Top 10 Movies of 2025

Greetings, reader!

Well, it is Christmas Day - but more importantly (kidding), it's the final Thursday of the year. For the sixth year in a row, that means that it's time for me to share my favorite films of 2025. It wasn't the best cinematic year of the 2020's, but it probably wasn't the worst either, as there were plenty of brilliant offerings! These are the top 10 movies of 2025.

Here are my honorable mentions: Britain and the Blitz (Ella Wright, 2025), Enigma (Zackary Drucker, 2025), One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025), The Conjuring: Last Rites (Michael Chaves, 2025), Weapons (Zach Cregger, 2025).

10. O'Dessa (Geremy Jasper, 2025)

I know, I know - pretty hilarious of me to put a film with a whopping 5.0 on IMDB ahead of critical darlings like Weapons and One Battle After Another. The reasons for this are twofold; first, some of this year's most acclaimed movies were, despite doing many things right, more than a bit overrated and thus undeserving of a top 10 placement in my book. But more importantly - O'Dessa was fun as hell!

Sure, it's not the cohesive artistic masterwork that it strives to be, and I can see how the inherently messy tone would be a turn-off for many. But I enjoyed it - the film has heart, the tonal clash works when looking for a delightfully chaotic viewing experience, and the lead performane by Sadie Sink is everything. Mark my words - when the dust settles and all is said and done, Sink will be ahead of Chalamet and everyone when remembering this generation's finest actors.

9. Mountainhead (Jesse Armstrong, 2025)

Jesse Armstrong of Succession acclaim did a brilliant job writing and directing this eat-the-rich satire. The commentary may not be quite as deeply layered and nuanced as it is in his hit TV show, but that's okay - it doesn't have to be, as this project clearly meant to veer more into the 'entertaining dramedy' section with the real-world insight only being a secondary concern.

That being said, I felt that the film succeeded on both counts - it most definitely is entertaining and hilarious, and the satire, though heavy-handed, still makes for a thoroughly decent critique of the out-of-touch tech bro types who are currently running (and ruining) the world.

8. Mickey 17 (Bong Joon Ho, 2025)

I haven't read the book that this talked-about film from early in the year was based on, so I can't speak to its quality as an adaptation. What I can say is that the blockbuster visuals and overall grandiose production values alone make for an excellent viewing experience, while director Bong Joon Ho does a fantastic job balancing the humane elements of the storytelling with the room-to-breathe explorations of the vibrant milieu.

Robert Pattinson is a class act in the lead role, and the supporting roles by Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette make sure that the entire main cast delivers some dynamite acting. It's the kind of film that feels like it should be even higher on this list, but I have my share of minor critiques - ones that don't come near to ruining the film, but do push it a bit lower on this list than it could've otherwise been. Namely, the tone is a bit messy at times and the pacing a tad uneven, making the message of the story feel a bit unclear. Still, it's an overwhelmingly positive viewing experience overall!

7. Bullet Train Explosion (Shinji Higuchi, 2025)

If you've ever watched Speed (1994) and thought "Hey, this is great, but I wish there was a way to make it even more nerve-wracking", then boy, do I have the movie for you. In this brilliant Japanese thriller, we follow the passengers of a bullet train as a bomb on board becomes an imminent threat.

I enjoyed the entire runtime, although I kept thinking that the Speed influence was a tad too obvious - only to learn later that the original "there's a bomb on this vehicle and it'll go off it the vehicle goes below a certain speed" movie was from Japan in the 70's, and that this was a remake of that first and foremost, so the Americans were the real copycats all along (shocker, I know)! Anyhow, Bullet Train Explosion is a true edge-of-your-seat experience, particularly in its final act, and a very recommended one for fans of suspenseful thrillers.

6. Pikku Siperia (Dome Karukoski, 2025)

My favorite Finnish filmmaker continues to have just the most "never let them know your next move" career of all time, with the latest addition to his beautifully bizarre (and bizarrely beautiful) filmography being Pikku Siperia. Among my many reasons for liking this film was one very subjective one: the movie was shot in Northern Karelia, the very area that my fiancée and her family originate from, and specifically many key parts were shot in their very dear city of Nurmes. Seeing those familiar milieus in a big-budget Dome Karukoski film was cool as hell.

But it's not just that. In all its artistic surrealism, Pikku Siperia is the kind of film that is definitely not for everyone - but I'm among the ones it is for. The imagery is wild, the narrative confusing and the themes very much up for interpretation, but I love me a film like that. It's a head-scratcher for sure, but the atmosphere remains cohesive in its own peculiar way throughout it all, making the end result feel like there was a point to all the strangeness, and you sort of get the point on an emotional level even if you can't quite put it to words.

5. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Rian Johnson, 2025)

You know some film franchises have a clear shelf life, and you wish they'd stop making sequels after a certain point? Well, the Knives Out series is not one of those cases, and I wish they keep making more and more of these every few years as long as Daniel Craig is alive.

Seriously, the formula works so well - take a bunch of talented and well-known actors, put 'em into a whodunit with Benoit Blanc calling the shots, and shake the story around with multiple subversive plot twists. I loved the first Knives Out, I loved the second one, and this third one is no different in that regard.

There's a lot to praise here - the dynamic of the cast is entertaining, the mystery is highly intriguing and ultimately cleverly written, and the religious themes actually worked really well in my view. I like how the film shows a microcosmos of the whole truth: how corrupt and cultish organized religion can be at its worst, and what a beautiful thing faith can be at its best.

4. The Long Walk (Francis Lawrence, 2025)

This Stephen King adaptation doesn't just talk the talk, it...dammit, can't think of a good metaphor.

