet sheds the boyish charm, sex-symbol status, and tortured-soul charisma for a caustic, motor-mouth energy fueled by narcissistic ambitionโmagnetic, chaotic, and a sight to behold. His turn is a tornado of contradictions, masterfully fascinating as manic ambition strains against societal labels. Josh Safdieโs third chapter of his Anxiety Cinema trilogy is unmistakably alive and an experience all its own.
Marty Supreme is the yearโs best film. Honorable Mentions: Plainclothes, Weapons, Thirsty, The Secret Agent, and Rental Family
This week on Women InSession, we take a look at David Cronenberg’s 1979 film The Brood and his 2025 film The Shrouds! Both films are unique and personal to Cronenberg, and we have fun diving into why that makes them compelling. Maybe not for everyone, but the way he bleeds intrigue with the grotesque and weird is just unlike anyone else.
Panel: Kristin Battestella, Megan Kearns, Jaylan Salah
On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
Synopsis: A portrayal of Ferdinand Magellan and Beatriz Barbosa’s 1517 marriage in Seville, focusing on their brief time together before his departure on the Spanish crown’s expedition.
The first descriptor which may come to mind when reflecting on Lav Diazโ Magellan is painterly. The opening frame of this film, and practically each one that follows for the entirety of its 160-minute runtime, wouldnโt look out of place hanging in a museum. But Magellan serves a far greater purpose for its audience than merely being a stunning film to look at. Because within all the beauty present throughout Diaz and co-cinematographer Artur Tortโs imagery lies the much uglier truth coursing throughout this historical epic. Itโs the painful irony that such natural beauty could exist amongst the powerfully cruel forces looking to bastardize the serenity established by nature and appreciation of the mysteries around us. Throughout the DNA of Magellan, the arthouse version of both historical epic and biopic, lies a much larger examination of a worldโs influence on a man rather than the titular manโs influence on the world around him. Despite leaning into narrative speculation on occasion, Diaz bathes this film in a sense of dreadful realism. In other words, this isnโt a stylized film. Itโs unsensationalized, never shying away from the hard truths and realistic pain driven by the filmโs narrative and literal journey. But thatโs not to say it doesnโt feel like a distinct vision from a master filmmaker.
Magellan instantly dazzles you with its crystal-clear digital cinematography. With a camera that moves so infrequently, this is a wondrous example of contemporary slow cinema. Characters seem to enter and exit the frame at their own will, or at whatever pace the script deems most effective. This technique is something that should never be seen as padding out a runtime; itโs all part of serving a larger function. As an audience, we are held captive by Diazโs composition. Through his patient hand, we become moved and haunted in equal measure. We see serene landscapes, prayer rituals, and even mundane tasks painfully invaded with no control whatsoever. In lulling the viewer into a sense of exploration through wandering eyes and minds, a complicity is built into the very fiber of Magellan. Thatโs particularly fitting considering so many of the conversations in this film revolve around the complicity of the man, and by extension humans and larger society, at its center.
Thereโs never a question as to whether or not the actions of Ferdinand Magellan (Gael Garcรญa Bernal) are justifiable by any means. Thereโs deservedly no vindication or attempts at sympathy from Diazโ artistic point of view. But what makes Magellan such a fascinating film is just how easily Diaz pulls from the foundational iconography of heroโs journey cinema and storytelling at large. But instead of acclaim and wild fortune for his titular figure, Diaz instead captures the lies pushing this journey forward and the truths experienced along the way. Despite such beautiful cinematography, thereโs little beauty in this exploration. Itโs a toiling journey full of harsh experiences, hypocritical morals and actions, and purely reprehensible evils perpetrated in the name of religious beliefs. And the journey, and what it truly stands for, never really ends; instead it festers. Bathed in nightmarish ideologies, the journey captured in Magellan is akin to a painting slowly rotting from within.
The film begins in 1511 with Magellan taking part in the Capture of Malacca. Itโs an opening act that immediately feels haunted. This is something that Diaz will home in on the longer his grip remains held around his audience. Itโs not long before he goes ahead and makes his intentions for the film as clear as possible. In a moment that feels akin to โthe celebratory speechโ scene commonly found in war films, the clearly drunken general indicates his intent on pushing forward to conquering Aden. He meanders on about the reasons for doing so, but falls into a drunken slumber midway through. Portrayed quite literally, Diaz interrogates such drunken power and how itโs simply an unquenchable force of history. There will never be a satisfying moment for these characters we have no choice but to follow on their journey. Theyโre constantly seeking more and more under the guise of nationalism and religious benefit, all the while isolating themselves further and further from the beauty Diaz so effortlessly captures in his compositions.
