My top 10 films of 2025
As the youth say, "I know ball" lol. Here's my year end list of my favorite films of 2025
My favorite time of the year… the time of the Year-End Lists. I, for one, love to be self-indulgent; as such, I put a lot of care and effort into my Year-End lists. For my top 10 films, I was really in my “critic bag” and did several rewatches to help solidify this list.
I could have published this earlier, but I was waiting to see Marty Supreme on Christmas Day. And while I did enjoy Marty Supreme, it unfortunately did not make my top 10… or even my honorable mentions.
Speaking of; which, before dipping into my top 10 list, here are my five honorable mentions:
Honorable Mentions:
It Was Just An Accident
No Other Choice
Materialists (I know people did not like this one, but for some reason it really stuck with me. I thought in essence it was really dark and sad)
The Baltimorons (probably the most under-appreciated indie of the year)
Hamnet (Sorry, I did not love this film. I thought the performances were fantastic, but I found the first 90 or so minutes just flat-out boring. The only reason this made my honorable mentions is the last 30 minutes; when they are performing Hamlet. I found that scene captivating. It’s amazing that I didn’t cry earlier in the film when they show a young boy dying; but once they show Jessie Buckley’s character able to process her grief through art… TEARS!)
And without further ado, my TOP 10 FILMS OF 2025…
One Battle After Another
This is peak cinema. I went to see this twice in theaters. Yes, I went to see a three-hour movie in a theater twice; that’s quite the testament lol. I found this film riveting, funny, vulnerable; all the things. This is hands down my favorite PTA film now. I loved Leo’s performance as a middle-aged stoner dad who was once a revolutionary and suddenly has to hop back into that role. It’s so funny and vulnerable. And the car chase scene where they’re driving down that hilly road is one of the most amazing and anxiety-inducing scenes in cinematic history. What a film!!
Sentimental Value
Saw this one twice in theaters too. Prior to this year, I was never a rewatcher. My attitude was that I want to see all the films, read all the books, listen to all the music; so why rewatch something when there’s so much great stuff out there I haven’t seen yet? But this one really benefited from a rewatch. The second viewing hit me so much harder. Maybe because I already knew what was going to happen in the “plot,” it allowed me to really tune into the emotion of the film and its characters. I found myself teary-eyed almost the entire time on that second viewing. What a special film. I know Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World is the cult favorite, but I think this film is his best. Also……can we nominate a house for Best Supporting Actor?
Sorry, Baby
Another film where I was really rewarded by a rewatch. Again, knowing where the film was headed and what had happened allowed me, on the second viewing, to really engage with the quiet emotional nuance underneath. This one really hit for me; at once both quiet and powerful.
Blue Moon
This is one I haven’t seen many people talk about. I really hope this gets a wider theatrical release in 2026. It’s a film by the great Richard Linklater (of the Before trilogy, Dazed & Confused, Boyhood, etc.), starring his regular collaborator, the amazing Ethan Hawke.
The Before trilogy by Linklater and starring Hawke are three of my favorite films, with the second installment, Before Sunset, maybe being my favorite film of all time. I think it’s perfect; as well as a masterclass in acting. And yet, I think Blue Moon may be Ethan Hawke’s best performance.
I actually struggled with whether I should make this number four on my list, as numbers five and six are much more… cinematic. This film is mostly just Hawke delivering monologues in a bar; much more akin to a play than a film. But the acting is just so magnificent that I had to make this my number four. Hawke does something amazing here and is able to hold polar opposites within one character: the sad clown who is both self-important and incredibly insecure. This really is a tour de force of acting!
Eddington
I know critics and audiences alike were mixed on this one. And yesterday I actually published a piece about some thoughts I had around the argument that this film is “centrist” (which I couldn’t disagree with more). You can read that piece HERE.
This film really worked for me. I found it interesting, thought-provoking, and really funny; especially for such a bleak and pessimistic film. I talked to many people who said that because of the mixed reviews they didn’t bother watching it. Well, it’s streaming on Max now. Go watch this one!
Bugonia
TBH, this one and Eddington were tied for me. Either film could have landed in my fifth spot. And both films are actually very similar thematically, sharing a nihilistic, pessimistic view of human nature.
I know that Jessie Buckley will probably win the Oscar for Best Actress for Hamnet, but honestly, it should go to Emma Stone. Her performance here was just amazing. She had you constantly wavering on whether or not she’s actually an alien. Yorgos Lanthimos consistently gets Emma Stone’s best performances.
Also, upon a second watch, I was really taken by the overall sinister vibe throughout the film. The score especially was doing A LOT. What a tense film… but not without some really sharp humor.
Weapons
I thought this was a really fun film. I loved the storytelling through each character’s point of view; I felt like each POV was a different genre. I went into this completely blind and had no idea what to expect.
When we start with Julia Garner’s character’s point of view, I thought this was going to turn into Villeneuve’s Prisoners; that she was going to get kidnapped and tortured. I thought the scene in her house was a masterclass in tension.
Then Josh Brolin’s character’s POV almost turns into a 1990s-era detective flick.
Then the cop’s point of view, and his story interconnecting with the unhoused drug addict, almost becomes a stoner comedy and produces some big laughs. And then we get Gladys!!!!!! So unsettling!!!
Even the child’s performance; so much tension in his quiet restraint. Great film.
Jay Kelly
Another one—like Eddington—where I felt critics and audience reviews were mixed. But this one really worked for me. Granted, I saw it at the New York Film Festival in a packed (and beautiful) theater, followed by a Q&A with George Clooney, Laura Dean, and filmmaker Noah Baumbach, who is one of my favorites. A modern-day (and way less problematic) Woody Allen, in some ways. So I was definitely riding the buzz of a festival screening.
But also, this is one of my favorite genres; what I like to call “funny sad” lol. I found Clooney’s performance incredibly charming and magnetic (as always). I know a lot of people said, “Why are we supposed to care about some mega-rich celebrity having an existential crisis?” But while watching, I was able to contextualize it as a statement about ambition in general; and how we can all become little ambition monsters, and at what cost.
And in our social-media age, aren’t we all performing some version of ourselves; micro-celebrities in our own way? The movie made me think a lot about performance, and about what we project onto celebrities (or any parasocial relationship). Also, this would make a great double feature with Sentimental Value
Sirāt
I was lucky to catch this one alongside a Q&A with the filmmaker, thanks to the amazing programming at LA’s own American Cinematheque. This film was unflinching and bleak; peak European cinema. During the Q&A, the filmmaker said, “They say if God loves you, he destroys you.” Lol. That should give you an idea of what to expect.
The film made me feel a lot of things. The opening scenes’ attention to detail; setting up a desert rave, then moving into an all-night rave that bleeds into the morning; was honestly beautiful. Then we see the beauty of a found family, which I always love in films. And then… IT GETS BLEAK. Go in blind. Good luck ;)
The Ballad of Wallis Island
I’m not seeing this on a lot of year-end lists, but I found this sweet little film so incredibly life-affirming. I walked out of the theater excited to be alive.
Well, there’s my top 10. And i’ll end with one piece of advice going into 2026….
GO SEE MORE MOVIES IN THEATERS!!! <3