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2025 was a sensational year for movies. If I’m honest, in recent years I’ve made it to December and its been a bit of a stretch to find ten good films I enjoyed. You can probably tell because one year I included Ridley Scott’s Napoleon on one of these lists. No such problem with 2025 though. I could easily have done a top twenty. I don’t really know why this year offered such an abundance of terrific cinema but I’m not complaining.
With that said, here are my ten favourite films of 2025.
Sinners
‘You keep dancing with the devil… one day he’s gonna follow you home.‘
Director: Ryan Coogler
Writer: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Michael B Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell
Sinners is a cool-ass movie that feels like a throw-back to the Nineties when you would get these types of original summer blockbuster movies that wasn’t a sequel or an adaptation of a licensed property or any of that nonsense. It’s a loud, fun, made for the big screen spectacle that we don’t see much of anymore.
Set in the Thirties, Michael B Jordan plays identical twins Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore who purchase a dilapidated old mill and convert it into a blues bar for the local black community.
Ryan Coogler lets the first half of the film cook and allows for the audience to get immersed in the outstanding musical performances and the glorious vibes of Smoke and Stack’s bar. Then the film dramatically switches gears in the second half when some unwelcome visitors make their presence felt.
Sinners wears its influences on its sleeve and feels like a modern day Dawn of the Dead.
If you haven’t seen it already you kind of blew it because this film really is best enjoyed on the big screen in a packed cinema. The healthy box office takings hopefully leaves the door open for Coogler to keep making spectacles such as this because he’s one of the best in the game at creating big screen popcorn fare.
Frankenstein
‘If you are not to award me love, then I will indulge in rage. And mine is infinite!’
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Christoph Waltz
Frankenstein is such a natural fit for Guillermo Del Toro it’s a wonder it hasn’t happened before. Arguably he’s been retelling the Frankenstein story for many years with his various creature features that typically have a more sympathetic angle for the monster than the humans around them.
As a big fan of James Whale’s Universal monster movies, I’ve seen both the original Frankenstein and its sequel Bride of Frankenstein over a dozen times each. I was glad that Del Toro opted to veer away from being too reverential to Boris Karloff’s portrayal of the Monster and craft his own interpretation instead. Del Toro’s Monster (vividly brought to life by the excellent Jacob Elordi) becomes far more intelligent, far better spoken and far more mobile than Karloff’s shambling, monosyllabic portrayal.
For a story as well known as Frankenstein, its all about enjoying the journey and Del Toro gives us plenty to sink our teeth into here. From the lavish costumes, fantastic set design to the performances from a stellar line up of talent including Oscar Isaac and Christoph Waltz, anyone who is a fan of Del Toro’s work should find something to enjoy here.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
‘I hate my hamster’
Director: Mary Bronstein
Writer: Mary Bronstein
Cast: Rose Byrne, Conan O Brien, Danielle Macdonald
On paper, I can appreciate that If I Had Legs I’d Kick you is a tough sell.
It’s about a woman named Linda (Rose Byrne) who is really going through it. Raising her child is exhausting and managing their eating disorder has her on the brink. Her husband is absent and only ever seems to make his presence felt with unhelpful, ill-timed phone calls. She has a weird dynamic with her colleague (who I’ve now realised is unnamed in the entire film but he’s played by Conan O’Brien). Everything feels like a house of cards that is one gentle breeze away from total collapse.
I guess you could say If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is a psychological drama on face value but I also found myself engaging with it as a black comedy. Not unlike the Safdie Brother’s Uncut Gems, its about a character who is neck deep in trouble and somehow continues to find ways to make even more terrible decisions compounding their issues.
I was mesmerized by Rose Byrne’s performance in this film. I don’t know if I should give partial credit to the make up department but she genuinely looks like she hasn’t slept in a week. There’s moments where she’s not saying anything but the whole story is being told with the strain in her eyes.
Like I said, I appreciate this synopsis is probably a bit of a hard sell but genuinely this was one of my favourite films and performances of the year.
Anora
‘I don’t have Instagram. I’m an adult, man.’
Director: Sean Baker
Writer: Sean Baker
Cast: Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman, Lindsey Normington
I hadn’t seen Anora at the time when it unexpectedly won Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year and Mikey Madison picked up Best Actress over the much fancied Demi Moore.
Having finally caught up with the film, I found that I both thoroughly enjoyed it and was pleasantly surprised that the Academy would hand over their biggest prize to whats effectively a rom-com.
Madison plays the titular Anora, a New York stripper who establishes a whirlwind ‘romance’ with Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch. I put romance in air quotes because Vanya is basically a vapid idiot and the nature of their relationship is almost entirely a mix of hormones and convenience but at various stages both Anora and Vanya try to convince themselves it could be something more.