As Magellan progresses through time via harsh jump cuts, we find the titular figure at various different points in his life. The unflashy editing is one of the many manners in which Diaz crafts this stylistically understated film. Another component is indicated by just how long it takes for the audience to ever get a good look at Bernal. For a star so known for his striking looks, itโs nearly an hour into the film before Diaz ever frames him in a semi-close-up shot. And rather than being treated to a celebratory explorer thrilled with his previous conquest, we see that of a man both haunted and frustrated by his stagnancy. Suffering from a gnarly (and gruesomely realistic) leg injury, Magellan remains grounded in Lisbon with little to do. We witness what can only be described as a moment of somber reflection being shattered by the world jovially progressing forward around him. Unable to partake in another trek in the name of spreading Christianity through violent means, Magellan is repeatedly confronted by the reminders of his previous actions. He seems to be spiraling further and further without any sort of forward momentum. Whereas he seeks action and adventure and is unable to sit still, the audience will hopefully be embracing the measured rhythms of Diazโ latest slow cinema project.
If the intent of slow cinema is to allow the mind to wander in exploration of every nook and cranny of a filmโs subtext, Magellan greatly succeeds. But the characters within it, on their arduous journey across the seas, fundamentally misunderstand this true purpose of sitting in quietude. Magellan does whatever he can to end up on another journey, regardless of whether or not he fully agrees with the true reasoning behind Spain sending him off on his voyage. Itโs this necessity of partaking in a heroโs journey that leads to the downfall of Magellan and his crew. Some on the journey lose their minds plain and simple. Others lose their lives or their freedoms due to unjust hatred, bigotry, and villainizing perpetrated by the church. Over the course of this film, Magellan retreats into himself, yet is never as haunted as he is in the first moment we see Bernal in close-up, save for a particularly breathtaking dream sequence. It feels like the moment that breaks him spiritually, mentally, and physically. Even still, he makes the decision to carry on with his actions. Considering this film ends on an inquisitive note regarding the complicity in our actions, itโs fitting that this journey is a nightmarish descent in cinematic form with little form of escapism. Diaz has not captured a heroโs journey where the central figure learns the flaws of his ways and comes to terms with his place in the world. Diaz instead crafts a story where the central figure removes themselves further and further from the humanity heโs claiming to be charitably sharing. Magellan may think heโs the hero at the center of this film, but Magellan consistently reaffirms heโs anything but. Itโs one of the many dichotomies present in the film that make this a deeply compelling watch.
The 83rd annual Golden Globes will air on Sunday, January 11th. The Nikki Glaser-hosted event will air on CBS. Below are Golden Globe winner predictions from InSession Film Awards Editor Shadan Larki. Be sure to check out our Awards Predictions page for the most up-to-date rankings.
Best Picture โ Drama
Frankenstein
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners โ Projected Winner
Best Picture โ Musical or Comedy
Blue Moon
Bugonia
Marty Supreme
No Other Choice
Nouvelle Vague
One Battle After AnotherโProjected Winner
Best Female Actor โ Motion Picture โ Drama
Jessie Buckley, Hamnetโ Projected Winner
Jennifer Lawrence, Die My Love
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Julia Roberts, After The Hunt
Tessa Thompson, Hedda
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby
Best Male Actor โ Motion Picture โ Drama
Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams
Oscar Isaac, Frankenstein
Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret AgentโProjected Winner
Jeremy Allen White, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
Best Female Actor โ Motion Picture โ Musical/Comedy
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs Iโd Kick YouโProjected Winner
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked: For Good
Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another
Amanda Seyfried, The Testament Of Ann Lee
Emma Stone, Bugonia
Best Male Actor โ Motion Picture โ Musical/Comedy
On this episode, JD and Brendan discuss Kaouther Ben Hania’s heartbreaking new film The Voice of Hind Rajab! This is one of the most important and heartbreaking films of the year. The filmmaking here is unique and innovative, playing into Ben Hania’s strengths as someone who thrives in the docudrama realm. Maybe not an easy watch, but it’s almost required viewing that everyone should check out.
Review:The Voice of Hind Rajab
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania Writers: Kaouther Ben Hania Stars: Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Amer Hlehel
We are just a few days away from our 13th annual InSession Film Awards show as we discuss the very best that film had to offer in 2025. This is an exciting time of year and our awards show is one our favorite things we get to do. As we’ve done in previous years, for Part 1, we will have a list of categories where we each nominate five candidates and then present our winner for that category. For Part 2 of the awards ceremonies, we will reveal our Top 10 movies of 2025.
So, to help you prepare for the show, we’ve laid out below all of the categories we’ll be discussing this weekend. To play along, select five nominees and a winner for each category. Then stay tuned for Episode 670 as we discuss each category and we’ll see how your selections compare with ours. Click on the link below if you would like a print out version.
Remember, treat each category as your own. Select your own nominees and winner based on your own experience with film this last year. If you’d like, email, Facebook or tweet us your ballot. We would love to see how your awards sheet turns out!