Anyhow, here's my two cents as a massive King fan: The Long Walk is a remarkable book-to-movie adaptation, and honestly one of the best of its kind. The plot follows that of the book in a loyal manner - except for the ending, but switching that up honestly works. But more importantly, it's the very specific atmosphere of the book that translates onto the big screen with even more care and detail than the plot. Watching the film feels just like reading the book did - the very same sort of grueling intensity, playing out almost like a physical experience as it progresses. If you loved the book, I guarantee you'll love the movie as well.

3. Superman (James Gunn, 2025)

HELL YES! It says something about Hollywood's direction that after a decade of comic book movie projects that try to reinvent the wheel by being subversive, artistic and morally grey in yet another combination of twists, the people were yearning for what comic book movies used to be all that time, and thus a Superman film with the old-school upbeat tone felt like just the biggest breath of fresh of air. More than that, however, it speaks to the times we are living when a film with a message that can be boiled down to "What if a guy was really nice and kind" feels equal parts empowering and groundbreaking. Like, in the perfect society, this would be just a movie among the rest of them, but in 2025, it felt like a warm hug and a reminder of humanity's core values. Thank you, Superman!

I could compliment pretty much any given aspect of this film at length, but I'll boil it down to a few essentials. Number one, the casting: David Corenswet was the exact right sweetheart with a heart-melting smile for the role of Superman, while Rachel Brosnahan kicks ass as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult made for the best Lex Luthor since Gene Hackman in the 70's. The score by David Fleming and John Murphy also deserves myriads of praise, as it takes nostalgic musical cues from the legendary John Williams soundtrack to the Christopher Reeve Superman films but arranges them into unforeseen levels of emotionally charged dramatics.

But, yeah, the film's biggest strength is the aspect that rightfully had people talking the most: the optimistic tone. It's a movie that'll make you feel better about the world and yourself, and not in a complacency-seeking "hang back, everything's gonna magically work out" way, but the more rare and important "we should all do our part and be kind to our fellow humans every day" way. The film had me laughing at times, smiling at others, pumping my fists whenever the Last Son theme played, and weeping at Superman's speech about humanity to Lex. Thank you, James Gunn, for this fun and much-needed film.

2. Sinners (Ryan Coogler, 2025)

In the 30's and 40's, the consensus for horror filmmakers in Hollywood was that the absolute scariest monster you can imagine is, well, a monster. You got your Frankensteins, your Wolf Men, your Draculas et cetera. Then, in the 50's and 60's, the trend changed to a different sort of plural monster - what could be scarier than zombies or mummies or The Birds? In the 70's and 80's, the consensus changed again - what's scarier than a *guy* with a *knife*, after all? After this craze of serial killers and slashers, the tide turned again - for the 90's and 00's, it was all about the dark-magic variety of the supernatural, with various curses and omens being the primary source of horror. Then, we were due for a new big horror trend for the next few decades - and we got one in 2017, with Jordan Peele making a statement with Get Out: maybe the scariest monster of them all is...white people.

In the wave of post-Get Out horror films that have continued its themes of social commentary and race relations in America, Ryan Coogler's Sinners has got to be my favorite. It's pretty amazing how a horror film about vampires became my 2nd-favorite movie of the year, even though I didn't find it particularly scary. The vampire stuff and more conventional horror elements are fine, but really, it's the beneath-the-surface material that makes Sinners as riveting and unforgettable as it is. The lines that are drawn between American history from the role of the church to the hard-hitting symbolism with the vampires, this film is as thought-provoking as the very best of them. Michael B. Jordan continues to prove that he's the Michael Jordan of actors, adding yet another sledgehammer lead performance to his filmography.

And finally, the role of music! I love it when civil rights movies aren't just about the suffering (not to belittle the importance of showing that side), but also feel like celebrations of the culture at hand. Trying to do both in the same film must be a tough line to walk, but Sinners manages to be a celebration of Black culture as much as it is a scorching indictment of white America's treatment of the Black community. The brilliant utilization of music really helps with that, and that one scene (if you've seen the film, you know which one I'm talking about) was just a tear-jerking, hauntingly beautiful testament to the rich tapestry of all-time great music traditions stemming from the Black community.

1. Wicked: For Good (Jon M. Chu, 2025)

How good of a musical is Wicked? Well, the second film is clearly not as good as the first, yet it's still my favorite movie of the year. That's a pretty amazing feat - I know For Good didn't please everyone, but I'm certainly among those for whom it got the job done.

Yes, I do see the point of those who were very critical of the film - I do agree that it's less eventful and less bombastic than Wicked: Part One. Where I differ from the negative reception is this: it doesn't matter. The first film was always going to be slightly better than the second for those who must make a comparison, because the films are based on a musical where the first act is more dramatic and eventful than the second, and this is always how it had to go down. They could've made this film more thrilling by going all Hollywood and adding a bunch of plot points that aren't in the source material - and thank God that they didn't.

Wicked: For Good is exactly the movie it's supposed to be, and not being 100% as good as literally the best film of the decade so far doesn't mean that you've failed. The film is bold enough to loyally adapt the story they're adapting, pleasing true fans at the risk of being a turn-off for TikTok brains everywhere who need a big new plot turn every fifteen seconds. The film revels in its slow pace, fleshing out the characters and giving room to breathe between the utterly amazing, emotionally charged musical numbers that come to life with mesmerizing arrangements. The two films complement each other well to make up a whole that will go down in cinema history as one of the greats.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my list about 2025's greatest TV shows.