Unsurprisingly when news reaches home in Russia about Anora and Vanya getting engaged, the oligarch sends some henchman over to bust up the relationship. This sets in motion a chase across Brookyln and that’s honestly about as complicated as the entire story gets.
I found Anora to be a darkly funny caper and really warmed to Madison’s performance in the lead role, despite (or maybe because) of the absurdity of her predicament. Despite the futile nature of her romance, I found myself won over by the ferocity of her character and the gumption she shows in featrlessly navigating her way around this powerful billionaire family and their goon squad.
Weapons
‘It’s a peculiarity of mine. I don’t try to rationalize it anymore.’
Director: Zach Cregger
Writer: Zach Cregger
Cast: Julian Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich
I say it every year but the horror genre just goes from strength to strength and I feel like there is comfortably over a dozen great modern directors reliably putting out smart, scary horror movie fare.
Zach Cregger first made his directorial mark with the outstanding Barbarian (2022) and this year he returned with Weapons.
Weapons opens with an intriguing premise: one day seventeen children from the same class all woke up at 2.17am and ran out into the streets and seemingly vanished off the face of the earth. Weapons explores the lives of various townsfolk two years later who are grappling with what happened and trying to solve the mystery of the children’s fate.
I loved Weapons wholeheartedly from start to finish. Tonally it was not what I expected at all and I enjoyed the chaotic third act that the film descends into. Just like the legendary horror writer Stephen King, I think Cregger is a great ideas man and he seems to have a willingness to let the story take a life of its own and sometimes that means not necessarily getting a ‘tidy’ ending that wraps up everything just so. Weapons is that kind of story (hence the somewhat mixed opinions online about its ending).
I loved the performances across the board in this film, especially from the unlikely antagonist at the heart of the story.
Mickey 17
‘Our entire life is a punishment.’
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Writer: Bong Joon Ho
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Steven Yuen, Michael Monroe
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence but I note that when some of favourite directors have a film strike it big during award season and suddenly get labelled as ‘prestige’ film makers, they go out of their way with their next picture to make something antithetical in nature, deliberately obtuse or low-brow, to go back to their roots and avoid that label.
The Coen Brothers made The Big Lebowski after Fargo. Guillermo Del Toro made Nightmare Alley after The Shape of Water and after Bong Joon Ho improbably won an Oscar for Parasite, he made the delightfully weird and silly sci-fi comedy Mickey 17.
Robert Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, a small time nobody who willfully gives himself over as an ‘expendable’ on a space colonization crew to escape the clutches of a ruthless loan shark.
Mickey takes on a variety of suicidal jobs that at various times involve physical harm, getting devoured by alien creatures and being exposed to lethal levels of radiation. He goes about his new life with a glib sort of outlook but his life takes a turn when a Mickey 18 is created before the death of Mickey 17. There’s also a romance that starts developing and there’s also a whole deal with an alien planet that an ego maniacal politician named Kenneth Marshall (played by a scenery chewing Mark Ruffalo) is hellbent on conquering.
There’s honestly about five movies worth of ideas here. Some of them work, some don’t. But I had a great time taking it all in and I’m glad to see Bong Joon Ho have such creative freedom to make such a purposefully weird movie. At no stage did I really feel sure of what direction the story was headed. And sometimes that’s exactly what I’m looking for.
The Ballad of Wallis Island
‘Houston, we have chutney, and that is not a problem.’
Director: James Griffiths
Writer: Tom Basden, Tim Key
Cast: Tom Basden, Tim Key
Charles Heath, an eccentric recluse who lives on the remote Wallis Island in Wales, wins the lottery and decides to hold a concert entirely for himself performed by the defunct folk duo McGwyer and Mortimer.
This is the basic premise for Tom Basden and Tim Key’s warm-natured indie comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island. Looking at the rest of the films in my top ten, I guess tonally this film is the outlier with its gentle comedic trappings, warmly optimistic vibes and the earnest nature of the protagonist Charles (played by Key).
I guess if a lot of the other films I enjoyed this year can be thematically connected to the chaos of the real world, The Ballad of Wallis Island is pure escapism. It’s a beautifully made, sentimental film that wears its heart on its sleeve that few films would be willing to do nowadays.
A perfect film for when you’re in the mood for something kind, gentle and devoid of snark.
Bugonia
‘I guess grammar is a false Andromedan construct as well.’
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers: Will Tracy, Jang Joon-hwan
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis
Modern living is trying to get by in a late-stage capitalist hellscape and seeing people around you fall down conspiratorial rabbit holes on the internet. Bugonia supposes what if we smashed those two worlds together and see what happens.