InSession Film Awards Categories:
Individual Special Awards
– For this category, make up your own special awards that you want to give away. This can be anything from film in 2025 that isnโt related to any category below. (I.E. Best Production Design, Best Use of Inanimate Object, Best Animal Performance, etc)
Best Movie Discovery
Best Surprise Actor/Actress
Best Surprise Movie
Best Overlooked Movie
Best Opening/Closing Credits Sequence or Scene
Best Use of Song
– Any song (non-score) used in the film, either original or per-existing. Opening and Closing credits count.
Best Original Score
Best Animated Movie
Best International Movie
Best Documentary
Best Cinematography
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Director
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Picture
– This will be our Top 10 films of 2025
On this episode, JD and Brendan discuss Kristin Stewart’s incredible directorial debut The Chronology of Water, starring a phenomenal Imogen Poots! Given the trajectory of Stewart’s career for the last decade or so, this felt inevitable. Not only would she get behind the camera, she would approach it in this surreal, cerebral way that’s poetic in nature. Maybe not for everyone, but we quite dug this one.
Review:The Chronology of Water
Director: Kristin Stewart Writers: Kristin Stewart Stars: Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Tom Sturridge, Jim Belushi
Synopsis:In a shelter in Liรจge, Belgium, a group of young women face the challenges and exhilaration of motherhood. Looking ahead to an uncertain future, the new mothers aspire to break free of the past and not repeat the cycles of neglect, abuse, and abandonment that have defined their young lives.
The Dardenne brothers may be far removed from their most-known โ and acclaimed โ film, the Palme-dโOr winning Rosetta, but they are still making deeply human and necessary pieces of work, as illustrated in their latest effort, the quasi-anthological docudrama Young Mothers. Were it not for a framing device that interlinks each of the four womenโs stories together, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne couldโve easily made four separate shorts focusing on each of the people we meet over the course of its 106-minute runtime. All of them live in a shelter for young mothers in Liรจge, and have respective challenges they try to overcome in their individual lives.ย
The Dardennes begin by introducing us to Jessica (Babette Verbeek), a 15-year-old who will soon give birth to a baby and would like to meet her biological mother, Morgane (India Hair), to understand why she was given up, before she welcomes a child into the world. However, their meeting doesn’t go as planned, with Morgane experiencing great resentment for her past life and prefers to keep her daughter away instead of confronting the choices she made head on. We then explore the womenโs shelter, and quickly alternate between three different stories, one focused on Perla (Lucie Laruelle) wanting to build a life with her delinquent boyfriend, Robin (Gรผnter Duret), who, after being released from juvie, wants to break up with her.
Another discusses the fractured relationship between Ariane (Janaรฏna Holloy Fokan) and her mother, Nathalie (Christelle Cornil), after the birth of her daughter, Lili. Ariane wants to put her in the foster system, while her mother vehemently refuses, and attempts to manipulate her daughter into thinking that her past issues with alcoholism and abusive relationships will quickly get better if Lili is in her life, which we know from her facial expressions that it isnโt true. This one is a bit more button-pushing than the others, especially when Cornilโs performance nears soap-opera-like theatrics, especially when she gets on her knees. Yet, the Dardennes always seem to compensate with a profound sense of humanism, especially in its fourth story, focusing on recovering addicts Julie (Elsa Houben) and Dylan (Jef Jacobs) attempting to get out of the shelter system and build a life they are proud of without the risk of relapsing.
In that segment, the tears flowed hard on this criticโs face, as the silences on both Julie and Dylanโs faces speak much louder than the dialogue given to the actors, as good as they may be. Moments when they sit together and are actively challenged by the temptation to use again are extremely powerful, but the most compassionate sequences are when the film shines the most. Without revealing too much, the Dardennes hold back on music until the very end, where Julie and Dylan visit their former music teacher, who has given them both valuable life lessons they are still learning from, and introduce their own child to the world of music, with Mozartโs โRondo a la Turcaโ playing on the piano.
The piece has a much deeper significance than whatโs shown on screen, especially if the viewer pays close attention to how Julieโs spoken poem has a different meaning when the professor plays it on the piano. Both have different interpretations and donโt convey the same message. Itโs almost as if it gives permission for the character that the life she will have with Dylan and their baby will be fine, even if there will be some predictable setbacks along the way. However, if they are together, perhaps theyโll be fine and wonโt go back to who they once were while using.
Bar none, though, the most devastating sequence occurs when Ariane is still unsure if Lili should be given away, but straps her baby down in the car seat, potentially seeing her face one last time. I genuinely have no idea if the babyโs acting was spontaneous or arranged, but her facial reaction, recognizing her mother, with a beaming smile on her face, is so powerful that the Dardennes donโt need to say anything else. Her decision is respectable, and completely understandable given that Ariane does not want her child to grow up in an unstable โ and abusive โ environment, as sheโs known throughout her life, with her mother even finding ways to justify it during a tense exchange, stating โHe hit me harder than he hit you.โ However, saying goodbye may very well be the hardest possible part that someone may not fully recover from.
