The 25 best movies of 2025

We aren’t saying our skepticism over “Mad About the Boy” wasn’t warranted, but we are saying that skepticism was not validated by the film itself. It had been nine years since the unremarkable “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” and Renee Zellweger is a spotty actor. Plus, we were worried that they’d pretzel Bridget back into the dating world and we’d roll our eyes. Instead, Bridget Jones’ status as a widowed mother is handled well, and her new romances, including with a decidedly younger man, don’t feel phoned in. If “Mad About the Boy” is the final Bridget Jones film, the franchise goes out on a high note.

There is an impishness to “The Monkey,” which is unusual in a movie this violent and gory. Osgood Perkins’ horror-comedy is having a lot of fun, and we had a lot of fun watching it. Twin brothers come into the possession of an evil monkey doll in their childhood, and when they realize it can kill people supernaturally, one spends his entire life running from it while the other spends his entire life obsessing over it so he can use it for revenge. It’s funny, though, we assure you.

Was Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up to “Parasite” as good as “Parasite?” You know, the movie that won Best Picture? No, but it was good. Bong was back in his environmental allegory bag with “Mickey 17,” which is less serious than “Parasite” and even a bit raunchy at times. It’s a fun showcase for Robert Pattinson, and it was nice to see him in a role like this.

“Eephus” is a comedy, and it is funny, but it might also fill you with existential dread. The low-budget indie is populated with almost entirely unknowns, and it’s a hangout movie that sometimes feels like a bad hang, but in a good way. Two small-town beer league baseball teams are playing a rescheduled game that will be the last of the season, the last for the ballpark before it is demolished, and the last for the league. “Eephus” is about the game, but also how everybody involved is handling the reality of their uncertain future.

Ryan Coogler used his cache to make an original film. Unsurprisingly, it stars Michael B. Jordan. Less obvious, it’s a vampire movie involving both blues and Irish folk music. “Sinners” is imperfect, and we think Jordan is a bit overrated as an actor, but by that we merely indicate we don’t think it’s a great film or the best of the year. It’s really good, it looks great, and it’s a rip-roaring story with a lot of depth to it. Also, we do love the fact that an original story was a huge box office success.

If you’re a fan of indie rock icons Pavement, then “Pavements” is for you. Of course, you’ve probably already seen it. Even if you only have a passing knowledge of Pavement but you like ambitious, snarky movies, you should also give “Pavements” a shot. It’s part real documentary, part mockumentary about a Pavement biopic, part mockumentary about a Pavement musical on Broadway, and part mockumentary about a Pavement art show in New York. Yeah, it’s a lot, but it’s also great especially if you’re a Pavement fan.

In the “Final Destination” movies, you can’t cheat death. The franchise itself seemed to cheat death, though. After a decade-long break following the fifth movie, “Bloodlines” delivered with gusto. It’s not just good for a belated horror sequel. “Bloodlines” is possibly the best movie in the franchise and the best franchise horror film of 2025.

Wes Anderson did the Wes Anderson thing. You’re either on board, or you aren’t. We aren’t going to claim that “The Phoenician Scheme” will be a jumping-in point for those who don’t jibe with Anderson’s style. This one is fully for the Anderson aficionados. Well, count us in that group, and while “The Phoenician Scheme” is a step down from “The French Dispatch” and “Asteroid City,” it’s still really good.

On the one hand, “F1” is an original film. On the other hand, it’s set in the world of Formula 1 racing and features cameos from actual Formula 1 drivers. It’s very much an I.P. movie. Well, these days you have to take the wins where you get them, and “F1” isn’t a sequel or a reboot. It’s also a gripping sports movie, directed with aplomb by “Top Gun: Maverick” helmer Joseph Kosinski. Plus, Brad Pitt stars. He’s quite good as an actor.

We are big proponents of “dumb, fun” action movies. Give us the occasional action movie that is stupid, but knows it and doesn’t care. We’re all just here to have fun. John Cena plays the President of the United States. Idris Elba plays the Prime Minister of the U.K. They have to reluctantly join forces and get their action hero on. It’s silly, and it’s a delight.

Theatrical comedy lives! It may have been a reboot, but studios don’t release straight-up comedy movies with reasonable-sized budgets into theaters anymore. There are two good things related to “The Naked Gun.” One, it’s really funny. It’s a worthwhile successor to the original trilogy. Two, it made over $100 million at the box office. For a reasonably budgeted comedy, that’s a big success. Fingers crossed this means more theatrical comedies.

“Barbarian” was a success, but it was a cult favorite of the horror heads. Zach Cregger’s follow-up, though, reached the mainstream. “Weapons” is bananas, but audiences ate it up and it was a massive hit. This is the defining horror film of 2025, if we don’t count “Sinners,” and really threw us through a loop. Alas, Cregger is now off to direct a “Resident Evil” movie.

“Nobody” is good. It’s interesting to see Bob Odenkirk in a violent action movie, but otherwise it’s a bit generic and takes itself too seriously. We enjoyed “Nobody 2” more because it doesn’t bother with being all that serious. First, all the “Odenkirk has to bury his violent history” stuff is gone. Second, it’s got a funny premise and the action is totally over-the-top! Hutch and his family are on vacation, but when you are a guy like Hutch, violence seems to follow you.