A remake of a 2003 South Korean film, Bugonia tells the tale of a conspiracy theorist Teddy Gatz who, alongside his autistic cousin Don, capture a pharmaceutical CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) believing them to be a literal alien from another planet.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos really goes for the jugular in this ruthless modern satire that lampoons both the cultures that spawned Teddy and Michelle.
Teddy babbles incoherently about alien worlds like a guy who has spent 10,000 hours on a weird sub-Reddit and believes Michelle to be from outer space. Sometimes with the way she is unable to turn off her corporate jargon even in this dire predicament (she remonstrates with Teddy to ‘have a dialogue’ with her) and the way she brags about a ‘reverse-aging diet and therapy program’, we feel maybe she could be.
With Yorgos Lanthimos’ oeuvre you know you’re getting a very specific type of film where characters speaking with a certain affection and the scenes are shot with a very specific cadence. Sometimes it works for me, sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t know if its because in this instance he was adapting someone else’s material but Bugonia feels more conventionally structured than his other works. I was able to easily immerse myself in the story whereas with Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Lobster I felt the stylistic trappings of the director threatened to overshadow the film itself.
Maybe the other reason I enjoyed this film so much is the performance from Jesse Plemons which is absolutely incredible. For such a tragically absurd character, his performance feels authentic and had me won over from the first scene.
One Battle After Another
‘I don’t get mad. I don’t get mad about anything anymore.’
Film of the Year
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Teyana Taylor
I feel like in 2025 we are finally started to see film makers tackle the times we live in with the likes of Eddington, Bugonia and One Battle After Another.
For what its worth I think very few people want to see films that literally tackle subjects like the pandemic, the Trump presidency or modern culture in the current social media age. That sounds exhausting. Instead these films do a fantastic job showcasing stories and characters getting around in the world we live in that feels culturally representative of what the 2020s is like.
One Battle After Another is an ambitious, lengthy drama from Paul Thomas Anderson about an aging, paranoid, pot smoking ex-revolutionary Bob (played by Leonardo Di Caprio) who after years of living peacefully off the grid in a sanctuary city, finds himself having to renew his former life in order to rescue his daughter Willa when she is captured by a bounty hunter.
OBAA is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller than shines with its phenomenal casting, whip smart dialogue and top tier cinematography. Di Caprio takes on an uncharacteristically unglamorous lead role, in a performance that feels like The Dude from The Big Lebowski for modern times. The supporting cast here is also excellent with Sean Penn as a memorably twisted villain and Benicio Del Toro also has a fantastic cameo role.
OBAA is an outstanding film that can be enjoyed entirely on face value (it offers plenty of laughs and has great action sequences) but it also explores plenty of topical themes (migrants, activism) in ways that feel sincere and earned.
For me, it’s the best film of 2025.
Honourable Mentions
K-Pop Demon Hunters – the breakout children’s hit of the year also had the most memorable soundtrack of the year.
The Naked Gun – although OBAA is my film of the year, the snowman sequence in Naked Gun is probably my favourite scene from 2025.
Paddington in Peru – an entertaining third outing for Paddington that doesn’t quite reach the heights of part 1 & 2. The series follows the same quality trajectory as the Godfather films.
Black Bag – an entertaining, taut spy thriller.
Companion – great horror comedy that’s best enjoyed knowing as little as possible going in.
28 Years Later – the heroes are chased by a monster with a humongous dong.
Nosferatu – the heroes are chased by a monster with a humongous dong.
Eddington – excellent neo Western thriller set against the backdrop of the covid-19 pandemic.
Conclave – the timing of this film coming out just as the Vatican was electing a new pope was kind of eerie.
The Life of Chuck – lovely life-affirming adaptation of a Stephen King classic that deserves to find a wider audience.
Archives
Top Ten Films of 2024 | Film of the Year – Perfect Days
Top Ten Films of 2023 | Film of the Year – Godzilla Minus One
Top Ten Films of 2022 | Film of the Year – RRR
Top Ten Films of 2021 | Film of the Year – The Father
Top Ten Films of 2020 | Film of the Year – The Invisible Man
Top Ten Films of 2019 | Film of the Year – Parasite
Top Ten Films of 2018 | Film of the Year – BlackKklansman
Top Ten Films of 2017 | Film of the Year – Get Out
Top Ten Films of 2016 | Film of the Year – Hunt For The Wilder People
Top Ten Films of 2015 | Film of the Year – Mad Max Fury Road
Top Fifty Films of 2014 | Film of the Year – Grand Budapest Hotel
Top Ten Films of 2013 | Film of the Year – Gravity
Top Ten Films of 2012 | Film of the Year – The Descendants
Top Ten Films of 2011 | Film of the Year – True Grit
Top Ten Films of 2010 | Film of the Year – The Social Network
Top Ten Films of 2009 | Film of the Year – In The Loop