The other stories are a bit clichรฉd, but the naturalism of the performances lends so much dramatic power to the filmโs most important scenes that it almost doesnโt matter. And apart from Arianeโs motherโs overacting, every emotion feels so natural and in tune with the harsh reality of the women’s lives that we canโt help but feel immense compassion for the stories they share. The movie’s aesthetic, shot entirely with natural light and a camera always over-the-shoulder, also enhances the sense of immersion we feel as an invisible observer inside the shelter, as we alternate between the four womenโs journeys toward a better โ and more hopeful โ life.
Jean-Pierre and Luc donโt make it easy on their protagonists, but they manage to instill as much hope as possible for each of the characters we meet, through the figure of Naรฏma (Samia Hilmi), a mother who has successfully overcome the shelter system and is now building a life sheโs proud of as a train conductor. She is the primary inspiration for all the other women we meet in the film. If she can do it, as hard as her life was, we, too, can aspire for something better than where we are at this moment. It wonโt be effortless, but what awaits us on the other side, if we overcome the challenges we face, will be more than rewarding โ it will be life-changing.
No one can dispute the fact that 2025 has been a year that has been experienced by all. Itโs not exactly been my favorite year of films in recent history, but the highs were high. As 2025 closes, itโs time to look back on my personal favorites from the year.
10. Splitsville
Directed by Michael Angelo Covino and starring Dakota Johnson, Kyle Marvin, and Adria Arjona, Splitsville was surprisingly as deep as it was funny. I loved the way it explored relationship dynamics as things change over time, and I also appreciate that it featured two of the loves of my life in main roles. What more could I ask for?
9. Black Bag
Of the three Steven Soderbergh films I saw in 2025, Black Bag was, by far, the best of the trio. The sleek spy thriller is incredibly fun and features a wonderful cast operating at the top of their game. It may not have resonated with audiences upon release, but I think it will find its audience in the coming years.
8. Eddington
Ari Asterโs divisive, no-holds-barred look at the recent past really clicked with me from the jump. I really love the performances that Aster pulls out of Joaquin Phoenix and hope they continue their partnership for at least one more film. While taking jabs at all sides, I found myself fascinated by completely different plotlines and themes each time I saw it.
7. The Shrouds
If I could give up the rest of my years on this earth and give them to David Cronenberg to keep making movies, I would do it in a heartbeat. I was floored by The Shrouds and the way it approaches grief and conspiracy, as well as Diane Krugerโs triple performance. Iโve been thinking about this one since I saw it at NYFF in 2024, and Iโll still be thinking about it for a long time.
6. Marty Supreme
Timothรฉe Chalamet reaches another level in Josh Safdieโs globetrotting thriller, and I couldnโt be happier. Just last year he said he was chasing greatness, and Iโd say heโs well on his way. I wound up seeing this one thrice in theaters, and I was taken with Chalametโs performance, the editing, and the phenomenal score from Daniel Lopatin.
5. Sound of Falling
This may not be on the radar for many folks, but this was by far my favorite film I saw at NYFF 2025. Following four generations of women in the same family on the same farm, it explores the different ways that they experience womanhood and the ways they are used and exploited by the men in their lives and the world around them. Mascha Schilinski comes through with an absolute stunner with some of the most compelling editing and sound work I saw all year.
4. It Was Just an Accident
This is my introduction to Jafar Panahi, but I absolutely loved this movie. His ability to combine humor, intensity, and mystery all while commenting on the state of things in Iran is utterly baffling. Make sure you catch this one leading up to the Oscars ceremony if it comes anywhere near you.
3. Sinners
Itโs been a year with two mainstays, with Ryan Cooglerโs Sinners being one of them. I was expecting a fun ride at the theater but was taken by surprise at the depth and craft on display. I would genuinely watch the rest of the depression-era Southern drama that unfolds in the first half of this film. Every performance here is phenomenal, and I will stake a claim for Delroy Lindo in particular. No Supporting Actor lineup is complete or correct without him in the five.
2. One Battle After Another
What else is there to say about this film that hasnโt been said already? I saw it three times on film during my time in New York and Iโll never be as happy as I was during that week. Paul Thomas Anderson is just one of my guys, and it would take a lot for something he releases to not be in my top 3 of the year.
1. The Testament of Ann Lee
This is one of two films that made me cry this year, and it takes quite a lot for me. Itโs been said I have no heart, so Iโm elated to have found a movie like The Testament of Ann Lee to bring out some emotion for me. My thoughts have been previously stated here on the site, but I was in awe of Amanda Seyfriedโs performance, the choreography, and the depiction of faith in a time where you have nothing else to hold on to.