It’s nice to see Darren Aronofsky lighten up a bit. Oh, “Caught Stealing” is still gritty, but it’s not heavy like many of his movies, or outright punishing as some of them are. Aronofsky is a talented director, and he put that to use with a propulsive crime thriller that has plenty of action and even, get this, a fair amount of comedy.

Every Paul Thomas Anderson movie is a cause for excitement, and this time around he was joining forces with Leonardo DiCaprio. While some money-obsessed media types (and social media hangers-on) fretted over the movie thrown at making “One Battle After Another,” the rest of us just got to enjoy a movie that rips. The movie is packed with great performances, tense action, laugh-out-loud comedy, and more. Warner Bros. may barely break even on “One Battle After Another,” but it is also going to get multiple Oscar wins. Boo hoo.

The Safdie Brothers split up to each direct a film in 2025. Benny (the one who is also an actor) directed “The Smashing Machine,” and we can see why Josh may not have wanted to be involved. That’s not because “The Smashing Machine” isn’t good. It is. It’s just not very “Safdie Brothers.” The film is based on a documentary about early MMA fighter Mark Kerr, and it’s designed to look and feel like a documentary as well. Dwayne Johnson does give a legitimately excellent dramatic turn, which was great to see after so many years of unremarkable genre fare.

Aronofsky making a movie like “Caught Stealing” was unexpected, but we can connect the dots. Derek Cianfrance directing “Roofman?” Yeah, that’s a true surprise. We assumed this movie would be a dark, heavy drama before seeing any footage. Cianfrance’s filmography up to this film was wholly bummer-centric. “Roofman” is based on the true story of a criminal who escaped from prison. And yet, this is kind of a hangout dramedy? Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst are largely going for charming. It mostly works, for the record. Hopefully Cianfrance enjoyed not delving into a miserable landscape (of his own making).

Richard Linklater likes to make hangout movies and experimental movies, but occasionally he’ll just drop a straightforward period piece into the mix. To be fair, “Blue Moon” is kind of a bunch of people hanging out in a bar, but it’s mostly about Lorenz Hart, played with aplomb by frequent Linklater collaborator Ethan Hawke, on the opening night of “Oklahoma,” the new musical co-created by his former partner Richard Rodgers. It’s slight in scale, but grand in impact.

Yorgos Lanthimos is an odd guy. Sometimes he puts that to rather alienating and disquieting effect, but with the right project it yields pitch-black comedy that is easier for audiences to grapple with. Sure, “Bugonia” is largely a two-hander about two conspiracy-minded guys who kidnap a CEO played by Emma Stone because they believe she is an alien here to destroy the planet. However, it’s, you know, a funny version of that.

Now he’s a Linklater movie that is both a hangout film and experimental. Yes, Linklater had two films in 2025, and both got nominated for Best Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. “Nouvelle Vague” is about the filming of “Breathless,” Jean-Luc Godard’s seminal French New Wave movie. Linklater shot his film like a New Wave movie, and it is largely in French as well. It’s also just a lot of the cast and crew hanging out, waiting to shoot, because that’s a lot of what filmmaking is.

“Train Dreams” is the 2025 movie that film aficionados (cinephiles, one might say) got behind as the, “You gotta see that one!” offering of the year. People were excited to recommend it, in part because of its quality, and in part because it wasn’t as flashy as, say, “One Battle After Another.” It’s a film about, well, a life. The movie is a period piece set in the Pacific Northwest and takes us through the life of one man watching the world, and his world, change. It’s deceptively simple, but of course ultimately complex. And Joel Edgerton is great in it, which certainly helps.

We have mixed feelings about “Wake Up Dead Man.” None of it is quality-based, we will note. The film, the latest Benoit Blanc mystery, is very good, better than “Glass Onion” and a step below “Knives Out.” It’s just that, for the first time, a Benoit Blanc movie felt built for streaming. “Wake Up Dead Man” feels tailor-made to scratch an itch for Netflix viewers and to be an easy rewatch. We miss the theatrical ambition of the first, and even the second, of these movies, but we still enjoyed “Wake Up Dead Man.”

It’s not a rollicking good time, to be sure. Child death will do that. “Hamnet” is based on a successful novel itself based on the life of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. Specifically, the death of their son, who was named “Hamnet.” Chloe Zhao’s bounce back from the misfire of Marvel’s “Eternals” is a tearjerker, to be sure, but it doesn’t go for the weepy melodrama. It earns its emotion, bolstered heavily by stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.

We mentioned Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine” didn’t feel very “Safdie Brothers.” Well, Josh’s “Marty Supreme” definitely does. Of course, films like “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems” were polarizing because some, shall we say, found the vibes less than immaculate. However, if you are on the wavelength of the Safdie style, which is to say following unlikeable characters with an intensity and propulsiveness that can feel disorienting, then “Marty Supreme” is for you. We only worry for the Timothee Chalamet lovers who don’t know what they are signing up for. You didn’t accidentally do cocaine. It’s just Josh Safdie’s style.

We aren’t primed to call a sequel to a Disney animated film a surprise success story, but you kind of have to say that about “Zootopia 2.” Not only was the movie a smash success at the box office even though there was nearly a decade between films, but the film itself was a decided improvement over the original. “Zootopia 2” could have been a cash-in sequel, and rest assured in they would have cashed. Instead, they legitimately built upon the original and showed a level of ambition that deserves reward.