Ah, 2025, what a mess! This was one of the more grim years in cinematic history as it looks like we’ve lost another legacy studio to either a streaming platform that may kill the theatrical business or a now studio and news conglomerate that wants to put UFC on the White House lawn. We also lost too many greats that devoted their lives to this artform. Then, in terms of cinema’s output this year, 2025 felt like many of the films were in conversation with each other about the growing tribalism and unnerving threats to democracy.
The films of 2025 left us challenging and provoking our ideals, but many of which had the same message: optimism for the next generation to make change and inch closer back to decency.
In no particular order, here are the very best films of 2025.
Marty Supreme
I’ve seen Marty Supreme twice now–while finding the film quite flawed–yet I keep having the urge to pop in that screener and watch it a third time. Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme might be the most American film of the year. Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet) is a young, hungry and overly confident table tennis player that is chasing greatness–which happens to be the marketing campaign surrounding the film–he’s looking to cement himself as the greatest table tennis player in the world. It’s an overstuffed 150 minutes, but Safdie’s excess feels like having an espresso after dinner.
Review
One Battle After Another
I’ll just say it: this is the best film of the year, as it is for many others. There is simply no other film on the list that made me feel destroyed, enthralled, and optimistic in under three hours. Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest is a galvanizing adventure, revolutionary story that features some of the great performances of the year. One Battle After Another seems to be steamrolling its way towards an Oscars sweep.
Review
Sinners
Not since the detonation set piece in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer have I felt such sheer hopefulness and an electric reaction for large scale filmmaking. Director Ryan Coogler isn’t afraid of excess nor flexing his bravura muscles in this loaded, erotic, and visceral vampire western that is strongly reminiscent of Night of the Living Dead. Like the film’s centerpiece of generational ties entwined in music, it serves as a reminder that the medium can provide an affirming stability of power in the culture.
Eddington
I’ve always considered Ari Aster to be this sort of “grief fetishist”. Whether it’s the flaming father of Hereditary or a still visceral murder-suicide in Midsommar that I’ve yet to shake myself, he takes great pleasure in such instances. Eddington works more than he doesn’t. It pushes boundaries for an A24 wide release feature and the final hour couldn’t be more tenacious, but I think Aster’s endgame is simple. While Eddington is filled with built-up anger, I left the theater wanting to be a better person, which yes, is extremely simple and cliche, but it might be what we all need right now. Regardless of how you read the film or just how vapid Aster can be here, Eddington is a memorable risk taken.
Review
Honorable Mentions
The Testament of Ann Lee
Wake Up Dead Man
The Mastermind
After The Hunt
Blue Moon
Nouvelle Vague
Weapons
Materialists
Ella McCay
Bugonia
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Highest 2 Lowest
F1
Sentimental Value