This week on Episodes 668 and 669 of the InSession Film Podcast, we discussed the best movie scenes of 2025! With the exception of doing our Top 10 movies of the year, this is the most challenging exercise we do on the show. 2025 ended up being a great year for film, and it came with a flurry of incredible scenes to parse through. There was a great mix, too, between mainstream Hollywood, awards movies, indies and the great international gems we got this last year. Whether these moments connected with us on an emotional level, a cinematic level, or simply as spectacle, there were some stunner sequences in film this year. It may have been an arduous task, but itโs always the most fun as we dive into our year-end festivities. That said, here are our lists:
(Note: Please keep in mind that we each had different criteria for our selections)
JD
1) I Lied To You – Sinners
2) Skull Tower – 28 Years Later
3) Road Sequence – One Battle After Another
4) Phone Call Scene – Wake Up Dead Man
5) Ending Sequence – Hamnet
6) Ending Beach Scene – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
7) Final Endo Match – Marty Supreme
8) Ending Sequence – Sentimental Value
9) Confronting Abuser – It Was Just An Accident
10) Jake Goes Full Abraham – Avatar: Fire and Ash
Brendan
1) Skull Tower – 28 Years Later
2) Biplane Closure – Train Dreams
3) Phone Call Scene – Wake Up Dead Man
4) Final Endo Match – Marty Supreme
5) Satellite Scene – Black Bag
6) Aunt Gladys Gets Her Comeuppance – Weapons
7) Hamster Scene – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
8) Ending Sequence – Sentimental Value
9) I Lied To You – Sinners
10) Split Diopter Shot – The Secret Agent
Honorable Mentions (Combined)
What It Sounds Like – Kpop Demon Hunters
Your Idol – Kpop Demon Hunters
Ending Scene – If It Was Just An Accident
Submarine Sequence – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Final Mirror Shot – Presence
Dinner Scene – Black Bag
Final Game Scene – Black Bag
Bill Lee Walks In – Eephus
Beach Scene – Little Amรฉlie or the Character of Rain
Alex Performs With Wife In Crowd – Is This Thing On?
Putting Plan Together – No Other Choice
1st Victim Sequence – No Other Choice
Costume Party Scene – No Other Choice
Concert Sequence – No Other Choice
Performance Scene – The Baltimorons
Split Party Scene – Twinless
Ending Scene – Twinless
Hotel Scene – Twinless
Final Scene – The Shrouds
Jumps Through Glass – Die My Love
Party / Drive Home – Die My Love
Ending Scene – Die My Love
“Firework” Needle Drop – Eddington
Train Scene – Highest 2 Lowest
Trunks – Highest 2 Lowest
Snowman Love Story – The Naked Gun
Arena Scene – The Naked Gun
Con Artist Sequence – Resurrection
Vampire Sequence – Resurrection
Art Heist – The Mastermind
Ending Sequence – Caught By the Tides
Ending Coda Sequence – The Secret Agent
Hedda’s Scheming – Hedda
Scenes with Arn – Train Dreams
Laying in Rain – Train Dreams
Ending Scene – Die My Love
Judith Birth Scene – Hamnet
Ending Monologue – Sorry, Baby
Courtroom Catharsis – Sorry, Baby
Rocky Road to Dublin – Sinners
Children Running After Gladys – Weapons
Ending Goodbye – Frankenstein
Friendship Scene – Frankenstein
Charles’ Reveal – The Ballad of Wallis Island
Ending Scene – Jay Kelly
Phone Call in Woods – Jay Kelly
Wedding Scene – Materialists
Dad Tells Kids – The Perfect Neighbor
Shula / Father Scene – On Becoming A Guinea Fowl
Ending Families Confrontation – On Becoming A Guinea Fowl
Ending Sequence – Bugonia
Facing Your Demons – Thunderbolts*
Baby Saves Sue – The Fantastic Four: First Steps
“I’m Proud of You” – Superman
Ending Montage – Superman
Final Battle – Predator: Badlands
Hopefully you guys enjoyed our lists, and if you agree or disagree with us, let us know in the comment section below. There are obviously many more scenes from 2025 that we didn’t have time to mention. That is to say, your list could look very different than ours given the great films and memorable sequences we saw over the last year. That being said, what would be your Top 5? Leave a comment in the comment section or email us at [email protected].
For more lists done by the InSession Film crew and other guests, be sure see our Movie Lists page.
I consider 2025 to be a great year for film. In fact, of the films released in 2025, I watched over 130 and gave over 75 of them a 3.5 rating or higher. Thatโs plenty of high-quality movies.
Here are my picks for the best films of 2025!
Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order): 2000 Meters to Adriivka, The Alabama Solution, The Bad Guys 2, Black Bag, Blue Moon, Come See Me in the Good Light, Cover-Up, East of Wall, Eephus, Escape from the 21st Century, A Little Prayer, Marty Supreme, The Mastermind, Materialists, Mickey 17, The Secret Agent, Superman, Twinless, Wake Up Dead Man
10. Die My Love
The performance of the year. Jennifer Lawrence gives herself fully over to director Lynne Ramsey in a tale of what happens to you when the โhappily-ever-afterโ life isnโt going the way you had hoped. Lawrence gives a career-best performance of feral magnetism with a complete lack of inhibition or self-consciousness. Robert Pattinson does fine work as her clueless husband, while Sissy Spacek shows she can still deliver the goods as her mother-in-law, the only person who might actually understand what she is going through. It might not be for everyone, but it was certainly for me.
9. No Other Choice
To say Park Chan-wook knows what heโs doing is an understatement. Time and time again, the veteran director takes a difficult premise filled with unlikeable characters, and turns it into one of the most entertaining and funniest films of the year. It also helps when the premise has whip-smart political and social commentary. It also helps when Lee Byung-Hung and Son Ye-jin deliver some of the best performances of the year. It might not be the most accessible of films, but it is more than rewarding in todayโs society.
8. Sinners
Just in case you werenโt aware, director Ryan Coogler does not miss. Whether itโs indie character dramas, legacy sequels, or big-budget comic book films, the guy has a complete handle on what the audience wants to see. Never before has it been so apparent with this film, delivering complex themes to go with top-notch craft across the board, but in a film about vampires. Michael B. Jordan once again proves to be the De Niro to Cooglerโs Scorsese, delivering a monumental performance as twin brothers searching for a dream at the wrong time. Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack OโConnell, Li Jun Li, Hailee Steinfeld, and newcomer Miles Caton bring the whole thing to glorious, music-filled life. Donโt miss the mid-film performance from Caton of the song โI Lied to Youโ that transcends musical performance on film.
7. Train Dreams
What direction do you take in life when the world never has much special use for you? Solitude is your saving grace until you realize how much you are alone. Once the world lets you in, you are shown how uncaring and unjust the world can be. It doesnโt make it any less perfect in that time you had. Itโs not sad because you lost it. Itโs perfect because you had it. Itโs a special kind of film that can manufacture that much substance out of an incredibly sad narrative, but director Clint Bentley makes it sing with the most beautifully lensed and marvelously acted films. Joel Edgerton delivers a career-best performance with Felicity Jones, William H. Macy, Kerry Condon, and Nathaniel Arcand rounding out the pitch-perfect ensemble. It might not be the most important film, but itโs one of the best.
6. It Was Just an Accident
All the paranoia, anger, and fear of living in a country that doesnโt like you must be awful. Director Jafar Panahi directs all his criticism of the Iranian regime into his film of eternal conflicts between justice and truth. Featuring the ensemble cast of the year, there is a constant tension of consequences coinciding with humor and paranoia. It also features the absolute best ending of the year, bar none.
5. Sentimental Value
Director Joachim Trier and star Renate Reinsve teamed up for my favorite film of 2021, only to deliver another knockout for 2025. While a completely different experience from The Worst Person in the World, this film works as a good sister film, a good deadbeat-dad film, a good film about making films, a good film about being lonely, and a good film about unhealed trauma. Thereโs a lot to cling to, whatever it is that you can grasp. All of that comes together in suitably dramatic ways, but without the melodrama. Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, Elle Fanning, and especially Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas all dial in pitch-perfect performances.
4. Sorry, Baby
First-time director and star Eva Victor decides to make their first film and manages this perfect balance between dramatics without the draining, comedy without the cringe, and poignancy without pretentiousness. How they are able to balance it all without coming across as an amateur, Iโll never know. They also deliver a stellar lead performance as a woman who canโt reconcile the worst thing in her life. An exceptional piece of art from an exceptional artist. I canโt wait to see what they do next. Make sure not to miss John Carroll Lynch in a one-scene powerhouse as a kind mind who gives Victor a sandwich.
3. Hamnet
For a film that made me cry three times, I am aware of the specific impact this film gives. Yes, I have children and the immense emotional peril of children has a tendency to set me off emotionally. But, bad films have also made me cry. Director Chloe Zhao attempts to humanize and rationalize the life and work of William Shakespeare through his witch-adjacent wife and the death of their son. The director knows how dramatic this event can be without having to overdo the impact. Jesse Buckley gives one of the performances of the year as the aforementioned wife, while Paul Mescal compliments as the often-gone Bard. Newcomer Jacobi Jupe is equally affecting as the titular character. Bring the tissues.
2. The Voice of Hind Rajab
The most affecting film Iโve seen in some time. Director Kaouther Ben Haniaโs recounting of the volunteers attempts at rescuing Palestinian five-year-old Hind Rajab from a destroyed car is nothing but a ball of anger, stress, and dismay. If this is the stress of listening to it in film form, I canโt imagine actually being a part of that situation. Every adult cannot fathom the lack of humanity present, and they each break down accordingly. Everyone is trying their best, but itโs just not good enough with all the bureaucracy and evil in the way. All the while, this poor girl is just trying to stay alive. Itโs desperately effective filmmaking that is in no way pleasant to watch. Regardless, itโs essential viewing. And this is just one of a thousand stories just like it. A devastating story and one of the most essential films of the year.
1. One Battle After Another
This film sat at number one for so many months, I thought nothing would unseat it. I eventually watched other films that bumped it down the list, only for a subsequent rewatch to push it back to the top spot. Everyone else might have it here too, but I have no regrets. Itโs the most complete film Iโve seen in a long time. Paul Thomas Anderson takes everything he has learned from his previous masterpieces and delivers a film that works for cinephiles, agro film-bros, and for general audiences. PTA manages to get one of Leonardo DiCaprioโs best performances, resurrects Sean Penn, deploys the charisma of Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, and Teyana Taylor, and somehow discovers Chase Infiniti to top it all off. The best film of the year might end up being one of the best of the decade.
Nope, you read that correctly, my top 2 films of the year, no hyperbole.
When I โthink backโ on horrible years for movies I usually only really thought of one in particular – 1963. Especially when it came to the 1963 Academy Awards when the Academy had to reward the โbest of the worstโ in the year of Tom Jonesโฆ an absolute embarrassing year of bad movies.
Now, about to turn 34 next month, I can say I have lived through just as bad, if not worse year for movies since 1963, and that is 2025.ย
Whoa, what a load of sh*t that came out this year and here we are going into the 2025 Academy Awards where they will be rewarding the โbest of the worstโ with the slop that came out this year. And if you want to argue or be a keyboard warrior in the comments, I truly donโt care. I have a platform here and you donโt so na-na-nah-boo boo, cry me a river. I will not be gaslit anymore this year that One Battle After Another or Sinners are good movies, they arenโt. Paul Thomas Anderson went from a masterpiece with Licorice Pizza to that and Sinners has such a giant plot hole that no one wants to address that all I can say is โ nice gowns, beautiful gowns.โ Everything else feels like such โpick meโsโ for awards that nothing stands out.
Except these two films which are easily the best two films of 2025.
Weapons and Friendship are easily the best two films of the year – both absolute original greats where they not only perfectly balance multiple genres in one but they are entertaining and great rewatches.ย
Zach Cregger coming off of Barbarian with a strong story, marketing campaign, and cast then becoming another hit for him and reintroducing the world to Academy Award Nominee Amy Madigan has been a fantastic journey. Seeing the public fall in love with a character like Aunt Gladys has been heartwarming and what a moment for Amy Madigan this has been, seeing her finally get her dues after 40 years post Oscar nomination of success that should have been. (I would like to shout out that if Karen Black had been alive to see Weaponsโฆthis role would have been hers and my God!!!)ย
Friendship was an absolutely hilarious good time that was so up Tim Robinsonโs alley that it still shocks me he didnโt write or direct it, LIKE HOW?! The smart, dead pan, dry sarcastic humor in this movie alone makes it a comedic masterpiece, then you add in the comedic performances of Tim Robinson (who should be SWEEPING the Best Actor awards race this season and yet is nowhere to be found) and Kate Mara and you had this golden film written and directed by Andrew DeYoung. All these months later and I truly need to know how DeYoung pitched this movie because it just doesnโt โworkโ on paper, like you needed the right actors to pull this off. HOW DID HE PITCH THIS?!
No one purposefully goes out of their way to make a bad movie, making movies is hard and I know this first hand, as my first is almost done and I know there will be people who donโt like it and thatโs fine. Me saying I think these movies are bad or good is just as okay as you thinking mine will be bad or good, glad you have an opinion and glad you saw the movie.ย
Just like I refuse to be on the Leigh payroll saying Vivian Leigh deserved to win both of her Oscars when I believe that woman couldnโt out act a paper bag, I refuse to be on the payroll of Anderson and Coogler amongst pretty much every other payroll this year.
On this episode of Chasing the Gold, Shadan is joined by our own Maxance Vincent to discuss their predictions for the 2026 Golden Globes! Since restructuring a few years ago, the Globes have become a fascinating commodity with nominations and winners that are arguably more compelling than The Academy. This year could end up being the same thing so we have talking about how we see the ceremony playing out. We also offer up our predictions for this year’s Actor Award (formally SAG) nominations.
Check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
SAG-AFTRA may have a new name for their awards, now called the Actor Awards, but Iโm still expecting chaos when the actor-dominated guild announces their 2026 nominees on Wednesday, January 7th.
The Actor Awards will stream March 1st on Netflix.
Here are InSession Film Awards Editor Shadan Larkiโs predictions. Be sure to also check our Awards Predictions page for up-to-date rankings. And for more analysis, listen to the latest episode of the Chasing the Gold podcast.
The Actor Awards – The Projected Nominees:
Best Ensemble
Hamnet Marty Supreme One Battle After Another Sinners Wicked: For Good
Other Potential Nominees: Frankenstein; Sentimental Value; Weapons
Best Actress
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs Iโd Kick You Jessie Buckley, Hamnet Cynthia Erivo, Wicked: For Good Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Other Potential Nominees: Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue; Emma Stone, Bugonia
Best Actor
Timothรฉe Chalamet, Marty Supreme Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Other Potential Nominees: George Clooney, Jay Kelly; Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams; Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Best Supporting Actress
Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value Amy Madigan, Weapons Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Other Potential Nominees: Emily Blunt, The Smashing Machine; Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Best Supporting Actor
Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein Paul Mescal, Hamnet Sean Penn, One Battle After Another Stellan Skarsgรฅrd, Sentimental Value
Other Potential Nominees: Delroy Lindo, Sinners; Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly
Best Stunt Ensemble
Ballerina F1: The Movie Mission: Impossible โ The Final Reckoning One Battle After Another Sinners
Other Potential Nominees: Avatar: Fire and Ash; Superman; Wicked: For Good
Synopsis: An essay on the year 1975, looking at the classic movies all released in that year.
Netflixโs Breakdown: 1975 takes audiences back to a year that was suspended between disillusionment and reinvention. The Vietnam War came to a humiliating end with the fall of Saigon; the aftershocks of Watergate still reverberated through American political life; economic stagnation and oil shortages fed a growing sense of national anxiety. Trust in institutions had eroded, certainty felt suspect, and the cultural mood tilted toward skepticism. It was within this atmosphere of unease that some of the most influential films in modern cinema emerged. Works that reflected a society questioning authority, heroism, and even the mechanics of storytelling itself. This film sets out to examine that moment, arguing persuasively that this single year marked a fracture point in film history.
The one hour thirty minute documentary starts with a New Years party and โLove to Love you Babyโ by Donna Summer playing, as a voice-over (Jodie Foster) asks โwhat the f*ck was going onโ? TV had killed the Western Genre, New Hollywood was thriving, Studios were letting go, and the disaster film was born. From The Poseidon Adventure to The Towering Inferno, these films were reflecting a world outside inside the warm, comforting cinema.
Rather than presenting 1975 as a nostalgic high-water mark, the documentary treats it as a collision. Old Hollywood assumptions about audience taste, narrative clarity, and commercial safety were buckling under pressure from a younger generation of filmmakers emboldened by creative freedom and political unrest. Breakdown: 1975 frames the year as a volatile crossroads where radically different visions of cinema briefly coexisted.
The film structures itself around discussing a handful of defining releases, including One Flew Over the Cuckooโs Nest, Dog Day Afternoon, Chinatown, All The Presidentโs Men, Taxi Driver, and Jaws. Theyโre discussed as great films, but also as ideological statements. Each represents a different response to cultural uncertainty: rebellion against institutions, empathy for marginalized figures, ironic distance, formal experimentation, and, in the case of Jaws, the rediscovery of mass entertainment as a unifying force.
Thereโs first-class interviews with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Patton Oswalt, Josh Brolin, Seth Rogen, Pete Bart, Todd Boyd and more, all of whom produced, directed and starred in films in 1975. They reflect on their experience fondly. Brolin first states that โmovies didnโt pander to a trendโ and that making movies was about โsaying somethingโ and that spark is what the modern film industry has lost. Theyโre honest about an industry theyโve worked in for decades, and about the state of America in 1975.
Archival footage allows scenes to unfold long enough to remind viewers how daring these films once felt. Particularly effective are moments where contemporary critics (Wesley Morris) and filmmakers (Albert Brooks) reflect on how uncertain the future seemed at the time – audiences were bored and needed more variety in films. The sense of contingency is key: these films mattered because they could have failed. The studios took chances, brought in audiences and it paid off.
Where the documentary occasionally falters is in its scope. By focusing primarily on already-canonized titles, it risks reinforcing a familiar, largely male-centered version of film history. The omission of wider genre cinema or underrepresented voices slightly narrows what is otherwise a rich analysis. Still, this is less a flaw than a limitation of focus; the documentary is making an argument, not writing an encyclopedia.
By the end, Breakdown: 1975 emerges not as a golden age, but as a stress test. A year when cinema briefly reflected a society unsure of itself and unafraid to show the cracks. Breakdown: 1975 succeeds because it understands that film history is shaped as much by instability as by innovation. By challenging contemporary filmmaking culture, the film is asking whether such risk-taking is still structurally possible in an industry dominated by franchises and algorithms. For cinephiles and casual viewers alike, Breakdown: 1975 offers a lucid, engaging reminder that the movies are often at their most alive when the world around them is falling apart. This is a must-watch documentary for anyone interested in the history of film – you might just learn something.
